Timothy Leonard Dalton Leggett (; born 21 March 1946) is a British actor. He gained international prominence as the fourth actor to portray fictional secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film series, starring in The Living Daylights (1987) and Licence to Kill (1989).
Beginning his career on stage, he made his film debut as Philip II of France in the 1968 historical drama The Lion in Winter. He took roles in the period films Wuthering Heights (1970), Cromwell (1970), and Mary, Queen of Scots (1971). Dalton also appeared in the films Flash Gordon (1980), The Rocketeer (1991), Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003), Hot Fuzz (2007) and The Tourist (2010).
On television, Dalton's role as Oliver Secombe made him one of the stars of Centennial (1978–1979). He later played Mr. Rochester in the BBC serial Jane Eyre (1983), Rhett Butler in the CBS miniseries Scarlett (1994), Rassilon in the BBC One sci-fi series Doctor Who (2009–2010), Sir Malcolm Murray on the Showtime horror drama Penny Dreadful (2014–2016), the Chief on the DC Universe/Max superhero series Doom Patrol (2019–2023), and Donald Whitfield on the Paramount+ western series 1923 (2023–2025). He portrayed Peter Townsend in the fifth season of The Crown (2022).
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Early life
Timothy Leonard Dalton Leggett was born on 21 March 1946 in Colwyn Bay, Wales, to an English father, Peter Dalton Leggett, who was a captain in the Special Operations Executive (SOE) during the Second World War and was an advertising executive at the time of his son's birth; and an American mother, Dorothy Scholes, of Italian and Irish descent.
Before Dalton's fourth birthday, the family moved back to England to Belper in Derbyshire, where he attended Herbert Strutt Grammar School. As a teenager, he was a member of the Air Training Corps at LXX (Croft & Culcheth) Squadron.
He decided to become an actor at 16 after seeing a production of Macbeth and got a role in a production of the play at The Old Vic. He left school in 1962 at 16 to enroll in the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and tour with the National Youth Theatre. Dalton did not complete his RADA studies, leaving the academy in 1966 to join the ensemble of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre. He had ambitions of being an actor, which pleased his father; "It pleased everybody on my father's side of the family. My mother and her side, however, were worried. None of them felt acting was a secure profession for a young man."
Career
Dalton quickly moved to television, working mainly with the BBC, and in 1968 made his film debut as Philip II of France in The Lion in Winter. This was the first of several period dramas, which included a remake of Wuthering Heights in 1970 in which he portrayed Heathcliff, and the English Civil War drama Cromwell as Cavalier commander Prince Rupert of the Rhine. After a few more films, Dalton took a break in 1971 to concentrate on the theatre, performing with the Royal Shakespeare Company and other troupes throughout the world. In 1975, Dalton and Vivien Merchant headed the cast of a revival of Noël Coward's The Vortex.
With two exceptions, the films Mary, Queen of Scots (1971) and Permission to Kill (1975), he remained a theatre actor until 1978. That year he starred in Sextette as the husband of 85-year-old Mae West, hailing his return to cinema and the beginning of his American career. While in the United States, Dalton worked mainly in television, although he starred in several films. During this time, he played Prince Barin in the science fiction film Flash Gordon (1980) and played Mr. Rochester in a BBC serial of Jane Eyre (1983). Dalton starred alongside Jonathan Pryce in the film The Doctor and the Devils (1985).
Dalton co-starred with Joan Collins in the miniseries, Sins (1986). He was also replaced in two films in which he had been signed to appear. He was offered the role of real-life British Prime Minister William Lamb in the film Lady Caroline Lamb. The filmmakers replaced him with Jon Finch at the last moment; Dalton sued for breach of contract and won an out-of-court settlement.
In 1985, Dalton was set to play Don Alfonso de la Torré in Roman Polanski's film Pirates. The two men did not get along, so Polanski replaced Dalton with Damien Thomas. Dalton co-starred with Anthony Edwards in the 1988 British comedy film Hawks about two terminally ill patients who set off on a road-trip together.
James Bond (1986–1994)
Dalton had been considered for the role of James Bond several times. According to the documentary Inside The Living Daylights, the producers first approached Dalton in 1968 for On Her Majesty's Secret Service although Dalton himself in this same documentary claims the approach occurred when he was either 24 or 25 and had already done the film Mary, Queen of Scots (1971), so it has been speculated that it was more likely for Live and Let Die, the film in which Roger Moore made his debut as Bond after Sean Connery in Diamonds Are Forever. Dalton declined the offer and told the producers that he was too young for the role. In a 1987 interview, Dalton said, "Originally I did not want to take over from Sean Connery. He was far too good, he was wonderful. I was about 24 or 25, which is too young. But when you've seen Bond from the beginning, you don't take over from Sean Connery." In either 1979 or 1980, during pre-production of For Your Eyes Only he was approached again, but did not favour the direction the films were taking, nor did he think the producers were seriously looking for a new 007. As he explained, his idea of Bond was different. In a 1979 episode of the television series Charlie's Angels, Dalton played the role of Damien Roth, a millionaire playboy described by David Doyle's character as "almost James Bond-ian".
In August 1986, Dalton was approached to play Bond after Roger Moore had retired, but as Dalton would soon begin filming Brenda Starr he could do The Living Daylights only if the Bond producers waited six weeks. The producers were not willing to wait and offered the role to Pierce Brosnan. However, when news of Brosnan's hiring was leaked, the makers of television series Remington Steele, in which Brosnan starred, exercised their right to renew the series, and the offer to Brosnan was withdrawn. Having now completed the filming of Brenda Starr, Dalton was now available and he accepted the part of Bond for The Living Daylights.
Dalton's first appearance as 007, The Living Daylights (1987), was critically successful, grossing more than either of the previous two Bond films with Moore (Octopussy (1983) and A View to a Kill (1985)) as well as contemporary box-office rivals such as Die Hard and Lethal Weapon. His second film, Licence to Kill (1989), although almost as successful as its predecessor in most markets, did not perform as well at the U.S. box office, in large part due to a lacklustre marketing campaign, whereby the title of the film was abruptly changed from Licence Revoked. The main factor for the lack of success in the U.S. was that it was released at the same time as the hugely successful Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Tim Burton's Batman, and Lethal Weapon 2, during the summer blockbuster season. In the United Kingdom, one of its critical markets, the film was also hampered by receiving a 15 certificate from the British Board of Film Classification, which severely affected its commercial success. Future Bond films, following the resolution of legal and other issues, were all released between 31 October and mid-December, in order to avoid the risk of a summer failure, as had happened to Licence to Kill.
Post-Bond career
After his Bond films, Dalton divided his work between stage, television and films, and diversified the characters he played. This helped him eliminate the 007 typecasting that followed him during the previous period. Dalton was nevertheless for a certain period considered for a part in the Bond film GoldenEye. Instead, he played Nazi spy Neville Sinclair in The Rocketeer (1991), and Rhett Butler in Scarlett, the television miniseries sequel to Gone with the Wind. He also appeared as criminal informant Eddie Myers in the acclaimed British television film Framed (1992). He had a major part in an episode of the television series Tales from the Crypt.
During the second half of the 1990s he starred in several cable films, most notably the Irish Republican Army drama The Informant and the action thriller Made Men. In the television film Cleopatra (1999) he played Julius Caesar. He played a parody of James Bond named Damian Drake in the film Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003). At the end of that year and the beginning of 2004, he returned to theatre to play Lord Asriel in the stage version of His Dark Materials. Dalton played Simon Skinner, who ran the local supermarket, in the action comedy film Hot Fuzz, which was released in 2007.
Dalton returned once again to British television in a guest role for the Doctor Who 2009–2010 two-part special "The End of Time", playing Rassilon. He was first heard in the role narrating a preview clip shown at the 2009 Comic Convention. In 2010 and 2011, he starred in several episodes of the fourth season of the American spy comedy Chuck as Alexei Volkoff.
Dalton voiced the character Mr. Pricklepants in Toy Story 3 (2010) and again in the television specials Toy Story of Terror! (2013) and Toy Story That Time Forgot (2014), and the sequel Toy Story 4 (2019). In 2012, Dalton voiced Lord Milori in Secret of the Wings, as part of the Disney Fairies franchise and the fourth film direct-to-DVD instalment of the Tinker Bell film series.
From 2014 to 2016, Dalton portrayed the character Sir Malcolm Murray for three seasons on the Showtime original television series Penny Dreadful.
From 2019 to 2021, Dalton portrayed the Chief in the DC Universe / HBO Max superhero series Doom Patrol.
Personal life
Dalton was in a relationship with reporter Kate Adie as a youth, and with actress Vanessa Redgrave (with whom he appeared in the 1971 film Mary, Queen of Scots and the 1979 film Agatha) between 1971 and 1986. He briefly dated actresses Stefanie Powers and Whoopi Goldberg.
He was in a relationship with musician Oksana Grigorieva in the 1990s; they met in 1995 while she was employed as a translator for filmmaker Nikita Mikhalkov. Dalton and Grigorieva had a son together, born in 1997. They broke up around 2003.
Dalton has residences in Chiswick in London; West Hollywood, California; and St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda.
Dalton is a Manchester City F.C. supporter, and is often seen at the Etihad Stadium to watch the team play.
