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Mike Gwilym

Actor born in Neath

Mike Gwilym (born Michael Gwilym, 5 March 1949) is a Welsh actor born in Neath. He is the elder brother of actor Robert Gwilym, known to television audiences for playing Max in the BBC series Casualty.

Gwilym began acting while a student at Oxford University, performing with the Oxford University Dramatic Society, before joining the Glasgow Citizens' Theatre and later becoming an associate actor of the Royal Shakespeare Company. His stage debut came as Prince Hal in Henry IV, Part 1 at the Playhouse Theatre, Sheffield, in 1969, and he went on to appear in many RSC productions during the late 1970s and early 1980s, including The Comedy of Errors, King Lear, Troilus and Cressida and Love's Labour's Lost.

His best-known screen role came as jockey-turned-investigator Sid Halley in The Racing Game (1979), a Yorkshire Television adaptation of Dick Francis's novel Odds Against. Film credits include Hopscotch (1980), Venom (1981) and Priest of Love (1981), and he starred opposite his brother Robert as one of a pair of Welsh twins in On the Black Hill (1988), adapted from Bruce Chatwin's novel of the same name and largely filmed around Hay-on-Wye. He also appeared in the BBC Television Shakespeare series, playing Aufidius in Coriolanus, Berowne in Love's Labour's Lost and the title role in Pericles, Prince of Tyre.

Gwilym later stepped back from the professional stage and moved to southern Spain, where his family had long kept a summer home.

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Welsh stage and screen actor from Neath, best known as Sid Halley in the 1979 TV series The Racing Game and for years of work with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Gwilym's maternal grandfather was the Belgian oil industrialist Edmond Jules Dupont, of Liège. After stepping back from acting, he shared a home with his partner in Sotogrande, in the province of Cadiz, Spain.

Gwilym is the elder brother of fellow actor Robert Gwilym, with whom he starred as one of a pair of Welsh twin brothers in the 1988 film On the Black Hill, based on the novel by Bruce Chatwin. His parents ran a women's clothing chain in Wales.

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Career Highlights

  • Starred as Sid Halley in The Racing Game (1979)
  • Associate actor with the Royal Shakespeare Company
  • Played opposite brother Robert Gwilym as twin brothers in On the Black Hill (1988)
  • Played leading Shakespearean roles for the BBC Television Shakespeare series

ℹ️ Born Michael Gwilym, 5 March 1949, in Neath, Wales.

Born and raised in Neath

From: Lakesider
Older brother of Robert Gwilym (Max in BBC TV show Casualty)
From: ChowBaby
Born in Neath, with the RSC for years. Made films including TV Series 'The Racing Game' by Dick Francis. Many Shakespearean roles. Brother actor Robert Gwilym played his brother in his last film 'On the Black Hill' by Bruce Chatwin.
From: MalcolmX
His younger brother is Robert Gwilym (was Max in Casualty). Mike Gwilym starred in the excellent drama series 'The Racing Game' shown in 1978, based on the Sid Halley character created by Dick Francis. He is an experienced Shakespearean actor, also made many films, including 'On A Black Hill', which also starred his younger brother Robert (who was Max in BBC's Casualty) and Bob Peck.
From: AdeleFranklin
Does anyone know what happened to Mike, I followed his career for years and then he just disappeared?
From: Lakesider
Mike Gwilym is still an associate actor of the RSC (he has been since the 1970's) and is, I believe, living in Spain.
From: glyncorwg
Mike Gwilym, is the same as the entry above, Mike Gwillim. The RSC a few years ago told me he had become a vintner in France. His younger brothers, Robert, with whom he performed in his last film, 'The Black Hill' would surely know.
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