Steven Berkoff

Highly acclaimed English actor, playwright, author and director continues to set the benchmark in stunning, intense performances on both stage and screen. Berkoff was born in Stepney, London in August 1937 and received dramatic arts training in both Paris and London and then moved on to performing with several repertory companies, before he formed the London Theatre Group in 1968.

Berkoff had actually been appearing in uncredited roles in UK cinema since 1959, and started to get noticed by casting agents with his performances in Hamlet at Elsinore (1964), Nicholas and Alexandra (1971), A Clockwork Orange (1971) and Barry Lyndon (1975).

He was considered for many guest roles in Doctor Who (1963) - Commander Vorshak in "Warriors of The Deep", Commander Lytton in "Resurrection of the Daleks", Maylin Tekker in "Timelash", and Ratcliffe in "Remembrance of the Daleks". He would later play Shakri Doctor Who: The Power of Three (2012).

Mainstream film fans are probably most familiar with Steven Berkoff via his portrayal of a trio of Ice Cold villains in several big budget Hollywood productions of the 1980s.

Steven Berkoff has appeared in movies with four of the six actors who have played James Bond. With Sean Connery in Outland (1981) in 1981, with Roger Moore in Octopussy (1983) in 1983, with Timothy Dalton in The Tourist (2010) in 2010, and with Daniel Craig in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) in 2011. Furthermore Steven Berkoff and Pierce Brosnan both appeared in The Professionals (1977).

He was awarded the 1982 Drama Logue Award for Outstanding Direction for "Metamorphosis" at the Mark Taper Forum Theatre in Los Angeles, California.

Firstly, he played a rogue general plotting to launch a war in Europe in Octopussy (1983), then a drug smuggling art dealer out to kill Detroit narcotics officer Eddie Murphy in Beverly Hills Cop (1984), and thirdly as a sadistic Russian commando officer torturing Sylvester Stallone in Rambo: First Blood Part 2 (1985).

Considered for the roles of Dr. Armstong and Dr. Bukovsky in Lifeforce (1985).

He was offered the role of Frank Booth in Blue Velvet (1986), but turned it down, saying "there was nothing in that part except destruction".

He was considered to play Dick Jones in Robocop (1987).

Berkoff continued to contribute scintillating performances and was quite memorable as Adolf Hitler in War and Remembrance (1988), The Krays (1990) and the haunting The Tell-Tale Heart (1991).

He played the Florentine preacher Girolamo Savonarola in both A Season of Giants (1990) and The Borgias (2011).

Lives with his partner, concert pianist Clara Fischer, in Limehouse, east London, in a flat overlooking the River Thames. Fischer appeared onscreen with Berkoff in his film Decadence (1994).

Further villainous roles followed for the steely Berkoff in Fair Game (1995) and the Jean-Claude Van Damme kick flick Legionnaire (1998).

In 1996, Berkoff won Berkoff vs. Burchill, a libel civil action that he brought against Sunday Times journalist Julie Burchill after she published comments suggesting that he was "hideously ugly". The judge ruled for Berkoff, finding that Burchill's actions "held him to ridicule and contempt.".

Deported from the USA due to a "deficiency in his documentation". Berkoff violated visa regulations in 1997 by staying one day longer than he was supposed to. [June 2002]

He excelled in the camp comedy 9 Dead Gay Guys (2002), played UK crime figure Charlie Richardson Snr.

In 2012, Berkoff, with others, wrote in support of Israel's national theatre, Habima, performing in London.

As of 2016, has appeared in three films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Nicholas and Alexandra (1971), A Clockwork Orange (1971) and Barry Lyndon (1975).