--- name: "John McEnery" canonical: "https://film.one/person/john-mcenery" roles: ["Actor"] born: "1 November 1943" died: "12 April 2019" reviewed_on_fi1m: 3 average_fi1m_score: 69 average_as: "actor" average_over: 3 updated: "2026-09-20T05:28:27.647454+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # John McEnery Actor. Born 1 November 1943 in Birmingham, England, UK. Died 12 April 2019. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 1 November 1943, Birmingham, England, UK - **Died:** 12 April 2019 - **Active:** 1968–1990 - **Average Fi1m score:** 69, as actor, over 3 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1960s 75 (1), 1970s 58 (1), 1990s 74 (1) - **Fi1m against the critics:** 69 to 59 across 3 titles - **Score spread:** 0 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 1 under 60 - **Lead roles:** 0 of 1 acting credits billed first or second - **Genres:** Drama 3, History 2, Crime 1, Romance 1, War 1 - **Screen time:** 7 hours of reviewed films - **Box office:** $101m across 2 films with figures - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McEnery, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1701025, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0568491/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/24498 ## Fi1m on John McEnery > A tall, rasping, sardonic actor who made one lasting screen impression, as Zeffirelli's Mercutio in 1968, and then took his gifts back to the stage. The film roles that followed were few and scattered; the Mercutio has lasted. Most Mercutios treat the Queen Mab speech as a party piece, a chance to show their friends how quick they are. John McEnery, in Franco Zeffirelli's *Romeo and Juliet* (1968), starts it that way and then lets it get away from him. The jokes run on too long, the voice scrapes and cracks, and by the end he is talking about dreams as if one of them had followed him into the street. We were unsettled by it the first time and we still are, because McEnery lets us see that the mockery is what a frightened man does with his fear, and that is a harder thing to play than wit. It was his first big screen part and it remains the one people know. That is not the shape of a man building a film career, and McEnery never built one. He was a stage actor first, in the National Theatre company from 1966, and Mercutio brought him attention rather than a run of work. The film parts came at intervals: the title role in *Bartleby* (1970) opposite Paul Scofield, Kerensky in *Nicholas and Alexandra* (1971), a duellist's second in Ridley Scott's *The Duellists* (1977), then long gaps before *The Krays* (1990) and *Girl with a Pearl Earring* (2003). The stage took the rest. He was with the RSC through the 1970s and 80s, part of the *Nicholas Nickleby* company of 1980, doubling Mantalini and Snevellicci, and from the late 1990s he was at Shakespeare's Globe, where he played Shylock in 2007. The descriptions that recur are the ones Mercutio suggests: tall and rangy, blue-eyed, sardonic by default, a voice that could rasp and then give way. Critics reached for Nicol Williamson as the nearest comparison, and it fits: an abrasive, intuitive actor, best in flamboyant or caustic parts, the Fool, Pistol, Shylock, and not much interested in being pleasant. What the screen got, then, was a fraction. The complaint about McEnery, and it is a fair one, is that he did not much care about arranging a film career after 1968, and that the public never quite fixed him in mind as a result: a name in the credits of period pieces, an intense face in a supporting part, without the leads that would have made him familiar. His Shylock and his Fool went home with the audiences who saw them. Which leaves the Mercutio, and it is enough to be going on with. Zeffirelli's film has its faults, the verse suffers and the second half slows, but the middle is carried by its supporting cast and McEnery is the reason to stay through the first hour. Watch him in the square, showing off for his friends, and notice how quickly the showing off turns into something else. He did that on stage for the rest of his working life. We have the one record of it. ## Biography John McEnery (1943–2019) was a British actor. He trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and began his stage career with three seasons at the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool. He joined the National Theatre company in 1966. McEnery played Mercutio in Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 film adaptation of *Romeo and Juliet*, a performance that earned him a BAFTA nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. His other screen credits include the title role in *Bartleby* (1970), *Nicholas and Alexandra* (1971), *The Land That Time Forgot* (1974) and *The Duellists* (1977). He appeared in guest roles on television series including *Agatha Christie’s Poirot* and *Wallander*. His brother was the actor Peter McEnery. McEnery was married to actress Stephanie Beacham from 1973 to 1979. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, theguardian.com, themoviedb.org.* ## On Fi1m (3) - *The Krays* (1990), Fi1m 74, as Eddie Pellam — [page](https://film.one/film/the-krays.md) - *Nicholas and Alexandra* (1971), Fi1m 58, as Kerensky — [page](https://film.one/film/nicholas-and-alexandra.md) - *Romeo and Juliet* (1968), Fi1m 75, as Mercutio — [page](https://film.one/film/romeo-and-juliet-1968.md) ## Complete filmography (67) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Wallander* (2008), series, as Lars Magnusson - *Elizabeth I* (2005), series, as Jesuit Priest - *New Tricks* (2004), series, as Tony (No Ticket) Hale - *Girl with a Pearl Earring* (2003), as Apothecary - *Richard II - Live at Shakespeare's Globe* (2003), as John of Gaunt - *Waking the Dead* (2001), series, as Danny Server - *The Scarlet Pimpernel* (1999), series, as Sir William Wetherby - *Merlin* (1998), series, as Lord Ardente - *Tess of the D'Urbervilles* (1998), as Jack Durbeyfield - *Tess of the D'Urbervilles* (1998), series, as Jack Durbeyfield - *Henry V at Shakespeare's Globe* (1997), as The Governor of Harfleur / Archbishop of Canterbury / Pistol - *Dalziel and Pascoe* (1996), series, as Bill Pascoe - *Der Blinde* (1996), Actor - *When Saturday Comes* (1996), as Joe Muir - *Silent Witness* (1996), series, Actor - *Chiller* (1995), series, as Mr Keegan - *Black Beauty* (1994), as Mr. York - *Wycliffe* (1994), series, as Ephraim Gardner - *Abraham* (1993), as Königsberater - *Abraham* (1993), series, as Königsberater - *The Buddha of Suburbia* (1993), series, as Uncle Ted - *Peak Practice* (1993), series, as Ken Willett - *Dear Roy, Love Gillian* (1992), as DCS Wilf Brooks - *Thacker* (1992), as Reg Faulkner - *Prince of Shadows* (1991), as Walter - *The Storyteller: Greek Myths - Perseus & the Gorgon* (1991), as Polydektes - *The Storyteller: Greek Myths* (1991), series, as Polydektes - *Hamlet* (1990), as Osric - *The Fool* (1990), as Mr. Maclean - *The Krays* (1990), as Eddie Pellam — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/the-krays.md) - *The Plot to Kill Hitler* (1990), as Dr. Morell - *Agatha Christie's Poirot* (1989), series, as Colonel Curtiss - *Precious Bane* (1989), as Wizard Beguildy - *Little Dorrit* (1987), as Captain Hopkins - *A.D.* (1985), series, as Caligula - *Gulag* (1985), as Diczek - *Poppyland* (1985), as Algernon Swinburne - *Screen Two* (1985), series, as Algernon Swinburne - *The Bill* (1984), series, Actor - *Pope John Paul II* (1984), as Monsignor Kuczkowski - *Dramarama* (1983), series, as Mr. Burke - *Jamaica Inn* (1983), as Reverend Francis Davey - *Jamaica Inn* (1983), series, as Reverend Francis Davey - *The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby* (1982), series, Actor - *Measure for Measure* (1979), as Lucio - *The Word* (1978), series, as Florian Knight - *Will Shakespeare* (1978), series, as Hamnet Sadler - *The Duellists* (1977), as Amiable Second - *Origins of the Mafia* (1976), series, as Pietro - *Schizo* (1976), as Stephens - *Our Mutual Friend* (1976), series, as John Harmon / 'John Rokesmith' - *Galileo* (1975), as Federzoni - *The Land That Time Forgot* (1974), as Captain Von Schoenvorts - *Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs* (1974), as Wick Blagdon - *The Song of Songs* (1973), series, as Konrad - *One Russian Summer* (1973), as Vadim - *The Ragman's Daughter* (1972), as Old Man on Wagon - *Nicholas and Alexandra* (1971), as Kerensky — Fi1m 58, [page](https://film.one/film/nicholas-and-alexandra.md) - *The Boat on the Grass* (1971), as Olivier - *Great Performances* (1971), series, Actor - *Bartleby* (1970), as Bartleby - *The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun* (1970), as Philippe, l'auto-stoppeur - *Sleep is Lovely* (1968), as John - *Romeo and Juliet* (1968), as Mercutio — Fi1m 75, [page](https://film.one/film/romeo-and-juliet-1968.md) - *Much Ado About Nothing* (1967), as A Gentleman - *Othello* (1965), as Senators-Soldiers-Cypriots - *BBC Play of the Month* (1965), series, as Golitsyn --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/john-mcenery