---
name: "Paul Scofield"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/paul-scofield"
fi1m_id: "paul-scofield"
imdb_id: "nm0006890"
tmdb_id: 13324
wikidata_id: "Q223988"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "21 January 1922"
died: "19 March 2008"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 5
average_fi1m_score: 78
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 5
updated: "2026-10-07T10:35:55.319935+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."
---

# Paul Scofield

## Identity

Paul Scofield

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/paul-scofield
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** paul-scofield
- **IMDb ID:** nm0006890
- **TMDB ID:** 13324
- **Wikidata ID:** Q223988
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Scofield, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q223988, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006890/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/13324

Actor. Born 21 January 1922 in Hurstpierpoint, West Sussex, England, UK. Died 19 March 2008.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 21 January 1922, Hurstpierpoint, West Sussex, England, UK
- **Died:** 19 March 2008
- **Active:** 1966–1996
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar (1 won · 1 nominated)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 78, as actor, over 5 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1960s 81 (1), 1980s 84 (1), 1990s 75 (3)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 76 to 71 across 4 titles
- **Score spread:** 3 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Lead roles:** 1 of 5 acting credits billed first or second
- **Genres:** Drama 5, History 5, War 1
- **Screen time:** 11 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $91m across 5 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Scofield, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q223988, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006890/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/13324

## Streaming the US now

- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Henry V*](https://film.one/film/henry-v.md) (84), [*The Crucible*](https://film.one/film/the-crucible.md) (68)
- **The Roku Channel:** [*A Man for All Seasons*](https://film.one/film/a-man-for-all-seasons.md) (81), [*Hamlet*](https://film.one/film/hamlet-1990.md) (72)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Paul Scofield

> Paul Scofield answered a beat later than anyone expected and a good deal more quietly, so that a room full of louder men ended up leaning in. He made few films, and the best of them are built around that pause.

Watch what he does when asked a direct question. In *A Man for All Seasons* (1966), when Cromwell or Norfolk puts the oath to Thomas More, Scofield's eyes go somewhere else for a moment before he answers, as if he were checking the statute one last time, and the answer, when it comes, is quieter than the question. He never underlines. He never rushes. Other actors show you a man thinking; Scofield shows you a man who has already thought and is deciding how much to tell you.

He was a stage actor first and stayed one. He began professionally in 1940, went through Birmingham Repertory, and was doing Shakespeare at Stratford from 1946. More came to him in Robert Bolt's play in London in 1960 and on Broadway the following year, and by the time Fred Zinnemann filmed it in 1966 the part had been in his mouth for six years. It shows, in the best way. Afterwards he went back to the theatre, with major roles at the National in the 1970s, and let the films come to him: Peter Brook's *King Lear* (1971), the French King in Kenneth Branagh's *Henry V* (1989), Judge Danforth in *The Crucible* (1996).

The voice is what everyone mentions, and rightly; it could go from a rumble to something near falsetto without visible effort. What interests us is how seldom he used the top of it. He said of More that "The way More sounded came out of my characterization of him as a lawyer. His dryness of mind, I found, led him to use a sort of dryness of speech." That is the whole method. He worked out who the man was and let the sound follow. The speech in the garden at Chelsea, explaining to Corin Redgrave's William Roper why you do not cut down the law to get at the Devil, tightened our throat, and it is a lecture on statute delivered without a raised voice.

Twenty-eight years later, in Robert Redford's *Quiz Show* (1994), he plays Mark Van Doren and the same stillness does something different. Here it makes dignity attractive rather than self-important, and it is the reason the film finds these people harder to judge than the fraud is to condemn. It is a supporting part and he does not push it forward. We could have watched a great deal more of him.

The complaint, and it is a fair one, is that there is not enough of him on film. The stage came first and he did not pretend otherwise, and screen stardom of the ordinary sort was never on offer to a man who always looked as though he was weighing what you had just said. If you have seen the two we have reviewed, go to Brook's *King Lear* next. If you have seen neither, start in the garden at Chelsea.

## Biography

Paul Scofield (1922–2008) was an English actor. He trained at the Croydon Repertory Theatre School and the Mask Theatre School in London. He began his career in repertory theatre, including with the Birmingham Repertory Theatre and at Stratford-upon-Avon.

Scofield received the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play in 1962 for his performance as Sir Thomas More in the Broadway production of *A Man for All Seasons*. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for reprising the role in the 1966 film adaptation. In 1969 he won a Primetime Emmy Award for *Male of the Species*. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Mark Van Doren in *Quiz Show* (1994) and won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for *The Crucible* (1996).

Scofield was appointed CBE in 1956 and Companion of Honour in 2001. He declined a knighthood.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, britannica.com, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (5)

- *The Crucible* (1996), Fi1m 68, as Judge Thomas Danforth — [page](https://film.one/film/the-crucible.md)
- *Quiz Show* (1994), Fi1m 84, as Mark Van Doren — [page](https://film.one/film/quiz-show.md)
- *Hamlet* (1990), Fi1m 72, as The Ghost — [page](https://film.one/film/hamlet-1990.md)
- *Henry V* (1989), Fi1m 84, as French King — [page](https://film.one/film/henry-v.md)
- *A Man for All Seasons* (1966), Fi1m 81, as Thomas More — [page](https://film.one/film/a-man-for-all-seasons.md)

## Complete filmography (46)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Discovering Hamlet* (2011), as The Ghost (archive footage)
- *Kurosawa* (2000), as Kurosawa (voice)
- *Animal Farm* (1999), as Boxer (voice)
- *Rashi: A Light After The Dark Ages* (1999), as Narrator (voice)
- *Robinson in Space* (1997), as Narrator (voice)
- *The Crucible* (1996), as Judge Thomas Danforth — Fi1m 68, [page](https://film.one/film/the-crucible.md)
- *The Little Riders* (1996), as Grandpa Roden
- *Martin Chuzzlewit* (1994), series, as Old Martin Chuzzlewit / Anthony Chuzzlewit
- *Genesis: The Creation and the Flood* (1994), as Narrator (voice)
- *Quiz Show* (1994), as Mark Van Doren — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/quiz-show.md)
- *London* (1994), as Narrator (voice)
- *Utz* (1992), as Dr. Vaclav Orlik
- *Hamlet* (1990), as The Ghost — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/film/hamlet-1990.md)
- *Henry V* (1989), as French King — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/henry-v.md)
- *When the Whales Came* (1989), as The Birdman
- *The Attic: The Hiding of Anne Frank* (1988), as Otto Frank
- *Mister Corbett's Ghost* (1987), as Mr. Corbett
- *Nineteen Nineteen* (1985), as Alexander Scherbatov
- *Summer Lightning* (1985), as Old Robert Clarke
- *Anna Karenina* (1985), as Karenin
- *A Kind of Alaska* (1984), as Dr. Hornby
- *The Life and Times of Don Luis Buñuel* (1984), as Narrator (voice)
- *A Song At Twilight* (1982), as Hugo Latymer
- *Come Into The Garden Maud* (1982), as Verner Conklin
- *Celebrity Playhouse* (1981), series, as James Callifer
- *The Potting Shed* (1981), as James Califer
- *The Curse of King Tut's Tomb* (1980), as Narrator (voice)
- *The Ambassadors* (1977), as Lewis Lambert Strether
- *Playhouse* (1974), series, as Verner Conklin, Sir Hugo Latymer
- *A Delicate Balance* (1973), as Tobias
- *Scorpio* (1973), as Sergei Zharkov
- *Surrender To Everest* (1971), as Narrator
- *The Hotel in Amsterdam* (1971), Actor
- *Bartleby* (1970), as The Accountant
- *King Lear* (1970), as King Lear
- *The Red Tent* (1969), as Main Judge (uncredited)
- *Male of the Species* (1969), series, as Sir Emlyn Bowen, Q.C.
- *ITV Saturday Night Theatre* (1969), series, as Sir Emlyn Bowen, Q.C., Laurie
- *Male of the Species* (1969), as Sir Emlyn Bowen, Q. C.
- *Tell Me Lies* (1968), Actor
- *A Man for All Seasons* (1966), as Thomas More — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/film/a-man-for-all-seasons.md)
- *BBC Play of the Month* (1965), series, as Lewis Lambert Strether
- *The Train* (1964), as von Waldheim
- *Carve Her Name with Pride* (1958), as Tony Fraser
- *That Lady* (1955), as King Philip II of Spain
- *Hallmark Hall of Fame* (1951), series, as Narrator (voice)

## Gallery

- ![Paul Scofield](https://film.one/media/person/84022/gallery-321ee52f17cb.jpg) Paul Scofield — Allan warren, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Paul_Scofield_Allan_Warren.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![The gravestone of the actor Paul Scofield and his wife Joy in St. Mary's churchyard, Balcombe, West Sussex. (2016)](https://film.one/media/person/84022/gallery-5467abf6cab0.jpg) The gravestone of the actor Paul Scofield and his wife Joy in St. Mary's churchyard, Balcombe, West Sussex. (2016) — Antiquary, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f8/Paul_Scofield%27s_grave.jpg/1280px-Paul_Scofield%27s_grave.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![The gravestone of the actor Paul Scofield and his wife Joy in St. Mary's churchyard, Balcombe, West Sussex. (2016)](https://film.one/media/person/84022/gallery-c9b95460b402.jpg) The gravestone of the actor Paul Scofield and his wife Joy in St. Mary's churchyard, Balcombe, West Sussex. (2016) — Antiquary, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/27/Paul_Scofield%27s_gravestone.JPG/1280px-Paul_Scofield%27s_gravestone.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![The gravestone of the actor Paul Scofield and his wife Joy in St. Mary's churchyard, Balcombe, West Sussex. (2016)](https://film.one/media/person/84022/gallery-1ac12abc0cb4.jpg) The gravestone of the actor Paul Scofield and his wife Joy in St. Mary's churchyard, Balcombe, West Sussex. (2016) — Antiquary, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c6/Paul_Scofield%27s_gravestone.jpg/1280px-Paul_Scofield%27s_gravestone.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Paul Scofield](https://film.one/media/person/84022/gallery-681427797fef.jpg) Paul Scofield — Image via TMDB
- ![Paul Scofield taken in photographer's studio (1972)](https://film.one/media/person/84022/gallery-ed1e2781d529.jpg) Paul Scofield taken in photographer's studio (1972) — Allan warren, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a4/Paul_Scofield_10_Allan_Warren.jpg/1280px-Paul_Scofield_10_Allan_Warren.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Paul Scofield at photographer's studio london (1973)](https://film.one/media/person/84022/gallery-aa18a8265c78.jpg) Paul Scofield at photographer's studio london (1973) — Allan warren, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7f/Paul_Scofield_2_Allan_Warren.jpg/1280px-Paul_Scofield_2_Allan_Warren.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 1 won, 1 nominated

- 1995: Best Supporting Actor (nominated), for *Quiz Show*
- 1967: Best Actor (won), for *A Man for All Seasons*

### BAFTA Film Awards — 2 won

- 1997: Best Actor in a Supporting Role (won), for *The Crucible*
- 1967: Best Actor in a Leading Role (won), for *A Man for All Seasons*

### Golden Globes — 1 won

- 1967: Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama (won), for *A Man for All Seasons*

### Primetime Emmy Awards — 1 won

- 1969: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie (won)

### Other awards — 1 won

- Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play 1962: Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play (won), for *A Man for All Seasons*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© 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/paul-scofield