The Story So Far

Born in Bradford in 1938, Paul was early aware of two facts: that Henry Irving had died there and that J.B.Priestley had lived in the house opposite. As a schoolboy, he did many broadcasts from Manchester in Children's Hour, where he actually worked with someone who'd acted with Sir Henry Irving. At the Grammar School, he would go up for his art prize in the wake of thunderous applause for one David Hockney. In Manchester he continued broadcasting in plays, documentaries and poetry readings; studied Modern Languages at the University; taught briefly at the Grammar School (just after Ben Kingsley and just before Nicholas Hytner were pupils there) and after a period at Liverpool Rep, he returned to Manchester as an Actor/Director at the Library Theatre for seven years. A period of freelancing lead to work for Alan Ayckbourn at Scarborourgh, where he directed A View From the Bridge in-the-round; to Birmingham Rep, where he took over the role of Othello at a weekend's notice; and finally to the RSC in 1978, where he stayed for sixteen years playing many parts, some, Gremio, Leonato and Belarius, twice, and touring nationally and in Europe. His most galvanizing experience at the RSC was having to go on as King Lear's understudy, half way through the show. After leaving the RSC, Paul worked in the West End, in St. Joan at the Strand with Imogen Stubbs; in The Woman in Black at the Fortune and on a national tour; at the NT as the Storyteller in Peter Pan; Chichester in The Visit with Lauren Bacall; Paris and Covent Garden in the opera King Arthur and as the Magistrate in The Archers who sent Susan Carter to jail and caused a national uproar.

In 2000, he returned for a year to the RSC to play Ross in Gregory Doran's production of Macbeth, with Sir Antony Sher and Harriet Walter. The show toured to America and Japan and was finally filmed for TV.

Returning briefly to his old stamping-ground in Greater Manchester, he won a Best Actor award from the Manchester Evening News for his performace as Harry in David Storey's Home. At the Edinburgh Fringe in 2008 he was awarded four stars and put on the "Best of the Fest" list for his One Man Show Hitler Alone which he has also recently presented in Bolton, Port Erin - Isle of Man and Theatr Clwyd - North Wales.