Paul Scofield
Theater Personalities

Paul Scofield Net Worth

Paul Scofield was a renowned English stage and screen actor, born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, England in 1922. He was well-known for his interpretations of Shakespearean roles, and was highly acclaimed for his distinctive voice and presence on stage and screen. He was very selective about the roles he took, and only appeared in around twenty films, as he prioritized his family over his career.
Paul Scofield is a member of Theater Personalities

Age, Biography and Wiki

Who is it? Actor
Birth Day January 21, 1922
Birth Place Birmingham, Warwickshire, England, British
Age 98 YEARS OLD
Died On 19 March 2008(2008-03-19) (aged 86)\nSussex, England
Birth Sign Aquarius
Cause of death Leukemia
Resting place St Mary's Churchyard, Balcombe
Occupation Actor
Years active 1940–2006
Spouse(s) Joy Parker (m. 1943)
Children 2

💰 Net worth: $19 Million (2024)

Paul Scofield, a highly acclaimed actor in British cinema, is expected to have a net worth of approximately $19 million by the year 2024. With an illustrious career spanning several decades, Scofield has earned a remarkable reputation for his exceptional talent and performances on stage and screen. Renowned for his captivating portrayals and persuasive acting skills, his work has garnered critical acclaim and numerous accolades throughout the years. With such achievements and a steady stream of successful projects, it is no surprise that Scofield's net worth continues to soar, solidifying his status as one of Britain's most esteemed actors.

Famous Quotes:

The door at the back of the set opened, and a small man entered. He was wearing a black suit, steel-rimmed glasses and holding a suitcase. For a moment we wondered who this stranger was and why he was wandering onto our stage. Then we realised that it was Paul, transformed. His tall body had shrunk; he had become insignificant. The new character now possessed him entirely.

Biography/Timeline

1939

In 1939, Scofield left school at the age of seventeen and began training at the Croydon Repertory Theatre. Shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War, Scofield arrived for a physical examination and was ruled unfit for Service in the British Army. He later recalled, "They found I had crossed toes. I was unable to wear boots. I was deeply ashamed."

1940

Scofield began his stage career in 1940 with a debut performance in American Playwright Eugene O'Neill's Desire Under the Elms at the Westminster Theatre, and was soon being compared to Laurence Olivier. He played at the Old Rep in Birmingham. From there he went to the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford, where he starred in Walter Nugent Monck's 1947 revival of Pericles, Prince of Tyre.

1942

Paul Scofield married Actress Joy Parker in October 1942. They had met while he played Hamlet to her Ophelia. Scofield later said, "Joy and I simply decided to be married, we were both of age and were determined. Any doubts from our families were overruled and they were the usual ones – too young, etc. We had a week out at the end of The Moon Is Down tour, married during that week, and went straight into the Whitehall Theatre."

1945

Paul and Joy Scofield had two children: Martin (born 1945) who became a Senior Lecturer in English and American literature at the University of Kent and Sarah (born 1951). When asked by Garry O'Connor how he wished to be remembered, Scofield responded, "If you have a family, that is how to be remembered." Filmmaker Michael Winner once described the Scofields as, "one of the few very happily married couples I've ever met."

1947

Also in 1947, Scofield appeared as Hamlet at the Royal National Theatre alongside a then unknown Claire Bloom as Ophelia. In her later book, Leaving a Doll's House: A Memoir, Bloom recalls that during the production she had a serious crush on Scofield. As Scofield was happily married and the Father of a son, Bloom hoped only "to be flirted with and taken some notice of." She later recalled, "I could never make up my mind which of my two Hamlets I found the more devastating: the openly homosexual, charismatic Helpmann, or the charming, shy young man from Sussex."

1956

Scofield declined the honour of a knighthood on three occasions, but was appointed CBE in 1956 and became a Companion of Honour in 2001. In 2002 he was awarded the honorary degree of D. Litt by the University of Oxford.

1958

Scofield's versatility at the height of his career is exemplified by his starring roles in theatrical productions as diverse as the musical Expresso Bongo (1958) and Peter Brook's celebrated production of King Lear (1962).

1964

Other major screen roles include the Art-obsessed Nazi colonel Von Waldheim in The Train (1964), Strether in a 1977 TV adaptation of Henry James's novel The Ambassadors, Tobias in Edward Albee's A Delicate Balance (1973), Professor Moroi in the film of János Nyíri's If Winter Comes (1980), for BBC Television; Mark Van Doren in Robert Redford's film Quiz Show (1994), and Thomas Danforth in Nicholas Hytner's film adaptation (1996) of Arthur Miller's The Crucible.

1966

He was subsequently the voice of the Dragon in another play by Robert Bolt, a children's drama The Thwarting of Baron Bolligrew. Expresso Bongo, Staircase and Amadeus were filmed with other actors, but Scofield starred in the screen versions of A Man for All Seasons (1966) and King Lear (1971).

1969

In 1969, Scofield became the sixth performer to win the Triple Crown of Acting, winning an Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for Male of the Species.

1977

In a career devoted chiefly to the classical theatre, Scofield starred in many Shakespeare plays and played the title role in Ben Jonson's Volpone in Peter Hall's production for the Royal National Theatre (1977). Highlights of his career in modern theatre include the roles of Sir Thomas More in Robert Bolt's A Man for All Seasons (1960); Charles Dyer in Dyer's play Staircase, staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1966; the definitive Laurie in John Osborne's A Hotel in Amsterdam (1968); and Antonio Salieri in the original stage production of Peter Shaffer's Amadeus (1979).

1985

According to the DVD extras documentary for the film The Shooting Party (1985), in the very first shot of the very first day of filming, all the male lead actors, including Paul Scofield, who was playing Sir Randolph Nettleby, were to come into shot on a horse-drawn shooting brake driven by the renowned film horse-master George Mossman. As they turned the first corner, the plank that Mossman was standing on broke in two and he was hurled forward and down, falling between the sets of wheels and taking the reins with him. He was struck by a horse's hoof and concussed. The horses shied and broke into a gallop.

1989

Actress Helen Mirren, who appeared with Scofield in the 1989 film When the Whales Came, said of him, "He aspires to the soul rather than the character. He has no sense of personal ambition. He's one of our great, great actors. We're lucky to have him."

1990

In 1990, actor and filmmaker Mel Gibson, who played Scofield's son in Franco Zeffirelli's Hamlet, compared the experience to being "thrown into the ring with Mike Tyson."

2004

In 2004, a poll of actors of the Royal Shakespeare Company, including Ian McKellen, Donald Sinden, Janet Suzman, Ian Richardson, Antony Sher and Corin Redgrave, acclaimed Scofield's Lear as the greatest Shakespearean performance ever. Scofield appeared in many radio dramas for BBC Radio 4, including in later years plays by Peter Tinniswood: On the Train to Chemnitz (2001) and Anton in Eastbourne (2002). The latter was Tinniswood's last work and was written especially for Scofield, an admirer of Anton Chekhov. He was awarded the 2002 Sam Wanamaker Prize.

2008

Scofield died from leukemia on 19 March 2008 at the age of 86 at a hospital near his home in rural Sussex, England. His memorial Service was held at Westminster Abbey on 19 March 2009. His wife Joy died four years later on 7 November 2012, aged 90.

2013

When asked about Claire Bloom decades later, Scofield recalled, "Sixteen years old I think – so very young and necessarily inexperienced, she looked lovely, she acted with a daunting assurance which belied entirely her inexperience of almost timid reticence. She was a very good Ophelia."

Some Paul Scofield images

About the author

Lisa Scholfield

As a Senior Writer at Famous Net Worth, I spearhead an exceptional team dedicated to uncovering and sharing the stories of pioneering individuals. My passion for unearthing untold narratives drives me to delve deep into the essence of each subject, bringing forth a unique blend of factual accuracy and narrative allure. In orchestrating the editorial workflow, I am deeply involved in every step—from initial research to the final touches of publishing, ensuring each biography not only informs but also engages and inspires our readership.