Anthony Calf

Acting

Anthony Calf

Born 1959-05-04 · Hammersmith, London, England, UK

Anthony Calf (born 4 May 1959) is an English actor with an extensive career across theatre, television, and film. Born in 1950s London, he trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) before making his professional screen debut in the early 1980s. Calf is widely recognized for his roles in prominent period dramas and feature films, including Great Expectations (1989), The Madness of King George (1994), Anna Karenina (1997), and The Children Act (2017). On television, his notable credits include Pride and Prejudice (1995) and New Tricks. In addition to his screen work, Calf has maintained a distinguished career in British theatre, performing regularly with the Royal National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Acting credits

De Gaulle: Résistance poster
7.8

June, 1940. France collapses and signs the armistice. In the midst of the chaos, one man refuses to give up. Alone against the odds, this unknown general flees to London to save what remains of freedom.

De Gaulle: Résistance

2026

De Gaulle: Liberté poster
7.8

Part two of a two-part biopic following French army officer Charles De Gaulle's life and political commitment between 1940 and 1945, and trace his development towards a political career.

De Gaulle: Liberté

2026

The Man Who Knew Infinity poster
7.2

Growing up poor in Madras, India, Srinivasa Ramanujan Iyengar earns admittance to Cambridge University during WWI, where he becomes a pioneer in mathematical theories with the guidance of his professor, G.H. Hardy.

The Man Who Knew Infinity

2016

I Came By poster
6.3

A rebellious young graffiti artist, who targets the homes of the wealthy elite, discovers a shocking secret that leads him on a journey endangering himself and those closest to him.

I Came By

2022

King Lear poster
6.1

An aging King invites disaster, when he abdicates to his corrupt, toadying daughters, and rejects his loving and honest one.

King Lear

2018

Beau Brummell: This Charming Man poster
5.2

This BBC historical drama stars James Purefoy as Beau Brummell, the original sharp-dressed dandy of 18th-century London. A socialite responsible for inventing the modern suit, Brummell befriends and restyles Prince Regent of Wales.

Beau Brummell: This Charming Man

2006

The Children Act poster
6.6

In the midst of a marital crisis, a High Court judge must decide if she should order a life-saving blood transfusion for a teen with cancer despite his family's refusal to accept medical treatment for religious reasons.

The Children Act

2018

Anna Karenina poster
6.1

In Imperial Russia, Anna, wife of the officer Karenin, goes to Moscow to visit her brother. On the way, she meets charming cavalry officer Vronsky, to whom she's immediately attracted. But in St. Petersburg’s high society, a relationship like this could destroy a woman’s reputation.

Anna Karenina

1997

The Madness of King George poster
6.8

Aging King George III of England is exhibiting signs of madness, a problem little understood in 1788. As the monarch alternates between bouts of confusion and near-violent outbursts of temper, his hapless doctors attempt the ineffectual cures of the day. Meanwhile, Queen Charlotte and Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger attempt to prevent the king's political enemies, led by the Prince of Wales, from usurping the throne.

The Madness of King George

1994

Straightheads poster
5.3

After surviving a gang rape and mugging, a businesswoman and her younger boyfriend plot to murder their attackers, but find themselves conflicted about carrying out their plans.

Straightheads

2007

Sisi & I poster
6.2

After an elaborate application process, Empress Elisabeth of Austria hires Countess Irma as her new lady-in-waiting and takes her to her summer residence on Corfu. As the two women become closer there, this soon leads to tensions back in Vienna.

Sisi & I

2023

Absolute Hell poster
6.0

Black comedy set in Soho, London, right after World War II. Half of the fun is seeing a slew of very familiar faces kick up their heels as gay men, lesbians, party-girls, drunks, and drag queens. Originally aired as part of the anthology series "Performance."

Absolute Hell

1991

FairyTale: A True Story poster
6.4

In 1917, two children take a photograph, which is soon believed by some to be the first scientific evidence of the existence of fairies. Based on the true story of the Cottingley Fairies.

FairyTale: A True Story

1997

Oxford Blues poster
5.5

A young American hustler in Las Vegas spots a rich English Lady. Smitten, he pursues her to England, where his only chance of getting together with her is to enroll in Oxford and join the rowing team.

Oxford Blues

1984

Partygate poster
6.9

Karaoke, suitcases of wine, ambushing cake... this factual drama tells the story of Covid from inside 10 Downing Street as staff kicked back at lockdown-breaching parties

Partygate

2023

Lorna Doone poster
5.8

The year is 1675. England is threatened by religious and political rivalries. King Charles II's Catholic brother, James, is next in line for the throne, but many Protestants put their faith in Charles' illegitimate son, The Duke of Monmouth. On the king's death, conflict is inevitable... Over seven days journey from London, Exmoor is a primitive and lawless area. Here, farmer Jack Ridd lives with his wife Sarah, son John, and two daughters. The only shadow over their simple life is cast by the notorious outlaw family the Doones. The aristocratic Doones were banished from their ancestral lands and now live through looting, theft, and murder. Their brutality is legendary...

Lorna Doone

2001

A Teacher's Gift poster
NR

An ambitious Hindi language teacher in London, Rohan is under pressure for an arranged marriage with a smart Indian woman. But when a sophisticated Englishman enrols in his class, he develops a bond with him through shared interests in literature and cricket despite their age and cultural differences. A series of events leads him back to India where everyone must confront their past and decide the future.

A Teacher's Gift

2025

The Strange Case of Sherlock Holmes & Arthur Conan Doyle poster
6.6

What led Arthur Conan Doyle to create, and then destroy the world famous detective, Sherlock Holmes? This compelling drama explores the dark secrets that surround the author and his creation.

The Strange Case of Sherlock Holmes & Arthur Conan Doyle

2005

The Hotel In Amsterdam poster
NR

Six London friends, whose lives and work are overshadowed by a demanding film producer, flee the country for a weekend to escape his clutches. Having managed to escape for a rare weekend away from the nameless director's demands, the friends subsequently discover that it is hard to shake off his influence, even whilst safely ensconced in a hotel in Amsterdam. A revival of the John Osborne play filmed at The Donmar and broadcast on BBC4 in 2004

The Hotel In Amsterdam

2004

Doctor Who: The Visitation poster
7.2

In 17th century England, the Doctor and itinerant thespian Richard Mace uncover a plot by a crew of criminal Terileptils to wipe out humanity.

Doctor Who: The Visitation

1982

Doc Martin and the Legend of the Cloutie poster
6.6

Doctor Bamford has had enough of village life and is desperate for some distance from inquisitive Cornish neighbours. When the local estate agent shows him Tregunnt Farm # derelict and miles from anywhere # it's love at first sight. But the Bowden family from London also have their eye on the property with a view to developing the surrounding land into ugly holiday cottages. After being gazumped, the Doc decides to try and spook the family into leaving by pretending to be the Beast of Bodmin.

Doc Martin and the Legend of the Cloutie

2003

To Catch a King poster
7.0

Robert Wagner plays an American who owns a Lisbon nightclub and Teri Garr is a slightly dippy chanteuse who has stumbled across a Nazi plot to kidnap the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, living at the time (1942) in Portugal.

To Catch a King

1984

The Falklands Play poster
7.0

The Falklands Play is a dramatic account of the political events leading up to, and including, the 1982 Falklands War. The play was written by Ian Curteis, an experienced writer who had started his television career in drama, but had increasingly come to specialise in dramatic reconstructions of history. It was originally commissioned by the BBC in 1983, for production and broadcast in 1986, but was subsequently shelved by Controller of BBC One Michael Grade due to its alleged pro-Margaret Thatcher stance and jingoistic tone. This prompted a press furore over media bias and censorship.The play was not staged until 2002, when it was broadcast in separate adaptations on BBC Television and Radio.

The Falklands Play

2002

Dead Cool poster
5.0

A story about modern family relationships, as seen through the eyes of 15 year-old David. Six years after his dad dies in a car crash, David's mum moves in with the new man in her life. As the two families come together - complete with teenage step brothers and sisters, a crushingly acerbic granny and one feisty, American self-help guru ex-wife - David has fantasies of his father's ghost returning to disrupt the new step-family and test its survival.

Dead Cool

2005