Alun Armstrong (born 17 July 1946) is an English
character actor. Armstrong grew up in
County Durham in
North East England. He first became interested in acting through Shakespeare productions at his
grammar school. Since his career began in the early 1970s, he has played, in his words, "the full spectrum of characters from the grotesque to musicals... I always play very colourful characters, often a bit crazy, despotic, psychotic."