Timothy Dalton

Timothy Leonard Dalton Leggett (; born 21 March 1946) is a British actor. He gained international prominence as the fourth actor to portray fictional secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film series, starring in The Living Daylights (1987) and Licence to Kill (1989).

Beginning his career on stage, he made his film debut as Philip II of France in the 1968 historical drama The Lion in Winter. He took roles in the period films Wuthering Heights (1970), Cromwell (1970), and Mary, Queen of Scots (1971). Dalton also appeared in the films Flash Gordon (1980), The Rocketeer (1991), Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003), Hot Fuzz (2007) and The Tourist (2010).

On television, Dalton's role as Oliver Secombe made him one of the stars of Centennial (1978–1979). He later played Mr. Rochester in the BBC serial Jane Eyre (1983), Rhett Butler in the CBS miniseries Scarlett (1994), Rassilon in the BBC One sci-fi series Doctor Who (2009–2010), Sir Malcolm Murray on the Showtime horror drama Penny Dreadful (2014–2016), the Chief on the DC Universe/Max superhero series Doom Patrol (2019–2023), and Donald Whitfield on the Paramount+ western series 1923 (2023–2025). He portrayed Peter Townsend in the fifth season of The Crown (2022).

Early life

Timothy Leonard Dalton Leggett was born on 21 March 1946 in Colwyn Bay, Wales, to an English father, Peter Dalton Leggett, who was a captain in the Special Operations Executive (SOE) during the Second World War and was an advertising executive at the time of his son's birth; and an American mother, Dorothy Scholes, of Italian and Irish descent.