Biography

He won a 1980 Laurence Olivier Award for 'Best Actor in a Revival' for his depiction of Hamlet, a performance made famous by his also playing the role of Hamlet's father's ghost as a regurgitated voice.

He was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2009 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to Drama.

Won two Tony Awards: in 1977 as Best Actor (Featured Role - Play) for "Comedians" and in 1991 for Best Actor (Musical) for "Miss Saigon".

Pryce was at the center of a racially-charged controversy regarding his role in the mid-1980s musical Miss Saigon. He played 'The Engineer,' a half-French Caucasian/half-Vietnamese Asian pimp, in the original London cast, but when producer Cameron Mackintosh wanted to transfer the UK cast to the original Broadway opening, the US performers' union Actors' Equity objected on the grounds that Pryce, a Welsh Caucasian, should not have been allowed to play an Asian person. Their arguments against Pryce's casting were that a White person playing an Asian one amounted to minstrelsy, denied already-scarce roles to Asian actors, and was an "affront to the Asian community." In response, Mackintosh canceled the Broadway production (despite having sold advance tickets), so Actors' Equity reversed its decision on a technicality in their bylaws that exempts producers from having to audition domestic actors for a transplanted production if the original star is deemed famous enough. The policies regarding racial casting issues that Actors' Equity set in place in response to this incident still governed Broadway casting as of 2006.

He appeared in most of Nissan's luxury car division in America, Infiniti's television ads in the mid-1990s.

'I'm not a star, I'm an actor - there's a difference!'

The older you get, the more you find yourself looking for things you used to see and liked when you were younger.

Oddly enough, I'm not religious but I'm also very fond of St Peter's in Rome. When I'm there, I always know there's a good meal not far away.

I'll read a book every now and then, but unlike most of my friends I don't always have one on the go.

I have just enough public appreciation to make me happy.