"His Hamlet is far from mad"

People The actor Nicol Williamson has died. The announcement was made on his official website in this statement from his son:
"It’s with great sadness, and yet with a heart full of pride and love for a man who was a tremendous father, friend, actor, poet, writer and singer, that I must bring news of Nicol’s passing. Dad died peacefully in the early hours of the 16th of December after a two year all out, balls to the wall struggle against esophageal cancer. He gave it all he had: never gave up, never complained, maintained his wicked sense of humor to the end. His last words were ‘I love you’. I was with him, he was not alone, he was not in pain."
Always one my favourites thanks to his seminal appearance in Merlin in John Boorman's Excalibur, he was also the first Hamlet I reviewed at the other place, where I said:
"On first appearance, Nicol Williamson might seem a bit old for the part. Certainly, I've seen Claudius's who look younger. But that does a disservice to his performance, which commands every scene he appears in. His Hamlet is far from mad; he's using a bluff technique to search for the why's of his father's death and how he's reacting to it. Unusually. in the intimate moments, during the soliloquy's he's at his most vulnerable, as though he's unable to come to terms with these feelings, and only really comes to life when he has someone to relate himself to."
Here's an except:



Valerie Nelson has already produced an excellent obituary for the LA Times.

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