Malcolm Sinclair (actor)

British actor

Malcolm Sinclair (born 5 June 1950) is a British stage and television actor and former President of Trade Union, Equity 2010–18 when he stood down after 4 terms and was replaced by Maureen Beattie. He played Assistant Chief Constable Freddy Fisher in the television series Pie in the Sky from 1994 to 1997. Malcolm's brother is Keith Sinclair, the former Bishop of Birkenhead.

A former pupil at Trinity School in Croydon, and a student at the University of Hull and Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Sinclair has performed with theatre companies such as the Royal National Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company. He has performed widely, both in Britain and internationally, in roles that have included Shakespeare (Hamlet, Malvolio), Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw, Ibsen and Noël Coward. Sinclair appeared in the play Little Lies, starring Sir John Mills, at Wyndham's Theatre, London, England, which ran from July 1983 through February 1984, written by Joseph George Caruso and produced by Robert Mackintosh and William de Silva, and was directed by Tony Tanner. The play also starred Connie Booth, Anthony Bate, Dominic Guard, Paul Hardwick, Angela Scoular, Katherine Kath, Alison Neil and Gregory Cox. After the London production, the play transferred to the Royal Alexandra Theatre, Toronto, Canada, for a limited engagement of six weeks. This production was directed by Michael Attenborough. In 2001 Sinclair won the Clarence Derwent Award for his role as Gavin Ryng Maine in the Royal National Theatre's production of House/Garden. He was also nominated for an Olivier Award as best supporting actor for his performance as Major Miles Flack in Privates on Parade. Recently he has performed in a number of BBC Radio 4 dramatisations of the Agatha Raisin book series alongside Penelope Keith. Penelope Keith stars as Agatha, while Malcolm Sinclair portrays her neighbour James Lacey, who is also an object of Agatha's affection.

In July 2010 Sinclair was elected president of Equity, the actors' and performance professionals' trade union.

In January 2014, after responding to a trailer for a new season of TV drama which failed to include a single BAME artist, the actor Danny Lee Wynter brought together a group of friends and colleagues, Ruth Wilson, Stephanie Street, Daniel Evans, Andy Pryor, Malcolm Sinclair, Kobna Holdbrook Smith, Ony Uhiara, and Matthew Xia, to find a way to inspire change in TV drama. Together they wanted to send out the message that TV drama must reflect everyone regardless of race, gender, class, sexual orientation or disability. What started as a small handful of voices soon became the Act for Change project. In 2015 The Act For Change Project became a registered charity and in 2016, Malcolm Sinclair became an ambassador for the charity. Malcolm also serves as a Trustee of ACT, the Actors' Children's Trust, and Denville Hall, the actors' care home.