Steven Berkoff
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Bibliography
Notes
On never having had a bar mitzvah, Berkoff was quoted in The Independent (July 2001): "This was the source of angst for me at an early age because everyone else was having that done to them. It's a kind of ritual crossing, a rite of passage, and if it's not done to you, you haven't been, like, stamped with the authority. I think my father didn't really have any interest in making one for me. I needed someone to say: Right, you're going to the classes and you're doing this. But he didn't. I think, actually, my father was more worried about the cost of making the party afterwards. At that time, you had to rent a hall, invite the relatives, get the catering ..."
Biography
This socially committed stage writer and director has subsidized his strikingly original London theater work with (usually) villainous film and TV roles.
Born in London and trained at the Webber-Douglas Academy and in France, Berkoff has been appearing on stage since the late 1950s, usually in his own original or adapted works, which include "Kvetch" and "Prisoner in Rio" and versions of Kafka's "The Trial" and "Metamorphosis."
Berkoff made his screen debut in Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange" (1971) and was also featured in the director's "Barry Lyndon" (1975). His feature career blossomed in the 80s with turns as generally unscrupulous characters, such as in "Octopussy" (1983). He is perhaps best known as the arch-villain of "Beverly Hills Cop" (1984), as Adolf Hitler in the TV epic "War and Remembrance" (ABC, 1988) and as the rival gangster who gets it between the eyes in "The Krays" (1990). He wrote, directed and played multiple roles in "Decadence" (1993), an adaptation of his play focusing on grotesque British aristocrats.
Filmography
Director (Feature Film)
Cast (Feature Film)
Writer (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Cast (Short)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1959
Stage debut in Arthur Miller's "A View from the Bridge"
1971
Film acting debut in "A Clockwork Orange," directed by Stanley Kubrick
1975
Played featured role in Kubrick's "Barry Lyndon"
1979
London stage directing debut, "Hamlet"
1984
Co-starred as villain Victor Maitland in "Beverly Hills Cop"
1987
Wrote and directed the off-Broadway play "Kvetch"
1993
Feature directorial debut (also starred), "Decadence"
1999
Wrote the semi-autobiographical play "East"; premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival
2000
Appeared at Joe's Pub in NYC in the one-person show "Shakespeare's Villains: A Masterclass in Evil"
2002
Returned to NYC stage in "Berkoff Is Back"; also directed
2003
Starred in the comedy feature "Nine Dead Gay Guys"
2004
Appeared in the WWII drama "Head in the Clouds" opposite Charlize Theron and Penélope Cruz
2006
Cast in the HBO movie "Pu-239"
2011
Portrayed Girolamo Savonarola, an influential priest in Florence who preaches against the corruption in the church on Showtime's "The Borgias"
2011
Joined the cast of David Fincher directed "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," based on the novel by Stieg Larsson
Videos
Movie Clip
Trailer
Family
Companions
Bibliography
Notes
On never having had a bar mitzvah, Berkoff was quoted in The Independent (July 2001): "This was the source of angst for me at an early age because everyone else was having that done to them. It's a kind of ritual crossing, a rite of passage, and if it's not done to you, you haven't been, like, stamped with the authority. I think my father didn't really have any interest in making one for me. I needed someone to say: Right, you're going to the classes and you're doing this. But he didn't. I think, actually, my father was more worried about the cost of making the party afterwards. At that time, you had to rent a hall, invite the relatives, get the catering ..."
