Age: 76
male
William Francis Nighy (born 12 December 1949) is an English actor. Known for his work on screen and stage, he has received numerous awards, including two BAFTA Awards, a Golden Globe Award and nominations for an Academy Award and a Tony Award. Nighy started his career with the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool and made his London debut with the Royal National Theatre starting with The Illuminatus! in 1977. There he gained acclaim for his roles in David Hare's Pravda in 1985, Harold Pinter's Betrayal in 1991, Tom Stoppard's Arcadia in 1993, and Anton Chekov's The Seagull in 1994. He received a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor nomination for his performance in Blue/Orange in 2001. He made his Broadway debut in Hare's The Vertical Hour in 2006, and returned in the 2015 revival of Hare's Skylight earning a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play nomination. Early film roles include in the comedies Still Crazy (1998), and Blow Dry (1999) before his breakout role in Love Actually (2003) which earned him a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor. He soon gained recognition portraying Davy Jones in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series (2006-2007), and Viktor in the Underworld film series (2003-2009). Other films include Shaun of the Dead (2004), The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005), The Constant Gardener (2005), Notes on a Scandal (2006), Hot Fuzz (2007), Valkyrie (2008), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010), The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012), About Time (2013), Emma (2020), and Living (2022), the last of these earning him his first career Academy Award nomination. Nighy has gained acclaim for his roles in television earning a British Academy Television Award for Best Actor for his performance in BBC One series State of Play (2003), and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for the BBC film Gideon's Daughter (2007). He's also known for his roles in HBO's The Girl in the Café (2006) and PBS's Page Eight (2012).
In life, Spawn was Albert Francis Simmons, who was born in Detroit, Michigan, as the second eldest of three children born to Bernard Simmons, a traveling salesman, and Esther Simmons, a devil worshipper. Simmons was once a very intelligent, physically strong, and highly decorated officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, attaining the rank of Lieutenant Colonel while serving with Force Recon. He later joined the Secret Service, where he became a high-ranking official who was recruited into the Central Intelligence Agency. Once he joined the CIA, Simmons joined the U.S. Security Group, an umbrella agency encompassing the CIA, NSA, and NSC, commanded by Director Jason Wynn. He became a capable assassin. During a mission in Botswana, Wynn grew tired of Simmons' increasing sense of morality and secretly hired Simmons' friend and partner Bruce Stinson (codename Chapel), to kill him. Simmons was burned to death and sent to Hell. Making a deal with the devil Malebolgia, Simmons agreed to become a Hellspawn and served Malebolgia if he was allowed to see his wife Wanda one last time. Malebolgia agreed and returned Simmons to the living realm but without most of his memories, a severely burned body, and a demonic guardian named the Violator. After his death and rebirth, Simmons, now called Spawn, arrives on Earth in a daze, off-balance and disoriented. With only vague recollections of his past, all he knows is his name and that he died. He realizes five years have passed since his death.
