Among the most distinguished stage actors of the latter half of the 20th Century, John Neville has also served as artistic director of the prestigious Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario, Canada and has infused vigor and energy into theaters throughout the English-speaking world. Neville began his acting career with the oft-cliche role of a spear carrier in a London production of "Richard III" in 1947. By 1949, he was a member of the Birmingham Repertory Company, and the following year joined the Bristol Old Vic Company. During the early 1950s, he performed the leads in a wide array of Shakespearean and other classical roles, the highlight of which came in 1955-56 when Neville and Richard Burton alternated the roles of Othello and Iago. Also in 1956, he made his US and Broadway debuts in "Romeo and Juliet", and two years later toured the US as "Hamlet" and as Sir Andrew Aguecheek in "Twelfth Night". By 1972, Neville had become a Canadian citizen and he began working on stage in his adopted land. Neville had directed while in repertory, but he began his stage directing career in earnest with an Old Vic production of "Henry V" in 1960. In 1972, he directed "The Rivals" in Canada and in 1987, he directed "Othello" for the Stratford Festival.
Neville's acting work on film has been limited, yet memorable. He was Lord Alfred Douglas in the acclaimed "Oscar Wilde" (1960), and aged from 35 to 80 while being dashing in the title role of "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" (1989). Neville was Marmeladov in the screen adaptation of "Crime and Punishment" (1993). In 1994, he played Mr. Lawrence in the remake of "Little Women" and was an effete guest in "The Road to Wellness". He appears in the ensemble drama "Swann" (scheduled for release in 1996), about the effect of a murder on a small community.
On TV, Neville appeared in a BBC production of "Henry V" (1957), was Romeo in "Romeo and Juliet" (NBC, 1957), and appeared in "Hamlet" (CBS, 1959). He was the patriarch John Churchill in "The First Churchills", which aired on PBS' "Masterpiece Theatre" in 1971. Neville made his American series debut as Desmond, the acerbic major domo on the short-lived sitcom "Grand" (NBC, 1980). From 1995, he could be seen occasionally as 'The Well-Manicured Man' on the Fox series "The X-Files".