Topic: Timothy Dalton

Timothy Peter Dalton (born 21 March 1946) is a Welsh actor. He is known for portraying James Bond in The Living Daylights (1987) and Licence to Kill (1989), as well as Rhett Butler in the television miniseries Scarlett (1994), an original sequel to Gone with the Wind. In addition, he is known for his roles in Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights (1970), Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre (1983), "Prince Barin" in "Flash Gordon" (1980), Shakespearean films and plays such as Romeo and Juliet, King Lear, Henry V, Love's Labour's Lost, Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2.

Dalton was born in Colwyn Bay, Wales, to an American mother of Italian and Irish descent, and an English father, who was a captain in the Special Operations Executive during World War II and had become an advertising executive at the time of his son's birth. Before his fourth birthday, the family relocated to Belper, Derbyshire. While in Belper, he attended the Herbert Strutt Grammar School. As a teenager, he was a member of the Air Cadets but at age 16 saw Macbeth and Dalton's life changed. He left school in 1964 to enroll in the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and tour with the National Youth Theatre. Dalton did not complete his RADA studies, leaving the academy in 1966 to join the ensemble of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre.

Dalton quickly moved to television, working mainly with BBC and, in 1968, made his film debut as Philip II of France in The Lion in Winter. This was the first of several period dramas, which included a remake of Wuthering Heights in 1970 in which he portrayed the tortured Heathcliff. In 1968, Albert Broccoli asked the 22-year-old Dalton to take over for Sean Connery in the role of James Bond. This would not be the last time Dalton turned the role down. After a few more films, Dalton took a break in 1971 to concentrate on the theatre, performing with the Royal Shakespeare Company and other troupes throughout the world.