Sir Derek Jacobi Receives Critic's Circle’s 2023 Rosebowl for Distinguished Service to the Arts

Sir Derek Jacobi received the Critic's Circle’s 2023 Rosebowl for Distinguished Service to the Arts. The event took place on November 7th at the National Liberal Club. Jacobi received the award from Kate Maltby and Rosemary Waugh, outgoing and incoming Chair of the Theatre section.

Each year since 1988 The Critics' Circle has presented an award for Distinguished Service to the Arts, voted for by all members of the Circle, embracing Dance, Drama, Film, Music, Visual Arts and Architecture. This performing arts Award takes the form of an engraved crystal rose bowl, presented at a celebratory luncheon.

About Sir Derek Jacobi

Sir Derek George Jacobi CBE (/ˈdʒækəbi/; born 22 October 1938) is an English actor. Jacobi is known for his work at the Royal National Theatre and for his film and television roles. He has received numerous accolades including a BAFTA Award, two Olivier Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and a Tony Award. He was given a knighthood for his services to theatre by Queen Elizabeth II in 1994.

Jacobi started his professional acting career with Laurence Olivier as one of the founding members of The National Theatre. He has appeared in numerous Shakespearean stage productions including Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing, Macbeth, Twelfth Night, The Tempest, King Lear, and Romeo and Juliet. Jacobi received the Laurence Olivier Award, for the title role in Cyrano de Bergeracin 1983 and Malvolio in Twelfth Night in 2009. He also won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his role as Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing in 1985.

Jacobi has also made numerous television appearances including starring as Claudius in the BBC series I, Claudius (1976), for which he won the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor. He received two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie for The Tenth Man (1988), and Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for Frasier (2001). He is also known for his roles in the medieval drama series Cadfael (1994–1998), the HBO film The Gathering Storm (2002), the BBC sci-fi series Doctor Who(2005) as an incarnation of The Master, the ITV sitcom Vicious (2013-2016) and in BBC's Last Tango in Halifax (2012–2020). He portrayed Edward VIII, the Duke of Windsor, in the third season of the acclaimed Netflix series The Crown in 2019.

Though principally a stage actor, Jacobi has appeared in a number of films, including Othello (1965), The Day of the Jackal (1973), Henry V (1989), Dead Again (1991), Hamlet (1996), Nanny McPhee (2005), The Riddle (2007), My Week with Marilyn (2011), Anonymous (2011), Cinderella (2015), and Murder on the Orient Express (2017). Jacobi portrayed Senator Gracchus in Ridley Scott's Gladiator(2000), later reprising his role for its sequel, Gladiator II (2024). Jacobi has also earned two Screen Actors Guild Awards along with the ensemble cast for Robert Altman's Gosford Park (2001), and Tom Hooper's The King's Speech (2010).