Paul Birchard

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title: "Paul Birchard" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["american-male-film-actors", "american-male-stage-actors", "american-male-television-actors", "year-of-birth-missing-(living-people)", "living-people", "american-expatriates-in-the-united-kingdom", "place-of-birth-missing-(living-people)", "followers-of-meher-baba"] description: "American actor" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Birchard" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American actor ::

::data[format=table title="infobox person"]

Field	Value
name	Paul Birchard
birth_place	United States
occupation	Film, stage, television, radio actor, voice artist
children	Ross
::

| name = Paul Birchard | birth_name = | birth_place = United States | occupation = Film, stage, television, radio actor, voice artist | birth_date = | children = Ross | spouse =

Paul Birchard is an American actor who lives in Glasgow, Scotland. He has appeared in film, television, stage and radio productions, most notably as Bud in Sweet Bird of Youth with the Royal National Theatre, Ross in The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, and Chuck in the premiere of Frank Grimes's first performed play, The Fishing Trip. Birchard is also known for his one-man stage adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald stories, a documentary film about Tennessee Williams and Konrad Hopkins which he produced and directed, and a song promoting the Glasgow Diamonds American football team.

Early life and education

Birchard grew up in Los Angeles, California, where he saw Henry Fonda acting and directing stage performances, including The Time of Your Life in 1972. He moved to the United Kingdom, and in 1981 graduated with a Diploma in Dramatic Art from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, Scotland.

Career

During the 1980s, Birchard worked as a DJ at Radio Clyde, and appeared in various stage performances including supporting roles in a touring production of The Entertainer, and pantomime.

In 1986 he wrote and recorded the song "Diamonds Rap (We Are The Diamonds)", promoting the Glasgow Diamonds American football team. CBS Sports created a video package called the "CBS Video Bowl" for the half-time interval of their worldwide broadcast of the Super Bowl in January 1987, and in a countdown from seven to one, "Diamonds Rap (We Are The Diamonds)" beat more polished rap videos by NFL teams to take the top spot.

His career continued to encompass radio and stage roles, as well as appearances on television and in films. In 1991, he appeared at the Warehouse Theatre Croydon, London, in the premiere of Frank Grimes' first performed play, The Fishing Trip. Reviewers commented, "Paul Birchard's macho Vietnam vet Chuck is unexpectedly subtle"; "the riven Pat is set against the brooding force of Paul Birchard's Chuck - who conveys menace with the minimum of histrionics."

In 1994, he adapted five of F. Scott Fitzgerald's Pat Hobby Stories into a one-man show at the Riverside Studios, London, in which he "used his broad acting talent to impersonate characters like the brash producer to the effeminate hairdresser ... The American actor's storytelling ability is so vivid that the very few props he uses - telephones, typewriters and Time magazines - are hardly needed to boost the imagination." A reviewer in The Times considered that the stories were "not F. Scott Fitzgerald at his best ... frankly, five is a handful too many. ... The fault does not really lie with Birchard's performance ... he plays numerous parts adeptly, flicking from Hobby's wannabe Sam-Spade suavity to a cute-talking broad. He conveys character simply, with a jutting jaw or a seductive finger." Two years later, he took the show to the Dublin Fringe Theatre Festival, and in 2019, performed it at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Some of his most notable roles have been at the National Theatre. He also played Benjamin's father in the London run of The Graduate. Birchard's more recent roles have been in Inherit the Wind at the Old Vic in London, where he played the town mayor and was understudy to Kevin Spacey. In Edward Albee's The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Birchard played Ross. The Guardian reviewer said, "Superb performances from Sian Thomas, John Ramm, Paul Birchard and Kyle McPhail do tremendous justice to an unnerving play", while The Stage wrote "the four-strong cast put in near definitive performances ... Paul Birchard is lugubrious longest-serving friend, Ross ... Ross’s gleeful delight in the idea of an affair is a superbly-judged precursor to his horror at the enormity of the reality."

On radio, he has been a regular guest on the Eddie Mair Live show on Radio Scotland in the early 1990s, and appeared in BBC Radio 4 plays and readings in the 1990s and 2000s. He also provided the voice over for 1998 computer game Plane Crazy, as well as the voice of one of the main characters in Crysis 2 in 2011.

On television, he appeared in a number of BBC 2 plays, including a drama about Buddy Holly in 1989, presented the World League of American Football on Scottish TV, and appeared in Spooks as a rogue CIA operative.

Birchard produced, directed and appeared in the feature-length documentary film U & Me & Tennessee: An American Romance..., which deals with a romance by correspondence between playwright Tennessee Williams and Konrad Hopkins. This film was an official selection at the 2007 Raindance Film Festival and at the Sydney Mardi Gras Film Festival.

Selected stage performances

::data[format=table] | Year | Title | Author | Theatre | Role || Director | |---|---|---|---|---| | 1988 | Death of a Salesman | Arthur Miller | Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh | | | 1991 | The Fishing Trip | Frank Grimes | Warehouse Theatre Croydon | Chuck | | 1993 | True West | Sam Shepard | Tron Theatre, Glasgow | Saul Kimmer | | 1994 | The Pat Hobby Stories | F. Scott Fitzgerald | Riverside Studios, London W6 | one-man show | | 1994 | Sweet Bird of Youth | Tennessee Williams | Lyttelton Theatre, London - Royal National Theatre | Bud | | 1994 | Johnny on a Spot | Charles MacArthur | Olivier Theatre, London - Royal National Theatre | McClure; Sergeant of State Troopers | | 1996 | The Pat Hobby Stories | F. Scott Fitzgerald | Bewleys Theatre, Dublin | one-man show | | 2009 | Inherit the Wind | Robert E. Lee and Jerome Lawrence | Old Vic, London | Mayor | | 2010 | The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? | Edward Albee | Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh | Ross | | 2015 | Death of a Salesman | Arthur Miller | Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-upon-Avon; Noël Coward Theatre, London | Older Waiter | ::

Filmography

Film

• 1985: King Solomon's Mines – German on Train (uncredited)
• 1989: Batman – Another Reporter
• 1990: Memphis Belle – Lieutenant
• 1992: La mansión de los Cthulhu – Billy
• 1998: Sista Kontraktet (The Last Contract) – Bertram Norris
• 1999: Gregory's Two Girls – American Executive
• 2001: The Tailor of Panama – Joe
• 2001: The Fourth Angel – Pilot
• 2001: Revelation – General Demolay
• 2003: Quicksand – F.B.I. Man
• 2003: Solid Air – Chris
• 2003: The Jacket – Doctor
• 2005: The White Countess – Company Director
• 2006: Alien Autopsy – Senior TV Exec
• 2007: 1408 – Mr. Innkeeper
• 2008: The Dark Knight – Cop with Fat Thug
• 2011: Hanna – Bob
• 2012: Outpost: Black Sun – Cains
• 2012: The Angels' Share – North American Bidder
• 2012: Love Bite – Reverend Lynch
• 2016: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – Hobo
• 2019: Les Temps De Marguerite – Ernest Hemingway

TV

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Writer	Role	Notes
1989	Words of Love	Philip Norman	Tommy Allsup	title=Budding talent
1991, 1992	Absolute Hell	Rodney Ackland		BBC 2 Performance
2004	A Line in the Sand (TV Movie)		Littelbaum
2007	Waterloo Road		Jerry Preston
::

Radio

::data[format=table] | Date || Title | Role | Director | Station | |---|---|---|---| | 1991 | Dracula | | Hamish Wilson | | April 1999 | Full Moon | | | | | The Sea Warrior by Leila Aboulela | | | | | Maigret: A Man's Head | | Ned Chaillet | | | One for the Road: Are You Lonely | Reader | Eilidh McCreadie | ::

Personal life

Birchard is a lifelong devotee of Meher Baba. He has four children, including Ross Matthew Birchard, who produces music as Hudson Mohawke.

References

References

1. (2 September 1982). "Henry Fonda's fine theatrical career". The Stage.
2. "Scottish Theatre Archive - Event Details".
3. (8 May 1986). "Kilmarnock. The Entertainer". The Stage.
4. (14 January 1988). "Radio Clyde DJs' show what good eggs they are". The Stage.
5. (1 August 2018). "Glasgow Diamonds rock out in hilarious American Football video". Evening Times.
6. (4 February 2011). "Watch the video of the Glasgow Diamonds 'Diamond Rap' as Superbowl Sunday nears". Daily Record.
7. (3 February 2013). "The Super Bowl's most unlikely half-time entertainment hit". The National.
8. (4 July 1991). "Croydon Warehouse. The Fishing Trip". The Stage.
9. (29 June 1991). "Croydon Warehouse. The Fishing Trip". The Guardian.
10. (22 December 1994). "Boring hack work. The Pat Hobby Stories. Riverside Studios". The Times.
11. (29 September 1996). "Living on the Fringe". Sunday Independent.
12. (10 June 2019). "THE PAT HOBBY STORIES Comes to Edinburgh Fringe".
13. Fisher, Mark. (26 April 2010). "The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?". [[The Guardian]].
14. (28 January 1994). "Listings Theatre". The List.
15. "Plane Crazy Credits (Windows)".
16. "Crysis 2 Credits (Windows)".
17. (17 May 1996). "TV. Saturday. Scottish". Lennox Herald.
18. (5 November 2008). "SHOWBIZ: Tracking down old Tennessee". Evening Times.
19. (24 June 2010). "Konrad Hopkins obituary". [[The Daily Telegraph]].
20. (11 February 1988). "Production News - Regional". The Stage.
21. (23 June 1991). "Savage parade falls out". The Observer.
22. (7 October 1993). "Glasgow. True West". The Stage.
23. (24 December 1994). "Theatre Fringe". The Guardian.
24. (23 December 1994). "Theatre Review: Amusing look at Hollywood". Hammersmith & Shepherds Bush Gazette.
25. (16 June 1994). "Theatre Week". The Stage.
26. "Sweet Bird of Youth Cast & Crew".
27. (31 March 1994). "Theatre Week". The Stage.
28. "Johnny on a Spot Cast & Crew".
29. "Inherit the Wind Cast & Crew".
30. "Inherit the Wind".
31. (22 April 2010). "The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?". The Wee Review.
32. (22 April 2010). "The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? review at Traverse Theatre Edinburgh". The Stage.
33. "Death of a Salesman".
34. (28 January 1989). "Budding talent". Reading Evening Post.
35. (4 October 1991). "TV Extra Saturday". Reading Evening Post.
36. (18 December 1992). "TV Guide". Hammersmith & Shepherds Bush Gazette.
37. (19 December 1991). "BBC Radio Scotland's dramatisation of Dracula". The Stage.
38. (12 April 1999). "Radio. Radio 4.". The Guardian.
39. (21 May 2001). "Monday Radio". The Guardian.
40. Aaron, Charles. (2015-06-29). "How Hudson Mohawke Became One of Dance's Most Exciting Auteurs".

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