Nicol Williamson

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Scottish actor, a brilliant performer on stage and screen, whose performances were sometimes marked by tempestuous behavior. He once walked off the state while performing "Hamlet" but not before throwing props at the wall. When he returned to the stage a few minutes later, he apologized to the audience which promptly forgave him. Director Tony Richardson remarked on Williamson's "inner fire" which contributed to Williamson's presence and skill but perhaps also drove his drinking and hard living. The official beginning to his acting career was in 1960 when he joined a theatre company after he did a stint in the British Army. His early career was focused on Shakespearean, other classical and intensely dramatic plays. Notable movie roles were a portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in the 1976 movie, "The Seven Percent Solution" and Merlin in the 1981 movie, "Excalibur." His wife was noted actress Jill Townsend; they divorced after having one son. He died of esophageal cancer on December 16, 2011 in Amsterdam. Link to Wikipedia biography