William Attenborough (born 26 June 1991) is an English actor and climate campaigner.
Early life Attenborough was born in Hammersmith, London. He is the son of theatre director Michael Attenborough and actress Karen Lewis, the grandson of actor-director Richard Attenborough and actress Sheila Sim, as well as great-nephew of naturalist Sir David Attenborough.
He is Jewish. His great-grandparents also adopted two Jewish refugee girls from the 1938-39 .
On 26 December 2004, his aunt Jane Holland and 15-year-old cousin, Lucy, were killed in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
Career Attenborough played the lead role in Jeremy Herrin's production of Another Country in the West End, and starred opposite Nicole Kidman onstage in Photograph 51. He has had roles in Sam Mendes-produced The Hollow Crown, Channel 4's Utopia, Home Fires, Denial starring Rachel Weisz, and the Oscar-winning Dunkirk.
Attenborough won The Moth London Grandslam in 2018. In 2019, he played Ed Faulkner in The Outpost, based on Jake Tapper's book on the war in Afghanistan. He stars in BBC One's Our Girl as Oliver Hurst.
As a campaigner for 350.org, Attenborough helped secure mayor of London Sadiq Khan's commitment to shift City Hall's £5bn pension fund out of fossil fuel investments. Attenborough also launched a campaign with actors Leila Mimmack and Mark Rylance that successfully moved Equity's pension investments out of fossil fuels and into clean energy.
In 2023, he co-founded the Green Rider campaign, which enables actors and film workers to take action on climate change within the screen industry.
Personal life Attenborough identifies as queer.
Filmography Film +YearTitleRoleNotes2003Kaena: The ProphecySamboEnglish version; voice2016DenialThomas Skelton-Robinson2017DunkirkSecond Lieutenant2018Hunter KillerKaplanWhere Hands TouchGunter2019The OutpostPV1 Ed Faulkner2024TouchdownJerryNo Way UpKyle
Television YearTitleRoleNotes1998Holding the BabyJoshEpisode: "Au revoir l'amour"2012The Hollow CrownGloucester2 episodes2014In the FleshWilliam SmithEpisode #2.2UtopiaBenEpisode #2.32015Father BrownJacob FrancisEpisode: "The Time Machine"Midwinter of the SpiritJames Lydon3 episodesYou, Me and the ApocalypseBobby Jr.Episode: "What Happens to Idiots"2015–2016Home FiresDavid Brindsley8 episodes2016War & PeaceArtillery OfficerEpisode #1.5Post CoitalHal6 episodes2017–2018Major CrimesDylan / Carl4 episodes2020Our Girl2nd Lt. Hurst6 episodes2023The DiplomatStuart Baron1 episode2025OutrageousJoss6 episodes
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