Profile Text
Sewell in 2012, photo by Pprhotos
Birth Name: Rufus Frederik Sewell
Place of Birth: Hammersmith, London, England, U.K.
Date of Birth: 29 October, 1967
Ethnicity: English, Scottish, Welsh, Irish
Rufus Sewell is a British actor. His roles include the films Twenty-One (1993), Dirty Weekend , A Man of No Importance , Carrington (1995), Hamlet , Victory (1996), The Woodlanders , Dangerous Beauty , Dark City , The Very Thought of You , Illuminata , At Sachem Farm , In a Savage Land , Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence ; Bless the Child , A Knight’s Tale , Extreme Ops , The Legend of Zorro , Tristan and Isolde , The Illusionist , Paris, je t’aime ; Amazing Grace , The Holiday (2006), Downloading Nancy , Vinyan , The Tourist (2010), Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter , Hotel Noir , All Things to All Men , I’ll Follow You Down , The Sea (2013), Hercules (2014), The Devil’s Hand , Blinky Bill the Movie , Gods of Egypt , Judy (2019), The Father (2020), Old (2021), The Trouble with Jessica , The Uninvited , and Scoop (2024); the series Middlemarch , Arabian Nights , Helen of Troy , Charles II: The Power and the Passion , John Adams , Eleventh Hour , The Pillars of the Earth , Zen , Parade’s End , Restless , Victoria , The Man in the High Castle , The Pale Horse , Kaleidoscope , The Diplomat , and The Sandman ; and the made-for-tv movies Cold Comfort Farm (1995), She Creature (2001), and Killing Jesus .
His mother, Jo (Michell), is an artist and waitress. His father, William Sewell, is an Australian animator. Rufus is married to American actress Vivian Benite. He has a daughter with Ami Komai; and a son with his former wife, scriptwriter and producer Amy Gardner.
Rufus’s paternal grandfather was William Alfred Sewell (the son of Thomas Harold Sewell and Louisa Ann Whitfield). William was born in Poplar, London, England. Thomas was born in Redfern, New South Wales, Australia, the son of John Sewell, whose father was English; and of Catherine McDonald, who was born in County Wicklow, Ireland. Louisa was born in Poplar.
Rufus’s paternal grandmother was named Jessie Eileen Gladys Boyd (the daughter of Frederick Boyd). Jessie was born in Glebe, New South Wales, Australia. Frederick was born in Bathurst, New South Wales, the son of John Boyd, who was from Alloa, Clackmannanshire, Scotland; and of Amy Beuzeville Robertson.
Rufus’s maternal grandfather was Charles F. Michell (who likely was the son of Charles Frederick Michell and Ellen Marion Theobald). Charles was the son of James Michell. Ellen was the daughter of Henry Theobald.
Rufus’s maternal grandmother was Joan Gane (the daughter of William Henry Gane and Mary Jane/Jen Parry). Joan was born in Pontypool, Monmouthshire. William was the son of Joseph Gane, who was English; and of Elizabeth Jones, who was Welsh. Mary was the daughter of Walter Parry, who was Welsh; and of Emily Rodda/Rodder, who was from Gloucestershire, England.
Sources: Genealogy of Rufus’s father – https://www.wikitree.com
Rufus’s paternal grandfather, William Alfred Sewell, on the 1911 England and Wales Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Genealogy of Rufus Sewell (focusing on his mother’s side) – http://www.geni.com