Editing Tom Courtenay (section)

=== 1960–1977 ===
[[File:Tom Courtenay 4 Allan Warren.jpg|thumb|left|190px|Courtenay in 1973]]
Courtenay made his stage debut in 1960 with the [[Old Vic]] theatre company at the Lyceum, Edinburgh, before taking over from [[Albert Finney]] in the title role of ''[[Billy Liar]]'' at the [[Cambridge Theatre]] in 1961. In 1963, he played that same title role in the film version, directed by [[John Schlesinger]].<ref name="three">{{cite magazine|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|magazine=Filmink|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-british-moguls-nat-cohen-part-three-1962-68/|date=21 January 2025|access-date=21 January 2025|title=Forgotten British Moguls: Nat Cohen – Part Three (1962-68)}}</ref> He said of Albert Finney, "We both have the same problem, overcoming the flat harsh speech of [[Northern England|the North]]."<ref>''Films in Review'', February 1984.</ref>

Courtenay's film debut was in 1962 with ''[[Private Potter]]'', directed by Finnish-born director [[Caspar Wrede]], who had first spotted Courtenay while he was still at RADA. This was followed by ''[[The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (film)|The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner]]'', directed by [[Tony Richardson]], and ''[[Billy Liar (film)|Billy Liar]]'', two highly acclaimed films and performances which helped usher in the [[British New Wave]] of the early-to-mid-1960s. For these performances Courtenay was awarded the 1962 [[BAFTA Award]] for most promising newcomer and the 1963 [[BAFTA Award]] for best actor respectively. He also was the first to record the song ''[[Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter]]'', doing so for the TV play ''The Lads''. The song was released by [[Decca Records|Decca]] on a 45 rpm record.

For his role as the dedicated revolutionary leader Pasha Antipov in ''[[Doctor Zhivago (film)|Doctor Zhivago]]'' (1965), he was nominated for an [[Academy Award]] for [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor|Best Supporting Actor]], but was bested by [[Martin Balsam]]. Among his other well-known films is ''[[King & Country]]'', directed by [[Joseph Losey]], where he played opposite [[Dirk Bogarde]]; the all-star war film, ''[[Operation Crossbow (film)|Operation Crossbow]]'', directed by [[Michael Anderson (director)|Michael Anderson]] (starring [[George Peppard]] and [[Sophia Loren]]); ''[[King Rat (film)|King Rat]]'', directed by [[Bryan Forbes]] and costarring [[James Fox]] and [[George Segal]]; and ''[[The Night of the Generals]]'', directed by [[Anatole Litvak]] with [[Peter O'Toole]] and [[Omar Sharif]]. He provided physical slapstick comedy in the ultimately chilling anti-nuke black comedy ''[[The Day the Fish Came Out]]'' in 1967. In 1969 and 1971, he was in two spy-comedies, ''[[Otley]]'' (in the title role) along with ''[[To Catch a Spy|Catch Me A Spy]]'' (1970) starring [[Kirk Douglas]]; and previously, in 1968, he co-starred in a serious film of that genre, ''[[A Dandy in Aspic]]'' (1968), opposite [[Laurence Harvey]]. Courtenay's working relationship with Wrede returned to film when he played the title role in the latter's 1970 production of ''[[One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (film)|One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich]]''.

Despite being catapulted to fame by the aforementioned films, Courtenay has said that he has not particularly enjoyed film acting;<ref name=cavendish>{{cite news| title=A master in the round| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/4725420/A-master-in-the-round.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/4725420/A-master-in-the-round.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live| first=Dominic| last=Cavendish| newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]| date=3 September 2001| access-date=10 October 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref> from the mid-1960s he concentrated more on stage work, although in a later Telegraph interview on 4/20/2005, he admitted "I slightly overdid the anti-film thing". In 1968, Courtenay began a long association with [[Manchester]] when he played in ''[[The Playboy of the Western World]]'' for the Century Theatre at [[Manchester University]] directed by [[Michael Elliott (director)|Michael Elliott]]. In 1969, Courtenay played Hamlet ([[John Nettles]] playing Laertes) for 69 Theatre Company at University Theatre in Manchester, this being the precursor of the [[Royal Exchange Theatre]], which was founded in 1976 where he was to give many performances, firstly under the direction of Casper Wrede.<ref name=braham>{{cite book| last=Murray| first=Braham| title=The Worst It Can be is A Disaster| publisher=Bloomsbury Methuen Drama| date=7 September 2007| isbn=978-0713684902}}{{page needed|date=October 2017}}</ref> His first roles for the Royal Exchange were as Faulkland in [[Richard Brinsley Sheridan]]'s [[The Rivals]] and the hero of [[Heinrich von Kleist]]'s ''The Prince of Homburg''. Since then he has played a variety of roles, including in 1999 the leading role in the theatre's production of ''[[King Lear]]'', and in 2001 ''[[Uncle Vanya]]''.