Childhood & Early Life
Linus Roache was born on February 1, 1964, in Manchester, England, to renowned English actors William Roache and his first wife, Anna Cropper. He is the eldest of the five siblings in the family. His sister Venya passed away in 2018, at age 50. He had two half-sisters, Verity Elizabeth, born in 1981, and Edwina, born in 1982. Edwina sadly passed away when she was just 18 months old. Roache also has a half-brother named William James, born in 1986.
In 1975, at an early age of 11, Roache appeared in his father’s long-running soap opera ‘Coronation Street.’ He played the role of his father’s on-screen son, ‘Peter Barlow,’ for 2 weeks. He also appeared as a boy with the bubonic plague in one of the episodes of ‘The Onedin Line’ in 1976.
Roache attended the ‘Bishop Luffa School’ in Chichester, West Sussex, and the ‘Rydal Penrhos School’ in Colwyn Bay, North Wales. He studied at the prestigious ‘Central School of Speech and Drama,’ after which he joined the esteemed ‘Royal Shakespeare Company.’ He stayed with the theater company for a few years. In 1989, he joined the ‘British National Theatre,’ where he appeared in Sean O’Casey’s ‘Juno and the Paycock.’
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Career
In 1985, the year Linus Roache joined the ‘Royal Shakespeare Company,’ he also made his debut on the big screen with ‘No Surrender.’ After an untitled role in the movie ‘Link’ in 1986 and a one-episode stint in the series ‘Omnibus’ in 1990, Roache did not appear in front of the camera for a few years and mainly concentrated on theater productions.
He came back on the big screen with one of the most acclaimed performances of his career, as ‘Father Greg Pilkington’ in Antonia Bird’s directorial debut, ‘Priest,’ in 1994. He was cast opposite ‘Academy Award’-nominated actor Helena Bonham Carter in the 1997 British–American romantic drama ‘The Wings of the Dove.’
Rouche received the ‘Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Actor’ for his performance in the period drama ‘Pandaemonium’ in 2000. The movie was based on the early lives and collaborative works of English poets Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth.
He received a lot of recognition for his portrayal of ‘Robert F Kennedy’ in the 2002 TV film ‘RFK.’ He was nominated for the ‘Golden Globe Award’ for the ‘Best Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film.’ He was also nominated for the ‘Satellite Award’ for the ‘Best Supporting Actor’ the same year, for another telefilm, ‘The Gathering Storm.’
In 2003, Roache delivered a brilliant performance as ‘John McCarthy,’ the English journalist who was kidnapped and imprisoned along with Irish academic Brian Keenan during the Lebanon hostage crisis, in the movie ‘Blind Flight.’ He received a ‘BAFTA’ nomination for the ‘Best Actor in a Scottish Movie’ for his realistic presentation.
He became part of the ‘Batman’ franchise in 2005, appearing as ‘Dr. Thomas Wayne,’ Batman’s father, in ‘Batman Begins.’
In 2006, he played significant roles, both on the silver screen and on TV. He was part of the ensemble cast of the critically acclaimed Mira Nair-directed film ‘The Namesake,’ which was based on Jhumpa Lahiri’s book of the same name. Roache also got his first series-regular role on the TV show ‘Kidnapped,’ which was aired on ‘NBC’ between 2006 and 2007.
His popularity soared in 2008, with his character ‘Michael Cutter’ hitting the small screen in the widely popular TV series ‘Law & Order.’ Cutter became his longest-running TV character, appearing in 63 episodes. His character made a cross-over appearance in four episodes of the series ‘Law & Order: Special Victims Unit’ (2011–2012).
After appearing with his father in the soap opera ‘Coronation Street’ for 35 years, , Roache returned to the sets as ‘Lawrence Cunningham’ in four episodes in 2010.
All of Roache’s major works in the recent past have been for TV projects. In 2014, he appeared in another popular historical drama, ‘Viking,’ as ‘King Ecbert,’ the king of the Kingdom of Wessex. He joined the ensemble cast in the second season and lasted through 3 years, covering 26 episodes.
In 2017, he was seen as ‘David Wellington’ in the spy thriller ‘Homeland.’ The character lasted on the show for 13 episodes. He also made a guest appearance in an episode of the popular crime thriller ‘The Blacklist,’ titled ‘The Kingmaker.’
Family & Personal Life
Linus Roache and his wife, Rosalind Bennet, were in a long-term relationship before they formally tied the knot in 2002. Bennet is a TV, stage, and film actor, who was part of ‘Juno and the Paycock,’ a play Roache, too, was part of during his stage career. They have no children.
Over the years, Roache turned toward his spiritual side. In 2012, he was widely criticized for being closely associated with ‘EnlightenNext,’ a cult known for its dubious beliefs. Roache decided to move to the US to take care of their New York office, as their new managing director. His wife had already taken up the responsibility of managing the public relations for the organization.
In 2013, Linus Roache’s father, actor William Roache, was accused of two counts of rape and five counts of sexual assault. After a three-and-a-half-week trial, Bill Roache was unanimously acquitted of all charges.
