He succeeded Michael Grandage as artistic director of Sheffield Theatres in 2005. [edit]
He is a highly-respected Shakespearean actor, who has played both Richard II and Hamlet for the Royal Shakespeare Company. [edit]
His mother, Prunella Scales, starred in the vastly popular British comedy series "Fawlty Towers" (1975) with John Cleese. Sam once said that in his teens, he used to frequent the set and that Mr. Cleese would ask him if he had any good ideas for insults to put into the show. [edit]
Attended Oxford from 1985-1988, BA Honors English Literature. [edit]
Brother of Joseph West, half-brother of Juliet West. [edit]
He likes cooking, gardening, Poker, and traveling. He also collects stamps and board games.
Samuel(about his work as an actor): It would've been hard to do something else, to as it were, run away from the circus and become an accountant. [edit]
Samuel: I'm not very good at relaxing. Reading's the main thing. On the bus, on the tube, on the loo. Literally all the time. I mean, I don't think there's a moment of the day when I wouldn't be if I was left alone. [edit]
Samuel: I'm lucky enough to work with, I think, the greatest writer there's ever been, Shakespeare. Whose collected works would always be under my pillow if I was only ever allowed one book to keep, and who never bores me [edit]
Samuel: I mean I think children love the idea that there are different viewpoints and different words for things and different worlds. And the more that they pretend to be other people, the harder it is for them to hate them and misunderstand them when they grow up. [edit]
Samuel(about his hobbies): I like watching movies. I garden. It's a kind of 30-something thing but that's happened since I turned 30. And I cook. [edit]
Samuel: I did start reading quite young but I was always read to by my parents, who are both actors. Bedtime stories from when I was about two/three to when I was about 15. In fact they didn't stop until I eventually kind of kicked them out of my bedroom. [edit]
Samuel: Books don't exist unless you read them. And it's a two way process - you write the book as you read it and you fill in the gaps. You discover it and you put the marks together and without you doing it they're just marks. [edit]
Samuel: At heart, this job is about continuing to make great theatre for the people of Sheffield - a city I've known and loved since childhood. [edit]
Samuel: Oliver Reed regretted not sleeping with every woman in the world, and Betjeman said he wished he'd had more sex. It doesn't matter how much sex I have, I'll be of Olli Reed's mind when it comes down to it. And so will anybody who's honest. [edit]
Samuel: What did my parents say when I told them I wanted to be an actor? 'Be a plumber.' [edit]
Samuel: Shakespeare I love, but for an English graduate, I'm incredibly badly read [edit]
