Allan Corduner

Allan Corduner (; born 2 April 1950) is a British actor. Born in Stockholm to a German mother and a Russo-Finnish father, Corduner grew up in a secular Jewish home in London. After earning a BA (Hons) in English and Drama at Bristol University he trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. He has worked extensively on stage, TV, and film, both in the UK and in the United States. His voice is familiar from many BBC radio plays, audio books and TV documentaries.
Corduner made his feature film debut in "Yentl", with Barbra Streisand and Mandy Patinkin. Of his 44 films he is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Sir Arthur Sullivan in Mike Leigh's "Topsy-Turvy". He also voiced Gehrman the first hunter in the 2015 video game "Bloodborne".
Early life.
Corduner grew up in a secular Jewish home in North London with his parents and younger brother.
His mother had escaped to Great Britain from Nazi Germany with her family in 1938. His father was born in Helsinki, Finland, of a Finnish-born mother and a Ukrainian-born father. Corduner's parents first settled in Stockholm, where he was born, but the family moved to London when he was one year old.
Interest in arts and music was always encouraged at home, and Corduner's early ambition was to become either an orchestra conductor or a concert pianist. He attended University College School in Hampstead, London. Although Corduner developed into a skilled jazz and classical pianist, musical aspirations had taken second place by the time he went to study at Bristol University and the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.
Acting career.
Corduner has worked extensively in theatre in London's West End and on Broadway, television as well as in film. He has also appeared in several BBC Radio plays including "The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui", "Insignificance", and "Fanny and Alexander".
His voice is familiar to listeners of audio books including "The Book Thief". TV appearances include "Exile", ITV's "Midsomer Murders", Stephen Poliakoff's "Dancing on the Edge", and as Andrea Verrocchio in seasons 1 and 2 of the Starz original series "Da Vinci's Demons". He appears on seasons 5 and 6 of the Showtime TV series "Homeland".
After drama school, Corduner's first two years as a professional actor were spent playing a wide variety of parts at Newcastle Repertory Theatre. Spells at the Birmingham Rep and the Actors' Company followed, until Corduner returned to London to make his West End debut in Mary O'Malley's "Once a Catholic" at the Wyndham's Theatre. Corduner has appeared several times at the Royal Court Theatre, in plays such as "Three Birds Alighting on a Field", "Fucking Games", "Ice Cream", and most notably Caryl Churchill's satirical "Serious Money", which subsequently transferred to London's West End and Broadway in New York.
He garnered acclaim on Broadway for the role of Etches in the musical "Titanic". In February 2014, he played Etches again in a one-off concert version of "Titanic" at Avery Fisher Hall (now David Geffen Hall) in New York, re-uniting him with the original cast of the musical. He played Fritz Litten in Mark Hayhurst's "Taken at Midnight", first at Chichester Festival Theatre, and subsequently at Theatre Royal Haymarket in West End.
One of his first film roles was in "Yentl" in 1982, with Barbra Streisand. He is probably best known for his portrayal of Sir Arthur Sullivan in Mike Leigh's "Topsy-Turvy" (1999), his first leading role in a feature film. Corduner's film work spans a variety of genres, such as action-adventure film "Defiance", horror comedy film "Burke and Hare", and western "Medicine Men". Recent films include "Woman in Gold" (2015) and "Tár" (2022).
Voice acting.
Corduner's voice is familiar to listeners of BBC radio plays such as "Insignificance", "The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui" and "Fanny and Alexander". He was also the subject of BBC Radio 3 Private Passions.
Corduner has provided voices for various video game characters, notably the first, second, third and fifth "Harry Potter" video games (namely as, among others, Severus Snape, Lucius Malfoy, Fillius Flitwick and Argus Filch). He also voiced Apus, the pet parrot belonging to Queen Cassiopeia, the primary antagonist, for the English version of "Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White White" which was released in February 2013. In 2015, Corduner voiced Gehrman, the First Hunter in "Bloodborne".
Audiobooks and narration.
Corduner is also known for solo narration of TV documentaries such as "Fish Warrior" for the "National Geographic Channel", and various audiobooks for Simply Audiobooks, notably "The Book Thief" and "Inkdeath". He also narrated "Magyk" written by Angie Sage and produced by Harper Audio. He has received two Earphones Awards by AudioFile His narration of "Anna and the Swallow Man" earned the Odyssey Award in 2017.
Personal life.
Corduner's mother was from Berlin, Germany, and his father was born in Finland. He was born in Stockholm but grew up in London.
Corduner and his partner Juha Leppäjärvi met in 2006 in London, formed their civil partnership in December 2009, and married in New York City in August 2013. Corduner is a trustee of the children's arts charity Anno's Africa.