Johnny Melville

Johnny Melville is a Scottish actor and physical theater performer. He was born in Edinburgh and, after earning a B.Sc. at Edinburgh University, moved to London, where he worked with directors such as Nancy Meckler and Pam Brighton. His solo shows began with Come Again in 1978 and later included Troubleshooter, Members Only, Dirty Money, and European Blues, works that gained recognition around the world as modern physical theater comedy classics. He performed for a very wide range of audiences, including royalty, prisoners, and children. His first film was a lead in Vana Paoli's Lungo il Fiume (1989), after which he took feature and short roles when his theater commitments allowed. In 2001 he won best actor at the Brooklyn Film Festival for playing Harley in Nina Rosenmeier's No Man's Land. In 2009 he played Quenzel in Blindspot, a film he wrote with director Ad Bol; it collected five prizes at international festivals.