Sir Derek George Jacobi, CBE (pronounced /ˈdʒækəbi/; born 22 October 1938) is an English actor and film director. Like Laurence Olivier, he bears the distinction of holding two knighthoods, Danish and British.
Jacobi, an only child, was born in Leytonstone, London, England, the son of Daisy Gertrude (née Masters), a secretary who worked in a drapery store in Leyton High Road, and Alfred George Jacobi, who ran a sweet shop and was a tobacconist in...
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Sir Derek George Jacobi, CBE (pronounced /ˈdʒækəbi/; born 22 October 1938) is an English actor and film director. Like Laurence Olivier, he bears the distinction of holding two knighthoods, Danish and British.
Jacobi, an only child, was born in Leytonstone, London, England, the son of Daisy Gertrude (née Masters), a secretary who worked in a drapery store in Leyton High Road, and Alfred George Jacobi, who ran a sweet shop and was a tobacconist in Chingford. His great-grandfather emigrated to England from Germany during the 19th century. His family was working class. Although a war baby, he claims a happy childhood. In his teens he went to the Leyton County High School and became an integral part of the drama club, The Players of Leyton.
While in sixth-form, he starred in a production of Hamlet, which was taken to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and very well-regarded. At 18, he won a scholarship to the University of Cambridge, where he read history at St John's College and earned his...
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