Jeffrey Thomas (actor)

Thomas also starred as Titus Lentulus Batiatus on the Starz series Spartacus: Gods of the Arena. Thomas reunited with Peter Jackson in The Hobbit, in which he played the Dwarf King Thrór. In 2015 Thomas starred in The Dead Room as Scott Cameron, a sceptical scientist investigating paranormal activity in a New Zealand farmhouse.

Thomas has written several plays, both in English and in Welsh. His first success came with Playing the Game, which premiered at Circa Theatre and was eventually throughout Wales and in London's West End. Thomas was the co-winner of the 1981 Play for Wales competition, run by the Welsh Academy, with Men of Steel.

Thomas rose to prominence in New Zealand in the late 1980s with the lead role of Inspector "Sharky" Finn in the TVNZ police drama series Shark in the Park, and is also well known for his roles in two long-running New Zealand soap operas, Mercy Peak and Shortland Street, and his distinctive voice can be heard narrating a large number of documentaries. His central role of Dr William Kingsley in Mercy Peak led to him winning the Best Actor award at the 2003 New Zealand Film and Television Awards.

Plays that Thomas has appeared in include The Balcony by Jean Genet for Downstage Theatre (1977) and Mauritius by Theresa Rebeck at Circa Theatre (2010).

While at Oxford, Thomas met and married a New Zealander, and after completing his studies they moved initially to Australia (where he lectured at La Trobe University) and then, in 1976, to Wellington. Here he taught romantic and Victorian poetry at Victoria University, before becoming a fulltime actor and writer the following year.

Jeffrey Thomas (born 1945) is a Welsh-born New Zealand actor and writer, best known for his film, television and stage roles.