Early Life
Jack Davenport was born Jack Arthur Davenport on March 1, 1973, in Wimbledon, London, England. He is the son of actors Maria Aitken and Nigel Davenport. Jack lived in Ibiza, Spain, until he was seven years old. He is related to many prominent figures on his mother’s side of the family: politician William Aitken (grandfather), socialite Penelope Aitken (grandmother), and 1st Baron Rugby John Maffey (great-grandfather). His maternal uncle Jonathan Aitken, a former Conservative MP, married Elizabeth Rees-Williams, the mother of actors Jared and Jamie Harris and filmmaker Damian Harris. When Davenport was seven years old, his parents divorced, and he was sent to the Dragon School in Oxford. He later attended the boarding school Cheltenham College and London’s British American Drama Academy. After his time at Cheltenham College, Jack impressed a director from Theatr Clwyd with his performance in a drama course he took over the summer. The two subsequently began working together, and Davenport appeared in “Hamlet” and befriended fellow actor Rhys Ifans. Jack then studied English literature and film at the University of East Anglia.
Career
After he graduated, Jack’s mother suggested that he write to actor / comedian John Cleese to ask for work on the set of the film “Fierce Creatures.” Cleese passed Davenport’s letter on to the casting department, and Jack was cast as a trainee zookeeper in the film. Before the film was released in 1997, Davenport made his TV debut as Miles Stewart on the BBC Two series “This Life” in 1996, appearing in all 32 episodes of the show. Next, he appeared in the TV movie “Macbeth” (1998) and the films “Tale of the Mummy” (1998), “The Wisdom of Crocodiles” (1998), and “The Talented Mr. Ripley” (1999) and played Detective Sergeant Michael Colefield on the Channel 4 series “Ultraviolet” (1998). From 2000 to 2004, Jack starred as Steve Taylor on the BBC Two / BBC Three sitcom “Coupling,” which won a British Comedy Award for Best TV Comedy in 2003. Around this time, he also appeared in the films “Offending Angels” (2000), “Gypsy Woman” (2001), “The Bunker” (2001), “The Libertine” (2004), “The Wedding Date” (2005), and “The Boat That Rocked” (2009), and he played James Norrington in “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” (2003), “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” (2006), and “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” (2007). In 2008, Davenport starred as Bruce Miller on the CBS drama “Swingtown,” and from 2009 to 2010, he played Lloyd Simcoe on ABC’s “FlashForward.”
Personal Life
Jack married actress Michelle Gomez on May 1, 2000, and they welcomed a son, Harry, in 2010. Gomez is known for roles such as Missy on “Doctor Who” and Lilith / Madam Satan on “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.” In 2023, Michelle announced that she, Jack, and Harry had become naturalized American citizens.
Awards and Nominations
In 2002, Davenport earned a Laurence Olivier Award nomination for Most Promising Performer for the play “The Servant.” In 2006, he won a Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie: Rumble (shared with Orlando Bloom) for “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.”
