The petition was presented to William Leahy of Brunel University by the actors Derek Jacobi and Mark Rylance on 8 September 2007 in Chichester, England, after the final matinee of the play I Am Shakespeare on the topic of the bard's identity, featuring Rylance in the title role.
The "Cadfael" series eventually extended to thirteen 75-minute episodes, all of which starred Sir Derek Jacobi as the sleuthing monk.
Derek Walcott | Derek Jarman | Derek Jacobi | Derek Bailey (guitarist) | Derek Bailey | Bo Derek | Derek Trucks | Derek Jeter | Derek Holland | Life with Derek | Derek Lee Ragin | Derek Bickerton | Derek Abbott | Derek O'Brien | Derek Wyatt | Derek St. Holmes | Derek O'Brien (drummer) | Derek Mahon | Derek Lawrence | Derek Johnstone | Derek Humble | Derek Fowlds | Derek Forbes | Jacobi method | Jacobi | DJ Derek | Derek Yu | Derek Worlock | Derek Taylor | Derek Smith |
He later went on to work in repertory theatre at the Bristol Old Vic, Guildford and Northampton, before joining the company at Birmingham, where his fellow actors included Derek Jacobi, Rosemary Leach and Albert Finney.
He played Danny in the off-Broadway production of Sexual Perversity in Chicago by David Mamet and Trety in The Suicide by Nikolai Erdman starring Derek Jacobi. Zinn was a stand-in and photo-double for John Travolta in the celebrated film Saturday Night Fever in 1977.
His experience as a commissioner and director of drama and drama-documentaries enabled him to work with numerous prominent performers including (in addition to those already mentioned) Derek Jacobi, Helen Mirren, Anthony Hopkins, Sean Connery and Michael Caine.
The documentary features original music by Erik Friedlander, and is narrated by an all-star voice-cast which includes F. Murray Abraham, Rene Auberjonois, Keith David, Jeremy Irons, and Derek Jacobi.
Other actors famed for their performance of Malvolio include Sir Alec Guinness, Henry Irving, E. H. Sothern, Herbert Beerbohm Tree, Henry Ainley, John Gielgud, Simon Russell Beale, Maurice Evans, Ken Dodd, Richard Briers, Sir Nigel Hawthorne and Sir Derek Jacobi.
In 2008 he co-wrote A Bunch of Amateurs - starring Burt Reynolds, Sir Derek Jacobi and Samantha Bond - which was the Royal Film Performance for that year.
He played the Earl of Gloucester in the Donmar Theatre production of King Lear with Derek Jacobi, Maurice Montgomery in Nicholas Wright's Travelling Light at the National Theatre and appeared in Caryl Churchill's Love and Information at the Royal Court (2012).
Although Renaissance received no public funding, it partnered in 1988 with John Adams and the Birmingham Rep on a touring season of plays launched as Renaissance Shakespeare on the Road, with three classical actors making their directing debuts: Judi Dench with Much Ado About Nothing; Geraldine McEwan with As You Like It; and Derek Jacobi with Hamlet, which featured Branagh in the title role.
In 2005, Robinson Savary directed his debut feature film, Bye Bye Blackbird, a dark fairy tale written by Arif Ali-Shah, featuring James Thiérrée, Jodhi May, Derek Jacobi, Izabella Miko and Michael Lonsdale.
On 25 December 2007 the story was read on BBC Radio 4 by Derek Jacobi as part of the M R James at Christmas series.
In 2004 Thor appeared at the London Playhouse as the jilted lover Count Paris, in a version of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, sharing the stage with stars such as Derek Jacobi, Timothy Dalton, Joanna Lumley and Dawn French.
Humphry had come up with the idea of a statue after seeing Hugh Whitemore's play Breaking the Code starring the actor Sir Derek Jacobi, and Jacobi became the patron of the fund.
Other work includes Mr Pugh in the 1963 BBC Radio version of Under Milk Wood with Richard Burton; 1984-5 in New York/Washington and three weeks in Los Angeles with 'Cyrano' & Much Ado About Nothing starring Derek Jacobi, as well as ten weeks in Los Angeles with the Royal National Theatre Production of Henrik Ibsen's An Enemy of the People starring Ian McKellen.