Considered heir to a generation of British stage actors best known for their interpretations of Shakespearean heroes and villains, Derek Jacobi (born 1938) is also greatly respected for his film roles and television work.

Jacobi was born on October 22, 1938, in the East London area of Leytonstone. His father, Alfred Jacobi, was a German immigrant to England and the manager of a department store. Derek was the only child of Alfred and Daisy Masters Jacobi, a secretary. When he was just four, his parents took him to a pantomime performance of Cinderella at the London Palladium where Jacobi was one of several young audience members selected to come on stage. He was awed by the experience, and soon made his debut in the tough dual role of The Prince and the Swineherd at the age of six in a kindergarten-cast production staged at his local library. A few years later...