RUSSELL TOVEY is an English actor born on this date. He is known for playing the role of werewolf George Sands in the BBC’s supernatural drama Being Human, Rudge in both the stage and film versions of The History Boys, Steve in the BBC Three sitcom Him & Her, Kevin Matheson in the HBO original series Looking and its subsequent series finale television film Looking: The Movie, Titanic midshipman Alonso Frame in the Doctor Who episode “Voyage of the Damned” and as Henry Knight in BBC TV series Sherlock. He has also starred as Harry Doyle in the drama-thriller series Quantico on the ABC network. Tovey co-starred in an ensemble cast on the 2019 show Years and Years.

Tovey is also an author, playwright and screenwriter. He has written three plays (all unperformed as of August 2010), and one of his short stories was published in women’s magazine Company. He also wrote a short film, Victor, and as of August 2010 was seeking funding to produce the picture.

Although he says he came out to himself when he was 15 or 16, he came out to his parents when he was 18. Tovey and his father subsequently had a serious disagreement, with his father suggesting that, had he known earlier, he would have asked Tovey to take hormones or undergo some other treatment to “fix the problem”. Tovey says his parents were deeply concerned about the possibility he might contract HIV, which might have contributed to the disagreement. The birth of Tovey’s nephew Nathan in October 2004 helped them mend their relationship.

In 2015, Tovey was the subject of public criticism from the LGBT+ press regarding comments he made about effeminate gay men. In his interview with Tom Lamont of The Observer, the actor stated that his schooling made him feel as though he “had to toughen up”, going on to say “If I’d have been able to relax, prance around and sing in the street, I might be a different person now.” Much of the criticism centered on what was perceived to be a passive criticism of effeminate gay men, with Tovey saying that “I thank my dad for that, for not allowing me to go down the path.”  Tovey apologized for the remarks and suggested they did not reflect his views.

Tovey was reported to be dating rugby coach Steve Brockman from early 2016. They became engaged in February 2018 but separated in June of the same year. They reconciled in August 2019.