Spall, third of four sons, was born in Battersea, London; his father, Joe, was a postal worker, and his mother, Sylvia, a hairdresser. He trained at the National Youth Theatre and RADA, where he was awarded the Bancroft Gold Medal as the most promising actor in his year. His brother, Matthew, is studio director of the computer games company Morpheme. Initially notable in the United Kingdom for playing the gormless Barry Taylor in all five series of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, Kevin in Outside Edge and as Aubrey the appalling chef in Mike Leigh's Life is Sweet, Spall has since appeared in films such as Crusoe, Secrets & Lies, Shooting the Past, Vanilla Sky, Rock Star, The Last Samurai, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events and The King's Speech. He gained international recognition as Peter Pettigrew ("Wormtail") in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. In 1991 he guest starred in the series 5 Red Dwarf episode Back to Reality. In 1993, Spall was in Rab C Nesbitt. Spall performed lead vocals on the song The Devil Is An Englishman from the Ken Russell film Gothic (1986), in which Spall portrayed John William Polidori. Spall played the starring role of Albert Pierrepoint in the 2005 film Pierrepoint, which was released as The Last Hangman in the United States. In the 2006 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, Spall voiced Phil Collins' manager, Barry Mickelthwaite. In 2007, he starred as Nathaniel in Disney's Enchanted and Beadle Bamford in Tim Burton's production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. He also starred as Georgie Godwin in a one-off television drama The Fattest Man in Britain on ITV 1 which aired on the 20th December 2009. The drama also featured Bobby Ball, Frances Barber, Aisling Loftus, and Jeremy Kyle. In 2010 he portrayed Winston Churchill in critically acclaimed film The King's Speech for which as a member of the ensemble he was jointly awarded the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. On 31 December 1999, he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).
演艺经历
斯波在RADA期间登台表演《麦克白》和《奥塞罗》等名剧，并以“年度最有潜力新人”的名号获得班考夫特金质奖章。1979年他加入了皇家莎士比亚戏剧公司，进行了为期两年的演出，剧目包括《温莎公爵的婚礼》等。80年代早期他在英国著名导演迈克·李执导的电视剧《甜蜜的家》，1993年主演了电视剧《FrankStubbsPromotes》
斯波最为人熟知的银幕形象当属在迈克·李的数部电影中的蓝领阶级角色。两人在90年代先后合作过《甜蜜生活》、《秘密与谎言》等片，并因此获得了一系列表演奖项。他同肯·罗素、克林特·伊斯特伍德、贝托鲁奇、肯尼思·布拉纳都有过合作。
90年代中期，因慢性疾病的困扰，斯波暂离大银幕。不过他又重新活跃在大银幕上，他那令人过目难忘的长相和扎实的演技为他赢得了许多影迷。他在《哈利·波特》系列中扮演的“虫尾巴”更是广为人知。他新近的作品除了英国片《该死的联队》，还有与合作过《理发师陶德》的蒂姆·波顿再度携手的《爱丽丝梦游奇境》以及最后一部哈利波特电影。
关于英国伟大导演希区柯克的一部传记片正在筹备当中。出演过《哈利·波特》系列“小矮星彼得”的英国演员蒂莫西·斯波有望演绎英国伟大导演希区柯克的晚年。
1963年，正在拍摄《群鸟》的希区柯克不仅身体状况欠佳，精神上也为超越取得巨大成功的前作《精神病患者》而备感压力。53岁的斯波虽然比当时的希区柯克小11岁，但无论从外形还是演技实力上来说，他都是如今扮演希区柯克的最理想人选。
此外，一部有关希区柯克早年的影片也有望拍摄。1922年希区柯克正在执导处女作《数字13》，尚未形成日后对待女人态度的他在片场卷入了一场三角恋，这再加上一位主演的死亡使得这部影片最终没有被拍成。美国演员丹·福勒自爆将出演年轻的希区柯克，而英国演员伊万·麦克格雷格及艾米莉·莫迪默也被传将出演。
个人生活
斯波出生在伦敦Battersea，是四个孩子中的老三。他的父亲Joe在邮局工作，,母亲Sylvia是个美发师。他在国家青年剧院和英国皇家戏剧艺术学院(RADA)接受表演训练。他的哥哥马修是计算机公司Morpheme的签约导演。
获奖记录
个人荣誉
- 2015第35届伦敦影评人协会奖最佳英国男演员《透纳先生》（获奖）
- 2014第67届最佳男主角奖戛纳国际电影节《透纳先生》（获奖）
- 20142014年欧洲电影奖最佳男演员奖《透纳先生》（获奖）
