Take the BuddyTV Personality Quiz: Which Battlestar Galactica Character Are You? Jamie Bamber as
Lee Adama Jamie St. John Bamber Griffith was born on April 3, 1973 in Hammersmith, London. His mother, Elizabeth, is from Northern Ireland, while his father, Ralph, hails from Detroit. Bamber has held an American citizenship since his birth. He earned his First Class Honours Degree in Modern Languages, particularly French and Italian, from St. John’s College, Cambridge. He then went on to study at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Following his graduation, Bamber landed the role of Archie Kennedy in the critically-acclaimed miniseries, Horatio Hornblower, a production which earned two Emmy Awards, One Golden Satellite Award and Five BAFTA Award nominations.
After appearing on the successful miniseries, Bamber found work in other television productions, including The Scarlet Pimpernel, Poirot, Lady Audley’s Secret, Bob Martin, Band of Brothers, Peak Practice, Daniel Deronda, Ultimate Force, The Last Detective,
Cold Case , The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and
Ghost Whisperer . He was also starred in the 2001 film The Devil’s Tattoo (also known as Ghost Rig).
In 2003, he was given the role of Captain Lee “Apollo” Adama on the re-imagined miniseries, Battlestar Galactica. A year later, he began reprising the role when the miniseries was adapted into a regular show on the Sci-Fi Channel. Of his character, Bamber said, “I think I have a sense of responsibility that he has, to try to do the right thing, a sort of innate wanting to please people around you.” For the role, Bamber has had to speak with an American accent and darkened his hair color in order to look more like Edward James Olmos, who portrays Lee Adama’s father.
At present, Bamber and his wife, actress Kerry Norton (who has made a number of appearances as Paramedic Layne Ishay on the popular sci-fi series), have three children, Isla Elizabeth Angela and twins Darcy and Ava.
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