Shrapnel 出生于沃里克郡伯明翰，是 Mary Lillian Myfanwy（原名 Edwards）和记者/作家 Norman Shrapnel 的儿子。[1]作为一名舞台演员，他是劳伦斯·奥利维尔（Laurence Olivier）的皇家国家剧院公司和皇家莎士比亚剧团的成员，最近一次是在2011年在巴比肯中心（Barbican Centre）的《丑闻学校》（由黛博拉·华纳（Deborah Warner）执导）中饰演奥利弗·皮尔斯爵士（Sir Oliver Surface）。他还广泛出现在电影和电视中，在伊丽莎白 R、Z-Cars、爱德华和辛普森夫人、101 斑点狗、太空：1999、莫尔斯探长、库根的奔跑、诺丁山和福伊尔的战争中扮演角色。他主持了1983年英国广播公司（BBC）电视旅行系列节目《伟大的小铁路》（Great Little Railways）的一集。他在BBC电视台莎士比亚戏剧的三部作品中演出，并在BBC1984年制作的索福克勒斯三部底比斯戏剧中饰演克瑞翁。在美国，他出演了《角斗士》中的参议员盖乌斯、《特洛伊》中的内斯特和《古罗马：帝国的兴衰》第二集中的庞培等配角。他还在史诗般的奇幻迷你剧《第 10 王国》中扮演监狱长。他有一个罕见的成就，在《Midsomer Murders》的两集中以两个不同的角色出现，分别是《合唱之死》和《血书》。弹片出现在乔纳森·克里克（Jonathan Creek）的一集中，在《欧米茄人》（The Omega Man）一集中饰演兰斯·格劳曼（Lance Graumann）教授。他与西蒙·卡洛（Simon Callow）一起出现在《化学婚礼》中，讲述了神秘学家阿莱斯特·克劳利（Aleister Crowley）复活的故事。Shrapnel 还通过科林·德克斯特 （Colin Dexter） 的莫尔斯探长 （Inspector Morse） 和威廉·吉布森 （William Gibson） 的神经术士 （Neuromancer） 等角色在 BBC 广播剧领域拥有丰富的经验。他是黛博拉·克尔 （Deborah Kerr） 的女婿，于 1975 年与她的小女儿弗朗西斯卡·安·巴特利 （Francesca Ann Bartley） 结婚。他们有三个儿子，演员 Lex Shrapnel（生于 1979 年）、Tom Shrapnel（生于 1981 年）和作家 Joe Shrapnel（生于 1976 年）。他们住在伦敦北部的海布里。

Shrapnel was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, the son of Mary Lillian Myfanwy (née Edwards) and journalist/author Norman Shrapnel.[1] As a stage actor, he was a member of Laurence Olivier's Royal National Theatre company and the Royal Shakespeare Company and most recently appeared as Sir Oliver Surface in The School for Scandal (directed by Deborah Warner) at the Barbican Centre in 2011. He has also appeared extensively in film and on television in roles in Elizabeth R, Z-Cars, Edward and Mrs. Simpson, 101 Dalmatians, Space: 1999, Inspector Morse, Coogan's Run, Notting Hill and Foyle's War. He presented an episode of the 1983 BBC television travel series Great Little Railways. He gave performances in three entries in the BBC Television Shakespeare plays and as Creon in the BBC's 1984 productions of the Three Theban plays of Sophocles. In America, he has starred in supporting roles as Senator Gaius in Gladiator, Nestor in Troy and Pompey in the second episode of Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. He also played the Jail Warden in the 10th Kingdom, an epic fantasy miniseries. He has the rare achievement of appearing in two episodes of Midsomer Murders as two different characters, in Death in Chorus and Written in Blood. Shrapnel appeared in an episode of Jonathan Creek as Professor Lance Graumann in the episode The Omega Man. He appears in Chemical Wedding alongside Simon Callow, telling the tale of the resurrection of occultist Aleister Crowley. Shrapnel also has experience in the field of BBC radio drama through such characters as Colin Dexter's Inspector Morse and William Gibson's Neuromancer. He is the son-in-law of Deborah Kerr through his 1975 marriage to her younger daughter Francesca Ann Bartley. They have three sons, the actors Lex Shrapnel (b.1979), Tom Shrapnel (b.1981) and the writer Joe Shrapnel (b.1976). They live in Highbury, north London.