About

Known credits:
22
Birthday:
1953-07-16
Place of birth:
Melton, Suffolk, England
Website:

Douglas Reith

Overview

Douglas Reith is a British actor and teacher. He is best known for his role as Lord Merton in the television series Downton Abbey (2010–2015), as well as its two follow-up films.

Reith was born in Melton, Suffolk. He studied acting at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art. He began acting in the late 1970s, beginning with an appearance in International Velvet (1978) alongside Tatum O'Neal and Christopher Plummer.

He worked as an announcer and presenter at BBC Radio 3 for five years before leaving to study Greats at Christ Church, Oxford for four years beginning in 1989. He worked as a teacher, including at Westminster School, before resuming his acting career.

Reith joined the cast of Downton Abbey as Lord Merton in 2012, and alongside the cast was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series at the 23rd Screen Actors Guild Awards. He reprised the role in the films Downton Abbey (2019) and Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022). In 2017, Reith was cast in Tim Burton's live-action remake Dumbo (2019). In 2019, he was cast in SAS: Red Notice (2021).

Known for

Acting

2025 Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale Actor Lord Merton N/A
N/A
2022 Downton Abbey: A New Era Actor Lord Merton 65
Fair
2021 The War Below Actor Field Marshal Haig 59
Average
2021 SAS: Red Notice Actor Sir Charles Whiteside 58
Average
2019 Downton Abbey Actor Lord Merton 67
Fair
2019 Dumbo Actor Sotheby 65
Fair
2017 Fearless Actor Justice Angus Hill 68
Fair
2015 Downton Abbey: The Finale Actor Lord Merton N/A
N/A
2015 Serial Teachers 2 Actor Le chef de la sécurité 55
Average
2014 Downton Abbey: A Moorland Holiday Actor Lord Merton 60
Fair
2013 Rush Actor Awards Presenter 75
Good
2011 W.E. Actor Lord Brownlow 60
Fair
2009 Enid Actor BBC Interviewer 59
Average
2006 The Queen Actor Lord Airlie 66
Fair
2005 The Queen's Sister Actor Horace Featherstonehaugh 58
Average
2005 Elizabeth I Actor Jude 70
Good
2005 Elizabeth I Actor Judge 70
Good
1998 Bloodlines: Legacy of a Lord Actor 59
Average
1996 The Prince and the Pauper Actor Chamberlain N/A
N/A
1983 An Englishman Abroad Actor Toby 58
Average
1980 The Happy Autumn Fields Actor Fitzgeorge N/A
N/A
1978 International Velvet Actor Howard 59
Average