The biggest collection of BAFTA-winning actor portraiture ever assembled comes to the North West for the first time, featuring over one hundred international stars of both the big and small screen.

Behind the Mask, a collaboration between renowned photographer Andy Gotts MBE and The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Archive, is on show at Salford’s Lowry later this month.

It has been described as a photographic census ‘unmasking’ the well-known faces of BAFTA nominees and winners since 1954.

The best of British acting talent is celebrated with portraits of enduring legends including the late Sir John Mills, first nominated for a BAFTA for Hobson’s Choice in 1955 and Dame Judi Dench with 9 nominations and 7 wins spanning 1966 to 2014. Among the home-grown talent are stars from the North, including Burnley-born Lord Of The Rings actor Sir Ian McKellen; Oscar-winning actor and screen writer Colin Welland, born in Leigh, Lancashire; and Leeds-born Tom Wilkinson, who won the BAFTA for Leading Actor for The Full Monty in 1998.

Behind the Mask, which was first displayed in London’s Somerset House in January 2014, took over two years to compile and saw Andy Gotts MBE travel across the globe to photograph subjects including Hollywood legends Al Pacino, Jeff Bridges, Daniel Day Lewis, Liza Minnelli and Sidney Poitier. Other international subjects include the late Robin Williams, twice nominated for BAFTA awards for Leading Actor in Good Morning Vietnam and The Dead Poets Society and Hollywood legend Lauren Bacall, who recently died aged 89.

Andy Gotts MBE, who is most noted for his black and white portraits of Hollywood actors and singers, said: “Even though I have been given the title ‘celebrity photographer’ I have always seen myself as a photographer of actors. I have always been a movie buff and getting the opportunity to meet my matinée idols is beyond a dream come true. I specialise in character studies of the face and try to show a new and different side of world famous faces in my ‘warts and all’ style.”

Behind the Mask

Opens Sat 20 September – Sun 11 January 2015
Opening Times:
Sunday – Friday, 11am-5pm
Saturday, 10am – 5pm
Admission is FREE
The Lowry, Pier 8, Salford Quays, M50 3AZ

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