Andrew Jack Scholarship

Andrew Jack was born Andrew Hutchinson, the only child of Julia and Stephen Hutchinson, in London’s Finchley in 1944. His father was a radio voice actor who changed his name to Stepen Jack. Stephen was a beloved voice on BBC Radio for decades who, when he wasn’t performing or recording, dedicated his time to helping other actors in the front room of their Finchley home. Stephen would be especially helpful in helping actors acquire the regional accents required for their characters. In this way, Stephen was London’s first unofficial dialect coach.

When Andrew was 14 years old Stephen asked him if he too would like to be an actor. Never having thought about it before Andrew replied “sure, why not”. His name was changed to Andrew Jack and he was enrolled at Arts Educational School. Andrew excelled at Acting and went straight from Arts Ed to The Central School of Speech and Drama at the age of 16, Central’s second ever youngest student.

Andrew’s time at Central was transformative and under the tuition of Gwyneth Thorburn and Cicely Berry, Andrew became an accomplished and dynamic performer with a great ear for funny voices, accents and dialects. Whilst he did not get to graduate from Central, (John Blatchley informed Andrew he needed the challenge that work would provide) he started work with Franco Zefferelli’s touring company in Italy and the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford.

It is this foundation that when, in 1986, Andrew completely changed direction to become a Voice Teacher, was pivotal to Andrew’s skillset. Over a cup of coffee with Cicely Berry, by then the Voice Director of the RSC, Andrew asked Berry if she thought he had what it took to be a specialist teacher of accents and dialects. Berry’s belief in Andrew was unwavering and she told him to ‘go for it’.

Andrew Jack went on to spend the next 40 years dedicated to working with actors in training, in the theatre, and ultimately in film. He became The Dialect Coach to the Stars, coaching multiple Academy, BAFTA and Golden Globe nominated performances, working with nearly every big name in the movie business. Best known for his contribution to the Lord of The Rings, Star Wars and Avengers franchises, Andrew’s life’s work was to work with every actor as the person in front of him, never treating anyone as more or less important than another. His family have established the Andrew Jack Scholarship at Central through the Andrew Jack Foundation which aims to provide opportunity to talented actors and voice teachers reach their potential.