About: Steve Hope-Wynne

Stephen Hope-Wynne is a British Actor, Vocalist, Songwriter and the founder of SkyQuaker. Steve is a high energy, positive soul whose dedication to the world of creating art is second to none. He has an intriguing story and a fascination career having spent many years working in Television comedy and drama, Feature Film, Theatre, Radio and is a Voice Talent for Games and Animation. Steve’s latest role was as Richard Croft, father to Lara Croft in Shadow of the Tomb Raider (2018).

Born in Surrey, he grew up with pro-musician parents and spent much of his childhood in theatres and orchestra pits. His father, Stephen, (a Scotsman) trained at Royal Military College of Music (Kneller Hall) was an orchestral bassoonist, music teacher, inventor and serving soldier. His mother, Maureen, (from coal-face Tyneside) an opera singer, actress and opera director trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

At an early age Stephen started on the piano and violin before settling on the French horn to accomplish music grade exams and play in orchestras and bands; in addition he appeared as a child actor in constantly evolving theatre shows that his parents played or appeared in. He joined his Father’s military marching, jazz and classical band The Middlesex Yeomanry with which he was to work with professionally until 1987 as a French horn player and her he played and learned alongside good jazz players.

In the 70’s at a Hersham School he got involved with various punk acts including much older school friend’s Jimmy Pursey and Dave Parsons of the later known Punk Band Sham 69. It was with Sham 69 that Stephen learned guitar. At this time Stephen was awarded by Jimmy Pursey the nickname ‘Angus’, this was due to his turning up for guitar lessons from school wearing a school blazer, shorts, tie and cap with a back-lashed satchel for his guitar. 

At 14 years of age Stephen formed his first band, ‘Alienz’. They cut 2 tracks “Machine Guns” and “Black and White”. Jimmy Pursey soon tasked ‘Angus’ to form a new band as pop-punk vehicle for Pursey’s younger brother, Robbie. Within a few months ‘The Kidz Next Door’ released their single on WEA Warner ‘What’s It All About’ featuring Steve Jones (Sex Pistols) on Bass in 1978. By Summer 1978, they were support touring with Angelic Upstarts, Cockney Rejects, Dexies Midnight Runners, The Clash, The Jam, Flock of Seagulls, Dolly Mixture and 9 Below Zero.

Stephen went on to write and provide guitar, flute, saxophone and French horn on Avant-Garde tracks for Jimmy Pursey’s various solo projects and recordings through 1979 to 1984.

In 1983, tired of the music industry, Stephen was working in operatic stage productions with his parents again at Richmond Theatre where he grew up. At this time he began auditioning for all the major London Drama Schools and eventually won scholarships to attend Academy of Live and Recorded Arts in Wandsworth, South London.

He graduated in 1986 and while writing and recording a solo Jazz and Soul album was invited to join the International Theatre of Vienna, an American run fine-arts company of Actors, Writers, Directors and Musicians based in the bohemian 9th District of Vienna.

Vienna in 1986 was still very much in the influence of soviet block Europe and was a tipping point for ‘metallurgist’ espionage. While co-starring in John Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’, Stephen unwittingly experienced Radiological poisoning when, unknown to him, Chernobyl Crisis had unfolded belching Radio Atomic particles all over Eastern and central Europe. While everyone in Vienna was isolating at home with tin-foil over their windows, Stephen was skinny-dipping in the Danube (Neue Donau) near the United Nations HQ. Stephen collapsed that night during one of the shows and was diagnosed with Radiation Poisoning at Vienna’s central hospital. Stephen thought he had just got sun-burn.

Later that year after extensive European touring of National Theatres, he won his first feature film in Marvin Chomsky’s ‘Anastasia (mystery of Anna)’ with Omar Sharif, Amy Irving, Christian Bale, James Fox, Claire Bloom etc. He returned to UK to continue recording his Jazz and Soul Album which he later shelved while building his UK based Acting career. 

In 1988, he married Actress Suzanne Bonetti. Together they formed and worked in various fringe and small scale theatre companies when in 1992 Stephen’s comedy commercials and voice over skills won him a few years on live BBC Saturday morning show called ‘Parallel 9’ working with US comedy legends.

For about a decade Stephen worked constantly, worldwide in hi-end commercials and comedy TV and radio shows represented by Noel Gay Artists with stable-mates Harry Enfield, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson, Chris Barrie (Red Dwarf) and eventually doing stand-up as a mimic at Edinburgh Festival in 2010 with Barry from Watford, Lewis MacLeod, Duncan Wisbey and other London Comedy figures. Through the 90’s to 2006 he became one of the busiest commercial & voice-over Actors in the world-wide industry alongside his Mentor Enn Reitel.

Always willing to help upcoming independent film directors and writers, Stephen threw himself into a decade of working for free to build as many independent film projects as possible. These include ‘Bike’ by David Tomes and Stephen King for Dollar Babies Film Festival, ‘All In the Valley’ by Luke Hagan, an award-winning historic drama original. ‘Morning Mist’ by Gaelle Denis. The Benghali, real-life revolution thriller, ‘Shongram’ by Munsur Ali, ‘Never Let Go’ and ‘Mnemophrenia’, ‘Arnilia Grove’ and many others.

After 9/11 Twin Towers New York Crisis, Stephen began actor-research into military and intelligence matters with London’s Royal Navy Reserve. Three months later he had signed into the Official Secrets Act and joined the Military on a temporary basis for research only. In 2019 Stephen retired from a 17 year long career as a Soldier and Royal Naval Operative.

SkyQuaker was founded in 2018 after Stephen had returned from filming in Lisbon in between Motion-Capture shooting at Centroid 3D Pinewood on Shadow of The Tomb-Raider game as Lara Croft’s father Lord Richard Croft. Stephen had already written over 5 albums worth of material and needed to form the band-nucleus to convey this material and to co-write further album stock alongside converting his songs into gaming soundtracks. After many coincidental meetings with now embedded talents included Michael W Bell, Ben ‘Ferdy’ Ford, Andy Prince (of Sham 69) Abi F Jones, George McFarlane, Roo Savill and many others, SkyQuaker is born.

Outside of his music endeavours, he is a keen rower of skiffs, tries to maintain Military fitness and enjoys Europe’s varietal cultures and traditions. Stephen is writing three dramatic film screenplays and is exploring Europe to write and research.