"Maxwell Caulfield is the ideal spider in the web", wrote one critic, saying he [Caulfield] was "as disarming of himself as he is of others - which gives this revival that tragic tinge of great comedy."
Maxwell Newby was born to Oriole Rosalind (née Findlater) and Peter Newby on 23 November 1959 in Belper, Derbyshire — although he later claimed to be a native of Glasgow, reportedly to be "more interesting". By 1965, his parents had divorced. Although not a child actor per se, aged around seven he played "Ted" (under the name Maxwell Findlater, using his mother's maiden name) in the 1967 film, Accident. The film's screenplay was written by Harold Pinter and starred Stanley Baker, Dirk Bogarde and Michael York.
Caulfield made his New York City debut in Hot Rock Hotel (1978) after moving from the UK to the United States, and the following year made his stage debut in Class Enemy (1979), in which he bagged the lead role (Players Theatre, West Village); he won a Theatre World Award for his performance. He made his Los Angeles debut in Hitting Town (1980); and took a role in The Elephant Man (1980) the same year, which was when he met Juliet Mills.
Caulfield has been married since 1980 to Actress Juliet Mills. The couple garnered media attention, as Mills is 18 years his senior, He is the son-in-law of veteran actor Sir John Mills and Writer Mary, Lady Mills and brother-in-law to his wife's siblings, Jonathan Mills and Actress Hayley Mills, as well as uncle to Hayley Mills' sons, Crispian Mills (lead singer of indie band Kula Shaker), and Jason Lawson.
Caulfield made his debut Off-Broadway as the amoral titular drifter in Joe Orton's Entertaining Mr. Sloane (1981), appearing alongside Joseph Maher and Barbara Bryne. His performance was widely praised:
Caulfield has appeared on Dynasty (1985–86), The Colbys (1985–87), Murder, She Wrote (1988–91), Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990), The Rockford Files (1996), Spider-Man (1995–98), Casualty (2003–04), Emmerdale (2009-10), and NCIS (2013). He guest starred in Modern Family (Season 4, episode 16 - Bad Hair Day) playing Claire's ex-boyfriend and college professor, among other television programs.He played a king in Prince for Christmas on ion TV (2017).
Maxwell Caulfield became a naturalized United States citizen on 5 September 1991.
He made his Broadway debut in J.B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls opposite Siân Phillips. He played opposite Jessica Tandy and Elizabeth Wilson in Salonika at the Public Theater in New York (appearing fully nude for much of the play). He appeared in Joe Orton's black comedy Loot at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. In 2006 he drew attention for his bare-chested scene in the Off-Broadway two-hander Tryst, opposite Amelia Campbell. In 2007, he performed in the Charles Busch play, Our Leading Lady, opposite Kate Mulgrew.
In 2007, he made his West End stage debut as Billy Flynn in the long-running London production of Chicago; he then resumed the role of Flynn for the Broadway production of Chicago in November 2007. Alongside Lois Robbins, Caulfield - playing the character of Julian Winston - finished up an off-Broadway production of the comedy Cactus Flower (2011).
Beginning 28 May 2015, he toured Australia with his wife, Juliet Mills, and sister-in-law, Hayley Mills, in the comedy Legends! by Pulitzer Prize winner James Kirkwood. He voiced James Bond in the video game James Bond 007: Nightfire (2002).
