Ackroyd's career began in 1976 when he was nominated as Most Promising Newcomer in the West End Theatre Awards for his performance as Clytemnestra in Aeschylus's Agamemnon.
His London début was in Bryan Forbes' controversial and hugely successful Macbeth at The Old Vic; his West End debut was starring opposite Peter O'Toole and Joyce Carey as Ricki-Ticki-Tavy in George Bernard Shaw's Man and Superman.
He has also served as a National Theatre player and appeared in weekly repertory at Southwold, Chichester, Harrogate, Farnham, Newbury, Glasgow and Leatherhead.
I don't know what acting is and anything I've done in the way of work well achieved is entirely owing to the writersSir Timothy was generally considered one of the more enigmatic actors of his generation and refused to be interviewed.
In 2004, Ackroyd's Ark, a book of animal drawings by friends and personalities from all walks of life was published and launched at Christie's and has to this date made £85,000 for Tusk.
He starred with John Challis in a live Radio Theatre broadcast of Dracula for Ragamuffin Productions at The National Liberal Club in November 2013.
In 2015 he played Brian Donald Hume in "The Fuse" written by Ackroyd and Dame Beryl Bainbridge, which included a film directed by Edward Andrews and Nic Roeg.