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Who Are The Good Doctor’s Freddie Highmore’s Parents? His Mother Worked Very Closely With This Famous Harry Potter Actor
Monday, May 1st, 2023
As a well-known child actor and the lead of The Good Doctor, Freddie Highmore is widely successful in TV and film. But did the British actor have any help getting into show business and does acting run in his family? Keep reading to learn about Freddie Highmore’s parents, below.
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In ABC’s medical drama The Good Doctor, Freddie Highmore stars as Dr. Shaun Murphy, a young autistic surgeon, who relocates from the small town of Casper, Wyoming, to take a job at the esteemed San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital in San Jose, California. Shaun has savant syndrome, a rare condition in which a person with a developmental condition, such as autism, has an amazing talent or ability, according to the SSM Health Treffert Center. Savant syndrome can be congenital or acquired later in childhood or adulthood. Highmore’s portrayed Dr. Murphy since the first season of The Good Doctor premiered in September 2017.
In a March 2019 interview with Digital Spy, the actor explained why he wanted to play the role of Shaun. “I guess I feel very fortunate to have been offered the part of Shaun, and I wasn’t, myself, involved in that [casting] process from the other side,” he explained. “But it seemed like an incredibly important project, and that’s why I wanted to be a part of it. I’m proud to be a part of it.” Highmore also told Variety in 2019 that he felt like it was his “moral responsibility” to play Shaun and also represent a doctor who isn’t a stereotypical television alpha-male. “It’s especially important in today’s world to portray different versions of masculinity, not only the stereotypical ones,” he told our sister site.
In addition to The Good Doctor, Highmore is best known for his roles beginning as a child, including Finding Neverland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, August Rush and The Spiderwick Chronicles. From 2013 to 2017, he portrayed Norman Bates in the thriller series Bates Motel.
In Freddie Highmore’s personal life, the actor secretly got married to Klarissa Munz (a private figure) in 2021. He revealed the news when he was on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in September 2021. “I’m as happy as a Brit could be… I’m married to a very wonderful woman now.” When Kimmel asked if she was Brit as well, Highmore responded: “She is… I just still can’t get over the terminology and the vocab,” Highmore explained to Kimmel at the time. “A ‘married man’ just sounds very old and ‘my wife’ sounds very possessive. We don’t really use [those terms] yet, but we just point to the rings and be like, ‘Here, look, draw your own conclusions.’” When Kimmel told him to loosen up, Highmore noted that “it’s still the early days.”
What about Freddie Highmore’s parents and are they famous too? Keep reading to learn more about the British actor’s mom and dad.
Who are Freddie Highmore’s parents?
Who are Freddie Highmore’s parents? Freddie Highmore’s parents are Edward Highmore, an actor, and Sue Latimer, a talent agent. Highmore and Latimer had two children, Freddie Highmore on February 14, 1992, and Albert (“Bertie”) Highmore in 1995.
Edward starred alongside his son in the 2001 miniseries, Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story. He’s best known for playing Leo Howard in the 1980s drama Howards’ Way and appeared in Doctor Who, The Tripods, Planet of Fire and more. He attended the Guildford School of Acting in Guildford, England.
Meanwhile, his mom, Sue Latimer, is a talent agent who represented Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe. In an interview with the Clarín Journal in July 2011, Radcliffe spoke about how Sue became his agent and her relationship with his father. “I wasn’t really good in academics and Sue Latimer, who was already working with actors as an agent and then became my agent, talked to my parents. My dad and her have been friends for like 30 years, I think they went together to Drama school. My parents told Sue about my issues with school and she told them, ‘Why don’t you send him to the David Copperfield casting for IV?’ he explained. “No one expected I could make it because I had never acted before, I didn’t even show any kind of interest in acting. I went to the audition, and I got it, and that’s how it all started. At the age of 14 I thought ‘Yes, this is what I want to do.’”
At the time, Radcliffe also credited Sue for keeping him grounded despite his overwhelming success from the Harry Potter films. “I have my mom, dad and Sue Latimer and if I get cocky they will stop me. If you’re surrounded by people who love you and not the ones that tell you what you want to hear, it’s okay,” he added.
According to the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA), Sue started her career as a talent agent with the William Morris Agency. She was promoted to Head of Talent in Europe and was responsible for the agency’s domestic and international roster of clients. After a decade, she moved to the Curtis Brown Agency to set up a “successful actors and entertainers division.”
The Good Doctor airs on Mondays at 10 p.m. on ABC.
For more on medical dramas, check out our photo gallery on the all-time greatest soap opera doctors ranked.
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<p><strong>Why We Love It:</strong> Taylor Sheridan’s Paramount Network Western pulls no punches, and neither do any of the members of the rough-and-tumble Dutton family. Well, maybe Jamie. (But he’s adopted.) <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> The outta-control Season 4 finale that gunned down John, took aim at Kayce and blew up Beth. Or <em>tried</em> to, anyway. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> As of Season 5, Sheridan has written or co-written every episode of the series, which has thus far spawned two prequels, <em>1883</em> and <em>1932</em>.</p>
Image: NBC/Courtesy Everett of the Collection
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<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> As much as we may hate actually going to see the doctor, we can’t get enough of medical dramas set in hospitals. Plus, this long-running NBC series featured George Clooney, whose Dr. Doug Ross was the original McDreamy. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> The Season 2 episode in which Ross saved a child trapped in a storm drain left us breathless and helped propel Clooney to superstardom. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> The series was created by Michael Crichton. Yes, the same man who gave us <em>Jurassic Park. </em></p>
Image: OWN/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
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<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> There was no “there” to which Tyler Perry’s OWN soap wouldn’t go. Yet neither Jeffrey Harrington stabbing his homophobic Mommie Dearest in the breast implant nor Veronica Harrington setting her estranged husband on fire is <strong>What We’ll Never Forget:</strong> That would be Crystal R. Fox’s fierce portrayal of long-suffering Hanna Young. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> In 2022, Tika Sumpter, who played Candace Young, tied the knot with co-star Nicholas James, aka off-kilter Officer Justin Lewis.</p>
Image: NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal/Getty Images
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<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> Over the course of its 2016-22 run, the creators of the NBC series proved master manipulators where our emotional well-being was concerned. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> The unbreakable bond between the Big Three — the Pearson siblings. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> So upset were fans upon learning that a slow cooker was the cause of Jack Pearson’s death that the makers of the responsible appliance posted a Facebook message addressing the incident. “We love [Jack], and we love you, too. Don’t further add to our heartbreak by no longer using Crock-Pot Slow Cookers.” </p>
Image: Getty Images
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<p><strong>Why We Love It:</strong> Unlike its American brethren, the British sudser makes a big deal of the “little people.” In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to find a “have” amongst the “have-nots” who populate Albert Square and hang at its beloved Queen Vic pub. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> The 2008 tearjerker in which Dot Cotton recorded an episode-long farewell monologue to former hubby Jim. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> For 28 years running, June Brown’s Dot wore the same dress on Christmas Day. </p>
Image: Aaron Spelling Productions/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
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<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> In a way, we grew up with the characters on Aaron Spelling’s 1990-2000 Fox hit, which originated as the fish-out-of-water story of sheltered Minnesota twins transferred to schmancy West Beverly High. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> The heated debates that erupted over Season 3’s Brenda/Dylan/Kelly triangle. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> Since the network wasn’t initially as sold on Luke Perry or the character of Dylan McKay as Spelling was, the EP at first paid the future teen idol’s salary himself.</p>
Image: Fox Image Collection/Getty Images
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<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> While we could wax poetic about the shocking plot twists which befell the Lyon family as they fought for control of their hip-hop dynasty, the truth is, what we <em>really</em> loved was Taraji P. Henson’s trash-talking Cookie. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> Sadly, the show will likely be most remembered for star Jussie Smollett staging a fake attack against himself. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> Henson darn near got a spinoff focused on her character, but that Cookie crumbled before the proposed show could launch.</p>
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<p><strong>Why We Love It:</strong> Nineteen seasons in, Shonda Rhimes’ medical drama never forgets that sometimes all it takes to get a <span style="text-decoration: line-through">patient</span> series off life support is a transfusion of fresh blood. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> Season 5’s finale, which kept us waiting till the last second to learn whether Izzie Stevens or George O’Malley died. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> Original cast member Ellen Pompeo was TV’s highest-paid actress — to the tune of $20M/year — when she stepped away from her role of Meredith Grey in 2022.</p>
Image: Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty Images
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<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> The suburbs-set 2004-12 series beautifully combined slapstick comedy with dark drama while chronicling the lives of Wisteria Lane’s residents… as seen through the eyes of a dead neighbor! <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> Early in Season 1, Gabrielle Solis mowed her lawn in a full-length evening gown to prevent her hubby from finding out their hunky young gardener had been too busy tending to her needs to do the chore himself. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> Said gardener was played by none other than a post-<em>Passions</em>, pre-<em>Chesapeake Shores</em> Jesse Metcalfe.</p>
Image: Fox/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
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<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> After Aaron Spelling spiked his <em>Beverly Hills, 90210</em> spinoff with <em>Dynasty</em> vet Heather Locklear as Amanda Woodward, it went from plain and boring to wild and crazy. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> The Season 2 scene in which a back-from-the-dead Kimberly Shaw ripped off her wig to reveal her scarred head. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> Years after the show ended, Locklear dated and even got engaged to former leading man Jack Wagner, who’d played her love/hate interest, Dr. Peter Burns.</p>
Image: Aaron Spelling Prods./Courtesy of the Everett Collection
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<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> ABC’s answer to <em>Dallas</em> was heavy on the glitz and glamour and even heavier on the catfights and spectacles. (Moldavian massacre, anyone?) <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> Joan Collins’ Season 2 debut as Blake Carrington’s ex, Alexis, who elevated bitchcraft to an art form and moved the series out of Dullsville. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> The role of the scheme queen was originally supposed to go to Sophia Loren. Elizabeth Taylor and Jessica Walter were also pursued, Collins told <em>W</em> in 2018. </p>
Image: ABC/Getty Images
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<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> Based on Grace Metalious’ novel, ABC’s 1964-69 serial about a small town with big secrets was so addictive that at one point, three new episodes aired every week. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> Lee Grant’s stunning turn as the sublimely cynical Stella Chernak. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> The exit of rising star Mia Farrow in 1966 not only killed the popular Allison/Rodney/Betty triangle with Ryan O’Neal and Barbara Parkins’ characters, it began the series’ slide toward the primetime graveyard.</p>
Image: CBS/Getty Images
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