Anton Gill was born in Ilford, Essex, the only child of an English mother and a German father. Both parents died in 1995. His mother taught English, Russian and Drama and his father was an engineer. His early infancy was spent in Bamberg, Germany. He speaks good French and German, and sketchy Italian and Spanish. He was educated at Chigwell School, Essex, (1960-1966), where he did a lot of acting and decided that he would go into the theatre. At Clare College, Cambridge, (1967-1970), he did more acting, and directing, ending up as President of the CU ADC (Amateur Dramatic Club) and several other drama clubs, as well as running his college’s Fine Art Society. He left with a 2:1 in English Literature with French and German subsidiary subjects. BA Hons. 1970; MA Hons. (Cantab.) 1973. While at Cambridge, he was taught to punt by Salman Rushdie, who became a great friend, and also worked in Cambridge theatre with David Hare.