Biographies of Top British Actors
The British film industry has continuously gone through boom and bust periods, with the high of the sixties followed by the low of the eighties, and then by a revival in the nineties. It has always had a bit of an identity crisis, as it has inevitably responded to influences from abroad, particularly Hollywood. Despite this, it is very well respected around the world, and has been responsible for some of the greatest films ever made. For example, The Thirty-Nine Steps (1935), Brief Encounter (1945), The Third Man (1949), The Bridge over the River Kwai (1957), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Get Carter! (1971), Chariots of Fire (1981) and Trainspotting (1996), show that the industry has produced great films throughout the decades. Over these years there has been many great British actors and actress, and Anthony Hopkins, Judi Dench, and Michael Caine are certainly some of the greatest.
Sir Anthony Hopkins was born in Port Talbot, Wales on December 31st 1937. Hopkins started acting in the theatre where he was spotted by Sir Lawrence Olivier. He became Olivier`s understudy and got his chance when the star fell ill with appendicitis. Hopkins will always be best know for his film roles, and particularly his portrayal of the serial-killing cannibal, Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs (1991), its sequel, Hannibal (2001), and prequel, Red Dragon (2002). He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for Silence of the Lambs, and also achieved nominations for Remains of the Day (1993), where he played the role of an emotionally repressed butler, as well as the two films in which he portrayed American presidents, Nixon (1995) and Amistad (1997). He also won BAFTA Awards for Silence of the Lambs, and the biographical film about the writer C.S. Lewis, Shadowlands (1993), in which Hopkins played Lewis himself. He was made a Fellow of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) in 2008, having previously received a Knighthood in 1993.
Dame Judi Dench was born on December 9th, 1934, in York, England. For many years she acted in the theatre to much acclaim, and it wasn`t until she was in her sixties that she came to real prominence as a film actor, having already been made a Dame in 1988. She featured in the James Bond film Goldeneye (1995) as 007`s stern, no-nonsense boss; a roll she has subsequently reprised in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), The World is Not Enough (1999), Die Another Day (2002), Casino Royale (2006), and Quantum of Solace (2008). She was nominated for an Oscar, and won a BAFTA and a Golden Globe for her role as the grieving Queen Victoria in Mrs Brown (1997). The following year she won an Oscar for her supporting role as Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love (1998), and was subsequently consistently nominated for Chocolat (2001), Iris (2002), Mrs Henderson Presents (2005), Notes on a Scandal (2006), picking up another BAFTA (for Iris) and many other accolades along the way.
Sir Michael Caine was born in London on 14th March 1933. He is one of the most prolific actors of the 20th Century. In fact, a gem for film and music trivia enthusiasts, is that he is one of only two actors to be nominated for an Academy Award in every decade since the 1960s, (the other being Jack Nicholson). Caine`s big break came in 1964 when he was cast in the role of a British army officer in the star-studded historical adventure film, Zulu (1964). His next role was one he became particularly well-known for, the secret agent Harry Palmer in The Ipcress File (1965), which he reprised for Funeral in Berlin (1966), and Billion Dollar Brain (1967). His 1960s Oscar nomination came for his portrayal of the eponymous womanising cockney in Alfie (1966). Two of Caine`s most memorable performances followed as he played the lovable rogue Charlie Croker in The Italian Job (1969), and British gangster Jack Carter in Get Carter! (1971). His next Oscar nomination was earned starring alongside Laurence Olivier in Sleuth (1972). The 1980s were a busy decade for Caine. Of particular note, Educating Rita (1983) got him an Oscar nomination, as well as winning him a BAFTA and a Golden Globe, and he won his first Oscar for Hannah and Her Sisters (1986). The 1990s were a much leaner decade, the highlights being his memorable portrayal of Ebenezer Scrooge in The Muppet Christmas Carol, and his second Oscar-winning performance in The Cider House Rules (1999). Caine was knighted in 2000, and received another Oscar nomination for The Quiet American (2002). Most recently he has taken the role of Bruce Wayne`s butler, Alfred, in the latest Batman films: Batman Begins (2005), and The Dark Knight (2008).
