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Curated category

English male Shakespearean actors

  • William ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare signed his last will and testament on the 25th of March 1616, describing himself in it as being in "perfect health." Within a month he…
  • Jude LawJude Law was born David Jude Heyworth Law on the 29th of December 1972, in the London borough of Lewisham, and his first name came from a person none of his…
  • Ian McKellenIan McKellen was nine years old when his main Christmas present arrived: a fold-away wood and bakelite Victorian theatre from Pollocks Toy Theatres, complete…
  • John GielgudOn the evening of the 20th of October 1953, John Gielgud was arrested in Chelsea for cruising for sex in a public lavatory, an act that was then a crime in…
  • Peter O'ToolePeter O'Toole holds a record no actor would wish for. He received eight Academy Award nominations for Best Actor across four decades, and never won a single…
  • Benedict CumberbatchBenedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch was born on the 19th of July 1976 at Queen Charlotte's Hospital in Hammersmith, London. His parents were both actors.
  • Laurence OlivierLaurence Kerr Olivier was born on the 22nd of May 1907 in Dorking, Surrey, the youngest child of a nomadic Church of England clergyman who never quite found…
  • Alan RickmanAlan Sidney Patrick Rickman was born on the 21st of February 1946 in Brentford, London, and he spent his early years in the shadow of Wormwood Scrubs Prison…
  • Alec GuinnessAlec Guinness walked onto a stage for the first time on his 20th birthday, the 2nd of April 1934, earning a single pound a week and permitted to utter just…
  • Henry CondellHenry Condell entered the world on the 5th of September 1576. His baptism took place at St Peter Mancroft in Norwich, England.
  • Ben KingsleyBen Kingsley was born Krishna Pandit Bhanji on the 31st of December 1943, in Snainton, North Riding of Yorkshire. He carries within him a world of…
  • Patrick StewartPatrick Stewart grew a moustache for the role of Macbeth, and when he looked in the mirror just before going on stage, he saw his father's face staring…
  • Andy SerkisAndrew Clement Serkis arrived in the world on the 20th of April 1964 within the quiet suburb of Ruislip Manor. His childhood unfolded across two distinct…
  • William KempeWilliam Kempe was the most famous clown in Elizabethan England, and almost nobody today knows his name. He performed alongside William Shakespeare and…
  • David GarrickDavid Garrick stepped onto the stage at Goodman's Fields Theatre on the 19th of October 1741 and, within weeks, had London completely transfixed.
  • Richard BurbageRichard Burbage played Hamlet, Othello, Richard III, King Lear, and Macbeth, all in their first-ever performances, and yet most people today have never heard…
  • John HemingesJohn Heminges entered the world on the 25th of November 1566. His name appeared in the register of St Peter de Witton Church in Droitwich, Worcestershire.
  • Robert ArminRobert Armin stepped onto the Globe stage in August 1600, and nothing about the clown in English theatre was ever quite the same again.