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Curated category

English male stage actors

  • William ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, and baptised on the 26th of April 1564. His father John worked as an alderman and a…
  • Jude LawDavid Jude Heyworth Law arrived in the London borough of Lewisham on the 29th of December 1972. His parents were both teachers who had married five years…
  • Robin Atkin DownesRobin Atkin Downes was born in London. He later earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from Temple University in Philadelphia.
  • Ian McKellenIan Murray McKellen was born on the 25th of May 1939 in Burnley, Lancashire. His family moved to Wigan when he was four months old, just before the Second…
  • Lord Chamberlain's MenThe Lord Chamberlain's Men emerged in 1594 under the protection of Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon. Carey served as the Lord Chamberlain and managed court…
  • Tom HardyEdward Thomas Hardy was born in Hammersmith, London, on the 15th of September 1977. He grew up as the only child of Anne Barrett and Edward Chips Hardy.
  • John GielgudOn the 14th of April 1904, Sir Arthur John Gielgud was born in a house on Cromwell Road in South Kensington. He entered the world as the third child of Frank…
  • Peter O'ToolePeter James O'Toole was born on the 2nd of August 1932 at St James's University Hospital in Leeds, Yorkshire. His father Patrick Joseph O'Toole worked as an…
  • Benedict CumberbatchBenedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch entered the world on the 19th of July 1976 at Queen Charlotte's Hospital in Hammersmith, London.
  • Laurence OlivierLaurence Kerr Olivier was born on the 22nd of May 1907 in Dorking, Surrey. He entered the world as the youngest child of Reverend Gerard Kerr Olivier and…
  • Daniel Day-LewisOn a gray afternoon in 1971, fourteen-year-old Daniel Day-Lewis walked past the church parked cars in Greenwich. He held a can of spray paint and felt a…
  • Alan RickmanAlan Sidney Patrick Rickman was born on the 21st of February 1946 in Brentford, London. He grew up in Acton, a district to the west of Wormwood Scrubs Prison.
  • Alec GuinnessAlec Guinness de Cuffe entered the world at 155 Lauderdale Mansions South in Maida Vale, London, on the 2nd of April 1914.
  • Michael FlandersMichael Henry Flanders was born on the 1st of March 1922 in Hampstead, London. He grew up as the third child and only son to Percy Henry Flanders and his…
  • Henry CondellHenry Condell entered the world on the 5th of September 1576. His baptism took place at St Peter Mancroft in Norwich, England.
  • Ben KingsleyOn the 31st of December 1943, a boy named Krishna Pandit Bhanji entered the world in Snainton, North Riding of Yorkshire.
  • Idris ElbaIdrissa Akuna Elba was born on the 6th of September 1972 in the London Borough of Hackney. He grew up as the only child to Winston Elba, a Sierra Leonean man…
  • Patrick StewartPatrick Stewart was born on the 13th of July 1940 in Mirfield, West Riding of Yorkshire. His childhood home was a poor household where he experienced…
  • 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 KempeIn May 1585, William Kempe appeared at Leicester House as a performer for the Earl of Leicester. The Earl made a special payment of ten shillings for this…
  • Richard BurbageRichard Burbage was baptised at St Stephen's Church in London on the 7th of July 1568. He entered the world as the second son of James Burbage, a joiner who…
  • 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 entered the Goldsmiths' Company in 1581 as a young man from King's Lynn. His father John Armyn II worked as a tailor and maintained friendships…
  • Simon CallowOn the 15th of June 1949, a boy named Simon Phillip Hugh Callow entered the world in Streatham, South London. His father was Neil Francis Callow, a…