Curated category
English male stage 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…
- 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 McKellen was nine years old when his main Christmas present arrived: a fold-away wood and bakelite Victorian theatre from Pollocks Toy Theatres, complete…
- 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 HardyTom Hardy walked into a modelling competition in 1998 at 21 years old and walked out with a contract. That is not how most serious actors begin.
- 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…
- Daniel Day-LewisDaniel Day-Lewis was born on the 29th of April 1957 in Kensington, London, to a poet and an actress. Before most people had ever heard his name, he was…
- 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…
- 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 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…
- Idris ElbaIdris Elba was born Idrissa Akuna Elba on the 6th of September 1972 in the London Borough of Hackney, the only child of a Sierra Leonean father who worked at…
- 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…
- 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.
- Simon CallowSimon Callow was born on the 15th of June 1949 in Streatham, South London, and his path into acting began not in a classroom or a casting office, but with a…