Gary Leonard Oldman (born 21 March 1958) is an English screen and stage actor, filmmaker and musician. As an actor, he has collaborated with many of Hollywood's biggest filmmakers, including Robert Zemeckis, Christopher Nolan, Oliver Stone, Ridley Scott, Quentin Tarantino, Luc Besson and Francis Ford Coppola. Some of his best-known roles are Sid Vicious in Sid and Nancy, Joe Orton in Prick Up Your Ears, Lee Harvey Oswald in JFK, Count Dracula in Bram Stoker's Dracula, Drexl Spivey in True Romance, Norman Stansfield in Léon: The Professional, Ludwig van Beethoven in Immortal Beloved, Sirius Black in the Harry Potter series, James Gordon in Nolan's Batman trilogy, and George Smiley in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
[>>]Source: WikipediaGary Leonard Oldman (born 21 March 1958) is an English screen and stage actor, filmmaker and musician. As an actor, he has collaborated with many of Hollywood's biggest filmmakers, including Robert Zemeckis, Christopher Nolan, Oliver Stone, Ridley Scott, Quentin Tarantino, Luc Besson and Francis Ford Coppola. Some of his best-known roles are Sid Vicious in Sid and Nancy, Joe Orton in Prick Up Your Ears, Lee Harvey Oswald in JFK, Count Dracula in Bram Stoker's Dracula, Drexl Spivey in True Romance, Norman Stansfield in Léon: The Professional, Ludwig van Beethoven in Immortal Beloved, Sirius Black in the Harry Potter series, James Gordon in Nolan's Batman trilogy, and George Smiley in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
Oldman is also known for his role in the films Meantime, The Firm, State of Grace, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, Basquiat, The Fifth Element, Air Force One, The Contender, Kung Fu Panda 2, and Lawless. As of 2013, Oldman's films have grossed over $3.7 billion at the United States box office, and over $9.6 billion worldwide. Aside from acting in films, Oldman wrote and directed Nil by Mouth, and appeared in television shows like Friends and Knots Landing, as well as recording music with David Bowie and Glen Matlock. A Royal Shakespeare Company and Royal Court Theatre alumnus, Oldman is also a classically-trained actor who has appeared in many stage productions.
Oldman has earned renown for his classical acting style and diversity, being hailed by prominent film critics such as Roger Ebert and Peter Travers as one of cinema's great actors. Peer Colin Firth described him as "a very strong candidate for the world's best living actor", and younger actors such as Ryan Gosling, Tom Hardy, Brad Pitt, and Daniel Radcliffe have named Oldman as their favourite actor. An Academy Award nominee, Oldman has won two BAFTA Awards and a Saturn Award, as well as Emmy Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, and Palme d'Or nominations.
Early life [edit]
Oldman was born in New Cross, London, the son of housewife Kathleen (née Cheriton; born 28 November 1919), and Leonard Bertram Oldman (21 May 1921 - October 1985), a former sailor who also worked as a welder. Oldman has stated that his father was an alcoholic who left the family when Oldman was seven years old. Oldman attended West Greenwich School in Deptford, leaving school at the age of 16 to work in a sports shop. He was an accomplished singer and pianist as a child, but gave up his musical aspirations to pursue an acting career after seeing Malcolm McDowell's performance in the 1970 film The Raging Moon. In a 1995 interview with Charlie Rose, Oldman said: "Something about Malcolm just arrested me, and I connected, and I said, 'I wanna do that."
[<<]This text is based on a article from the open encyclopedia Wikipedia and stands under GNU license for free documentation. On Wikipedia there is List of the authors Available. Image: Dribbler
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