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| | Gary Oldman - birth name Leonard Gary Oldman - born March 21, 1958, London, Great Britain is a British film actor and director.
Biography:
Leonard Gary Oldman was born on 21st March 1958 in the family of welder and housewife. His father left the family when Gary was only seven years old. The boy grew-up with mother and two sisters. Father seldom visited the son and died at the age of 62 due to alcoholism. At the age of fourteen, Gary joined the Greenwich Young People’s Theatre and at 16, left the school to work at sales of sports equipment. At the same time, Oldman studied literature and played on piano. Roger Williams, teacher of drama, has played vital role in the life of Gary by introducing Gary to the world of cinema. In 1975, inspired by performance of Malcolm McDowell's in “If …” and “The Raging Moon”, Gary Oldman attempted to get admission in prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts but was denied admission hinting that, it would be better if the applicant selected another profession. But, Oldman went to Kent, where he won a scholarship in Rose Bruford College for Stage Speech and Drama and graduated with honors in 1979. Next year, the young actor is already performing on tour across Europe and South America as part of City Theater Glasgow and later on starts acting in films on British TV and in the middle of 1980s, Gary becomes one of leading English stage actors with several professional awards to his credit and work in Royal Court and Royal Shakespeare Theaters. For the performance in stage play “The Pope’s Wedding”, Gary received magazine Time Out’s Fringe Award for Best Newcomer of season 1985-1986 and also British Theater Association’s Drama Magazine Award as Best Actor of 1985. In 1986, Gary Oldman debuted in big cinema in leading role of Sid, ill-fated bassist in Alex Koksa's biographic film “Sid & Nancy”. Critics were delighted with the performance of Oldman and they spoke that the actor was more natural than his natural character. For the magnificent performance of Sid Vicious, he also received Best Newcomer award for the season. And next year, Gary played the the character of gay — playwright Joe Orton in Stephen Frears film “Prick Up your Ears”, displaying uncommon gift of impersonation. In 1988, actor went to USA, where after several works, Oliver Stone invited him to play the role of Harvey Oswald in well-known cinema “JFK”. Later on, Gary Oldman starred as Vlad III the impaler in Francis Ford Coppola’s “Dracula”. It is considered that Gary’s performance was the best in director Francis Ford Coppola’s “Bram Stoker's Dracula”. It is equally necessary to note that though the actor portrayed the roles such as Ludwig Van Beethoven, but unfortunately, many directors offer the villian roles to the gifted actor. Oldman is extremely convincing in each one of the villainous roles and tries to give features, specific to the portraying role, for example, in fantastic film of Luc Besson “The Fifth Element” and in action movie with Harrison Ford “Air Force One”. In 1997, Gary Oldman made a film “Nil by Mouth”, for which the script was written by himself and which was nominated for Cannes Film Festival and Gary Oldman starred in Science-fiction film “Lost in Space”. In Hollywood, people refer Oldman as Actor’s Actor. And, he got the nickname not without a reason: he is capable of reincarnating up to un-recognizability, for each new role, Gary presents a separate accent, his villains are the most charming in Hollywood and the best candidate for the role of historical personalities (Sid Vicious, Joe Orton, Lee Harvey Oswald, Ludwig van Beethoven) cannot be found. Often, starring in supporting roles, Gary Oldman becomes the leading man on screen. It is very difficult to identify the Elite cinemas of Gary Oldman as almost all the films with him are so good that it would give immense pleasure even in watching the worst film. |
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English actor and filmmaker Gary Oldman celebrated his 50th birthday this Friday. While Oldman never won Academy Awards through his career, he is one of the most famous and recognizable English actors.
His fame started in the 80s when he played Sid Vicious in 1986 biopic "Sid & Nancy". His other famous performances include movies Dracula,
Leon, The Fifth Element, and recent Harry Potter films.
One of my personal favorite roles of Gary Oldman is his magnificent portrayal of Mason R. Verger
in Hannibal (2001).
One of the interesting facts in his biography is that he was married to Uma Thurman (1990–1992).
Happy 50th Birthday, Gary!
