Gary Oldman

Gary Oldman
File:Batman photos oldman.jpg Gary Oldman.
Born	Leonard Gary Oldman
Spouse(s)	Lesley Manville (1988-1990) Uma Thurman (1990-1992) Donya Fiorentino (1997-2001)

Gary Oldman (born March 21, 1958) is an Emmy Award-nominated, Saturn and BAFTA Award-winning English actor, writer and director. He initially came to prominance in the 1986 film Sid & Nancy, in which he played the ill-fated rocker Sid Vicious. He later starred in films such as Dracula, Léon, The Fifth Element and Hannibal. Generally regarded as one of the world's most versatile actors, Oldman has portrayed a number of significant historical figures, as well as many memorable villains throughout his career. He has also garnered much praise for his mastery of world accents. His 1997 foray into writing and directing, Nil By Mouth, won the 1998 BAFTA for Best Film.

Biography

Early life

Oldman was born Leonard Gary Oldman in New Cross, London, England to Len Oldman, a former sailor who worked as a welder and was an "abusive alcoholic", and Kathleen, an Irish-born homemaker. His sister, Laila Morse, is also an actor.

Career

Oldman won a scholarship to the Rose Bruford College, where he received a BA in Drama in 1979. He had initially applied for enrolment into Britain's prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, but was refused entry and told to "find something else to do for a living.". Often quizzed about it in retrospect, his highly successful career considered, he has stated that "the work speaks for itself." Following his graduation from Rose Bruford College, he later studied with the Greenwich Young People's Theatre and went on to appear in a number of stage plays including The Pope's Wedding, for which he received Time Out's Fringe Award for Best Newcomer of 1985 - 1986 and the British Theatre Association's Drama Magazine Award as Best Actor of 1985.

Oldman first appeared on screen in the film Remembrance in 1982, going on to win his first starring role in Sid and Nancy (1986), in which he played the Sex Pistols' ill-fated bassist Sid Vicious. He has become known for playing eccentrics and for his mastery of accents. He has played a variety of famous characters including Count Dracula, Ludwig van Beethoven, Joe Orton, Lee Harvey Oswald, James Gordon, Dr. Zachary Smith, Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz, Pontius Pilate, and the Devil. He has played many villains, including a vampire (Bram Stoker's Dracula), a pimp (True Romance), a disfigured paedophile (Hannibal), a futuristic megacorp tyrant (The Fifth Element), a corrupt DEA officer (Léon), a sadistic prison warden (Murder in the First), the Russian terrorist leader Ivan Korshunov (Air Force One), a presidential assassin (JFK), and a violent football hooligan (The Firm).

He was even cast as convicted murderer Sirius Black in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, who appears to be a villain until a surprise ending reveals his innocence. Due to frequently playing villains, and people struck by tragedy, his characters often die in his films. He overdoses in Sid and Nancy, is killed with a hammer in Prick Up Your Ears, blown up in Léon and The Fifth Element, hanged in Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead, strangled in Air Force One, stabbed in Bram Stoker's Dracula, and shot in The Firm, JFK, State of Grace, and True Romance. In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, his character dies when he falls through a mysterious veil. Oldman has received more recent acclaim in his recent films, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), as well as the extremely successful Batman Begins (2005) and the upcoming The Dark Knight (2008).

In 1997, he directed, produced, and wrote Nil by Mouth, partially based on his life, which went on to win the Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film, a BAFTA Award (shared with Douglas Urbanski) and also the British Academy Award for Best Screenplay, the Channel 4 Director's Award, and the Empire Award, and was declared by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts as one of the one hundred best films of all time. Recently Nil By Mouth was listed by Time Out as number two of the top fifty best British films ever.

Oldman and producing partner Douglas Urbanski formed the SE8 GROUP to produce Nil By Mouth. The company also produced The Contender, which also starred Oldman. Oldman has finished his latest screenplay, Chang & Eng, based on the novel by Darin Strauss, which SE8 Group will produce. In September 2006 Nokia, Nseries Studio released the Oldman directed short "[Donut]" (MPEG-4, 320x240 pixel, 23 MB) with music by Tor Hyams. The film was shot with an N93 in order to promote the phone.

Trivia

• In the Simpsons episode I Am Furious Yellow when Bart asks Homer if he wanted to be played by John Goodman in Angry Dad: The Motion Picture, Homer says he would rather be played by Gary Oldman.

• Actor Ryan Gosling cites Gary Oldman as his favorite actor.

Personal life

Oldman has been married three times: to Lesley Manville (1988 - 1990), Uma Thurman (1990 - 1992), and Donya Fiorentino (1997 - 2001). He also has three sons, Alfred (b. 1988) by Manville, and Gulliver Flynn (b. 1997) and Charlie John (b. 1999) by Fiorentino.

Filmography

• Remembrance (1982), Daniel
• Meantime (TV, 1984), Coxy the Skinhead
• Morgan's Boy (TV, 1984), Colin
• Honest, Decent & True (TV, 1985), Derek Bates
• Sid and Nancy (1986), Sid Vicious
• Prick Up Your Ears (1987), Joe Orton
• Track 29 (1988), Martin
• Criminal Law (1988), Ben Chase
• We Think the World of You (1988), Johnny
• The Firm (TV, 1988), Bex Bissell
• Chattahoochee (1989), Emmett Foley
• Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990), Rosencrantz
• State of Grace (1990), Jackie Flannery
• Henry & June (1990), Pop (as Maurice Escargot)
• JFK (1991), Lee Harvey Oswald
• Heading Home (TV, 1991), Ian Tyson
• Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), Dracula
• True Romance (1993), Drexl Spivey
• Romeo Is Bleeding (1993), Jack Grimaldi
• Léon (1994), Norman Stansfield
• Immortal Beloved (1994), Ludwig van Beethoven
• Murder in the First (1995), Milton Glenn
• The Scarlet Letter (1995), Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale
• Basquiat (1996), Albert Milo
• The Fifth Element (1997), Jean-Baptiste Emmanuel Zorg
• Air Force One (1997), Ivan Korshunov
• Lost in Space (1998), Dr. Zachary Smith
• Quest for Camelot (1998), Baron Ruber (voice and vocal)
• Jesus (TV, 1999), Pontius Pilate
• The Contender (2000), Rep. Sheldon Runyon
• Nobody's Baby (2001), Buford Hill
• Friends, "The One with Monica and Chandler's Wedding", Parts 1 & 2 (TV, 2001), Richard Crosby
• Hannibal (2001), Mason R. Verger
• Greg The Bunny (TV, 2002), himself as a theatre producer
• Interstate 60 (2002), O.W. Grant
• The Hire: Beat The Devil (2002), Devil
• Medal of Honor: Allied Assault Spearhead (2002), Sgt. Jack Barnes
• True Crime: Streets of LA (2003), Rasputin "Rocky" Kuznetskov, Agent Masterson
• Tiptoes (2003), Rolfe
• Sin (2003), Charlie Strom
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Sirius Black
• Dead Fish (2004), Lynch
• Who's Kyle? (2004), Scouse
• Batman Begins (2005), Sgt. James Gordon (Promoted to Lt. at end of the movie)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), Sirius Black (voice)
• The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning (2006), Ignitus (voice)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), Sirius Black
• The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night (2007), Ignitus (voice)
• The Dark Knight (2008), Lt. James Gordon

External links

• Gary Oldman at IMDb
• GaryOldman.info. The official fansite of Gary Oldman.
• mygaryoldman.com. A Gary Oldman fansite and forum.
• Interview with Gary Oldman on his directorial debut - Nil by Mouth