Colin Firth: Difference between revisions
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'''Colin Andrew Firth''' (born [[10 September]], [[1960]]) is an [[England|English]] film, television and stage [[actor]]. Recent roles include the romantic comedy The Accidental Husband and as a heroic warrior in the Arthurian tale The Last Legion. |
'''Colin Andrew Firth''' (born [[10 September]], [[1960]]) is an [[England|English]] film, television and stage [[actor]]. Recent roles include the romantic comedy ''The Accidental Husband'' and as a heroic warrior in the Arthurian tale ''The Last Legion''. |
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==Biography== |
==Biography== |
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Recently, Firth has been involved in a campaign to stop the [[deportation]] of a group of [[asylum seekers]], because he believes that they may be murdered on their return to the [[Democratic Republic of Congo]].<ref>Colin Firth, [http://comment.independent.co.uk/letters/article2305539.ece We must stop a deportation that is likely to end in murder], ''[[The Independent]]'', [[26 February]] [[2007]], accessed [[27 February]] [[2007]]</ref> Firth has argued that "To me it's just basic civilisation to help people. I find this incredibly painful to see how we dismiss the most desperate people in our society. It's easily done. It plays to the tabloids, to the [[Middle England|Middle-England]] [[xenophobia|xenophobes]]. It just makes me furious. And all from a government we once had such high hopes for".<ref>Andrew Johnson, [http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article2305575.ece Colin Firth makes plea for nurse 'facing murder' in Congo], ''[[The Independent]]'', [[26 February]] [[2007]], accessed [[27 February]] [[2007]]</ref> As a result of the campaign, a Congolese nurse was given a last-minute reprieve from deportation.<ref>[http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/legal/article2308458.ece Firth's intervention saves nurse from deportation], ''[[The Independent]]'', [[27 February]] [[2007]], accessed [[27 February]] [[2007]]</ref> |
Recently, Firth has been involved in a campaign to stop the [[deportation]] of a group of [[asylum seekers]], because he believes that they may be murdered on their return to the [[Democratic Republic of Congo]].<ref>Colin Firth, [http://comment.independent.co.uk/letters/article2305539.ece We must stop a deportation that is likely to end in murder], ''[[The Independent]]'', [[26 February]] [[2007]], accessed [[27 February]] [[2007]]</ref> Firth has argued that "To me it's just basic civilisation to help people. I find this incredibly painful to see how we dismiss the most desperate people in our society. It's easily done. It plays to the tabloids, to the [[Middle England|Middle-England]] [[xenophobia|xenophobes]]. It just makes me furious. And all from a government we once had such high hopes for".<ref>Andrew Johnson, [http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article2305575.ece Colin Firth makes plea for nurse 'facing murder' in Congo], ''[[The Independent]]'', [[26 February]] [[2007]], accessed [[27 February]] [[2007]]</ref> As a result of the campaign, a Congolese nurse was given a last-minute reprieve from deportation.<ref>[http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/legal/article2308458.ece Firth's intervention saves nurse from deportation], ''[[The Independent]]'', [[27 February]] [[2007]], accessed [[27 February]] [[2007]]</ref> |
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In a 2006 interview with [[France|French]] magazine |
In a 2006 interview with [[France|French]] magazine ''Madame Figaro'',<ref>http://www.firth.com/articles/06figaro_204.html</ref> Firth was asked "Quelles sont les femmes de votre vie?" (Who are the women in your life?). Firth replied: "Ma mère, ma femme et [[Jane Austen]]" (My mother, my wife and Jane Austen). |
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Firth was awarded an honorary degree on [[19 October]] [[2007]] from the [[University of Winchester]]. |
Firth was awarded an honorary degree on [[19 October]] [[2007]] from the [[University of Winchester]]. |
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Revision as of 05:00, 15 March 2008
Colin Firth | |
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| Spouse | Livia Giuggioli (21 June 1997-) |
Colin Andrew Firth (born 10 September, 1960) is an English film, television and stage actor. Recent roles include the romantic comedy The Accidental Husband and as a heroic warrior in the Arthurian tale The Last Legion.
Biography
Early life
Firth was born in Grayshott, Hampshire, England, the son of Shirley Jean (née Rolles), a comparative religion lecturer, and David Norman Lewis Firth, a history lecturer.[1][2][3] Firth has a sister, Kate, and a younger brother, Jonathan, who is now also an actor. Firth's parents were born and raised in India,[4] as were his maternal grandparents, Congregationalist ministers, and his paternal grandfather, an Anglican minister, performed missionary work abroad.[5][6][7][8] Firth's name is pronounced very similarly to the Old English word collenferhð, meaning pride.[9] Firth spent part of his childhood in Nigeria, where his father was teaching. He lived in St. Louis, Missouri when he was 11. He later attended the Montgomery of Alamein Secondary School, a state comprehensive school in Winchester, Hampshire, and then Barton Peveril College in Eastleigh, Hampshire. His acting training took place at the Drama Centre in North London.
Film career
In 1983, Firth starred in the award-winning London stage production of Another Country, and reprised his role for his first film appearance in 1984. In 1987, he appeared alongside Kenneth Branagh in the film version of J. L. Carr's novel, A Month in the Country. In 1989, he took the lead in the film Valmont.
Despite widespread admiration for his performances,[citation needed] it was only with the 1995 BBC television adaptation of Pride and Prejudice that Firth gained wider renown. The serial was a major success, and Firth became known as a heartthrob because of his role as Fitzwilliam Darcy. This performance also made him the object of affection for fictional journalist Bridget Jones (created by Helen Fielding), an interest which carried on into the two novels featuring the Jones character. In the second novel, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, the character even meets Firth in Rome. As something of an in-joke, when the novels were adapted for the cinema, Firth was cast as Jones's love interest, Mark Darcy.
Firth had a supporting role in The English Patient (1996) and since then has starred in films such as Fever Pitch (1997), Shakespeare in Love (1998), Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), The Importance of Being Earnest (2002), Love Actually (2003), What a Girl Wants (2003) and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004). He has also appeared in recent television productions, including Donovan Quick (an updated version of Don Quixote) (1999) and Conspiracy (2001). In 2007, Firth starred with Aishwarya Rai in The Last Legion.
Firth is also a Jury Member for the on going Filmaka amateur short film contest.
Writer
Firth's first published work "The Department of Nothing" appeared in "Speaking with the Angel" (2000).[10] The anthology was edited by Nick Hornby[11] and was published to benefit the TreeHouse Trust,[12] in aid of autistic children. Firth had previously met Hornby during the filming of the original Fever Pitch.[13][14]
Personal life
In 1989, Firth entered into a romantic relationship with actress Meg Tilly his co-star in Valmont. In 1990, she gave birth to a son, Will Firth. In 1994, Firth was involved with actress Jennifer Ehle, his co-star in Pride and Prejudice. Firth lives both in London and Italy and is currently married to an Italian film producer/director Livia Giuggioli. They have two sons, Luca (born March 2001) and Matteo (born August 2003).
Recently, Firth has been involved in a campaign to stop the deportation of a group of asylum seekers, because he believes that they may be murdered on their return to the Democratic Republic of Congo.[15] Firth has argued that "To me it's just basic civilisation to help people. I find this incredibly painful to see how we dismiss the most desperate people in our society. It's easily done. It plays to the tabloids, to the Middle-England xenophobes. It just makes me furious. And all from a government we once had such high hopes for".[16] As a result of the campaign, a Congolese nurse was given a last-minute reprieve from deportation.[17]
In a 2006 interview with French magazine Madame Figaro,[18] Firth was asked "Quelles sont les femmes de votre vie?" (Who are the women in your life?). Firth replied: "Ma mère, ma femme et Jane Austen" (My mother, my wife and Jane Austen).
Firth was awarded an honorary degree on 19 October 2007 from the University of Winchester.
Filmography
Further reading
- Teeman, Tim (2007-09-20). "Colin Firth's Darcy Dilemma". The Times. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
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References
- ^ http://www.firthessence.net/family.htm
- ^ http://www.firthessence.net/firthfile.html
- ^ http://www.filmreference.com/film/33/Colin-Firth.html
- ^ http://www.firth.com/articles/02realmag_816.html
- ^ http://hem.passagen.se/lmw/freshair01.html
- ^ http://www.spring.net/karenr/articles/entnewsdaily50401.html
- ^ http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1506175
- ^ http://www.firth.com/articles/globeandmail51802.html
- ^ Clark Hall, J. R. "A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary. University of Toronto Press, 1894
- ^ http://hem.passagen.se/lmw/department_of_nothing.html
- ^ http://www.penguin.co.uk/static/cs/uk/0/minisites/nickhornby/books/swta_synopsis.html#swta
- ^ http://www.penguin.co.uk/static/cs/uk/0/minisites/nickhornby/treehouse/index.html
- ^ http://www.tiscali.co.uk/entertainment/film/biographies/colin_firth_biog/9
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119114/
- ^ Colin Firth, We must stop a deportation that is likely to end in murder, The Independent, 26 February 2007, accessed 27 February 2007
- ^ Andrew Johnson, Colin Firth makes plea for nurse 'facing murder' in Congo, The Independent, 26 February 2007, accessed 27 February 2007
- ^ Firth's intervention saves nurse from deportation, The Independent, 27 February 2007, accessed 27 February 2007
- ^ http://www.firth.com/articles/06figaro_204.html
External links
- Colin Firth at IMDb
