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Jeremy Irons

Jeremy Irons works in both theater and film. He began his career on the English stage at the Bristol Old Vic and then debuted in London in Godspell, as John the Baptist. His work in the West End and at Stratford-Upon-Avon culminated with his performance of Richard II for the Royal Shakespeare Company. He made his Broadway debut in Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing, opposite Glenn Close, for which he won both the Drama League Award and Tony Award* for Best Actor.

Irons has played many roles for television, most notably in Love for Lydia and Christopher Hampton's Tales from Hollywood. His performance in Brideshead Revisited brought him worldwide acclaim and nominations for an Emmy Award, the British Academy, and the Golden Globe* Award for Best Actor. In 1996 he directed and co-starred with his wife, actress Sinead Cusack, in Mirad, A Boy from Bosnia, a Channel 4 Television film about refugees written by Ad de Bont.

On the big screen Irons has starred in such films as Jerzy Skolimowski's Moonlighting, Harold Pinter's Betrayal, Volker Schlondorffs Swann in Love, and The Mission, with Robert De Niro. Irons played opposite Meryl Streep in The French Lieutenant's Woman, for which he received the Variety Club Award for Best Actor and a BAFTA nomination; and opposite his son Sam in Roald Dahl's Danny, Champion of the World. His performance in David Cronenberg's Dead Ringers brought him a Best Actor Award from the New York Film Critics Circle and a Canadian Genie. Irons starred again with Glenn Close in the film based on the retrial of Claus von Bulow, Reversal ofFortune. For this performance Irons received the 1990 Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Actor.

Irons went on to work in such films as Steven Soderbergh's Kafka, David Cronenberg's M. Butterfly, and Bille August's The House of the Spirits, with Streep and Close again. In 1994, Irons created the voice of Scar for Disney's The Lion King. He followed that with the action film Die Hard with a Vengeance, opposite Bruce Willis; and Bemardo Bertolucci's Stealing Beauty, co-starring Liv Tyler.

Irons's more recent films include Wayne Wang's Chinese Box; and The Man in the Iron Mash in which he co-starred with Gerard Depardieu, Leonardo DiCaprio, and John Malkovich.

He played Humbert Humbert in Adrian Lyne's controversial adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita; and also co-starred in Longitude, an A&E Granada film that premiered on BBC. Irons was in production with four films in 2001, including And Now ...Ladies and Gentleman, directed by Claude Lelouch; The Time Machine, based on the H. G. Wells novel; Callas Forever, directed by Franco Zeffirelli; and Last Call, a Showtime Original Picture directed by Henry Bromell, co­starring Neve Campbell. Irons also played Colonel Pretis in Nina Mimica's Mathilde.

In 2003, Irons debuted in the role of Frederik in the New York City Opera production of Stephen Sondheim's A Little NightMusic, directed by Scott Ellis. He also starred opposite Annette Bening in Being Julia. Irons most recently played Antonio in a Michael Radford film production of Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, co-starring A1 Pacino. Irons recently shot Casanova, a film by Lasse Hallstrom, in which he plays Cardinal Pucci.


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Jeremy Irons Facts

Birth NameJeremy John Irons
OccupationActor
BirthdaySeptember 19, 1948 (61)
SignVirgo
BirthplaceCowes, Isle of Wight, England, United Kingdom
Height6' 2" (1m88)
Awards2007 Golden Globe Awards: Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or TV Movie (for Elizabeth I)
2007 Screen Actors Guild Awards: Best Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries (for Elizabeth I)
2006 Emmy Awards: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie (for Elizabeth I)
1991 Academy Awards: Best Actor (for Reversal of Fortune)
1991 Golden Globe Awards: Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama (for Reversal of Fortune)

Selected Filmography

The Lion King
The Civil War
Kingdom of Heaven
The Color of Magic
Appaloosa
The Mission
Brideshead Revisited
The Time Machine
The Civil War: A Film by Ken Burns
William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice
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