Oscar-winning actor Gary Oldman given knighthood in King's Birthday Honours

Glasgow Times

2 days ago

The London-born film star, 67, is known for his versatile acting style having portrayed a range of figures, from former prime minister Sir Winston Churchill to Sex Pistols member Sid Vicious.
He started out on the stage and performed in productions at the York Theatre Royal, which he recently returned to in a staging of the Samuel Beckett play Krapp's Last Tape.
One of his more recent and most recognisable roles is as veteran MI5 agent Jackson Lamb in Apple TV's Slow Horses, based on the Slough House book series by British writer Mick Herron.
Gary Oldman and Sir Jonathan Pryce at the premiere of Slow Horses at Regent Street Cinema (Ian West/PA)
Late last year he won the performance of the year gong at the 63rd Rose d'Or Awards for his role as Lamb, an unhygienic, ill-mannered individual, who has 'no vanity' and 'doesn't give an eff', according to Sir Gary.
Born on March 21 1958, a young Sir Gary toyed with the idea of becoming a musician but changed his mind after watching a Malcolm McDowell film.
He was turned down by the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Rada), but gained a place studying acting at the Rose Bruford College, which he graduated from in 1979.
He became a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), starring in productions that included 1985's Abel And Cain at London's Almeida Theatre and first came to public attention in films including Remembrance (1982) and Sid And Nancy (1986), which saw him play the notorious punk rock star.
In the early 1990s he played Lee Harvey Oswald, alleged assassin of US president John F Kennedy, in 1991's JFK and the titular vampire in Bram Stoker's Dracula in 1992.
Other notable roles included Ludwig van Beethoven in Immortal Beloved (1994) and Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg in The Fifth Element (1997).
His directorial debut, a semi-autobiographical piece about his childhood titled Nil By Mouth, was released in 1997 and lauded as a brilliant but gut-wrenchingly emotional film.
Gary Oldman with his best actor Oscar for The Darkest Hour (Ian West/PA)
The acclaimed film earned him Baftas for outstanding British film and best original screenplay in 1998.
Across the noughties and into the 2010s he appeared in some of the Harry Potter films as Harry's godfather, Sirius Black, and also starred as Gotham City Police lieutenant Jim Gordon, in Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012).
He was lauded for his role playing George Smiley in 2011 film Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, which saw him earn Bafta and Oscar nods.
He was unable to secure the leading actor gongs, however, until his role in The Darkest Hour which saw him sweep the 2018 awards season, winning an Academy Award, Bafta and more.
Upon winning his Oscar, for playing wartime leader Sir Winston, Sir Gary appeared emotional and thanked 'the Academy and its members for this glorious prize' as well as his colleagues, his wife and family in a lengthy speech.
Sir Gary has three sons, Alfie whom he shares with ex-wife Lesley Manville, and Gulliver and Charlie, whose mother is his former wife Donya Fiorentino.
The actor, whose sister is former EastEnders actress Laila Morse, has been married to Gisele Schmidt since 2017 and was previously married to Hollywood actress Uma Thurman and singer Alexandra Edenborough.