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From SCIFIPEDIA
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Leonard Gary Oldman is a well-known British actor who has appeared in several popular scifi films. He was born on March 21, 1958 in New Cross, London, England to Kathleen and Len Oldman, a welder and a homemaker. He had two older sisters who helped raise him. His father left the family when Gary was only seven, which proved devastating for him.
His interest in acting began as an escape from the trials of growing up. He enjoyed play-acting and dress up. He was a big fan on the Beatles, Liberace, and Chopin which inspired him to learn piano. When he saw the films If... and Raging moon he became truly interested in acting as a profession.
Encouraged by his drama teacher, He applied to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and was rejected. Despite the setback, he continued to pursue acting and won a scholarship to the Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama. He graduate in 1974 with a BA in Theatre Arts. After graduation, he apeared on stage with several theatre companies. He turned down a film role to star in the play Entertaining Mr. Sloane.
He finally made his film debut in Remembrance in 1982. He did not return to the screen until 1984 in the TV movie Meantime and the series Dramarama.
In 1986 he starred as rockstar Sid Vicious in the acclaimed film Sid and Nancy. He followed up with Prick Up Your Ears which earned him a BAFTA nomination.
Oldman became known for his flexibility and his ability to play eccentric characters, replicating appearance and accents. He has played several well known characters including Lee Harvey Oswald in JFK, Count Dracula, in Bram Stoker's Dracula, Beethoven in Immortal Beloved and Pontious Pilate in Jesus.
Fans of science fiction know Oldman as Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg in The Fifth Element, Spider Smith in the 1998 film Lost in Space (movie), Sirius Black in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Jim Gordon in Batman Begins and the upcoming sequel The Dark Knight.
In addition to his acting, he has served as producer on the films The Contender, Plunkett & Macleane and Nil by Mouth which he also wrote and directed.
Personal Life
Oldman married three times. He has a son, Alfie, with first wife Lesley Manville. The couple married in 1987 and divorced in 1990. He married actress Uma Thurman in 1990 and they divorced in 1992. On February 16, 1997, he married Donya Fiorentino. They had two children, Gulliver and Charlie before divorcing in 2001.
Awards
Oldman has been nominated for several awards including 3 Saturn Awards and an Emmy. He has won:
- 1987 Evening Standard British Film Award in the category: Most Promising Newcomer for Sid and Nancy
- 1988 ALFS Award in the category: Actor of the Year for Prick Up Your Ears
- 1993 Saturn Award in the category: Best Actor for Dracula.
- 1997 Channel 4 Director's Award from Edinburgh International Film Festival for Nil by Mouth
- 1998 Empire Award in the category: Best Debut for Nil by Mouth
- 1998 Alexander Korda Award from BAFTA in the category: Best British Film for Nil by Mouth
- 1998 BAFTA Award in the category: Best Screenplay for Nil by Mouth
- 2001 Alan J. Pakula Award from Broadcast Film Critics Association for The Contender
External Links
To see specific information, such as individual movies, please click the Gary Oldman category link at the bottom of this article. To see other articles that reference Gary Oldman, please click the What Links Here tool in the toolbox at the bottom of this page.
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