Gary Oldman

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Gary Oldman
Gary Oldman as Sirius Black in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
Birth name	Leonard Gary Oldman
Born	March 21, 1958 (age 49) New Cross, London, England
Spouse(s)	Lesley Manville (1988-1990) Uma Thurman (1990-1992) Donya Fiorentino (1997-2001)

Gary Oldman (born Leonard Gary Oldman on March 21, 1958 in New Cross, London, England) is an Emmy Award-nominated, BAFTA Award-winning English film actor, writer and director. He has a sister, also an actor, Laila Morse.

After being rejected for admission into Britain's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he won a scholarship to the Rose Bruford College, where he received a BA in Drama in 1979. 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 Dracula, Ludwig van Beethoven, Lee Harvey Oswald, James Gordon, Dr. Zachary Smith, Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz, Sirius Black, 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 president-murderer (JFK), and a violent football hooligan (The Firm).

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 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. He was granted sole legal and physical custody of his sons with Fiorentino.

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. Gary Oldman has currently 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.

[edit] 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) (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)
Jesus (TV) (1999).... Pontius Pilate
The Contender (2000).... Rep. Sheldon Runyon
Nobody's Baby (2001).... Buford Hill
Hannibal (2001).... Mason R. Verger
Greg The Bunny (TV) (2002)... Played 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).... Lt. James Gordon
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 Dark Knight (2008).... Lt. James Gordon