Gary Oldman

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 pimp (True Romance), a disfigured paedophile (Hannibal), a futuristic megacorp tyrant (The Fifth Element), a corrupt DEA officer (Leon), a sadistic prison warden (Murder in the First), a Russian terrorist (Air Force One), 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.

Filmography

Trivia