Ralph Fiennes

Career

Ralph Fiennes trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and then joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1988. He is the only actor ever to have won a Tony Award for playing Hamlet on Broadway. In 2001, Fiennes received the William Shakespeare Award from the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C.

Fiennes made his film debut in 1992 as Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights opposite Juliette Binoche. But it was in the following year that he became known internationally, portraying the amoral Nazi concentration camp commandant Amon Gi¶th in Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He did not win the Oscar, but he did win the Best Supporting Actor BAFTA Award for the role.

In 1994, he portrayed American academic Charles Van Doren in Quiz Show, and in 1996, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for the World War II epic romance The English Patient.

Fiennes' work has ranged from thrillers (Red Dragon) to animated Biblical epic (The Prince of Egypt) to campy nostalgia (The Avengers) to romantic comedy (Maid in Manhattan) and offbeat dramedy (Oscar and Lucinda). In 2002, Fiennes and Miranda Richardson received critical acclaim for their performances in David Cronenberg's award-winning thriller Spider.

In 2004, Fiennes was cast as Lord Voldemort in the fourth film of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The film was released in November 2005. Fiennes will reprise the role in its sequels.

In 2005, he was rumoured to portray James Bond, by replacing Irish actor, Pierce Brosnan. The role later went to fellow British actor, Daniel Craig.

Also in 2005, The Constant Gardener was released, with Fiennes as the title role. The film is set in the slums of Kibera and Loiyangalani, Kenya. The situation affected the crew to the extent that they set up the Constant Gardener Trust in order to provide basic education around these villages. Fiennes is a patron of the charity.

His recent performance in the play Faith Healer gained him a nomination for a 2006 Tony Award.

Personal life

Born in 1962 in Suffolk, England to photographer Mark Fiennes and novelist Jennifer Lash, Ralph Fiennes is a cousin of the adventurer Sir Ranulph Fiennes and an eighth cousin of the Prince of Wales.

The eldest of six children, he was raised a Roman Catholic. The actor Joseph Fiennes (Shakespeare in Love, Luther) is his brother. His sister Martha works as a director (in her film Onegin, he acted the title role). His brother, Magnus Fiennes is a composer. His other sister, Sophie Fiennes is also a filmmaker. His other brother, Jacob Fiennes is a conservationist. His foster brother, Michael Emery, is an archaeologist.

The Fiennes family moved to Ireland in 1973, living in West Cork and County Kilkenny for some years, where Fiennes and his siblings were home schooled. They moved to Salisbury in England where Ralph finished his schooling before attending Chelsea College of Art.

He married actress Alex Kingston (Dr. Corday from ER) in 1993, but they divorced in 1997. In 1995, he started dating Francesca Annis, his much-older (18 years) co-star in Hamlet. In February 2006, the couple separated. This came after tabloid reports that said Fiennes had had an affair.

List of Acting Credits and Awards Recognition

Selected filmography

A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia (1990) (TV) as T. E. Lawrence

Prime Suspect (1991) (TV) as Michael

Wuthering Heights (1992) as Heathcliff

The Cormorant (1993) (TV) as John Talbot

The Baby of Macon (1993) as the Bishop's Son

Schindler's List (1993) as Amon Goeth

Quiz Show (1994) as Charles Van Doren

Strange Days (1995) as Lenny Nero

The English Patient (1996) as Count Laszlo de Almi¡sy

Oscar and Lucinda (1997) as Oscar Hopkins

The Avengers (1998) as John Steed

The Prince of Egypt (Voice) (1998) as Rameses

Onegin (1999) as Evgeny Onegin

The End of the Affair (1999) as Maurice Bendrix

Sunshine (1999) as Ignatz Sonnenschein, Adam Sors and Ivan Sors

The Miracle Maker (2000) (TV) (voice) as Jesus

Spider (2002) as Dennis Cleg

The Good Thief (2002) as Tony Angel

Red Dragon (2002) as Francis Dolarhyde

Maid in Manhattan (2002) as Christopher Marshel

The Constant Gardener (2005) as Justin Quayle

The Chumscrubber (2005) as Mayor Michael Ebbs

Chromophobia (2005) as Stephan Tulloch

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) (voice) as Victor Quartermaine

The White Countess (2005) as Todd Jackson

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) as Lord Voldemort

Fiennes as Lord Voldemort in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005).

Land of the Blind (2006) as Joe

Doris and Bernard (2006) as Bernard

Who Killed Norma Barnes? (2006) as Issac Barnes

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) as Lord Voldemort

Sins of the Round Table (2008) as Mordred

Selected Stage Work

Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare (1985) - Role: Curio - Directed by Richard Digby Day - New Shakespeare Company - Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park, London

A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare (1985) - Role: Cobweb - Directed by Toby Robertson - New Shakespeare Company - Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park, London

A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare (1986) - Role: Lysander - Directed by David Conville and Emma Freud - New Shakespeare Company - Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park, London and New Shakespeare Company's European Tour

Romeo And Juliet by William Shakespeare (1986) - Role: Romeo - Directed by Declan Donnellan - New Shakespeare Company - Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park, London

Six Characters In Search Of An Author by Luigi Pirandello (1987) - Role: Son - Directed by Michael Rudman - National Theatre's Olivier Theatre, London

Fathers And Sons by Ivan Turgenev (1987) - Role: Arkady Nikolayevich Kirsanov - Directed by Michael Rudman - National Theatre's Lyttleton Theatre, London

Ting Tang Mine by Nick Darke (1987) - Role: Lisha Ball - Directed by Michael Rudman - National Theatre's Cottesloe Theatre, London

Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare (1988) - Role: Claudio - Directed by Di Trevis - Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon

The Plantagenets: Henry VI, The Rise of Edward IV, Richard III His Death by William Shakespeare (1988-1989) - Role: Henry VI, ghost of Henry VI - Directed by Adrian Noble - Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon and Barbican Theatre, London

King John (1989) by William Shakespeare - Role: Dauphin - Directed by Deborah Warner - The Other Place Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon and The Pit Theatre, London

The Man Who Came To Dinner by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman (1989) - Role: Bert Jefferson - Directed by Ron Gene Saks - The Royal Shakespeare Company - Barbican Theatre, London

Playing With Trains by Stephen Poliakoff (1989) - Role: Gant - Directed by Ron Daniels - The Royal Shakespeare Company - The Pit Theatre, London

Troilus and Cressida by William Shakespeare (1990) - Role: Troilus - Directed by Sam Mendes - The Royal Shakespeare Company - Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon

King Lear by William Shakespeare (1990) - Role: Edmund - Directed by Nicholas Hytner - The Royal Shakespeare Company - Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon

Love's Labour's Lost by William Shakespeare (1991) - Role: Berowne - Directed by Terry Hands - The Royal Shakespeare Company - Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon and Barbican Theatre, London

Hamlet by William Shakespeare (1995) - Role: Hamlet - Directed by Jonathan Kent - The Almeida Theatre Company - Hackney Empire Theatre, London and Belasco Theatre on Broadway, NY

Ivanov by Anton Chekhov (1997) - Role: Ivanov - Directed by David Hare - The Almeida Theatre Company - Almeida Theatre, London

Coriolanus by William Shakespeare (2000) - Role: Coriolanus - Directed by Jonathan Kent - The Almeida Theatre Company - Gainsborough Film Studios in Shoreditch, London and BAM Harvey Theatre in Brooklyn, New York City

Richard II by William Shakespeare (2000) - Role: Richard II - Directed by Jonathan Kent - The Almeida Theatre Company - Gainsborough Film Studios in Shoreditch, London and BAM Harvey Theatre in Brooklyn, New York City

The Play What I Wrote by Hamish McColl, Sean Foley and Eddie Braben (2001) - Role: Sir Ralph Fiennes - Directed by Kenneth Branagh - The Duo The Right Size - West End Wyndham's Theatre, London

The Talking Cure by Christopher Hampton (2003) - Role: Carl Jung - Directed by Howard Davies - National Theatre's Cottesloe Theatre, London

Brand by Henrik Ibsen (2003) - Role: Brand - Directed by Adrian Noble - The Royal Shakespeare Company - Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon and Theatre Royal Haymarket, London

Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare (2005) - Role: Mark Anthony - Directed by Deborah Warner - Barbican Centre, London

Faith Healer by Brian Friel (2006) - Role: Frank Hardy - Directed by Jonathan Kent - Gate Theatre, Dublin and Booth Theatre on Broadway, New York City

Awards won

1993 - NYFCC Award for Best Supporting Actor - Schindler's List

1994 - BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor - Schindler's List

1994 - NSFC Award, DFWFCA Award, and CFCA Award for Best Supporting Actor - Schindler's List

1995 - ALFS Award for British Actor of the Year - Schindler's List

1999 - European Film Award for Best Actor - Sunshine

2005 - Krzysztof Kieślowski Award for his body of work as a thespian

Award nominations

1994 - BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor - Schindler's List

1994 - Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Schindler's List

1994 - Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture - Schindler's List

1994 - MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance - Schindler's List

1997 - Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role - The English Patient

1997 - BAFTA Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role - The English Patient

1997 - Golden Globe and Golden Satellite Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama - The English Patient

1997 - Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast - The English Patient

1999 - Annie Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production - The Prince of Egypt

1999 - Razzie Award for Worst Actor - The Avengers

1999 - Razzie Award for Worst Screen Couple (shared with Uma Thurman) - The Avengers

2000 - BAFTA Film Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role - The End of the Affair

2000 - Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role - Sunshine

2001 - ALFS Award for British Actor of the Year - The End of the Affair

2003 - Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor - Red Dragon

2003 - Teen Choice Award - Choice Movie Liplock (shared with Jennifer Lopez) - Maid in Manhattan

2006 - BAFTA Award - Best Actor - The Constant Gardener

2006 - Annie Awards - Best Voice/Animation - "Wallace & Gromit - Curse Of The Were-Rabbit"

2006 - MTV Movie Awards - Best Villain - "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire"

Trivia

Fiennes gives autographs to fans during his visit to Kyrgyzstan as a UNICEF ambassador.

In his 2006 appearance on Inside the Actor's Studio, Fiennes revealed that his favorite word is "heart" and his least favorite is "flabbergasted". He also stated that if he were not an actor, he would work in wildlife preservation and conservation, saying that he is "turned off" by environmental destruction and pollution.

Fiennes is a UNICEF ambassador.

In the Coffee Talk sketch on Saturday Night Live, Mike Myers (as the sketch's main character, Linda Richman) says, "I'm getting farklempt! Talk amongst yourselves! I'll give you a topic. Ralph Fiennes is neither "Ralph", nor "Fiennes". Discuss."

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Source: Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License