Cary Elwes facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Cary Elwes
Elwes in 2015
Born	(1962-10-26) 26 October 1962 (age 62) Westminster, London, England
Alma mater	Sarah Lawrence College
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1979–present
Spouse(s)	Lisa Marie Kurbikoff ​ (m. 2000)​
Children	1
Parent(s)	Dominick Elwes Tessa Kennedy
Relatives	Cassian Elwes (brother) Damian Elwes (brother)

Ivan Simon Cary Elwes (born 26 October 1962) is an English actor. He is famous for playing Westley in the movie The Princess Bride (1987). He also had main roles in films like Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993) and the Saw movies.

Elwes has appeared in many other films. These include Glory (1989), Days of Thunder (1990), and Hot Shots! (1991). He was also in Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) and Twister (1996). More recently, he appeared in BlackBerry and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (both 2023).

On television, Elwes has been in shows like The X-Files, Seinfeld, and Psych. In 2019, he was in the Netflix series Stranger Things. He also appeared in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Knuckles (2024). Elwes wrote a book about making The Princess Bride. It is called As You Wish and came out in 2014.

Early Life and Education

Cary Elwes was born in Westminster, London, England, on 26 October 1962. He is the youngest of three sons. His father was a portrait painter named Dominic Elwes. His mother was an interior designer, Tessa Kennedy. Cary has two brothers, Damian Elwes and Cassian Elwes, who are also involved in film.

One of Elwes's relatives was John Elwes. He was a very careful person with money. He was even an inspiration for the character Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. Cary Elwes played five roles in the 2009 film version of A Christmas Carol.

Elwes grew up as a Catholic. He was an altar boy at Westminster Cathedral. Many of his relatives were also clerics (church leaders).

His parents divorced when he was four years old. He went to Harrow School and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. In 1981, he moved to the United States. He studied acting at Sarah Lawrence College in New York. He also learned acting at the Actors Studio.

As a teenager, he worked on film sets. He was a production assistant for movies like Octopussy and Superman. On the set of Superman, he met actor Marlon Brando.

Acting Career Highlights

Early Roles (1984–1999)

Props from the film The Princess Bride (1987)

Cary Elwes started acting in 1984. His first film was Another Country. He then played Guilford Dudley in Lady Jane (1986).

His most famous role came in 1987. He played Westley in The Princess Bride. This movie is a fantasy-comedy. It was not a huge hit at first. But it became a cult classic over time. Many people love it now.

Elwes continued to act in different types of movies. He was in the serious film Glory. He also starred in comedies like Hot Shots! (1991). In 1993, he played Robin Hood in the comedy Robin Hood: Men in Tights. He also had supporting roles in films such as Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) and Twister (1996). He was in Liar Liar (1997) and Kiss the Girls (1997).

His first TV appearance was in 1996 on Seinfeld. He also played astronaut Michael Collins in the HBO series From the Earth To the Moon (1998).

2000s and Beyond

Elwes in 2010

In 2001, Elwes was in The Cat's Meow. He played film producer Thomas H. Ince. He also had a role in the TV film Uprising. From 2001 to 2002, he had a regular role on The X-Files. He played FBI Assistant Director Brad Follmer.

In 2004, Elwes starred in the horror movie Saw. This movie was made with a small budget. But it earned a lot of money around the world. The same year, he was in Ella Enchanted. In this movie, he played the villain. The next year, he played a young Karol Wojtyła in a TV film.

He made a guest appearance on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in 2007. In 2009, he played an art thief named Pierre Despereaux on Psych. He also voiced five characters in the 2009 animated film A Christmas Carol.

Elwes has also done a lot of voice acting. He narrated an audiobook called The Jester. He voiced characters in cartoons like Quest for Camelot and Batman Beyond. He also voiced characters in English versions of Studio Ghibli films. These include Porco Rosso and The Cat Returns. He was the voice of the main character in the video game The Bard's Tale (2004).

Recent Work (2010–Present)

Elwes at Comic-Con in 2013

In 2010, he returned to the Saw series in Saw 3D. He also continued his role on Psych in later seasons. In 2011, he was in the movie No Strings Attached. He also worked with director Garry Marshall again in New Year's Eve.

In 2015, he was in Being Charlie. This movie reunited him with Princess Bride director Rob Reiner. In 2016, he starred in The Queen of Spain. This movie also brought him back together with his Princess Bride co-star, Mandy Patinkin.

Elwes at the Phoenix Comicon in 2014

In 2014, Elwes wrote a book about making The Princess Bride. It is called As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride. The book shared stories from behind the scenes. It also included interviews with other actors from the movie. The book became a New York Times Best Seller.

Elwes also helped write the movie Elvis & Nixon (2016). This film was about the famous meeting between Elvis Presley and President Nixon. In 2015, he joined the TV series The Art of More.

In 2018, Elwes played Mayor Larry Kline in the third season of the Netflix series Stranger Things. This show premiered in 2019. He was nominated for an award with the rest of the cast. In 2019, he also joined the Amazon series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

Personal Life

Cary Elwes met photographer Lisa Marie Kurbikoff in 1991. They got engaged in 1997. They married in 2000 and have one daughter. In 2025, Elwes and his family had to leave their home because of the Palisades Fire. They were safe.

In March 2021, Elwes shared that his younger half-sister, Milica, had passed away. She had been battling cancer.

Filmography

Key

Denotes projects that have not yet been released

Film

List of film and roles

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Reference(s)
1979	Yesterday's Hero	Disco Dancer
1984	Another Country	James Harcourt
	Oxford Blues	Lionel
1985	The Bride	Capt. Josef Schoden
1986	Lady Jane	Guilford Dudley
1987	Maschenka	Lev Glebovich Ganin
	The Princess Bride	Westley / Dread Pirate Roberts / The Man in Black
1989	Never on Tuesday	Tow Truck Driver	Uncredited
	Glory	Maj. Cabot Forbes
1990	Days of Thunder	Russ Wheeler
1991	Hot Shots!	Lt. Kent Gregory
1992	Bram Stoker's Dracula	Lord Arthur Holmwood
	Leather Jackets	Dobbs	Also associate producer
1993	Robin Hood: Men in Tights	Robin Hood
	The Crush	Nick Eliot
1994	The Jungle Book	Capt. William Boone
	The Chase	Steve Horsegroovy
1996	Twister	Dr. Jonas Miller
1997	Kiss the Girls	Det. Nick Ruskin
	The Informant	Lt. David Ferris
	Liar Liar	Jerry
1998	Quest for Camelot	Garrett	Voice
1998	The Pentagon Wars	Col. James G. Burton
1999	Cradle Will Rock	John Houseman
2000	Shadow of the Vampire	Fritz Arno "Fritzy" Wagner
2001	The Cat's Meow	Thomas H. Ince
2002	Wish You Were Dead	Mac "Macbeth" Wilson
	Comic Book Villains	Carter	Also co-producer
2003	Porco Rosso	Donald Curtis	Voice; English dub
2004	Saw	Dr. Lawrence Gordon
	Ella Enchanted	Sir Edgar
	The Riverman	Ted Bundy
	American Crime	Albert Bodine
2005	Edison Force	District Attorney Jack Reigert
	Neo Ned	Dr. Magnuson
	National Lampoon's Pucked	Norman
	The Cat Returns	Baron Humbert von Gikkingen	Voice; English dub
2006	Factory Girl	Sam Green	Uncredited
	Whisper of the Heart	Baron Humbert von Gikkingen	Voice; English dub
2007	Walk the Talk	Erik	Also executive producer
	Georgia Rule	Arnold
2008	Alphabet Killer, TheThe Alphabet Killer	Capt. Kenneth Shine
2009	A Christmas Carol	Portly Gentleman, Guest #2, Businessman #1	Voice and motion-capture
2010	Psych 9	Dr. Clement
	Flying Lessons	Steven Jennings
	As Good as Dead	Ethan Belfrage
	Little Murder	Barry Fitzgerald
	Saw 3D	Dr. Lawrence Gordon
2011	No Strings Attached	Dr. Steven Metzner
	Delhi Safari	Bee Commander / Sultan	Voice
	The Adventures of Tintin	Seaplane Pilot	Voice and motion-capture
	New Year's Eve	Stan's Doctor
	The Story of Luke	Uncle Paul
	Camilla Dickinson	Rafferty Dickinson
	Hellgate	Jeff Mathews
2012	The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure	Bobby Wobbly
	The Citizen	Earl Miller
2013	Hansel & Gretel Get Baked	Meter Man
	Behaving Badly	Joseph Stevens
	Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox	Aquaman	Voice
	Armed Response	Joshua
2014	A Bit of Bad Luck	Brooks
	Reach Me	Kersey
2015	A Mouse Tale	Sir Thaddeus	Voice
	H8RZ	Principal Donato
	Being Charlie	David Mills
	A Haunting in Cawdor	Lawrence O'Neil
2016	Lost & Found	John Broman
	Sugar Mountain	Jim Huxley
	Elvis & Nixon	N/A	Writer and producer
	Indiscretion	Jake
	The Elephant Kingdom	Rock	Voice
	Beyond Beyond	Jonah's Father	Voice
	The Queen of Spain	Gary Jones
2017	We Don't Belong Here	Frank Harper
	Don't Sleep	Dr. Richard Sommers
2018	Billionaire Boys Club	Andy Warhol
	Ghost Light	Alex Pankhurst
2019	Black Christmas	Professor Gelson
2021	Best Sellers	Halpren Nolan
	The Unholy	Bishop Gyles
	Last Train to Christmas	Roger Towers
	A Castle for Christmas	Myles, the Duke of Dunbar
	Burning at Both Ends	Jacques Christoffersen	Entitled Resistance: 1942 in some territories
2022	The Hyperions	Professor Ruckus Mandulbaum
2023	Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre	Nathan Jasmine
	BlackBerry	Carl Yankowski
	Sweetwater	Ned Irish
	Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One	Denlinger
	Rebel Moon	The King
2024	Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver
	The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare	Brigadier Colin Gubbins
2025	The Panic	Charles Barney	Post-production
TBA	Dead Man's Wire	TBA	Filming

Television

Video games

Awards and Honors

See also

In Spanish: Cary Elwes para niños