Daniel Day-Lewis facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sir Daniel Day-Lewis
Day-Lewis in 2013
Born	Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis (1957-04-29) 29 April 1957 (age 68) London, England
Citizenship	United Kingdom Ireland
Alma mater	Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1971–1997; 2000–2017; 2024–present
Spouse(s)	Rebecca Miller ​ (m. 1996)​
Partner(s)	Isabelle Adjani (1989–1995)
Children	3
Parents	Cecil Day-Lewis (father) Jill Balcon (mother)
Relatives	Tamasin Day-Lewis (sister) Michael Balcon (grandfather) Arthur Miller (father-in-law)
Awards	Full list

Sir Daniel Day-Lewis (born 29 April 1957) is an English actor. Many people think he is one of the greatest actors ever. He has won many important awards, like three Academy Awards (also known as Oscars). He also has four BAFTA Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards. In 2014, Day-Lewis was made a knight for his amazing work in drama.

He was born and grew up in London. He became very good at acting on stage at the National Youth Theatre. Later, he went to the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School for three years. Even with his training, he is known as a method actor. This means he deeply studies and stays in character for his roles. He likes to keep his private life secret. He rarely gives interviews or appears in public.

Day-Lewis acted in both plays and movies in the early 1980s. He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company. He played Romeo Montague in Romeo and Juliet. He also played Flute in A Midsummer Night's Dream. In 1989, he was playing Hamlet in London. He left the stage during a show and never acted on stage again. This happened when the ghost of Hamlet's father appeared in the play.

He had smaller roles in movies like Gandhi (1982). He also appeared in The Bounty (1984). He became famous for his roles in My Beautiful Laundrette (1985) and A Room with a View (1985). He also starred in The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988).

He won three Best Actor Oscars for his roles. These were for playing Christy Brown in My Left Foot (1989). He also won for playing an oil tycoon in There Will Be Blood (2007). His third Oscar was for playing Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln (2012). He was also nominated for Oscars for In the Name of the Father (1993), Gangs of New York (2002), and Phantom Thread (2017). Other famous movies include The Last of the Mohicans (1992). He also starred in The Age of Innocence (1993). He took breaks from acting twice. Once from 1997 to 2000, when he learned to be a shoe-maker in Italy. He also took a break from 2017 to 2024.

Early Life and Training

Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis was born on 29 April 1957. He was born in Kensington, London. He is the second child of poet Cecil Day-Lewis and actress Jill Balcon. His older sister, Tamasin Day-Lewis, is a TV chef. His father was from Ireland and became the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom. Day-Lewis's mother was Jewish. Her family came to England from Latvia and Poland. His grandfather, Sir Michael Balcon, led Ealing Studios. He helped build the British film industry.

When Daniel was two, his family moved to Greenwich. He went to primary schools there. He was sometimes bullied for being Jewish and "posh." He learned to copy the local accent and manners. He says this was his first good acting performance. In his younger years, he was quite a wild child.

In 1968, his parents sent him to Sevenoaks School in Kent. There, he found three main interests: woodworking, acting, and fishing. He didn't like the school much. After two years, he moved to Bedales School in Hampshire. His sister was already there. This school was more relaxed and creative.

He first appeared in a film at age 14. It was Sunday Bloody Sunday. He played a vandal in a small, uncredited role. He said it was "heaven" to get paid to damage expensive cars. In 1972, his father died. By 1975, Daniel was less wild. He decided to pursue acting. He was accepted into the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. He studied there for three years. He later performed at the Bristol Old Vic theatre.

Acting Career

Early Roles (1980s)

Eleven years after his first film, Day-Lewis had a small part in Gandhi (1982). He played Colin, a street thug in South Africa. In late 1982, he got a big role in the play Another Country. Next, he played a loyal first mate in The Bounty (1984). He then joined the Royal Shakespeare Company. He played Romeo in Romeo and Juliet.

In 1985, Day-Lewis earned praise for his role in My Beautiful Laundrette. He played a young gay English man in an interracial relationship. This film is set in London in the 1980s. It is one of his three films on the 100 greatest British films of the 20th century list.

He became even more known with A Room with a View (1985). He played Cecil Vyse, a proper upper-class man. For the movie The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988), he learned Czech. He also started staying in character even when not filming. During this time, he was seen as "one of Britain’s most exciting young actors."

Day-Lewis used his "method acting" style for My Left Foot (1989). He played Christy Brown, a writer and painter with cerebral palsy. Christy could only control his left foot. Day-Lewis visited clinics and made friends with people with disabilities. He stayed in character during filming. He was moved around the set in a wheelchair. Crew members even had to spoon-feed him. This helped him understand Christy's life. This role won him many awards, including the Academy Award for Best Actor.

In 1989, Day-Lewis returned to the stage for Hamlet. He played the main character. During one show, he broke down and left the stage. He said he felt like he saw his own father's ghost. He has not acted on stage since then. This event made him want more privacy. He later moved from England to Ireland.

Famous Roles (1990s)

Day-Lewis starred in the American film The Last of the Mohicans (1992). He prepared for this role by training hard. He learned to live off the land, camping, hunting, and fishing. He also learned to make canoes. He carried a long rifle all the time to stay in character.

He worked again with director Jim Sheridan on In the Name of the Father. He played Gerry Conlon, who was wrongly accused of a bombing. He lost a lot of weight for the role. He kept his Northern Irish accent all the time. He also spent time in a prison cell on set. He even asked crew members to throw cold water at him and yell at him. This role earned him another Oscar nomination.

In 1993, Day-Lewis played Newland Archer in The Age of Innocence. This film was directed by Martin Scorsese. To prepare, he wore 1870s fancy clothes around New York City for two months. This included a top hat and cape. Critics loved the film and his performance.

In 1996, he starred in The Crucible. During filming, he met his future wife, Rebecca Miller. She is the daughter of the play's writer, Arthur Miller. He then starred in The Boxer (1997). He played a former boxer and IRA member. He trained with a real boxing champion, Barry McGuigan. McGuigan said Day-Lewis was good enough to be a professional boxer.

After The Boxer, Day-Lewis took a break from acting. He went to Florence, Italy, and learned to be a shoe-maker. He worked as an apprentice with Stefano Bemer.

Return to Film (2000s)

Day-Lewis in New York, 2007

After three years, Day-Lewis returned to movies. He worked with Martin Scorsese again for Gangs of New York (2002). He played the bad guy, William "Bill the Butcher" Cutting. He learned to throw knives from circus performers. He stayed in character all the time, even keeping his character's accent. He even refused to wear a warmer coat when he had pneumonia because it wasn't right for the time period. Critics praised his amazing performance. He earned his third Oscar nomination for this role.

Day-Lewis's wife, director Rebecca Miller, offered him a role in her film The Ballad of Jack and Rose (2005). He played a dying man. To prepare, he lived separately from his wife to feel isolated.

In 2007, Day-Lewis starred in There Will Be Blood. He played Daniel Plainview, an oil tycoon. This film was highly praised. Day-Lewis won the Academy Award for Best Actor for this role. He also won many other awards. He dedicated one award to Heath Ledger, another actor who had recently passed away.

In 2009, Day-Lewis was in the musical movie Nine. He played a film director named Guido Contini. The movie had many famous actresses. His performance was praised.

Later Career and Retirement (2010s)

Day-Lewis viewing the Gettysburg Address in the Lincoln Bedroom in the White House, November 2012

Day-Lewis played Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg's movie Lincoln (2012). He spent a year getting ready for the role. He read over 100 books about Lincoln. He also worked with a make-up artist to look like Lincoln. He spoke in Lincoln's voice all the time during filming. Spielberg said he never asked Day-Lewis about his acting process. Lincoln was a big success.

In November 2012, Time'' magazine called him the "World's Greatest Actor." In 2013, he won his second Golden Globe Award for Lincoln. He also won his fourth BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. At the 85th Academy Awards, Day-Lewis made history. He became the first actor to win three Best Actor Oscars. After this, he said he would take a break from acting for five years.

After five years, Day-Lewis returned for Phantom Thread (2017). He played an obsessive dressmaker named Reynolds Woodcock. Before the movie came out, his spokeswoman announced he was retiring from acting. He said he hadn't fully figured out why. He felt he needed to believe in the value of his work. The film and his performance were highly praised. He was nominated for another Best Actor Oscar.

Many actors respect him. In 2017, Michael Simkins wrote that Day-Lewis is "a class apart." In 2020, The New York Times ranked him third on its list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st century.

Return to Acting (2020s)

On 1 October 2024, it was announced that Day-Lewis would return to acting. This was after a seven-year break. He will star in Anemone. This will be the first film directed by his son, Ronan Day-Lewis. Daniel also helped write the script for the movie.

Acting Style

Day-Lewis is known as a method actor. This means he deeply commits to his roles. He often stays in character throughout filming. This can sometimes affect his health. He is very picky about his roles. He has only been in six films since 1998. There are often five years between his movies. He likes to keep his private life secret. He rarely gives interviews or appears in public.

After his third Oscar win in 2013, people debated if he was the greatest actor ever. Joe Queenan from The Guardian said arguing about it is like comparing great athletes or historical figures. When asked if he was the "world's greatest actor," Day-Lewis said, "It's daft isn't it? It changes all the time."

Many other actors respect him greatly. Michael Simkins wrote that Day-Lewis is "a class apart." He added that we might not see another actor like him for a long time.

Personal Life

Day-Lewis with wife Rebecca Miller at the 2008 Academy Awards

Day-Lewis is very private about his life. He had a relationship with French actress Isabelle Adjani for six years. Their son was born in 1995.

In 1996, he was working on the film The Crucible. He met Rebecca Miller, the daughter of the play's writer, Arthur Miller. They married later that year, on 13 November 1996. They have two sons together. They live in Manhattan and Annamoe, Ireland.

Day-Lewis has dual British and Irish citizenship since 1993. He has lived in his home in Annamoe since 1997. He said he misses London but needed privacy away from the press. He supports the football club Millwall. He is also an Ambassador for The Lir Academy, a drama school in Dublin.

In 2010, he received an honorary degree from the University of Bristol. This was partly because he went to the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Day-Lewis has said he is "a die-hard agnostic" when it comes to religion. In 2012, he gave his father's papers to the University of Oxford. These included poems and letters from famous people. In 2015, he became the honorary president of the Poetry Archive. This website has recordings of poets reading their work. In 2017, he became a patron of the Wilfred Owen Association. His father had edited Owen's poetry.

In 2008, he won an Oscar from Helen Mirren. She had played Queen Elizabeth II. Day-Lewis knelt before her, and she tapped him with the Oscar. He joked that it was the closest he'd get to a knighthood. In 2014, he was made a knight for his work in drama. Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, knighted him at Buckingham Palace.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Documentaries

Music

Awards and Honors

Daniel Day-Lewis has won many awards during his long career. He has three Academy Awards for Best Actor. This makes him the only actor to win this award three times. He also has four British Academy Film Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards. In 2014, he was given a knighthood for his great contributions to drama.

Images for kids

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  Day-Lewis's father, Cecil Day-Lewis, has a blue plaque in London.

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  His maternal grandfather, Sir Michael Balcon, also has a blue plaque.

See also

In Spanish: Daniel Day-Lewis para niños

• List of people on the postage stamps of Ireland
• List of Academy Award records
• List of British Academy Award nominees and winners
• List of Irish Academy Award winners and nominees
• List of oldest and youngest Academy Award winners and nominees – Youngest winners for Best Actor in a Leading Role
• List of actors with Academy Award nominations
• List of actors with two or more Academy Award nominations in acting categories
• List of actors with two or more Academy Awards in acting categories
• List of superlative Academy Award winners and nominees
• List of Jewish Academy Award winners and nominees