Gary Oldman facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Gary Oldman
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Oldman in 2014
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Gary Leonard Oldman
21 March 1958 New Cross, London, England
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| Education | Rose Bruford College (BA) |
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| Years active | 1979–present |
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Works
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Full list |
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| Partner(s) | Isabella Rossellini (1994–1996) |
| Children | 3 |
| Relatives | Laila Morse (sister) |
| Awards | Full list |
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Sir Gary Leonard Oldman (born 21 March 1958) is an English actor and filmmaker. He is famous for his amazing ability to transform into different characters. His intense acting style has won him many awards, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and three British Academy Film Awards.
Oldman's movies have earned over $11 billion worldwide. This makes him one of the highest-grossing actors ever. He is known for playing heroes, villains, and real-life historical figures.
He started his career in theatre in 1979. His first movie was Remembrance in 1982. He became well-known in Britain for playing punk musician Sid Vicious in Sid and Nancy (1986). He also played the writer Joe Orton in Prick Up Your Ears (1987).
Oldman became a Hollywood star with roles like Lee Harvey Oswald in JFK (1991) and Count Dracula in Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992). He is also famous for playing villains in movies like Léon: The Professional (1994) and The Fifth Element (1997).
Many people know him from major movie series. He played Sirius Black in the Harry Potter films and Commissioner James Gordon in The Dark Knight trilogy. He also voiced the villain Lord Shen in Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011).
In 2017, he won the Academy Award for Best Actor for playing Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour. Since 2022, he has starred in the spy series Slow Horses. For his contributions to drama, he was made a Knight Bachelor by King Charles III in 2025.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Gary Leonard Oldman was born in New Cross, London, on 21 March 1958. His father, Leonard, was a welder, and his mother, Kathleen, raised him and his older sister, Maureen. Maureen is also an actress, known as Laila Morse.
Oldman left school at 16 to work in a sports shop. As a child, he played the piano. He decided to become an actor after seeing the film The Raging Moon (1971), starring Malcolm McDowell. He said, "Something about Malcolm just arrested me... and I said, 'I wanna do that.'"
Growing up in south London, Oldman was a fan of the Millwall football club. He later learned that his father had played for the team after World War II.
He studied acting at the Young People's Theatre in Greenwich. He tried to get into the famous Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) but was not accepted. He later won a scholarship to Rose Bruford College, where he earned a degree in Acting in 1979.
Acting Career
Early Stage and Film Roles
After graduating, Oldman quickly found work in the theatre. He performed in many plays, including Cabaret and Romeo and Juliet. He became a popular actor at the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow.
In 1982, he made his first film appearance in Remembrance. The next year, he starred in the Mike Leigh film Meantime. His big break in theatre came in 1984 with the play The Pope's Wedding. His performance won him two major theatre awards. This led to more work with the Royal Court Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Rise to Fame in Hollywood
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In 1986, Oldman played punk rock star Sid Vicious in the movie Sid and Nancy. This role, along with his part in Prick Up Your Ears (1987), brought him to the attention of Hollywood. The famous film critic Roger Ebert called him "the best young British actor around."
He moved to the United States in the early 1990s. In 1990, he starred in State of Grace and Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead. In 1991, he played Lee Harvey Oswald in Oliver Stone's movie JFK. To prepare, Oldman did his own research and met Oswald's family.
His role as Count Dracula in Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) was a huge success. The film was a box office hit, and Oldman won a Saturn Award for his performance.
Throughout the 1990s, Oldman became known for playing memorable villains. He played a corrupt police officer in Léon: The Professional (1994) and a futuristic tyrant in The Fifth Element (1997). He also played a terrorist in the blockbuster Air Force One (1997).
Major Franchise Roles
In 2004, Oldman joined the Harry Potter series as Harry's godfather, Sirius Black. He first appeared in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. He returned for three more films in the series.
The next year, he began playing Police Commissioner James "Jim" Gordon in Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins (2005). He played this role again in the sequels The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012). His performance as Gordon was highly praised by critics.
In 2011, he voiced the villainous peacock Lord Shen in the animated film Kung Fu Panda 2. For this role, he was nominated for an Annie Award.
Awards Success and Recent Work
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In 2011, Oldman starred as the spy George Smiley in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. His quiet and thoughtful performance earned him his first Academy Award nomination.
His greatest awards success came in 2017 for playing Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour. To look like Churchill, Oldman spent over 200 hours in the makeup chair. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor, a Golden Globe Award, and a BAFTA Award for his incredible transformation.
In 2020, he played screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz in the film Mank. This role earned him another Academy Award nomination. Since 2022, he has starred as a spy manager in the Apple TV+ series Slow Horses. In 2023, he appeared as President Harry S. Truman in the hit film Oppenheimer.
Other Work
Filmmaking and Writing
In 1997, Oldman wrote and directed the film Nil by Mouth. The movie was based on some of his own childhood memories. It won two BAFTA Awards, including Best British Film and Best Screenplay.
Oldman and his business partner Douglas Urbanski also formed a production company. They produced Nil by Mouth and The Contender, a political drama that Oldman also starred in. In 2015, he signed a deal to write a series of vampire books called Blood Riders.
Music and Voice Acting
Oldman is also a talented musician. He plays the piano and sang on the soundtrack for the movie Sid and Nancy. He even appeared on a song with the famous musician David Bowie.
His voice is featured in several popular video games. He voiced Sergeant Viktor Reznov in the Call of Duty series and the fire dragon Ignitus in The Legend of Spyro games. He also played the main villain, Lord Vortech, in the Lego Dimensions video game.
Personal Life
Oldman moved to Los Angeles in the early 1990s and has lived in the United States ever since. He has been married five times and has three sons. His oldest son, Alfie, is from his first marriage to actress Lesley Manville. He has two younger sons, Gulliver and Charlie, from his marriage to Donya Fiorentino.
In 2017, he married writer and art curator Gisele Schmidt. They live together in Palm Springs, California. Oldman's older sister is the actress Laila Morse, who is best known for her role in the British soap opera EastEnders.
See also
In Spanish: Gary Oldman para niños
- List of British Academy Award nominees and winners
- List of actors with Academy Award nominations
- List of actors with two or more Academy Award nominations in acting categories
