Colin Firth
Encyclopedia
SirColin Andrew Firth, CBE (born 10 September 1960) is a British film, television, and theatre actor. Firth gained wide public attention in the 1990s for his portrayal of Mr. Darcy
Fitzwilliam Darcy
Fitzwilliam Darcy, generally referred to as Mr Darcy, is one of the two central characters in Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice. He is an archetype of the aloof romantic hero, and a romantic interest of Elizabeth Bennet, the novel's protagonist...

 in the 1995 television adaptation of Jane Austen
Jane Austen
Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.Austen lived...

's Pride and Prejudice
Pride and Prejudice
Pride and Prejudice is a novel by Jane Austen, first published in 1813. The story follows the main character Elizabeth Bennet as she deals with issues of manners, upbringing, morality, education and marriage in the society of the landed gentry of early 19th-century England...

. In 2011, Firth received an Academy Award
Academy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...

 for his portrayal of King George VI
George VI of the United Kingdom
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...

 in The King's Speech, a performance that also earned him the Golden Globe
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama
The Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture - Drama was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as a separate category in 1951...

, BAFTA, and Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor. The previous year, he received his first Academy Award nomination, for his leading role in A Single Man
A Single Man
A Single Man is the twelfth studio album by British singer/songwriter Elton John, released in 1978, two years after his intended last album Blue Moves, and one year after the release of Elton John's Greatest Hits Volume II. It is the first album John created without his longtime collaborator Bernie...

, a performance that won him a BAFTA Award
BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Best Actor in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.-Superlatives:...

. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...

 in 2011.

Early life

Firth was born in England. His mother, Shirley Jean (née
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....

 Rolles), was a comparative religion lecturer at King Alfred's College Winchester (now the University of Winchester), and his father, David Norman Lewis Firth, was a history lecturer (also at King Alfred's) and education officer for the Nigerian Government. Firth has a sister, Kate
Kate Firth
Kate Firth is a professional voice coach and stage actress, and sister to actors Colin Firth and Jonathan Firth. She has a therapeutic counselor background in the field of human communication, and extensive experience in theatre, psychology and applied linguistics.-Life and Work:Kate Firth was...

, and a younger brother, Jonathan
Jonathan Firth
Jonathan Firth is a British actor best known for his roles in such noted British television productions as Middlemarch, Far from the Madding Crowd, and Victoria & Albert.-Early life:Jonathan Firth was born in Essex, England...

, who is also an actor. Firth's parents were raised in India, because his maternal grandparents, Congregationalist ministers, and his paternal grandfather, an Anglican priest, performed missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...

 work abroad. Firth spent part of his childhood in Nigeria, where his father was teaching.

He lived in St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...

, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

 when he was 11. He later attended the Montgomery of Alamein Secondary School
Kings' School
Kings' School is a comprehensive school in Winchester, Hampshire. The last Ofsted inspection returned an overall outstanding classification, with 30 out of a possible 31 sections of the report being considered as outstanding. Kings' School currently has Specialist status as a Business and...

 (now Kings' School), a state comprehensive school
Comprehensive school
A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...

 in Winchester
Winchester
Winchester is a historic cathedral city and former capital city of England. It is the county town of Hampshire, in South East England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, and is located at the western end of the South Downs, along the course of...

, Hampshire, and then Barton Peveril College
Barton Peveril College
Barton Peveril Sixth Form College is the seventh largest sixth form college in the UK, located in Eastleigh, Hampshire, UK with approximately 2600 students. It is part of the Wessex Group of Sixth Form Colleges.-Admissions:...

 in Eastleigh
Eastleigh
Eastleigh is a railway town in Hampshire, England, and the main town in the Eastleigh borough which is part of Southampton Urban Area. The town lies between Southampton and Winchester, and is part of the South Hampshire conurbation...

, Hampshire. While in Kings' School, he wanted to play the guitar, but the school banned the guitar and saxophone, as they were "not serious instruments", and he was told to play the euphonium
Euphonium
The euphonium is a conical-bore, tenor-voiced brass instrument. It derives its name from the Greek word euphonos, meaning "well-sounding" or "sweet-voiced"...

 instead.

Film career

In 1983, Firth starred as Guy Bennett in the award-winning London stage production of Another Country
Another Country (play)
Another Country is a play written by English playwright Julian Mitchell that premiered in 1981 at the Greenwich Theatre in south-east London and later transferred to the West End in March 1982. In the summer of 2000 the play was revived at The Oxford Playhouse. From 4 September 2000 until 28...

. That same year, Firth played the role of the apple in several 'Fruit of the Loom' TV advertisements. In 1984, he made his film debut in the screen adaptation of the play, taking the role of Tommy Judd (opposite Rupert Everett
Rupert Everett
Rupert James Hector Everett is an English actor. He first came to public attention in 1981, when he was cast in Julian Mitchell's play and subsequent film Another Country as an openly gay student at an English public school, set in the 1930s...

 as Bennett). In 1986, he starred with Sir Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...

 in Lost Empires
Lost Empires
Lost Empires is a 1986 television adaptation of J. B. Priestley's novel of the same name, and starred Colin Firth, John Castle and Laurence Olivier. It was shown as a miniseries, and premiered on UK TV in October 1986.-Plot:...

, a TV adaptation of J. B. Priestley
J. B. Priestley
John Boynton Priestley, OM , known as J. B. Priestley, was an English novelist, playwright and broadcaster. He published 26 novels, notably The Good Companions , as well as numerous dramas such as An Inspector Calls...

's novel, then in 1987 he appeared alongside Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from Northern Ireland. He is best known for directing and starring in several film adaptations of William Shakespeare's plays including Henry V , Much Ado About Nothing , Hamlet Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from...

 in the film version of J. L. Carr
J. L. Carr
Joseph Lloyd Carr ; who called himself "Jim" or even "James," was an English novelist, publisher, teacher, and eccentric.-Biography:...

's A Month in the Country
A Month in the Country (film)
A Month in the Country is a 1987 British film directed by Pat O'Connor. The film is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by J. L. Carr, and stars Colin Firth, Kenneth Branagh, Natasha Richardson and Patrick Malahide...

. In 1989, he played the title role in the film Valmont
Valmont (film)
Valmont is a 1989 drama film directed by Miloš Forman, based on the French novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Choderlos de Laclos. It was adapted for the screen with a screenplay by Jean-Claude Carrière...

, and was co-lead in the film Apartment Zero
Apartment Zero
Apartment Zero is a political thriller from Argentina. Directed by Argentine-born screenwriter Martin Donovan and starring Hart Bochner and Colin Firth, the film is suffused with homoerotic overtones and moments of black comedy. The film was produced in 1988 and premiered at film festivals...

. Firth and other young British actors who were becoming established film actors such as Tim Roth
Tim Roth
Simon Timothy "Tim" Roth is an English film actor and director best known for his roles in the American films,Legend of 1900, Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Four Rooms, Skellig, Planet of the Apes, The Incredible Hulk and Rob Roy, receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for...

, Gary Oldman
Gary Oldman
Gary Leonard Oldman is an English actor, voice actor, filmmaker and musician.A member of the 1980s Brit Pack, Oldman came to prominence via starring roles in British films Meantime , Sid and Nancy and Prick Up Your Ears , with his performance in the latter bringing him his first BAFTA Award...

, Bruce Payne
Bruce Payne
Bruce Martyn Payne is an award winning English character actor and producer and was a member of the 1980's Brit Pack. Although he is best known for his villainous roles, Bruce Payne has played characters across the spectrum...

 and Paul McGann
Paul McGann
Paul McGann is an English actor who made his name on the BBC serial The Monocled Mutineer, in which he played the lead role...

 were dubbed the 'Brit Pack
Brit Pack (actors)
The term Brit Pack is a moniker often used to described young British actors who are touted to achieve success in Hollywood. According to one article, 'every decade brings a new Brit Pack, another disparate group of actors backed by the media to achieve simultaneous Hollywood stardom...

'.

It was through the 1995 BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 television adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice that Firth gained wider renown. The serial was a major international success, and Firth gained heartthrob status because of his role as Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy
Fitzwilliam Darcy
Fitzwilliam Darcy, generally referred to as Mr Darcy, is one of the two central characters in Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice. He is an archetype of the aloof romantic hero, and a romantic interest of Elizabeth Bennet, the novel's protagonist...

, in which he emerged in a wet shirt after a swim. This performance also made him the object of affection for fictional journalist Bridget Jones
Bridget Jones
Bridget Jones is a franchise based on the fictional character with the same name. English writer Helen Fielding started her Bridget Jones's Diary column in The Independent in 1995, chronicling the life of Bridget Jones as a thirtysomething single woman in London as she tries to make sense of life...

 (created by Helen Fielding
Helen Fielding
Helen Fielding is an English novelist and screenwriter, best known as the creator of the fictional character Bridget Jones, a sequence of novels and films that chronicle the life of a thirtysomething single woman in London as she tries to make sense of life and love.Her novels Bridget Jones's...

), an interest which carried on into the two novels featuring the Jones character. In the second novel, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason is a 1999 novel by Helen Fielding, a sequel to her popular Bridget Jones's Diary. It chronicles Bridget Jones's adventures after she begins to suspect that her boyfriend, Mark Darcy, is falling for a rich young solicitor who works in the same firm as him, a woman...

, the character even meets Firth in Rome. As something of an in-joke
In-joke
An in-joke, also known as an inside joke or in joke, is a joke whose humour is clear only to people who are in a particular social group, occupation, or other community of common understanding...

, when the novels were adapted for the cinema, Firth was cast as Jones's love interest, Mark Darcy. Continuing this in-joke, there was a dog called Mr Darcy in the film St. Trinian's, which Firth's character accidentally kills.

Firth had a supporting role in The English Patient
The English Patient (film)
The English Patient is a 1996 romantic drama film based on the novel of the same name by Sri Lankan-Canadian writer Michael Ondaatje. The film, written for the screen and directed by Anthony Minghella, won nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture...

(1996) and since then, has starred in films such as Fever Pitch
Fever Pitch (1997 film)
Fever Pitch is a 1997 film starring Colin Firth based loosely on the book of the same name by Nick Hornby.-Synopsis:Hornby adapted the book for the screen and fictionalized the story, concentrating on Arsenal's First Division championship-winning season in 1988-89 and its effect on the...

(1997), Shakespeare in Love
Shakespeare in Love
Shakespeare in Love is a 1998 British-American comedy film directed by John Madden and written by Marc Norman and playwright Tom Stoppard....

(1998), Relative Values
Relative Values
Relative Values is a 2000 British comedy film adaptation of the 1950s play of the same name by Noel Coward. It stars Julie Andrews, Colin Firth, William Baldwin, Stephen Fry and Jeanne Tripplehorn, and was directed by Eric Styles....

(2000), Bridget Jones's Diary
Bridget Jones's Diary (film)
Bridget Jones's Diary is a 2001 British romantic comedy film based on Helen Fielding's novel of the same name. The adaptation stars Renée Zellweger as Bridget, Hugh Grant as the caddish Daniel Cleaver, and Colin Firth as Bridget's "true love", Mark Darcy...

(2001), The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest (2002 film)
The Importance of Being Earnest is a 2002 British-American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Oliver Parker, based on Oscar Wilde's classic comedy of manners play of the same name. The original music score is composed by Charlie Mole...

(2002), Love Actually
Love Actually
Love Actually is a 2003 British romantic comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis. The screenplay delves into different aspects of love as shown through ten separate stories involving a wide variety of individuals, many of whom are shown to be interlinked as their tales progress...

(2003), What a Girl Wants
What a Girl Wants (film)
What a Girl Wants is a 2003 film starring Amanda Bynes, Colin Firth, Kelly Preston and Oliver James. Directed by Dennie Gordon, the film is a remake of the 1958 film, The Reluctant Debutante which had a screenplay by William Douglas-Home, based on his play of the same name.The title, "What a Girl...

(2003), Hope Springs (2003), Girl with a Pearl Earring
Girl with a Pearl Earring (film)
Girl with a Pearl Earring is a 2003 drama film directed by Peter Webber. The screenplay was adapted by screenwriter Olivia Hetreed based on the novel by Tracy Chevalier. The film stars Scarlett Johansson, Colin Firth, Tom Wilkinson, and Cillian Murphy. The film is named after a painting of the same...

(2003), Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (film)
# Will Young - "Your Love Is King"# Jamelia - "Stop"# Kylie Minogue - "Can't Get You Out of My Head"# Joss Stone - "Super Duper Love Pt. 1"# Mary J...

(2004), Nanny McPhee
Nanny McPhee
Nanny McPhee is a 2005 fantasy film starring Emma Thompson and Colin Firth. Thompson also wrote the screenplay, which is adapted from Christianna Brand's Nurse Matilda books.-Plot:...

(2005), Where the Truth Lies
Where the Truth Lies
Where the Truth Lies is a 2005 Canadian/British drama film, written and directed by Atom Egoyan. It stars Kevin Bacon, Colin Firth, and Alison Lohman, and is based on the 2003 novel of the same name by Rupert Holmes.-Plot:...

(2005), Then She Found Me
Then She Found Me
Then She Found Me is a 2007 American comedy-drama film directed by Helen Hunt. The screenplay by Hunt, Alice Arlen, and Victor Levin is based on the 1990 novel of the same name by Elinor Lipman...

(2007) with Helen Hunt
Helen Hunt
Helen Elizabeth Hunt is an American actress, film director, and screenwriter. She starred in the sitcom Mad About You for seven years, before being cast in the romantic comedy As Good as It Gets...

, The Last Legion
The Last Legion
The Last Legion is a 2007 film directed by Doug Lefler. Produced by Dino De Laurentiis and others, it is based on a 2003 Italian novel of the same name written by Valerio Massimo Manfredi...

(2007) with Aishwarya Rai
Aishwarya Rai
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is an Indian film actress. She worked as a model before starting her acting career, and ultimately won the Miss World pageant in 1994...

, And When Did You Last See Your Father?
And When Did You Last See Your Father?
And When Did You Last See Your Father? is a 2007 British drama film directed by Anand Tucker. The screenplay by David Nicholls is based on the 1993 memoir of the same title by Blake Morrison.-Plot:...

(2008), the film adaptation of Mamma Mia!
Mamma Mia! (film)
Mamma Mia! is a 2008 musical/romantic comedy film adapted from the 1999 West End/2001 Broadway musical of the same name, based on the songs of successful pop group ABBA, with additional music composed by ABBA member Benny Andersson...

(2008), and Easy Virtue, which screened at the Rome Film Festival to excellent reviews. In 2009, he starred in A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol (2009 film)
A Christmas Carol is a 2009 film written and directed by Robert Zemeckis...

, an adaptation of Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...

's novel, using the performance capture procedure, playing Scrooge's optimistic nephew Fred.

He has also appeared in several television productions, including Donovan Quick (an updated version of Don Quixote) (1999) and Conspiracy (2001), for which he received an Emmy nomination. Colin Firth's most recent role is in the Toronto International Film Festival debuted film, Genova.

At the 66th Venice International Film Festival
66th Venice International Film Festival
The 66th annual Venice Film Festival held in Venice, Italy, was opened on September 2, 2009 by Baarìa - La porta del vento. International competition jury, led by Ang Lee, awarded Leone d'Oro to Lebanon...

 in 2009, Colin Firth was awarded the Volpi Cup
Volpi Cup
The Volpi Cups are the principal awards given to actors at the Venice Film Festival. Formal acting awards were introduced in the second festival . Initially they were called Great Gold Medals of the National Fascist Association for Entertainment. The name Volpi Cup was introduced the following year...

 for Best Actor for his role in Tom Ford's A Single Man
A Single Man
A Single Man is the twelfth studio album by British singer/songwriter Elton John, released in 1978, two years after his intended last album Blue Moves, and one year after the release of Elton John's Greatest Hits Volume II. It is the first album John created without his longtime collaborator Bernie...

as a college professor grappling with solitude after his longtime partner dies. Fashion designer Tom Ford
Tom Ford
Thomas Carlyle "Tom" Ford is an American fashion designer and film director. He gained international fame for his turnaround of the Gucci fashion house and the creation of the Tom Ford label before directing the Oscar-nominated film A Single Man.-Early life :Tom Ford was born August 27, 1961 in...

 made his director's debut with this movie. This role has earned Firth career best reviews and Academy Award, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, BAFTA, and BFCA nominations; he won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in February 2010.
Firth starred in the 2010 film The King's Speech as Prince Albert, Duke of York/King George VI
George VI of the United Kingdom
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...

. The film details him working to overcome his speech impediment while becoming monarch of the United Kingdom at the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. At the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), the film was met with a standing ovation. The TIFF release of The King's Speech fell on Colin's 50th birthday and was called the "best 50th birthday gift". On 16 January 2011, he won a Golden Globe for his performance in The King's Speech in the category of Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama. The Screen Actors Guild
Screen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide...

 recognized Firth with the award for Best Male Actor for The King's Speech on 30 January 2011.
In February 2011, he won the best actor award
BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Best Actor in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.-Superlatives:...

 at the 2011 BAFTA awards
64th British Academy Film Awards
The 64th British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTAs, were held on 13 February 2011 honouring the best national and foreign films of 2010. The nominees were announced on 18 January 2011. The King's Speech earned the most nominations with fourteen...

. He received an Academy Award for Best Actor
Academy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...

 in a motion picture for The King's Speech on 27 February 2011.

Firth appeared in the 2011 adaptation of the John le Carré
John le Carré
David John Moore Cornwell , who writes under the name John le Carré, is an author of espionage novels. During the 1950s and the 1960s, Cornwell worked for MI5 and MI6, and began writing novels under the pseudonym "John le Carré"...

 novel Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, directed by Tomas Alfredson
Tomas Alfredson
Tomas Alfredson is a Swedish film director, best known internationally for directing the 2008 vampire film Let the Right One In...

, also starring Gary Oldman
Gary Oldman
Gary Leonard Oldman is an English actor, voice actor, filmmaker and musician.A member of the 1980s Brit Pack, Oldman came to prominence via starring roles in British films Meantime , Sid and Nancy and Prick Up Your Ears , with his performance in the latter bringing him his first BAFTA Award...

 and Tom Hardy
Tom Hardy
Edward Thomas "Tom" Hardy is an English actor. He is best known for playing the title character in the 2008 British film Bronson, the character of Eames in Inception, and the villain Praetor Shinzon in Star Trek Nemesis...

. In May 2011, Firth began filming Gambit
Gambit (2012 film)
Gambit is an upcoming comedy film directed by Michael Hoffman starring Colin Firth, Cameron Diaz, Alan Rickman and Stanley Tucci. The film is a remake of the 1966 film of the same name starring Shirley MacLaine and Michael Caine. The remake is scripted by Joel and Ethan Coen.-Production:A remake of...

- a remake of a previous film
Gambit (1966 film)
Gambit is a 1966 film starring Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine as two criminals involved in an elaborate plot centered on a priceless antiquity from millionaire Mr. Shahbandar, played by Herbert Lom...

 - written by Joel and Ethan Coen
Coen Brothers
Joel David Coen and Ethan Jesse Coen known together professionally as the Coen brothers, are American filmmakers...

 and directed by Michael Hoffman, co-starring Cameron Diaz
Cameron Diaz
Cameron Michelle Diaz is an American actress and former model. She became famous during the 1990s with roles in the movies The Mask, My Best Friend's Wedding, and There's Something About Mary. Other high-profile credits include the two Charlie's Angels films, voicing the character Princess Fiona...

 and Alan Rickman
Alan Rickman
Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman is an English actor and theatre director. He is a renowned stage actor in modern and classical productions and a former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company...


Other work

Firth played William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

 in a comedy special entitled Blackadder: Back & Forth
Blackadder: Back & Forth
Blackadder: Back & Forth is a 1999 short film based on the BBC mock-historical comedy series Blackadder that marks the end of the Blackadder saga...

. Edmund Blackadder
Blackadder
Blackadder is the name that encompassed four series of a BBC1 historical sitcom, along with several one-off instalments. All television programme episodes starred Rowan Atkinson as anti-hero Edmund Blackadder and Tony Robinson as Blackadder's dogsbody, Baldrick...

 runs into Firth's character while he is working on Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...

, asks him to sign the script for him, and then punches him, saying "That is for every schoolboy and schoolgirl for the next 400 years!".

He was a guest host of Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...

in 2004, alongside musical guest Norah Jones
Norah Jones
Norah Jones is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actress.In 2002, she launched her solo music career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album Come Away With Me, which was certified a diamond album in 2002, selling over 20 million copies...

.

Firth performed in theatre frequently between 1983 and 2000. He starred in Three Days of Rain
Three Days of Rain
Three Days of Rain is a play by Richard Greenberg that was commissioned and produced by South Coast Repertory in 1997. The title comes from a line from W. S. Merwin's poem, "For the Anniversary of My Death"...

as lead character Ned/Walker, as well as The Caretaker
The Caretaker
The Caretaker is a play by Harold Pinter. It was first published by both Encore Publishing and Eyre Methuen in 1960. The sixth play that Pinter wrote for stage or television production, it was his first significant commercial success...

, Desire Under the Elms
Desire Under the Elms
Desire Under the Elms is a play by Eugene O'Neill, published in 1924, and is now considered an American classic. Along with Mourning Becomes Electra, it represents one of O'Neill's attempts to place plot elements and themes of Greek tragedy in a rural New England setting. It is essentially a...

, and Chatsky.

He served as executive producer for the 2007 documentary produced by his wife, Livia Giuggioli
Livia Giuggioli
Livia Giuggioli is an Italian film producer.She has been married to British actor Colin Firth since 1997. The couple have two sons, Luca and Matteo...

, In Prison My Whole Life
In Prison My Whole Life
In Prison My Whole Life is a 2008 documentary film about Mumia Abu-Jamal. Mumia was arrested the day William Francome was born. When Francome made this film he was 25 years old and Mumia was still on death row....

. The film questions the trial proceedings and evidence used against political activist and former Black Panther member, Mumia Abu-Jamal
Mumia Abu-Jamal
Mumia Abu-Jamal was convicted of the 1981 murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner and sentenced to death. He has been described as "perhaps the world's best known death-row inmate", and his sentence is one of the most debated today...

, who is on death row for the 1981 killing of a Philadelphia police officer, Daniel Faulkner.

Firth is also a Jury Member for the digital studio Filmaka, a platform for undiscovered filmmakers to show their work to industry professionals.

On 13 January 2011, he was presented with the 2,429th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In 2011, Firth collaborated with colleagues at the University College London to conduct a study probing differences in the volume of various brain regions in conservatives and liberals, with the results suggesting that conservatives have greater amygdala
Amygdala
The ' are almond-shaped groups of nuclei located deep within the medial temporal lobes of the brain in complex vertebrates, including humans. Shown in research to perform a primary role in the processing and memory of emotional reactions, the amygdalae are considered part of the limbic system.-...

 volume and liberals have greater volume in their anterior cingulate cortex
Anterior cingulate cortex
The anterior cingulate cortex is the frontal part of the cingulate cortex, that resembles a "collar" form around the corpus callosum, the fibrous bundle that relays neural signals between the right and left cerebral hemispheres of the brain...

.

He was also in James Bond: Goldeneye, performing a small cameo

Writer

Firth's first published work, "The Department of Nothing", appeared in Speaking with the Angel
Speaking with the Angel
Speaking with the Angel is a collection of short stories edited by Nick Hornby and published by Riverhead Trade in 2001...

(2000). This collection of short stories was edited by Nick Hornby
Nick Hornby
Nick Hornby is an English novelist, essayist and screenwriter. He is best known for the novels High Fidelity, About a Boy, and for the football memoir Fever Pitch. His work frequently touches upon music, sport, and the aimless and obsessive natures of his protagonists.-Life and career:Hornby was...

 and was published to benefit the TreeHouse Trust, in aid of autistic children. Firth had previously met Hornby during the filming of the original Fever Pitch
Fever Pitch (1997 film)
Fever Pitch is a 1997 film starring Colin Firth based loosely on the book of the same name by Nick Hornby.-Synopsis:Hornby adapted the book for the screen and fictionalized the story, concentrating on Arsenal's First Division championship-winning season in 1988-89 and its effect on the...

. Colin Firth contributed with his writing for the book, We Are One: A Celebration of Tribal Peoples, released in 2009. The book explores the culture of peoples around the world, portraying both its diversity and facing threats. It counts with the contributions of many western writers, such as Laurens van der Post
Laurens van der Post
Sir Laurens Jan van der Post, CBE was a 20th century Afrikaner author of many books, farmer, war hero, political adviser to British heads of government, close friend of Prince Charles, godfather of Prince William, educator, journalist, humanitarian, philosopher, explorer, and...

, Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...

, Claude Lévi-Strauss
Claude Lévi-Strauss
Claude Lévi-Strauss was a French anthropologist and ethnologist, and has been called, along with James George Frazer, the "father of modern anthropology"....

; and also indigenous peoples, such as Davi Kopenawa Yanomami
Davi Kopenawa Yanomami
Davi Kopenawa Yanomami, name also written Davi Kobenawä Yanomamö is a shaman and Portuguese-speaking spokesperson of the Yanomami Indians in Brazil...

 and Roy Sesana
Roy Sesana
Roy Sesana is a Bushman activist who works together with the First People of the Kalahari for the rights of his tribe.-Biography:Sesana lives in New Xade in the central Kalahari and works as a traditional medicine man...

. The royalties from the sale of this book go to the indigenous rights organisation, Survival International
Survival International
Survival International is a human rights organisation formed in 1969 that campaigns for the rights of indigenous tribal peoples and uncontacted peoples, seeking to help them to determine their own future. Their campaigns generally focus on tribal peoples' fight to keep their ancestral lands,...

.

Personal life

Firth resides in Chiswick
Chiswick
Chiswick is a large suburb of west London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It is located on a meander of the River Thames, west of Charing Cross and is one of 35 major centres identified in the London Plan. It was historically an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex, with...

, London. In 1989, he entered into a romantic relationship with actress Meg Tilly, his co-star in Valmont. In 1990, she gave birth to a son, William "Will" Joseph Firth, and they made their home near the Lower Mainland of B.C., Canada. Firth remains in contact with Will and with Tilly's two other children. In 1994, after he and Tilly had separated, Firth became involved with actress Jennifer Ehle
Jennifer Ehle
Jennifer Ehle is an American actress of stage and screen. She is known for her BAFTA winning role as Elizabeth Bennet in the 1995 mini-series Pride and Prejudice.-Early life:...

, his co-star in Pride and Prejudice; however, the two broke up and in 1997 Firth married Italian film producer/director Livia Giuggioli
Livia Giuggioli
Livia Giuggioli is an Italian film producer.She has been married to British actor Colin Firth since 1997. The couple have two sons, Luca and Matteo...

, and now lives in both London and Italy. They have two sons, Luca (born March 2001) and Matteo (born August 2003). Firth started to learn Italian when he and Giuggioli began to date and he now is fluent in the language. Firth is a supporter of Arsenal F.C.

In April 2011, Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...

magazine included Firth in its list of the world's 100 Most Influential People.

Activism

Firth has been a long-standing supporter of Survival International
Survival International
Survival International is a human rights organisation formed in 1969 that campaigns for the rights of indigenous tribal peoples and uncontacted peoples, seeking to help them to determine their own future. Their campaigns generally focus on tribal peoples' fight to keep their ancestral lands,...

, a non-governmental organisation that defends the rights of tribal peoples. Speaking in 2001, he said, "My interest in tribal peoples goes back many years... and I have supported [Survival] ever since." In 2003, during the promotion of the movie Love Actually
Love Actually
Love Actually is a 2003 British romantic comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis. The screenplay delves into different aspects of love as shown through ten separate stories involving a wide variety of individuals, many of whom are shown to be interlinked as their tales progress...

, he spoke in defense of the tribal people of Botswana
Botswana
Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" . Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...

, condemning the Botswana government's eviction of the Gana and Gwi Bushmen
Bushmen
The indigenous people of Southern Africa, whose territory spans most areas of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland, Botswana, Namibia, and Angola, are variously referred to as Bushmen, San, Sho, Barwa, Kung, or Khwe...

 from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve
Central Kalahari Game Reserve
Central Kalahari Game Reserve is an extensive national park in the Kalahari desert of Botswana. Established in 1961 it covers an area of 52,800 km² making it the second largest game reserve in the world.The park contains wildlife such as giraffe, brown hyena, warthog, cheetah, wild dog,...

. He says of the Bushmen, "These people are not the remnants of a past era who need to be brought up to date. Those who are able to continue to live on the land that is rightfully theirs are facing the 21st century with a confidence that many of us in the so-called developed world can only envy."

Firth has been involved in a campaign to stop the deportation
Deportation
Deportation means the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. Today it often refers to the expulsion of foreign nationals whereas the expulsion of nationals is called banishment, exile, or penal transportation...

 of a group of asylum seekers, because he believed that they might be murdered on their return to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Firth argued that "To me it's just basic civilisation to help people. I find this incredibly painful to see how we dismiss the most desperate people in our society. It's easily done. It plays to the tabloids, to the Middle-England
Middle England
The phrase "Middle England" is a socio-political and geographical term which originally indicated the central region of England, now almost always referred to as the "Midlands"....

 xenophobes
Xenophobia
Xenophobia is defined as "an unreasonable fear of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange". It comes from the Greek words ξένος , meaning "stranger," "foreigner" and φόβος , meaning "fear."...

. It just makes me furious. And all from a government we once had such high hopes for". As a result of the campaign, a Congolese nurse was given a last-minute reprieve from deportation.

Firth has also been involved in the Oxfam
Oxfam
Oxfam is an international confederation of 15 organizations working in 98 countries worldwide to find lasting solutions to poverty and related injustice around the world. In all Oxfam’s actions, the ultimate goal is to enable people to exercise their rights and manage their own lives...

 global campaign Make Trade Fair
Make Trade Fair
Make Trade Fair is a campaign organized by Oxfam International to promote trade justice and fair trade among governments, institutions, and multinational corporations.-Objectives:The campaign has focused on the elimination of several trade practices:...

, in which several other celebrities participated as well in order to bring more attention to the issues involved. The campaign has focused on several trade practices seen as unfair to third world producers especially, including dumping, high import tariffs, and labour rights such as fair wages. Firth remains deeply committed to this cause, making efforts such as supporting fair trade coffee in his daily life, as he believes "[i]f you're going to sustain commitment to any of this, ... [y]ou've got to get involved on an ordinary every day basis." He has further contributed to this cause by opening (with a few collaborators) an eco-friendly shop in West London, Eco. The shop offers fair trade and eco-friendly goods, as well as expert advice on making spaces more energy efficient.

In a 2006 interview with French magazine Madame Figaro, Firth was asked "Quelles sont les femmes de votre vie?" (Who are the women of your life?). Firth replied: "Ma mère, ma femme et Jane Austen
Jane Austen
Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.Austen lived...

" (My mother, my wife and Jane Austen). He was awarded an honorary degree on 19 October 2007 from the University of Winchester
University of Winchester
The University of Winchester is a British public university primarily based in Winchester, Hampshire, England. Winchester is a historic cathedral city and the ancient capital of Wessex and the Kingdom of England.-History:...

. In October 2009 at the London Film Festival
London Film Festival
The BFI London Film Festival is the UK's largest public film event, screening more than 300 features, documentaries and shorts from almost 50 countries. The festival, , currently in its 54th year, is run every year in the second half of October under the umbrella of the British Film Institute...

, Firth launched a film and political activism website, Brightwide, along with his wife Livia.

During to the 2010 General Election Firth announced his support for the Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...

, having previously been a Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

 supporter, citing asylum and refugees' rights as a key reason for his change in affiliation. In December 2010, Firth publicly dropped his support of the Liberal Democrats, citing their U-turn on tuition fees
2010 UK student protests
The 2010 UK student protests were a series of demonstrations that began in November 2010 in several areas of the United Kingdom, with the focal point of protests centred in London. The initial event was the largest student protest in the UK since the Labour government first proposed the Teaching...

 as one of the key reasons for his disillusionment. He also said that while he no longer supports the Liberal Democrats, he is currently without an affiliation. Firth appeared in literature to support changing the British electoral system from first-past-the-post
First-past-the-post
First-past-the-post voting refers to an election won by the candidate with the most votes. The winning potato candidate does not necessarily receive an absolute majority of all votes cast.-Overview:...

 to alternative vote
Instant-runoff voting
Instant-runoff voting , also known as preferential voting, the alternative vote and ranked choice voting, is a voting system used to elect one winner. Voters rank candidates in order of preference, and their ballots are counted as one vote for their first choice candidate. If a candidate secures a...

 for electing Members of Parliament to the House of Commons in the unsuccessful Alternative Vote referendum in 2011.

Colin is also committed to protecting the environment; in 2009 he joined the 10:10
10:10
Drono Acharya composed the film's songs and Ritam Sen, Sandip Chakrabarty, Padmanabha Dasgupta, Rana Basu Thakur and Rangeet wrote the lyrics.-External links:* IMDB Title* * *...

 project to support the movement calling for people to reduce their carbon footprint .

He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours
2011 Birthday Honours
The Birthday Honours 2011 for the Commonwealth Realms were announced on 7 June 2011 in New Zealand and 11 June 2011 in United Kingdom to celebrate the Queen's Birthday of 2011.-Privy Councillors:...

 for services to drama. Firth is a vocal republican
Republicanism in the United Kingdom
Republicanism in the United Kingdom is the movement which seeks to remove the British monarchy and replace it with a republic that has a non-hereditary head of state...

.

Filmography

List of film and television credits
Year Title Role Notes
1984 Another Country Tommy Judd
1984 Camille
Camille (1984 film)
Camille is a 1984 television film based on the 1852 novel and play La Dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas, fils. It was adapted by Blanche Hanalis and directed by Desmond Davis. It stars Greta Scacchi, Colin Firth, John Gielgud, Billie Whitelaw, Patrick Ryecart, Denholm Elliott and Ben Kingsley....

Armand Duval Television film
1985 1919
1919 (film)
1919 is a 1985 British drama film directed by Hugh Brody and written by Michael Ignatieff together with Brody. It was entered into the 35th Berlin International Film Festival.-Cast:* Paul Scofield as Alexander Scherbatov* Maria Schell as Sophie Rubin...

(young) Alexander Scherbatov
1985 Dutch Girls
Dutch Girls
Dutch Girls is a 1985 film, released by the London Weekend Television Company, produced by Sue Birtwistle, directed by Giles Foster, and written by William Boyd. The film is about a group of young men who go to Holland to play hockey. Along the way they drink, smoke, and try to have sex...

Neil Truelove Television film
1986 Lost Empires
Lost Empires
Lost Empires is a 1986 television adaptation of J. B. Priestley's novel of the same name, and starred Colin Firth, John Castle and Laurence Olivier. It was shown as a miniseries, and premiered on UK TV in October 1986.-Plot:...

Richard Herncastle TV mini-series, with Sir Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...

1987 Tom Birkin
1987 Pat Hobby: Teamed with Genius Rene Wilcox PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....

 Shorts Special
1987 adult Colin Craven Hallmark Hall of Fame
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Hallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City based greeting card company. The second longest-running television program in the history of television, it has a historically long run, beginning in 1951 and continuing into 2011...

1988 Tumbledown
Tumbledown
Tumbledown is a 1988 BBC Television drama film set during the Falklands War.-Synopsis:The film centres on the experiences of Robert Lawrence MC , an officer of the Scots Guards during the Falklands Campaign of 1982. While fighting at the Battle of Mount Tumbledown, Lawrence is shot in the head by...

Robert Lawrence
Robert Lawrence (British Army officer)
Robert Alasdair Davidson Lawrence MC is a former British Army officer who fought and was severely wounded in the Falklands War...

Television film
Royal Television Society
Royal Television Society
The Royal Television Society is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present and future. It is the oldest television society in the world...

 Award for Best Actor
Nominated — British Academy Television Award for Best Actor
British Academy Television Award for Best Actor
- 1950s :*1955 Paul Rogers — *1956 Peter Cushing — *1957 Michael Gough — *1958 Michael Hordern — *1959 Donald Pleasence — - 1960s :*1960 Patrick McGoohan — *1961 Lee Montague —...

1989 Apartment Zero
Apartment Zero
Apartment Zero is a political thriller from Argentina. Directed by Argentine-born screenwriter Martin Donovan and starring Hart Bochner and Colin Firth, the film is suffused with homoerotic overtones and moments of black comedy. The film was produced in 1988 and premiered at film festivals...

Adrian LeDuc
1989 Valmont
Valmont (film)
Valmont is a 1989 drama film directed by Miloš Forman, based on the French novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Choderlos de Laclos. It was adapted for the screen with a screenplay by Jean-Claude Carrière...

Valmont
1990 Femme Fatale Joseph Prince
1990 Wings of Fame
Wings of Fame
Wings of Fame is a 1990 Dutch English-language comedy fantasy film directed by Otakar Votocek and starring Peter O'Toole, Colin Firth, Marie Trintignant, Andréa Ferréol and Robert Stephens.-Cast:* Peter O'Toole - Cesar Valentin...

Brian Smith
1991 Out of the Blue Alan Play for television
1993 Hostages John McCarthy
John McCarthy (journalist)
John Patrick McCarthy CBE is a British journalist, writer and broadcaster, and one of the hostages in the Lebanon hostage crisis...

Television – HBO
1993 Richard Courtois Also known as The Advocate
1994 Master of the Moor
Master of the Moor
Master of the Moor is a crime novel by Ruth Rendell.-Synopsis:Columnist Stephen Walby, known as the Voice of Vangmoor, often goes on long walks through the countryside that lies outside his window. However, events take on a sinister turn when he stumbles across the body of a young woman, whose...

Stephen Whalby Television film - UK
1994 Playmaker Michael Condron/Ross Talbert
1994 Freddie Page Play for television – UK
1995 Circle of Friends
Circle of Friends (1995 film)
Circle of Friends is a 1995 film directed by Irish filmmaker Pat O'Connor and based on the novel of the same name written by Maeve Binchy.-Plot:...

Simon Westward
1995 Pride and Prejudice Fitzwilliam Darcy
Fitzwilliam Darcy
Fitzwilliam Darcy, generally referred to as Mr Darcy, is one of the two central characters in Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice. He is an archetype of the aloof romantic hero, and a romantic interest of Elizabeth Bennet, the novel's protagonist...

Television mini-series
Broadcasting Press Guild
Broadcasting Press Guild
The Broadcasting Press Guild is a British association of journalists who specialise in writing and broadcasting about television, radio and the media generally....

 Award for Best Actor
Nominated — British Academy Television Award for Best Actor
British Academy Television Award for Best Actor
- 1950s :*1955 Paul Rogers — *1956 Peter Cushing — *1957 Michael Gough — *1958 Michael Hordern — *1959 Donald Pleasence — - 1960s :*1960 Patrick McGoohan — *1961 Lee Montague —...


Nominated — National Television Award for Most Popular Male
1995 Charles Holroyd Play for television – UK
1996 Geoffrey Clifton Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
1997 Jess Clark
1997 Fever Pitch
Fever Pitch (1997 film)
Fever Pitch is a 1997 film starring Colin Firth based loosely on the book of the same name by Nick Hornby.-Synopsis:Hornby adapted the book for the screen and fictionalized the story, concentrating on Arsenal's First Division championship-winning season in 1988-89 and its effect on the...

Paul Ashworth
1997 Nostromo
Nostromo
Nostromo is a 1904 novel by Polish-born British novelist Joseph Conrad, set in the fictitious South American republic of "Costaguana." It was originally published serially in two volumes of T.P.'s Weekly....

Charles Gould Television mini-series
1998 Shakespeare in Love
Shakespeare in Love
Shakespeare in Love is a 1998 British-American comedy film directed by John Madden and written by Marc Norman and playwright Tom Stoppard....

Lord Wessex Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
1999 Blackadder: Back & Forth
Blackadder: Back & Forth
Blackadder: Back & Forth is a 1999 short film based on the BBC mock-historical comedy series Blackadder that marks the end of the Blackadder saga...

William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

Short film
1999 Donovan Quick Donovan Quick/Daniel Quinn Television film – UK
1999 My Life So Far
My Life So Far
My Life So Far is a 1999 film about the year in the life of a ten-year old Scottish boy. It was directed by Hugh Hudson, with screenplay by Simon Donald...

Edward Pettigrew
1999 Matthew Field
1999 The Master Masterpiece Theater
2000 Relative Values
Relative Values
Relative Values is a 2000 British comedy film adaptation of the 1950s play of the same name by Noel Coward. It stars Julie Andrews, Colin Firth, William Baldwin, Stephen Fry and Jeanne Tripplehorn, and was directed by Eric Styles....

Peter Ingleton
2001 Bridget Jones's Diary
Bridget Jones's Diary (film)
Bridget Jones's Diary is a 2001 British romantic comedy film based on Helen Fielding's novel of the same name. The adaptation stars Renée Zellweger as Bridget, Hugh Grant as the caddish Daniel Cleaver, and Colin Firth as Bridget's "true love", Mark Darcy...

Mark Darcy European Film Awards Audience Award for Best Actor
Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Best Actor in a Supporting Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding supporting performance in a film...


Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
2001 Conspiracy Wilhelm Stuckart
Wilhelm Stuckart
Wilhelm Stuckart was a Nazi Party lawyer and official, a state secretary in the German Interior Ministry and later, a convicted war criminal.-Early life:...

Television film – HBO
Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor – Miniseries or a Movie
Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film
2001 We Know Where You Live Himself Benefit for Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...

2001 Fourplay
Fourplay (film)
Fourplay is a romantic comedy film released in 2001.- Plot :Fourplay follows the romantically entwined lives of a TV writer, producer, actress and makeup artist. Ben Greene is an American comic writer who comes to Britain to write for a show, "Telford Gate"...

Allen Portland Television film – HBO, also known as Londinium
2002 Jack Worthing
2003 Girl with a Pearl Earring
Girl with a Pearl Earring (film)
Girl with a Pearl Earring is a 2003 drama film directed by Peter Webber. The screenplay was adapted by screenwriter Olivia Hetreed based on the novel by Tracy Chevalier. The film stars Scarlett Johansson, Colin Firth, Tom Wilkinson, and Cillian Murphy. The film is named after a painting of the same...

Johannes Vermeer
Johannes Vermeer
Johannes, Jan or Johan Vermeer was a Dutch painter who specialized in exquisite, domestic interior scenes of middle class life. Vermeer was a moderately successful provincial genre painter in his lifetime...

Nominated—European Film Awards Audience Award for Best Actor
2003 Hope Springs Colin Ware
2003 Love Actually
Love Actually
Love Actually is a 2003 British romantic comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis. The screenplay delves into different aspects of love as shown through ten separate stories involving a wide variety of individuals, many of whom are shown to be interlinked as their tales progress...

Jamie Bennett Nominated — Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast
Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast
The Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast is an annual award given by the Phoenix Film Critics Society.-2000s:*2001: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring...

2003 What a Girl Wants
What a Girl Wants (film)
What a Girl Wants is a 2003 film starring Amanda Bynes, Colin Firth, Kelly Preston and Oliver James. Directed by Dennie Gordon, the film is a remake of the 1958 film, The Reluctant Debutante which had a screenplay by William Douglas-Home, based on his play of the same name.The title, "What a Girl...

Henry Dashwood
2004 Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (film)
# Will Young - "Your Love Is King"# Jamelia - "Stop"# Kylie Minogue - "Can't Get You Out of My Head"# Joss Stone - "Super Duper Love Pt. 1"# Mary J...

Mark Darcy
2004 Trauma
Trauma (2004 film)
Trauma is a 2004 British psychological thriller directed by Marc Evans and written by Richard Smith.-Cast:*Colin Firth as Ben*Mena Suvari as Charlotte*Naomie Harris as Elisa*Sean Harris as Roland*Neil Edmond as Mills...

Ben Slater
2005 Nanny McPhee
Nanny McPhee
Nanny McPhee is a 2005 fantasy film starring Emma Thompson and Colin Firth. Thompson also wrote the screenplay, which is adapted from Christianna Brand's Nurse Matilda books.-Plot:...

Cedric Brown
2005 Where the Truth Lies
Where the Truth Lies
Where the Truth Lies is a 2005 Canadian/British drama film, written and directed by Atom Egoyan. It stars Kevin Bacon, Colin Firth, and Alison Lohman, and is based on the 2003 novel of the same name by Rupert Holmes.-Plot:...

Vince Collins
2006 Born Equal
Born Equal
Born Equal is a television film produced for the BBC exploring aspects of poverty, race, inequality, homelessness, immigration and class in modern Britain. Written and directed by Dominic Savage and starring Colin Firth, Robert Carlyle, David Oyelowo, Anne-Marie Duff, and Emilia Fox, it was likened...

Mark Armitage Television film – UK
2007 Ambrosius Aurelianus
Ambrosius Aurelianus
Ambrosius Aurelianus, ; called Aurelius Ambrosius in the Historia Regum Britanniae and elsewhere, was a war leader of the Romano-British who won an important battle against the Anglo-Saxons in the 5th century, according to Gildas...

2007 And When Did You Last See Your Father?
And When Did You Last See Your Father?
And When Did You Last See Your Father? is a 2007 British drama film directed by Anand Tucker. The screenplay by David Nicholls is based on the 1993 memoir of the same title by Blake Morrison.-Plot:...

Blake Morrison
Blake Morrison
Philip Blake Morrison is a British poet and author who has published in a wide range of fiction and non-fiction genres. His greatest success came with the publication of his memoirs And When Did You Last See Your Father? which won the J. R. Ackerley Prize for Autobiography. He has also written a...

Nominated — British Independent Film Award
British Independent Film Awards 2007
The 10th British Independent Film Awards, held in November 2007 at the Roundhouse in Camden, London, honoured the best British independent films of 2007.-Winners:*Best British Independent Film:**Control*Best Director:**Anton Corbijn - Control...

 for Best Supporting Actor
2007 Then She Found Me
Then She Found Me
Then She Found Me is a 2007 American comedy-drama film directed by Helen Hunt. The screenplay by Hunt, Alice Arlen, and Victor Levin is based on the 1990 novel of the same name by Elinor Lipman...

Frank
2007 St Trinian's Geoffrey Thwaites
2007 In Prison My Whole Life
In Prison My Whole Life
In Prison My Whole Life is a 2008 documentary film about Mumia Abu-Jamal. Mumia was arrested the day William Francome was born. When Francome made this film he was 25 years old and Mumia was still on death row....

Himself
2008 Richard Bratton
2008 Mamma Mia!
Mamma Mia! (film)
Mamma Mia! is a 2008 musical/romantic comedy film adapted from the 1999 West End/2001 Broadway musical of the same name, based on the songs of successful pop group ABBA, with additional music composed by ABBA member Benny Andersson...

Harry Bright Nominated — National Movie Award
National Movie Awards
The National Movie Awards is a British movie awards ceremony broadcast by ITV in which the winners of the awards are chosen via popular vote. The awards were initiated in 2007 following the success of the National Television Awards, the highest-rating awards ceremony for television...

 for Best Performance Male
2008 Easy Virtue Jim Whittaker
2008 Genova
Genova (film)
Genova is a film directed by Michael Winterbottom and starring Colin Firth, Catherine Keener, and Hope Davis. It was filmed in the titular city of Genoa during the summer of 2007. It was written by Wonderland screenwriter Laurence Coriat...

Joe
2009 Fred
2009 Dorian Gray Lord Henry Wotton
2009 George Falconer Austin Film Critics Association
Austin Film Critics Association
The Austin Film Critics Association is an organization of film critics from Austin, Texas.Each year, the AFCA votes on their end of year awards for films released in the same calendar year...

 Award for Best Actor
BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Best Actor in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.-Superlatives:...


Chlotrudis Award for Best Actor
Chlotrudis Award for Best Actor
The Chlotrudis Award for Best Actor is an award given by the Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film to the actor or actors whose winning performance is voted by participating members. The Chlotrudis Awards is an annual ceremony where the best of the previous year's independent and international...


Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor
London Film Critics Circle Award
London Film Critics Circle Awards 2009
The 30th Critics' Circle Awards, will be given by the London Film Critics Circle on 18 February 2010, honouring the best in film for 2009.-Actor of the Year:*Michael Stuhlbarg – A Serious Man*Jeff Bridges – Crazy Heart...

 for British Actor of the Year
San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor
San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor
The San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor is an award given by the San Diego Film Critics Society to honor the finest male acting achievementes in filmmaking.-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...


San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
The San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor is one of the awards given by the San Francisco Film Critics Circle to honor the finest achievements in filmmaking.-2000s:-2010s:...


Santa Barbara International Film Festival
Santa Barbara International Film Festival
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival is a film festival and non-profit organization, established in 1985, that showcases independent American and international films. The SBIFF line-up includes 20 world premieres and 11 U.S. premieres, with newly expanded 11-day festival...

 – Outstanding Performance of the Year
Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
The Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor is an annual award given by the Vancouver Film Critics Circle.-2000s:-2010s:...


Volpi Cup
Volpi Cup
The Volpi Cups are the principal awards given to actors at the Venice Film Festival. Formal acting awards were introduced in the second festival . Initially they were called Great Gold Medals of the National Fascist Association for Entertainment. The name Volpi Cup was introduced the following year...


Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actor
Academy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...


Nominated — Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
The Critics' Choice Award for Best Actor is one of the awards given to people working in the motion picture industry by the Broadcast Film Critics Association.-List of winners and nominees:*1995: Kevin Bacon - Murder in the First as Henri Young...


Nominated — Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
The Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor is an award given by the Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association to honor the best achievements in filmmaking.-1990s:*1993: Anthony Hopkins - The Remains of the Day*1994:...


Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
Nominated — Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Male
Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Nominated — Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
The Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor is one of the annual awards given by the Toronto Film Critics Association.-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...


Nominated — Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association for Best Actor
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association
The Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association is a group of film critics based out of Washington, D.C., United States that was founded in 2003. WAFCA is composed of 34 DC-based film critics from television, radio, print and the internet...

2009 St Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold Geoffrey Thwaites
2010 King George VI
George VI of the United Kingdom
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...

Academy Award for Best Actor
Academy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...


Alliance of Women Film Journalists
Alliance of Women Film Journalists
The Alliance of Women Film Journalists is a group of female journalists based out of New York, United States that was founded in 2006. The AWFJ is composed of 45 professional female movie critics, reporters and feature writers working in print, broadcast and online media, dedicated to supporting...

 Eda Award for Best Actor
Austin Film Critics Association
Austin Film Critics Association
The Austin Film Critics Association is an organization of film critics from Austin, Texas.Each year, the AFCA votes on their end of year awards for films released in the same calendar year...

 Award for Best Actor
BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Best Actor in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.-Superlatives:...


British Independent Film Award
British Independent Film Awards
The Moët British Independent Film Awards is an annual award ceremony celebrating achievement in independently funded British film and cinema. Nominations and jury are announced at the beginning of November with the award ceremony taking place in late November or early December.-History:The British...

 for Best Actor
Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
The Critics' Choice Award for Best Actor is one of the awards given to people working in the motion picture industry by the Broadcast Film Critics Association.-List of winners and nominees:*1995: Kevin Bacon - Murder in the First as Henri Young...


Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
The Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor is an annual award given by the Chicago Film Critics Association.-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:-References:...


Denver Film Critics Society
Denver Film Critics Society
The Denver Film Critics Society is an organization of film critics based in Denver, Colorado. -2009 Winners and Nominees:Best Film*The Hurt Locker**A Serious Man**Star Trek**Up in the AirBest Director...

 Award for Best Actor
Detroit Film Critics Society
Detroit Film Critics Society
The Detroit Film Critics Society is a film critic organization in Detroit, Michigan, United States.-2007 Awards:The nominees for the Detroit Film Critics Society Awards 2007 were announced on 15 December and the winners were announced on 21 December 2007.-Best Actor:**George Clooney - Michael...

 Award for Best Actor
Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
The Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor is an award given by the Florida Film Critics Circle to honor the finest male acting achievements in filmmaking.-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...


Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
Iowa Film Critics
Iowa Film Critics
The Iowa Film Critics is an organization of film reviewers from publications based in the U.S. state of Iowa.Each year, the IFC meets to vote on their Iowa Film Critics Awards for films released in the same or the previous calendar year....

 Award for Best Actor
Italian Online Movie Award
Italian Online Movie Awards
Italian Online Movie Awards is the name of the movie award assigned every year by a group of Italian movielovers to the best films of the season ....

 for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
The Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor is an award given by the Kansas City Film Critics Circle to honor the best achievements in acting.-1960s:-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:-References:*...


London Film Critics Circle Award
London Film Critics Circle Awards 2010
The nominees for the 31st London Film Critics Circle Awards, honouring the best in film for 2010 were announced by the London Film Critics Circle on December 20, 2010.-Actor of the Year:*Jeff Bridges – True Grit*Jesse Eisenberg – The Social Network...

 for British Actor of the Year
London Film Critics Circle Award
London Film Critics Circle Awards 2010
The nominees for the 31st London Film Critics Circle Awards, honouring the best in film for 2010 were announced by the London Film Critics Circle on December 20, 2010.-Actor of the Year:*Jeff Bridges – True Grit*Jesse Eisenberg – The Social Network...

 for Actor of the Year
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
The Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor is one of the annual awards given by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:-References:...


National Movie Award
National Movie Awards
The National Movie Awards is a British movie awards ceremony broadcast by ITV in which the winners of the awards are chosen via popular vote. The awards were initiated in 2007 following the success of the National Television Awards, the highest-rating awards ceremony for television...

 for Performance of the Year
New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
The New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor is one of the awards given by the New York Film Critics Circle to honor the finest achievements in filmmaking....


North Texas Film Critics Association
North Texas Film Critics Association
The North Texas Film Critics Association is an unincorporated, members-only organization of print, broadcast and internet film critics in North Texas, United States.-Best Cinematography:*The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Claudio Miranda...

 Award for Best Actor
Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor
Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor
The Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor is an annual film award given by the Online Film Critics Society to honor the best lead actor of the year.-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...


Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor
Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor
The Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is an award given by the Phoenix Film Critics Society to honor the finest achievements in filmmaking.-2000s:-2010s:...


San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
The San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor is one of the awards given by the San Francisco Film Critics Circle to honor the finest achievements in filmmaking.-2000s:-2010s:...


Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
The Southeastern Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor is one of the awards given by the Southeastern Film Critics Association to honor the finest achievements in filmmaking.-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...


St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award
St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Awards 2010
-Best Actor:*Javier Bardem – Biutiful*Jeff Bridges – True Grit*Jesse Eisenberg – The Social Network**Colin Firth – The King's Speech*James Franco – 127 Hours-Best Actress:...

 for Best Actor
Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
The Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor is an annual award given by the Vancouver Film Critics Circle.-2000s:-2010s:...


Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
The Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor is one of the annual awards given by the Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association.-2000s:-2010s:...


Nominated — Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Nominated — Chlotrudis Award for Best Actor
Chlotrudis Award for Best Actor
The Chlotrudis Award for Best Actor is an award given by the Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film to the actor or actors whose winning performance is voted by participating members. The Chlotrudis Awards is an annual ceremony where the best of the previous year's independent and international...


Nominated — Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
The Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor is an award given by the Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association to honor the best achievements in filmmaking.-1990s:*1993: Anthony Hopkins - The Remains of the Day*1994:...


Nominated — Evening Standard British Film Award
Evening Standard British Film Awards
The Evening Standard British Film Awards were established in 1973 by the British London area evening newspaper Evening Standard. The Standard Awards is the only ceremony "dedicated to British and Irish talent," judged by a panel of "top UK critics." Each ceremony honours films from the previous...

 for Best Actor
Nominated — Houston Film Critics Society Award
Houston Film Critics Society Awards 2010
The 4th Houston Film Critics Society Awards were presented on December 18, 2010. These awards for "extraordinary accomplishment in film" are presented annually by the Houston Film Critics Society based in Houston, Texas. The organization, founded in 2007, includes 22 film critics for print, radio,...

 for Best Actor
Nominated — Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor
Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor
The Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor is an award given by the Las Vegas Film Critics Society to honor the best actor of the year.-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...


Nominated — San Diego Film Critics Society Award
San Diego Film Critics Society Awards 2010
-Best Actor:Colin Farrell – Ondine*Aaron Eckhart – Rabbit Hole*Jesse Eisenberg – The Social Network*Colin Firth – The King's Speech*James Franco – 127 Hours-Best Actress:...

 for Best Actor
Nominated — Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
The Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor is one of the annual awards given by the Toronto Film Critics Association.-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...


Nominated — Utah Film Critics Association Award
Utah Film Critics Association Awards 2010
The 6th Utah Film Critics Association Awards honoring the best filmmaking of 2010, were announced on December 23, 2010.-Best Actor:*Jeff Bridges - True Grit*Jesse Eisenberg - The Social Network*Colin Firth - The King's Speech...

 for Best Actor
2010 Main Street Tom Phillips
2010 Steve
Steve (film)
Steve is a 2010 short film written and directed by Rupert Friend, and starring Keira Knightley and Colin Firth. It screened at the 2010 BFI London Film Festival....

Steve with Keira Knightley
Keira Knightley
Keira Christina Knightley born 26 March 1985) is an English actress and model. She began acting as a child and came to international notice in 2002 after co-starring in the film Bend It Like Beckham...

2011 Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Bill Haydon
Bill Haydon
Bill Haydon is a fictional character created by John le Carré, and is a major figure in le Carré's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.-Biography:...

2012 Gambit
Gambit (2012 film)
Gambit is an upcoming comedy film directed by Michael Hoffman starring Colin Firth, Cameron Diaz, Alan Rickman and Stanley Tucci. The film is a remake of the 1966 film of the same name starring Shirley MacLaine and Michael Caine. The remake is scripted by Joel and Ethan Coen.-Production:A remake of...

Harry Deane filming

External links

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