Gary Oldman

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Oldman

Gary Leonard Oldman (born 21 March 1958) is an English actor and filmmaker who has performed in theatre, film, and television. Known for his versatility and expressive acting style, Oldman is regarded as one of the greatest actors of his generation. Among other accolades, he has won an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards, two Critics' Choice Awards, a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, along with nominations for an Emmy Award and the Palme d'Or. In 2011, Empire readers voted him the recipient of the Empire Icon Award.

He is an English actor and filmmaker, well-known to audiences for his portrayals of dark and morally ambiguous characters in films such as State of Grace, True Romance, Léon, The Fifth Element, The Contender, and perhaps most notably, 1992 blockbuster Dracula. He is also known for his portrayals of real-life figures, having portrayed Sid Vicious in Sid and Nancy, Joe Orton in Prick Up Your Ears, Lee Harvey Oswald in JFK, Ludwig Van Beethoven in Immortal Beloved and Pontius Pilate in Jesus. In recent years he is recognisable as Sirius Black in the Harry Potter film series and James Gordon in Christopher Nolan's reboot of the Batman film series.

Acclaimed for his diverse on-screen performances, Oldman has been cited as an influence by a number of successful actors. In addition to leading and central supporting roles in big-budget Hollywood films, Oldman has frequently acted in independent films, as well as having appeared on television shows such as Fallen Angels and Friends. He also directed, wrote and co-produced Nil by Mouth, a film partially based on his own childhood, and served as a producer on The Contender, Plunkett & Macleane and Nobody's Baby. Apathetic towards celebrity and the Oscars, Oldman has been described by The Guardian as "arguably the best actor never Oscar-nominated." Nonetheless, he has won, and been nominated for, multiple major film and television awards during his career. Allmovie characterised Oldman as having "consistently amazed viewers with his ability to completely disappear into his roles."

Oldman was born in London, the son of Kathleen (née Cheriton; b. 28 November 1919), a housewife, and Leonard Bertram Oldman (21 May 1921 – October 1985), a former sailor who worked as a welder. Oldman has said that his father was an abusive alcoholic who left his family when Oldman was seven. Oldman was an accomplished singer and pianist as a child, but gave up music to pursue an acting career. His inspiration was Malcolm McDowell's performance in 1970 movie The Raging Moon. In a 1995 interview with Charlie Rose, Oldman said: "Something about Malcolm [McDowell] just arrested me, and I connected, and I said 'I wanna do that'."Oldman retained his love for music, however, and can be seen singing and playing piano in the 1988 film Track 29, and tracing over pre-recorded versions of Beethoven's music in Immortal Beloved. Oldman attended the South East London Boys' School on Creek Road in Deptford, leaving school at 16.

Spouses:

1. Lesley Manville (1987–1990)

2. Uma Thurman (1990–1992)

3. Isabella Rossellini (1994–1996) (Domestic Partner)

4. Donya Fiorentino (1997–2001)

5. Alexandra Edenborough (2008–present)

Despite numerous lead and supporting roles in major Hollywood productions, Oldman is intensely private with his personal life and is known for his stance on celebrity and the ideals of Hollywood, once stating that "being famous, that's a whole other career. And I haven't got any energy for it."Oldman was born and brought up in London, England, but moved to the United States in the early 1990s. He currently lives in Los Angeles, California with his young family. His problems with alcohol were well known during the early 1990s. After a string of alcohol-fuelled debacles he checked himself into Marworth treatment facility in Waverly, Pennsylvania, for alcoholism treatment in 1993. In subsequent interviews Oldman acknowledged his problems with alcohol and called himself a recovering alcoholic on a 2001 interview with Charlie Rose. In 2001, former wife Donya Fiorentino claimed that Oldman had a drug habit and abused her, a claim which was investigated by the family courts, child custody evaluator, the police, and Los Angeles city attorney. Oldman was awarded legal custody of their children; Fiorentino was granted short court-monitored visits. Today, Oldman lives a teetotal lifestyle and attributes his success in beating his addiction to Alcoholics Anonymous, and has since publicly praised the organisation. On 31 December 2008, in a private, formal ceremony, Oldman married Alexandra Edenborough in Santa Barbara, California.

He has three sons: Alfie (b. 1988) from his marriage to Manville, Gulliver Flynn (b. 20 August 1997) and Charlie John (b. 11 February 1999) from his marriage to Fiorentino. His sister, Laila Morse, is also an actress, best known as Mo Harris in the BBC's long-running series EastEnders.

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Oldman

IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000198/

Yahoo Movies: http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800020103