Jeremy Irons

Jeremy Irons
Irons in 2014
Born
Jeremy John Irons

(1948-09-19) 19 September 1948 (age 76)
EducationSherborne School[1]
Alma materBristol Old Vic Theatre School
OccupationActor
Years active1969–present
Spouses
Julie Hallam
(m. 1969; div. 1969)
(m. 1978)
Children2, including Max Irons
AwardsFull list

Jeremy John Irons (/ˈ.ənz/; born 19 September 1948)[2] is an English actor and activist. He is known for his roles on stage and screen having won numerous accolades including an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award. He is one of the few actors who has achieved the "Triple Crown of Acting" in the US having won Oscar, Emmy, and Tony Awards for Film, Television and Theatre.

Irons received classical training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and started his acting career on stage in 1969. He appeared in many West End theatre productions, including the Shakespeare plays The Winter's Tale, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, The Taming of the Shrew, and Richard II. In 1984, he made his Broadway debut in Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing, receiving the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play.

His first major film role came in The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), for which he received a BAFTA Award for Best Actor nomination. After starring in dramas such as Moonlighting (1982), Betrayal (1983), The Mission (1986), and Dead Ringers (1988), he received the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Claus von Bülow in Reversal of Fortune (1990). Other notable films include Kafka (1991), Damage (1992), M. Butterfly (1993), Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995), Lolita (1997), The Merchant of Venice (2004), Kingdom of Heaven (2005), Appaloosa (2008), and Margin Call (2011). He voiced Scar in Disney's The Lion King (1994) and played Alfred Pennyworth in the DC Extended Universe (2016–2023) franchise.

On television, Irons's break-out role came playing Charles Ryder in the ITV series Brideshead Revisited (1981), receiving nominations for the BAFTA Award, Primetime Emmy Award, Golden Globe Award for Best Actor. He received the Primetime Emmy Award for his portrayal of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester in the HBO miniseries Elizabeth I (2005) and was Emmy-nominated for playing Adrian Veidt / Ozymandias in HBO's Watchmen (2019). He starred as Pope Alexander VI in the Showtime historical series The Borgias (2011–2013). In October 2011, he was named the Goodwill Ambassador for the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization.

  1. ^ Anon (2017). "Irons, Jeremy". Who's Who (online Oxford University Press ed.). Oxford: A & C Black. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U21529. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference filmref was invoked but never defined (see the help page).