Colin Firth

Colin Firth
CBE
Firth in 2017
Born
Colin Andrew Firth

(1960-09-10) 10 September 1960 (age 64)
Grayshott, Hampshire, England
Citizenship
  • United Kingdom
  • Italy
Alma materNational Youth Theatre
Drama Centre London
Occupations
  • Actor
  • producer
Years active1983–present
WorksFull list
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1997; div. 2021)​
PartnerMeg Tilly (1989–1994)
Children3
Relatives
AwardsFull list

Colin Andrew Firth CBE (born 10 September 1960) is an English actor and producer. He is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards, and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2011, Firth was appointed a CBE for his services to drama,[1][2] and appeared in Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world.[3]

Identified in the mid-1980s with the "Brit Pack" of rising young British actors,[4] he had leading roles in A Month in the Country (1987), Tumbledown (1988) and Valmont (1989). His portrayal of Mr. Darcy in the 1995 television adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice led to widespread attention and roles in more prominent films such as The English Patient (1996), Shakespeare in Love (1998), The Importance of Being Earnest (2002), and Love Actually (2003). He starred as Mark Darcy in the romantic comedy films Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004), and Bridget Jones's Baby (2016), and also acted in the musical comedy Mamma Mia! (2008) and its 2018 sequel.

Firth won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of King George VI in the historical drama The King's Speech (2010).[5] He was Oscar-nominated for playing a grieving gay man in the romantic drama A Single Man (2009), which earned him the BAFTA Award and the Volpi Cup for Best Actor. He subsequently played secret agent Harry Hart in Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014) and it's 2017 sequel. He also performed in films such as Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), Mary Poppins Returns (2018), 1917 (2019), Supernova (2020), and Operation Mincemeat (2021). For his roles on television, he received Primetime Emmy Award nominations for his portrayals of Dr. Wilhelm Stuckart in the BBC film Conspiracy (2001), and Michael Peterson in the HBO limited series The Staircase (2022).

In 2012, he founded the production company Raindog Films, where he served as a producer for Eye in the Sky (2015) and Loving (2016). His films have grossed more than $3 billion from 42 releases worldwide.[6] Firth has campaigned for the rights of Indigenous people and is a member of Survival International. He has also campaigned on issues of asylum seekers, refugees' rights and the environment. He commissioned and co-authored a scientific paper on a study of the differences in brain structure between people of differing political orientations.[7]

  1. ^ "No. 59808". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 June 2011. p. 7.
  2. ^ "Main list of the 2011 Queen's birthday honours recipients" (PDF). BBC News UK. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  3. ^ "Full List – The 2011 Time 100", Time, 21 April 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2012.
  4. ^ Kistler, Alan (2013). Doctor Who: A History. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 198. ISBN 9781493000166. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  5. ^ "Colin Firth wins best actor Oscar for The King's Speech". BBC News. 28 February 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  6. ^ "Colin Firth's Box Office Stats". The Movie Times. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
  7. ^ "Colin Firth credited in brain research". BBC News. 5 June 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2021.