Colin Firth | |
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Born | Colin Andrew Firth 10 September 1960 |
Citizenship |
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Alma mater | National Youth Theatre Drama Centre London |
Occupations |
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Years active | 1983–present |
Works | Full list |
Spouse |
Livia Giuggioli
(m. 1997; div. 2021) |
Partner | Meg Tilly (1989–1994) |
Children | 3 |
Relatives |
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Awards | Full 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 featured in the musical comedy films Mamma Mia! (2008) and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again! (2018).
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 its sequel Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017), and acted in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), Mary Poppins Returns (2018), 1917 (2019), Supernova (2020), 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]