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'Leonard Gary Oldman' (born March 21, 1958) is an English actor, writer and director, perhaps best known to film audiences as Count Dracula in the 1992 romance-horror blockbuster ''Dracula''. Oldman initially came to prominence for his portrayal of the Sex Pistols' ill-fated bassist Sid Vicious in the 1986 film ''Sid & Nancy'', and has since garnered critical acclaim for his diversity of roles and mastery of world accents^[1], starring in films such as ''Immortal Beloved'', ''JFK'', the ''Harry Potter'' film series and Christopher Nolan's ''Batman'' film series. Oldman collected the Saturn Award for Best Actor for his performance in the title role of ''Dracula'', and received an Emmy Award nomination for his guest appearance in a 2001 episode of ''Friends''. His 1997 foray into writing and directing, ''Nil By Mouth'', won the 1997 BAFTA Award for Best British Film.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Career

Personal life

Filmography

References

External links

Biography

Early life

Oldman was born Leonard Gary Oldman in New Cross, London, to Len Oldman, a former sailor who worked as a welder, and Kathleen, an Irish-born homemaker.^[2][3] Oldman later revealed that his father was an abusive alcoholic^[4]. His sister, Laila Morse, is also an actor.

Career

Oldman won a scholarship to the Rose Bruford College, where he received a BA in Drama in 1979. He had initially applied for enrollment into Britain's prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, but was refused entry and told to "find something else to do for a living. Often quizzed about it in retrospect, his highly successful career considered, he has stated that "the work speaks for itself." Following his graduation from Rose Bruford College, he later studied with the Greenwich Young People's Theatre and went on to appear in a number of stage plays including ''The Pope's Wedding'', for which he received ''Time Out's Fringe Award for Best Newcomer of 1985 - 1986 and the British Theatre Association's Drama Magazine Award as Best Actor of 1985.
Oldman first appeared on screen in the film ''Remembrance'' in 1982, going on to win his first starring role in ''Sid and Nancy'' (1986), in which he played the Sex Pistols' ill-fated bassist Sid Vicious. He has played a variety of famous characters including Count Dracula, Ludwig van Beethoven, Joe Orton, Lee Harvey Oswald, James Gordon, Dr. Zachary Smith, Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz, Pontius Pilate, and the Devil. He has played many villains, including a vampire (''Bram Stoker's Dracula''), a pimp (''True Romance''), a disfigured pedophile (''Hannibal''), a futuristic tyrant (''The Fifth Element''), a corrupt DEA officer (''Léon''), a sadistic prison warden (''Murder in the First''), a terrorist (''Air Force One''), a presidential assassin (''JFK''), and a violent football hooligan (''The Firm''). He was cast as Sirius Black in ''Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban''.
Oldman has received more recent acclaim in his recent films, ''Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'' (2004), ''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'' (2005), and ''Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'' (2007), as well as the extremely successful ''Batman Begins'' (2005) and the upcoming ''The Dark Knight'' (2008).
In 1997, he directed, produced, and wrote ''Nil by Mouth'', reportedly based on his life, but Oldman himself later said that the movie was more ''biographical'' than autobiographical. ''Nil By Mouth'' went on to win the Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film, a BAFTA Award (shared with Douglas Urbanski) and also the British Academy Award for Best Screenplay, the Channel 4 Director's Award, and the Empire Award, and was declared by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts as one of the one hundred best films of all time. Recently ''Nil By Mouth'' was listed by ''Time Out'' as number two of the top 50 best British films ever.
Oldman and producing partner Douglas Urbanski formed the SE8 GROUP to produce ''Nil By Mouth''. The company also produced ''The Contender'', which also starred Oldman. Oldman has finished his latest screenplay, ''Chang & Eng'', based on the novel by Darin Strauss, which SE8 Group will produce. In September 2006 Nokia, Nseries Studio^[5] released the Oldman directed short Donut with music by Tor Hyams. The film was shot with an N93 in order to promote the phone.

Personal life

Oldman has been married three times.

★ Lesley Manville (1988 - 1990)


★ Uma Thurman (1990 - 1992)


★ Donya Fiorentino (1997 - 2001)

He has three sons: Alfie (b. 1988) from his marriage to Manville, Gulliver Flynn (b. Aug 20, 1997) and Charlie John (b. Feb 1999) from his marriage to Fiorentino.^[6]
In 1991, Oldman was arrested for drunk driving. In 1995, he checked himself into a rehab clinic for alcoholism treatment.^[7]

Filmography

★ ''The Dark Knight'' (2008), Lt. James Gordon

★ ''Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'' (2007), Sirius Black

★ ''Batman Begins'' (2005), Sgt. James Gordon (Promoted to Lt. at end of the movie)

★ ''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'' (2005), Sirius Black (voice)

★ ''Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'' (2004), Sirius Black

★ ''Dead Fish'' (2004), Lynch

★ ''Who's Kyle?'' (2004), Scouse

★ '' (2003), Rasputin "Rocky" Kuznetskov, Agent Masterson

★ ''Tiptoes'' (2003), Rolfe

★ ''Sin'' (2003), Charlie Strom

★ ''Greg The Bunny'' (TV, 2002), himself as a theatre producer

★ ''Interstate 60'' (2002), O.W. Grant

★ '' (2002), Devil

★ ''Medal of Honor: Allied Assault Spearhead'' (2002), Sgt. Jack Barnes

★ ''Nobody's Baby'' (2001), Buford Hill

★ ''Friends'', "The One with Monica and Chandler's Wedding", Parts 1 & 2 (TV, 2001), Richard Crosby

★ ''Hannibal'' (2001), Mason R. Verger

★ ''The Contender'' (2000), Rep. Sheldon Runyon

★ ''Jesus'' (TV, 1999), Pontius Pilate

★ ''Lost in Space'' (1998), Dr. Zachary Smith

★ ''Quest for Camelot'' (1998), Baron Ruber (voice and vocal)

★ ''The Fifth Element'' (1997), Jean-Baptiste Emmanuel Zorg

★ ''Air Force One'' (1997), Ivan Korshunov

★ ''Basquiat'' (1996), Albert Milo

★ ''Murder in the First'' (1995), Milton Glenn

★ '' The Scarlet Letter'' (1995), Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale

★ ''Immortal Beloved'' (1994), Ludwig van Beethoven

★ ''Léon'' (known as "The Professional" in the US) (1994), Stansfield

★ ''Romeo Is Bleeding'' (1993), Jack Grimaldi

★ ''True Romance'' (1993), Drexl Spivey

★ ''Bram Stoker's Dracula'' (1992), Dracula

★ ''JFK'' (1991), Lee Harvey Oswald

★ ''Heading Home'' (TV, 1991), Ian Tyson

★ ''State of Grace'' (1990), Jackie Flannery

★ ''Henry & June'' (1990), Pop (as Maurice Escargot)

★ ''Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead'' (1990), Rosencrantz

★ ''Chattahoochee'' (1989), Emmett Foley

★ ''The Firm'' (TV, 1988), Bex Bissell

★ ''We Think the World of You'' (1988), Johnny

★ ''Criminal Law'' (1988), Ben Chase

★ ''Track 29'' (1988), Martin

★ ''Prick Up Your Ears'' (1987), Joe Orton

★ ''Sid and Nancy'' (1986), Sid Vicious

★ ''Honest, Decent & True'' (TV, 1985), Derek Bates

★ ''Morgan's Boy'' (TV, 1984), Colin

★ ''Meantime'' (TV, 1984), Coxy the Skinhead

★ ''Remembrance'' (1982), Daniel

References

1. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000198/bio
2. http://www.tiscali.co.uk/entertainment/film/biographies/gary_oldman_biog.html
3. http://www.filmreference.com/film/93/Gary-Oldman.html
4. http://industrycentral.net/director_interviews/GO01.HTM
5. http://www.nseries.com/nseries/v2/index_studio.html
6. http://www.nndb.com/people/550/000022484
7. http://www.qa.hollywood.com/celebrity/Gary_Oldman/195567#fullBio

External links

★

★ GaryOldman.info - The official fansite of Gary Oldman

★ mygaryoldman.com - A Gary Oldman fansite and forum

★ Interview with Gary Oldman on his directorial debut - Nil by Mouth