Sir Kenneth Branagh | |
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Branagh in April 2011
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Born |
Kenneth Charles Branagh 10 December 1960 Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK |
Nationality | British |
Alma mater | Royal Academy of Dramatic Art |
Occupation | Actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter |
Years active | 1981–present |
Home town | Reading, Berkshire, England, UK |
Spouse(s) |
Emma Thompson (m. 1989; div. 1995) Lindsay Brunnock (m. 2003) |
Partner(s) |
Helena Bonham Carter (1994–1999) |
Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh (/ˈbrænə/; born 10 December 1960) is a Northern Irish actor, director, producer, and screenwriter originally from Belfast. Branagh trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.
He has directed or starred in several film adaptations of William Shakespeare's plays, including Henry V (1989) (for which he was nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Actor and Best Director), Much Ado About Nothing (1993), Othello (1995), Hamlet (1996) (for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay), Love's Labour's Lost (2000), and As You Like It (2006).
He has also starred in numerous other films and television series including Fortunes of War (1987), Woody Allen's Celebrity (1998), Wild Wild West (1999), The Road to El Dorado (2000), Conspiracy (2001), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), Warm Springs (2005), Valkyrie (2008), The Boat That Rocked (2009), Wallander (2008–present), and My Week with Marilyn (2011) as Sir Laurence Olivier (Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor). He has directed such notable films as Dead Again (1991) in which he also starred, Swan Song (1992) (Academy Award nominated for Best Live Action Short Film), Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994) in which he also starred, The Magic Flute (2006), Sleuth (2007), the blockbuster superhero film Thor (2011), the action thriller Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014) in which he also co-stars, and Cinderella (2015).