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Contents |
Biography
Early life
Irons was born in Cowes, Isle of Wight, the son of Barbara Anne (née Sharpe), a housewife, and Paul Dugan Irons, an accountant.[1] Part of his maternal ancestry is Irish,[2] and his great-grandfather was one of the first Metropolitan Policemen and later a Chartist. Irons has a brother, Christopher. He was educated at Sherborne School in Dorset, (c. 1962–1966). He achieved some fame as the drummer and harmonica player (most memorably for his rendition of "Moon River" on harmonica) in a four-man school band called the Four Pillars of Wisdom. They performed, in a classroom normally used as a physics lab, for the entertainment of boys compulsorily exiled from their houses for two hours on Sunday afternoons. He was also known within Abbey House as half of a comic duo performing skits on Halloween and at end-of-term House Suppers.
Career
Irons trained as an actor at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and is now president of its fundraising appeal. He performed a number of plays and supported himself by busking on the streets of Bristol, before appearing on the London stage as John the Baptist and Judas opposite David Essex in Godspell, which opened at the Round House on 17 November 1971 before transferring to Wyndham's Theatre playing a total of 1,128 performances.[3]
Television
He made several appearances on British television, including the children's television series Play Away and as Franz Liszt in the BBC 1974 series Notorious Woman. More significantly he starred in the 13-part adaptation of H.E. Bates' novel Love for Lydia for London Weekend Television (1977), and attracted attention for his key role as the pipe-smoking German student, a romantic pairing with Judi Dench in Harold Pinter's screenplay adaptation of Aidan Higgins' novel Langrishe, Go Down for BBC television (1978). He recently played Lord Vetinari in Sky One's dramatisation of Terry Pratchett's The Colour of Magic
The role which brought him fame was that of Charles Ryder in the television adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited in 1981. Brideshead reunited him with Anthony Andrews, with whom he had appeared in The Pallisers seven years earlier. In the same year he starred in the film The French Lieutenant's Woman opposite Meryl Streep.
Almost as a 'lap of honour' after these major successes, in 1982 he played the leading role of an exiled Polish building contractor, working in the Twickenham area of South West London, in Jerzy Skolimowski's independent film Moonlighting, widely seen on television, a performance which extended his acting range.
In 2005, Irons won both an Emmy award and a Golden Globe award for his supporting role in the TV mini-series, Elizabeth I. A year later Irons was one of the participants in the third series of the BBC documentary series Who Do You Think You Are? He has also starred on numerous occasion as a 'stunt bum'on Canal 5's Eurotrash. [4][5]
Film
Irons' film debut came with Nijinsky in 1980. He appeared sporadically in films during the 1980s, including the Cannes Palme d'Or winner The Mission in 1986, and in the dual role of twin physicians in David Cronenberg's Dead Ringers in 1988. Other films include Danny The Champion of the World (1989), Reversal of Fortune (1990), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, Kafka (1991), Damage (1993), The House of the Spirits (1993) appearing again with Glenn Close and Meryl Streep, Die Hard With a Vengeance (1995), Bernardo Bertolucci's Stealing Beauty (1996), the 1997 remake of Lolita and as the musketeer Aramis opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in the 1998 film version of The Man in the Iron Mask (1998).
He is also known for playing the evil wizard Profion, along with Bruce Payne as Damodor, in the 2000 film, Dungeons and Dragons, from Time Warner studio New Line Cinema. The film was also based on the Tabletop role-playing game, Dungeons and Dragons.
He played the Über-Morlock from the movie The Time Machine (2002). In 2004, Irons played Severus Snape in Comic Relief's Harry Potter parody, "Harry Potter and the Secret Chamberpot of Azerbaijan". Interestingly enough, Irons and Alan Rickman (who plays Snape in the Harry Potter film series), played the Gruber brothers, Simon and Hans, respectively, in the Die Hard film series.
In 2005, he appeared in the films Casanova opposite Heath Ledger, and Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven. He has co-starred with John Malkovich in two movies; The Man in the Iron Mask (1998) and Eragon (2006), though they did not have any scenes together in Eragon.
Audio
Irons read the audio book recording of Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist, and the audio book recording of Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita.
One of his best known film roles has turned out to be the voice of Scar in The Lion King (1994). Irons has since provided voiceovers for two Disney World attractions. He narrated the Spaceship Earth ride, housed in the large geodesic globe at Epcot, and voiced H.G. Wells in the English version of the former Disney attraction The Timekeeper.
He was originally to star as the Phantom in a 2006 French musical adaptation of Gaston Leroux's novel The Phantom of the Opera, though the project was canceled.citation needed He will be the narrator for Val Kilmer and Bill Pullman's brand-new Lewis and Clark movie from Revolution Studios.
Research to find 'the perfect voice' has indicated that Irons's voice is one of the best.[6]
Music
In 1985, Irons directed a music video for Carly Simon and her heavily promoted single, "Tired of Being Blonde". Although the song was not a hit, the video - featuring the fast cutting, parallel narratives and heavy use of stylized visual effects that were a staple of pop videos at the time - received ample attention on MTV and other outlets.
Irons has contributed to other musical performances, recording William Walton's Façade with Dame Peggy Ashcroft, and in 1997 the songs from Lerner and Loewe's My Fair Lady with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, released on the Decca label.
He sang a selection of sophisticated Noël Coward songs at the 1999 Last Night of the Proms in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Coward's birth.
In 2003 he played Fredrik Egerman in a New York revival of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music, and two years later appeared as King Arthur in Lerner and Loewe's Camelot at the Hollywood Bowl.
Jeremy Irons also has a full song named "Be Prepared" that takes part in the movie The Lion King. This song can be found in the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack of the movie.
Theatre
Irons has twice worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1976 and 1986-87.[7] In 1984, Irons made his New York debut and won a Tony Award for his Broadway performance opposite Glenn Close in The Real Thing.
After an absence from the London stage for 18 years, in 2006 he co-starred with Patrick Malahide in Christopher Hampton's stage adaptation of Sándor Márai's novel Embers at the Duke of York's Theatre.[8]
He makes his National Theatre debut playing Harold Macmillan in Never So Good, a new play by Howard Brenton which opens at the Lyttelton on March 19, 2008.[9][10]
Personal life
Irons is married to Irish actress Sinéad Cusack and is the father of two sons, Samuel James Brefni Irons (September 16, 1978), who works as a photographer, and Maximilian Paul Diarmuid Irons (October 17, 1985), who appeared in the 2006 Burberry fashion campaign. Both of Irons' sons have appeared in films with their father. He now lives in the small town of Watlington in Oxfordshire, as well as a residence in Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire.
He is also the patron since 2002 of the Thomley Activity Centre,[11] an Oxfordshire non-profit activity centre for disabled children. Irons owns Kilcoe Castle (which he had painted a rusty pink) in County Cork, Ireland, and has become involved in local politics there. He also has another Irish residence near Kilmainham, Dublin. Irons is a patron of the Chiltern Shakespeare Company.[12] He is a fan of English football club Portsmouth FC.
At the 1991 Tony Awards, Irons was one of the few celebrities to wear the recently created red ribbon to support the fight against AIDS, and he was the first celebrity to wear it onscreen.[13][14] He supports a number of other charities, including the Prison Phoenix Trust of which he is an active patron.[15]
Upset by the sight of beer-soaked tables and overflowing ashtrays in a lounge at Shannon airport in southwestern Ireland during a flight delay on 8 August 2002, he grabbed a cleaner's trolley and cloth and started mopping up the mess, much to the surprise of fellow passengers.
In popular culture
He is famous among fans of The Simpsons for having a name difficult to anagram (when Lisa tries to come up with an anagram of his name, the best she can do is "Jeremy's Iron").[16] One anagram of 'Jeremy Irons' is 'Minor jersey.'
The "Series of Unfortunate Events" novels by Lemony Snicket (a.k.a. Daniel Handler) make reference to three of his characters. In Reversal of Fortune, Irons plays Klaus von Bulow, husband to Sunny von Bulow. Two of the lead characters in Snicket's novels are named Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire. In The Carnivorous Carnival, Klaus and his other sister Violet disguise themselves as circus freaks named Beverly and Elliot, which are the names of the identical twin gynaecologists that Irons plays in Dead Ringers.
Work
Theatre
Following training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre school Irons initially stayed with the company:
- Florizel in The Winter's Tale, Bristol Old Vic 1969
- Simon in Hay Fever (Noël Coward) Bristol Old Vic 1969
- Nick in What the Butler Saw (Joe Orton) Bristol Old Vic 1969
- Major Barbara (Shaw) Bristol Old Vic 1969
- A Servant of Two Masters (Carlo Goldoni) Bristol Old Vic 1969
- Macbeth, Bristol Old Vic 1969
- The Boy Friend (Sandy Wilson) Bristol Old Vic 1969
- As You Like It, Bristol Old Vic 1970
- Oh! What a Lovely War, Little Theatre Bristol 1970
- The School for Scandal (Sheridan) Little Theatre Bristol 1970
- John/Judas in Godspell, Roundhouse and Wyndham's Theatre, November 1971-1973
- The Madman in The Diary of a Madman (Gogol), Act Inn 1973
- Don Pedro in Much Ado About Nothing, Young Vic
- Mick in The Caretaker (Pinter) Young Vic 1974
- Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew, New Shakespeare Company, Roundhouse 1975
- Harry Thunder in Wild Oats (John O’Keefe) RSC Aldwych Theatre, December 1976; RSC Stratford and Piccadilly Theatre 1977
- Jameson in The Rear Column (Simon Gray), Globe Theatre, February 1978 — Clarence Derwent Award
- Henry in The Real Thing (Tom Stoppard) New York 1984 —Tony Award for Best Actor
- Leontes in The Winter's Tale, Royal Shakespeare Theatre Stratford 1986)
- Willmore in The Rover (Aphra Behn) RSC Swan Theatre and Mermaid Theatre 1986
- Richard II in Richard II, RSC Royal Shakespeare Theatre, 1986, Barbican Theatre 1987
- Fredrik Egerman in A Little Night Music (Sondheim) New York, 2003
- Russell in Celebration, a Pinter staged reading, Gate Theatre, Dublin/Albery Theatre, 2005
- Henrik in Embers (Christopher Hampton/Sándor Márai novel) Duke of York's Theatre March 2006
- Harold Macmillan in Never So Good (Howard Brenton) National Theatre Lyttelton, March 2008
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Nijinsky | Mikhail Fokine | |
| 1981 | The French Lieutenant's Woman | Charles Henry Smithson/Mike | BAFTA Award nomination |
| 1981 | Brideshead Revisited | Charles Ryder | BAFTA Award nomination |
| 1982 | Moonlighting | Nowak | |
| 1983 | The Wild Duck | Harold | |
| Betrayal | Jerry | ||
| 1984 | Swann in Love | Charles Swann | |
| 1986 | The Mission | Father Gabriel | Golden Globe nomination |
| 1988 | A Chorus of Disapproval | Guy Jones | |
| Dead Ringers | Beverly Mantle / Elliot Mantle | ||
| 1989 | Australia | Edouard Pierson | |
| 1990 | Reversal of Fortune | Claus von Bülow | Academy Award for Best Actor, Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama |
| 1991 | The Beggar's Opera | Prisoner | |
| Kafka | Kafka | ||
| 1992 | The Timekeeper | H.G. Wells | |
| Waterland | Tom Crick | ||
| Damage | Dr. Stephen Fleming | ||
| 1993 | M. Butterfly | René Gallimard | |
| The House of the Spirits | Esteban Trueba | ||
| 1994 | Spaceship Earth | Narrator | |
| The Lion King | Scar | voice; Annie Award for Best Achievement for Voice Acting | |
| 1995 | Die Hard: With a Vengeance | Simon Gruber | |
| 1996 | Stealing Beauty | Alex | |
| 1997 | Chinese Box | John | |
| Lolita | Humbert Humbert | ||
| 1998 | The Man in the Iron Mask | Aramis | |
| 1999 | Poseidon's Fury: Escape from the Lost City | Poseidon | voice |
| 2000 | Dungeons & Dragons | Profion | |
| 2001 | The Fourth Angel | Jack Elgin | |
| 2002 | Callas Forever | Larry Kelly | |
| 2003 | The Time Machine | Über-Morlock | |
| And Now... Ladies and Gentlemen... | Valentin Valentin | ||
| Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There | Himself | ||
| Hittites | Narrator | ||
| 2004 | Mathilde (2004) | Pukovnik Unprofora | |
| The Merchant of Venice | Antonio | ||
| Being Julia | Michael Gosselyn | ||
| 2005 | Gallipoli | Gallipoli | |
| Kingdom of Heaven | Tiberias | ||
| Casanova | Pucci | ||
| 2006 | Inland Empire | Kingsley Stewart | |
| Eragon | Brom | ||
| Elizabeth I | Robert Dudley | Television Miniseries | |
| 2008 | The Colour of Magic | Havelock Vetinari | television miniseries |
| The Magic 7 | Thraxx (voice) | recorded in the early 1990s | |
| Appaloosa | Randall Bragg | post-production |
References
- ^ http://www.filmreference.com/film/90/Jeremy-Irons.html
- ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/familyhistory/get_started/wdytya_celeb_gallery_08.shtml
- ^ Stanley Green's Encyclopaedia of the Musical, Cassell (1976)
- ^ http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/jeremy-irons-the-fire-in-irons-417915.html
- ^ "BBC One Fall 2006". Press release. Retrieved on 2006-07-18.
- ^ BBC News, 2008. Formula 'secret of perfect voice'.
- ^ http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/stratfordians/stiroje.htm
- ^ The Stage review of Embers [1]
- ^ http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/newsstory.php/19569/irons-to-play-harold-macmillian-in-national
- ^ http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/neversogood
- ^ http://www.thomleyhall.org/tac/
- ^ http://www.chiltern-shakespeare.org/aboutus.html
- ^ "World Aids Day". www.worldaidsday.org. Retrieved on 2007-12-01.
- ^ "Why a Red Ribbon means Aids". www.bbb.co.uk. Retrieved on 2007-04-21.
- ^ "Prison Phoenix Trust". www.prisonphoenixtrust.org.uk. Retrieved on 2006-11-10.
- ^ "Lisa's Anagram". www.snpp.com. Retrieved on 1994-09-11.
External links
- Jeremy Irons website
- Jeremy Irons at the Internet Broadway Database
- Jeremy Irons at the Internet Movie Database
- BFI: Jeremy Irons
- A Dictionary of the RSC by Simon Trowbridge: Jeremy Irons [2]
- Jeremy Irons: Power Player, Daily Telegraph profile 13 March 2008 [3]
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Tom Cruise for Born on the Fourth of July |
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama 1991 for Reversal of Fortune |
Succeeded by Nick Nolte for The Prince of Tides |
| Preceded by Jonathan Katz for Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist |
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance 1997 for The Great War And The Shaping Of The 20th Century |
Succeeded by Hank Azaria for The Simpsons |
| Preceded by Paul Newman for Empire Falls |
Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor - Miniseries or Television Movie 2006 for Elizabeth I |
Succeeded by Kevin Kline for As You Like It |
| Preceded by Paul Newman for Empire Falls |
Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made of Television 2007 for Elizabeth I |
Succeeded by Jeremy Piven for Entourage |
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