ANTHONY HOPKINS
Name: Philip Anthony Hopkins
Born: 31 December 1937 Port Talbot, Wales
Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins (born December 31, 1937) is an Academy Award-,
Golden Globe-, double Emmy-, triple BAFTA- and Saturn Award-winning Welsh film,
stage and television actor, arguably best known for his portrayal of Hannibal
Lecter in the 1991 blockbuster The Silence of the Lambs. Other notable film
credits include The Elephant Man, Dracula, The Remains of the Day, The Mask of
Zorro and Fracture. Hopkins was born and raised in Wales, and also became a U.S.
citizen on 12 April 2000. He was made a Fellow of the British Academy of Film
and Television Arts in 2008.
Hopkins was born in Margam, Port Talbot, Wales, the son of Muriel Anne (née
Yeats) and Richard Arthur Hopkins, a baker. His mother is a distant relative
of the Irish poet William Butler Yeats. His schooldays were unproductive. A
loner with dyslexia, he found that he would rather immerse himself in art, such
as painting and drawing or playing the piano, than attend to his studies. In
1949, to instill some discipline, his parents insisted he attend Jones' West
Monmouth Boys' School in Pontypool, Wales. He remained there for five terms and
was then educated at Cowbridge Grammar School, Cowbridge, Wales.
Hopkins was influenced and encouraged to become an actor by compatriot Richard
Burton, whom he met briefly at the age of 15. To that end, he enrolled at the
Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff, Wales from which he graduated in
1957. After a two-year spell in the Army, he moved to London where he trained at
RADA.
In 1965, after several years in repertory, he was spotted by Sir Laurence
Olivier, who invited him to join the Royal National Theatre. Hopkins became
Olivier's understudy, and filled in when Olivier was struck with appendicitis
during a production of August Strindberg's The Dance of Death. Olivier later
noted in his memoir, Confessions of an Actor, that, "A new young actor in the
company of exceptional promise named Anthony Hopkins was understudying me and
walked away with the part of Edgar like a cat with a mouse between its teeth".
Despite his success at the National, Hopkins tired of repeating the same roles
nightly and yearned to be in movies. In 1968, he got his break in The Lion in
Winter playing Richard I, along with future James Bond star Timothy Dalton, who
played Philip II of France.
Although Hopkins continued in theatre (most notably in the Broadway production
of Peter Shaffer's Equus, directed by John Dexter) he gradually moved away from
it to become more established as a television and film actor. He made his small-screen
debut in a 1967 BBC broadcast of A Flea in Her Ear. He has since gone on to
enjoy a long career, winning many plaudits and awards for his performances.
Hopkins was made a Commander of the British Empire in 1987, and a Knight
Bachelor in 1993. In 1996, Hopkins was awarded an honorary fellowship from
the University of Wales, Lampeter.
Hopkins has stated that his role as Burt Munro, whom he portrayed in his 2005
film The World's Fastest Indian, was his favourite. He also asserted that Munro
was the easiest role that he had ever played because both men have a similar
outlook on life.
In 2006, Hopkins was the recipient of the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award
for lifetime achievement. In 2008, he received the Bafta Fellowship Award.
Name: Philip Anthony Hopkins
Born: 31 December 1937 Port Talbot, Wales
Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins (born December 31, 1937) is an Academy Award-,
Golden Globe-, double Emmy-, triple BAFTA- and Saturn Award-winning Welsh film,
stage and television actor, arguably best known for his portrayal of Hannibal
Lecter in the 1991 blockbuster The Silence of the Lambs. Other notable film
credits include The Elephant Man, Dracula, The Remains of the Day, The Mask of
Zorro and Fracture. Hopkins was born and raised in Wales, and also became a U.S.
citizen on 12 April 2000. He was made a Fellow of the British Academy of Film
and Television Arts in 2008.
Hopkins was born in Margam, Port Talbot, Wales, the son of Muriel Anne (née
Yeats) and Richard Arthur Hopkins, a baker. His mother is a distant relative
of the Irish poet William Butler Yeats. His schooldays were unproductive. A
loner with dyslexia, he found that he would rather immerse himself in art, such
as painting and drawing or playing the piano, than attend to his studies. In
1949, to instill some discipline, his parents insisted he attend Jones' West
Monmouth Boys' School in Pontypool, Wales. He remained there for five terms and
was then educated at Cowbridge Grammar School, Cowbridge, Wales.
Hopkins was influenced and encouraged to become an actor by compatriot Richard
Burton, whom he met briefly at the age of 15. To that end, he enrolled at the
Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff, Wales from which he graduated in
1957. After a two-year spell in the Army, he moved to London where he trained at
RADA.
In 1965, after several years in repertory, he was spotted by Sir Laurence
Olivier, who invited him to join the Royal National Theatre. Hopkins became
Olivier's understudy, and filled in when Olivier was struck with appendicitis
during a production of August Strindberg's The Dance of Death. Olivier later
noted in his memoir, Confessions of an Actor, that, "A new young actor in the
company of exceptional promise named Anthony Hopkins was understudying me and
walked away with the part of Edgar like a cat with a mouse between its teeth".
Despite his success at the National, Hopkins tired of repeating the same roles
nightly and yearned to be in movies. In 1968, he got his break in The Lion in
Winter playing Richard I, along with future James Bond star Timothy Dalton, who
played Philip II of France.
Although Hopkins continued in theatre (most notably in the Broadway production
of Peter Shaffer's Equus, directed by John Dexter) he gradually moved away from
it to become more established as a television and film actor. He made his small-screen
debut in a 1967 BBC broadcast of A Flea in Her Ear. He has since gone on to
enjoy a long career, winning many plaudits and awards for his performances.
Hopkins was made a Commander of the British Empire in 1987, and a Knight
Bachelor in 1993. In 1996, Hopkins was awarded an honorary fellowship from
the University of Wales, Lampeter.
Hopkins has stated that his role as Burt Munro, whom he portrayed in his 2005
film The World's Fastest Indian, was his favourite. He also asserted that Munro
was the easiest role that he had ever played because both men have a similar
outlook on life.
In 2006, Hopkins was the recipient of the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award
for lifetime achievement. In 2008, he received the Bafta Fellowship Award.