Anthony Hopkins

Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh actor.

One of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actors, he is known for his performances on the screen and stage.

Hopkins has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, four BAFTA Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Laurence Olivier Award.

Philip Anthony Hopkins was born in the Margam district of Port Talbot on 31 December 1937, the son of Annie Muriel (née Yeates) and baker Richard Arthur Hopkins.

One of his grandfathers was from Wiltshire, England.

He stated his father's working-class values have always underscored his life, "Whenever I get a feeling that I may be special or different, I think of my father and I remember his hands – his hardened, broken hands."

His school days were unproductive; he would rather immerse himself in art, such as painting and drawing, or playing the piano than attend to his studies.

In 1949, to instil discipline, his parents insisted he attend Jones' West Monmouth Boys' School in Pontypool.

He remained there for five terms and was then educated at Cowbridge Grammar School in the Vale of Glamorgan.

After graduating from the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in 1957, Hopkins trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.

He enrolled at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff, from which he graduated in 1957.

After two years of his national service between 1958 and 1960, which he served in the British Army, Hopkins moved to London to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) from where he graduated in 1963.

Hopkins made his first professional stage appearance in the Palace Theatre, Swansea, in 1960 with Swansea Little Theatre's production of Have a Cigarette.

His first starring role in a film came in 1964 in Changes, a short directed by Drewe Henley, written and produced by James Scott and co-starring Jacqueline Pearce.

He was then spotted by Laurence Olivier, who invited him to join the Royal National Theatre in 1965.

Productions at the National included King Lear (his favourite Shakespeare play), Coriolanus, Macbeth, and Antony and Cleopatra.

In 1965, after several years in repertory, he was spotted by Laurence Olivier, who invited him to join the Royal National Theatre in London.

Hopkins became Olivier's understudy, and filled in when Olivier was struck with appendicitis during a 1967 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."

Up until that night, Hopkins was always nervous prior to going on stage.

This has since changed, and Hopkins quoted his mentor as saying: "He [Olivier] said: 'Remember: "nerves" is vanity – you're wondering what people think of you; to hell with them, just jump off the edge'. It was great advice."

He made his small-screen debut in a 1967 BBC broadcast of A Flea in Her Ear.

Hopkins early film roles include The Lion in Winter (1968), A Bridge Too Far (1977), and The Elephant Man (1980).

In 1968, Hopkins got his break in The Lion in Winter playing Richard the Lionheart, a performance which saw him nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.

He portrayed Charles Dickens in the BBC television film The Great Inimitable Mr. Dickens in 1970, and Pierre Bezukhov in the BBC's mini series War and Peace (1972), receiving the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor for his performance in the latter.

Making a name for himself as a screen actor, he appeared in Frank Pierson's neo-noir action thriller The Looking Glass War (1970), and Étienne Périer's When Eight Bells Toll (1971).

For his work on television, Hopkins received a British Academy Television Award for Best Actor for his performance in War and Peace (1972).

He next met Burton in 1975 as Burton prepared to take over Hopkins's role as the psychiatrist in Peter Shaffer's Equus, with Hopkins stating, "He was a phenomenal actor. So was Peter O'Toole – they were wonderful, larger-than-life characters."

He won two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series for The Lindbergh kidnapping Case (1976) and The Bunker (1981).

In 1985, he received great acclaim and a Laurence Olivier Award for his performance in the David Hare play Pravda.

Other notable films include 84 Charing Cross Road (1987), Howards End (1992), Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), Shadowlands (1993), Legends of the Fall (1994), The Mask of Zorro (1998), and the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Thor franchise (2011–2017).

His last stage play was a West End production of M. Butterfly in 1989.

He won two Academy Awards for Best Actor for playing Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and an octogenarian with dementia in The Father (2020), becoming the oldest Best Actor Oscar winner for the latter.

He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to drama in 1993.

His other Oscar-nominated films include The Remains of the Day (1993), Nixon (1995), Amistad (1997), and The Two Popes (2019).

In an interview in 2002, he stated, "I was a poor learner, which left me open to ridicule and gave me an inferiority complex. I grew up absolutely convinced I was stupid."

Hopkins was inspired by fellow Welsh actor Richard Burton, whom he met at the age of 15.

He later called Burton "very gracious, very nice" but elaborated, "I don't know where everyone gets the idea we were good friends. I suppose it's because we are both Welsh and grew up near the same town. For the record, I didn't really know him at all."

He has also received the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2005 and the BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement in 2008.

Other notable projects include the BBC film The Dresser (2015), PBS's King Lear (2018), and the HBO series Westworld (2016–2018).