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Gary Oldman

With nearly 20 years as a worldwide presence in major motion pictures, Gary Oldman is also known to millions as Sirius Black (Harry Potter's Godfather), Commissioner Jim Gordon (Batman's crime-fighting partner), Dracula, Beethoven, Lee Harvey Oswald, Joe Orton, Sid Vicious, and also the terrorist who hijacked Harrison Ford's Air Force One. He also starred in Luc Besson's The Professional and The Fifth Element and also as Dr. Zachary Smith in Lost in Space.

Highly regarded as one of the foremost actors of his generation, and an internationally known, iconic figure, Oldman has the distinction of appearing in more successful films than any other artist spanning the past 18 years, and additionally, has appeared in more than one of the top ten highest-grossing films in history.

Oldman's acting career began in 1979 where he worked exclusively in the theatre; from 1985-1989, he worked at London's Royal Court. His early BBC films were Mike Leigh's Meantime, and The Firm by the late Alan Clark. Subsequent feature films include Sid and Nancy; Prick Up Your Ears, directed by Stephen Frears; Rosencrantz and Gildenstern are Dead, directed by Tom Stoppard; State of Grace, JFK, directed by Oliver Stone; Bram Stoker's Dracula, directed by Francis Ford Coppola; Romeo is Bleeding; True Romance, directed by Tony Scott; The Professional; Murder in the First; Immortal Beloved; and The Scarlet Letter, directed by Roland Joffe.

In 1995, he and manager/producing partner Douglas Urbanski formed a production company, which produced Oldman's directorial debut, the highly acclaimed Nil By Mouth. The film won 9 of 17 major awards for which it was nominated and was selected to open the main competition for the 1997 50th Anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival, for which Kathy Burke won Best Actress. Oldman also won the prestigious Channel Four Director's Prize at the Edinburgh Film Festival, and the British Academy Award (shared with Douglas Urbanski) for Best Film and also the BAFTA for Best Original Screenplay.

During the past 18 years, Oldman has appeared in a staggering nine films that have opened at the top of the box office; the films in which he has appeared have a cumulative gross in the billions of dollars.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2009.
Read earlier biographies on this page.

Gary Oldman Facts

Birth NameLeonard Gary Oldman
OccupationActor
BirthdayMarch 21, 1958 (65)
SignAries
BirthplaceLondon, England, United Kingdom
Height5' 10" (1m78)  How tall is Gary Oldman compared to you?

Selected Filmography

Hannibal
Man Down
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
The Fifth Element
Kung Fu Panda 2
Child 44
The Dark Knight Rises
The Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
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