Anthony Hopkins - Biography

Last Editor: edwin356				Anthony Hopkins Biography -   Name : Anthony Hopkins Birth Date : December 31, 1937 Birth Place : West Glamorgan, Wales, UK Birth Name : Anthony Philip Hopkins Height : 5' 7 Education : Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, England Nationality : American (British; dual) Profession : Actor, director Claim to fame : as psychopathic psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal

Anthony Hopkins Trivia -

Is to star in movie remake ALL THE KING'S MEN. (November 23, 2004) His ex-wife Jenni Lynton is bemused at his desire to be an American citizen because he's always been championed by awards bosses and the media in his native Britain. (April 13, 2004) Will star with Meg Ryan in PAPA, a $27 million project to be directed by Adrian Noble, who stepped down last year as artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Co. (February 24, 2004) Hopkins got a star (the 2,237th) on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on September 24, 2003. Nicole Kidman and Anthony Hopkins' new drama THE HUMAN STAIN is to be delayed in America to give the film a better chance of winning an Oscar next year -- Despite having had its premiere in New York last week, the film will now open on October 31. (September 16, 2003) Hopkins has one film in the can that will never top the box office charts because there is not enough money to finish it – the star worked on THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER, a version of Stephen Vincent Benet's supernatural short story, alongside screen beauty Jennifer Love Hewitt and under the direction of PEARL HARBOR star Alec Baldwin. (November 16, 2002) Hopkins turned to Katharine Hepburn and Truman Capote to find a voice for the fictional serial killer Hannibal Lecter. (October 23, 2002) Hopkins said he had almost lost his appetite for the role as the man-eating psychiatrist in RED DRAGON after the 2001 film HANNIBAL, but had finally agreed to don the prison suit once more on condition he could really bare the doctor's evil nature. (October 16, 2002) Hopkins was left so cold by a naked scene with Nicole Kidman in upcoming romance drama THE HUMAN STAIN that he didn't even get aroused by the sexy star, saying that it's just a job and there's nothing remotely sexy about filming a sex scene. (October 3, 2002) Again plays the madman in RED DRAGON that will kick off on October 4 and this is a real, well, nail-biter of a movie. RED DRAGON -- the fourth Lecter movie -- is really based on the first Thomas Harris novel. Ranked #57 in Empire (UK) magazine's The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time list. (October 1997) Awarded Commander, Order of the British Empire in 1987. Became a U.S. citizen on 12 April 2000, but is allowed to retain his British knighthood and the title of Sir. Conquered his alcoholic addiction in 1975. One of his greatest pleasures in past years on his frequent visits to the USA was to get in a car and drive across the country, enjoying its immensity as well as his own anonymity. Passed on the role of Gandalf in THE LORD OF THE RINGS Trilogy. Piano virtuoso. Proud of his improvisational touches as Hannibal Lecter in THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991) such as: the unnerving effect on Jodie Foster when he mocked her character's West Virginia accent Received an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from the University of Wales on July 16, 1988. Volunteers at the Ruskins School of Acting in Santa Monica, California, where he teaches everything from Shakespeare to scenes, theory, and monologues. He recorded all the narration for HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS in one day. In the opening credits of HANNIBAL you can make out the face of his character being formed by pigeons until the end of the credit when you can clearly see his face. Several of the extras in the HANNIBAL (2001) and some minor roles in the FLORENCE scenes were recruited by Hopkins. He also helped to secure some locales for shooting. The 006 character in GOLDEN EYE (1995), Alec Trevelyan (Sean Bean) was originally written as a much older character and a mentor to Bond. The producers tried to get Hopkins to play the role, but when he refused they rewrote it to be a younger age. The piano music he plays in HANNIBAL is one of his own compositions. Was considered for the title role in GANDHI (1982) When he was 7 years old he sat on his puppy and killed it. His hobbies include driving, playing piano, reading, writing, and drawing! Was nominated Saturn Award for Best Actor in 1999 for MEET JOE BLACK. His decision to become US Citizen didn't go well in his home town, Port Tabot. 'Sir Anthony is always harping on about his Welshness but when the chips are down he decides to go away. To be honest, I think he is a hypocrite.' Hopkins has spoken of his regret at losing touch with his only child and doesn't even know where she lives at the moment. (October 2, 2002)

Anthony Hopkins Detailed Biography -

Born to Richard Arthur and Muriel, december 31, 1937 in Margam, near Port Talbot, Wales, Anthony Hopkins was the only child. He was educated at Cowbridge Grammar School. Then was drawn to the theatre while attending the YMCA at age 17, and later learned the basics of his craft at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. In 1960, Hopkins made his stage bow in The Quare Fellow, and then spent four years in regional repertory before his first London success in Julius Caesar. He graduated a Silver Medalist in 1963 and promptly joined the Phoenix Theater in Leicester. His next move was to the Liverpool Playhouse and Hornchurch Repertory Company. In 1965 he was invited to audition for Sir Laurence Olivier, then director of the National Theater at the Old Vic. Two years later, Hopkins was Olivier’s understudy in Strindberg’s Dance of Death. Hopkins made his film debut in 1967, playing Richard the Lionhearted in The Lion in Winter, starring Peter O’Toole and Katherine Hepburn. He received a British Academy Award nomination and the film received an Academy Award as Best Picture. Anthony achieved international recognition for strong dramatic acting in the 1970s and 1980s, and notoriety for the monstrous credibility of his Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs (1990). A respected theatre and television actor, his best film performances are those which allow him a little scope for theatricality. His Captain Bligh in the 1984 version of The Bounty rivalled Charles Laughton's; Richard Attenborough discovered his sinister qualities in Magic (1978); and David Lynch cast him effectively as Dr Treves in The Elephant Man (1980). His more subdued acting skills are evident in 84 Charing Cross Road (1986), which began life as a BBC television play. More recently, he has taken out a patent on the emotional reticence of the middle-aged English male with a restrained performance as a repressed Edwardian patriarch in Howard's End (1991), as a butler struggling with feelings while the world turns in Remains of the Day (1993), and as the writer C.S. Lewis in Shadowlands (1993). More irrepressibly, he has punctuated this streak of constricted Englishness with a wonderfully over-the-top performance as the Dutchman Van Helsing in Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992). His more recent films include John Schlesinger's The Innocent (1993.), and the epically melodramatic Legends of the Fall (1994). He played the title role in Oliver Stone's Nixon (1995). Anthony Hopkins was named Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen’s Honour’s List, June 1987. He received a knighthood in 1993.