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Change is vital to any actor. If you keep playing lead after lead, you're really gonna dry up. Because all those vehicles wean you away from the truths of human behaviour. - GO
| Gary Oldman Mini Biography |
After being rejected for admission into Britain's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he won a scholarship to the Rose Bruford College, where he received a BA in Drama in 1979. He later studied with the Greenwich Young People's Theatre and went on to appear in a number of stage plays including The Pope's Wedding. Oldman first appeared on screen in the film Remembrance in 1982. His first starring role came in Sid and Nancy. He has become known for playing eccentrics and for his mastery of accents. He has played a variety of famous characters including Dracula, Ludwig van Beethoven, Lee Harvey Oswald, Commissioner Gordon, Dr. Zachary Smith, Shakespeare's Rosencrantz, Sirius Black, Pontius Pilate, and the Devil.
Oldman has long established a cult following among film fans, perhaps due to his apathetic stance on fame and fortune, his versatile performances, and affable real-life persona. As well as a staggering number of fan-made tribute videos on Youtube Oldman remains one of the most popular portrayers of movie villains amongst film fans: his array of villainous roles, such as Count Dracula in Bram Stoker's Dracula, Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg in The Fifth Element, Norman Stansfield in Leon, and Ivan Korshunov in Air Force One have seen a page dedicated entirely to him on the movievillains.com website. MTV's Celebrity DeathMatch also aired a match between Oldman and Christopher Walken to determine who was the greatest cinematic villain.
Oldman's famous "spitting scene" with Matt LeBlanc during his appearance on Friends, where Oldman's character insists that "real" actors spit on one another when they enunciate. The ensuing spitting confrontation between the two, has become one of the more popular cameos of the series, and saw Oldman receive an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series. Oldman's character also has to dispel Joey's belief that despite his formidable acting abilities, he has never won an Acadeny Award. This was perhaps a subtle knock on the much-questioned fact, among Oldman fans, that he has never been nominated for such an award, despite a number of critically acclaimed roles. Younger stars cite Oldman's influence such as Daniel Radcliffe, Shia LaBeouf,Christian Bale and in particular, Ryan Gosling who cites Oldman as his all time favourite actor.
Oldman has also received much acclaim from critics over the years for his diversity of roles and mastery of world accents. Revered film critic Roger Ebert has long been a fan of Oldman's work, hailing him as "one of the great actors, able to play high, low, crass, noble",while Janet Maslin called him a "phenomenal" actor who "since Sid and Nancy has taken on a string of new accents and dramatic identities with stunning ease.''Oldman's acting style has, however, occasionally been referred to as being excessive and over-the-top by some critics.This may perhaps be in part due to a long run of being cast as eccentric and outlandish villains, something of which he eventually grew tired.
In contrast to his often dark-themed on-screen roles, Oldman's down-to-earth real-life nature is often cited in articles,and he was recently named as one of Empire magazine's "100 Sexiest Stars in Film History.Motion pictures starring Oldman as leading actor or supporting co-star have grossed over $2.1billion at the United States box office, and over $5.2 billion worldwide.
Vital Stats
Gary Oldman Information
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| Full Name: | Leonard Gary Oldman | Nickname(s):
| Gaz, Quick Change | Height:
| 5' 9" | | Hair color: | Brown | Eye Color:
| Deep dark Blue | | Notable feature(s): | His characters are usually borderline psychotics.
| | Star Sign: | Aries | | Nationality: | English | | Education: | BA Theatre Arts, Rose Bruford School of Speech and Drama | | Family: | Father - Leonard Bertram Oldman
Mother - Kathleen (née Cheriton) Oldman
Sister - Laila,
| | Resides in: | Los Angeles | | Religious affiliation: | Protestant | | Political affiliation: |
| | Interests/Hobbies: |
| | Charities/Causes: | - Charities - ALAFA
- Causes - AIDS
| | Other: | Considered a career in music. | | Trivia |  Gary contributes two voices in the video game True Crime: Streets of LA, Rocky and Agent Masterson
Gary contributes a voice in the video game Medal of Honor: Allied assault-Spearhead as Sgt. Jack Barnes
Gary is the brother of actress Laila Morse
Gary's library includes essays on Bertold Brecht, poetry by Roger McGough, a biography of Montgomery Clift, The Elizabethan World Picture, all things Shakespeare, and Jane Austen
Henry & June is the only film in which Gary has been credited as "Maurice Escargot
Gary was offered the role of General Grievous in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. At first Gary accepted the role, however, as the movie was made outside the Screen Actor's Guild rules, Gary changed his mind and decided not to participate in the movie
Gary sang I Wanna Be Your Dog and My Way on the Sid and Nancy soundtrack.Gary sang You've Been Around with David Bowie, a duet from The Sacred Squall of Now.Artist Julian Schnabel (the director of Basquiat) had put out a CD entitled Every Silver Lining Has A Cloud. Gary sings on this album. In addition to that there's a track called Gary's Song on the album
Gary appeared in the TV commercial for Barclays Bank with Donald Sutherland.Gary appeared in the TV commercial for One 2 One in 2001. Gary appeared in the print ad for DKNY in 2000. Gary appeared in the 1998 print commercial for H&M Clothing
Gary was a member of jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1993
On August 8, 1991, Gary was arrested for drunk driving in L.A. and released on bail the next morning. His passenger in the car was his friend and fellow actor Kiefer Sutherland
Gary has played Lee Harvey Oswald twice: In the feature film JFK and in the miniseries Who Was Lee Harvey Oswald?
Gary's film Nil By Mouth, which is loosely based upon his own life growing up in London, won the Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film, a BAFTA Award, the Channel 4 Director's Award, and the Empire Award, and was declared by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts as one of the one hundred best films of all time despite containing the word 'f**k' 410 times, a record for any film
Gary played the Devil in the Guns N' Roses music video "Since I Don't Have You" and in the BMW short film Beat the Devil
Gary does not have a publicist. He once hired one, at his agent's request, but after doing a few talk shows couldn't take it anymore and stopped working with the publicist. He has admitted that not having a publicist has cost him a few roles
Gary's talent for portraying a range of unusual personas of varying backgrounds has earned him nicknames such as "The Chameleon" and "The Lord of the Accents
Gary is the only other actor since Lon Chaney Sr. to be named "Man of a Thousand Faces" as he is truly able to become whatever character he plays
Gary signed with ICM in November 2005. He was previously represented by Creative Artists Agency
Gary’s portrayal of Norman Stansfield in Léon is considered one of the best villains in movie history, ranking 43rd on the Online Film Critics Society's list of the Greatest Screen Villains of All Times
Gary's nickname "Crazy Gary Oldman" is believed to have originated in a 2004 parody of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban on the Livejournal site Movies in 15 Minutes, where Oldman's character Sirius Black is on a wanted poster, screaming: "I'M SO CRAZY! LOOK AT ME! I'M CRAZY GARY OLDMAN!". The scene was later repeated in a few parodies, causing the name to catch on. Gary is not very happy with the nickname
Initially Gary was supposed to play the Prison Warden in Adam Sandlers movie The Longest Yard. However, the negotiations were unsuccessful and the role went to James Cromwell
Gary appears in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire with Ralph Fiennes. Both of them played villains in the Hannibal Lecter films. Gary played Mason Verger in Hannibal, and Ralph Fiennes played Francis Dolarhyde in Red Dragon
Gary and Timothy Spall from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban both portrayed the character of Rosencrantz. Timothy portrayed him in Kenneth Branagh's movie Hamlet and Gary portrayed him in the movie Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
Gary had to lose weight to play Sid Vicious in the movie Sid and Nancy, but he lost too much weight and ended up in a hospital
In the movie Air Force One when Gary gives his thumbprint for a background check near the beginning of the movie, the date of birth that comes up among his info (3/21/58) is his real birthday
In the movie Dracula in which Prince Vlad is portrayed by Gary Oldman, Prince Vlad's scream after he drives his sword into the cross is not Gary's voice. Lux Interior, lead singer of punk band The Cramps, recorded the scream and it was dubbed in
It took Gary twelve days to film his scenes for The Unborn. It took him one morning to voice over his part in Planet 51. It took him four days to film his scenes for Christmas Carol. It took him ten days to film his scenes for Rainfall
Gary received a free SUV BMW for doing The Hire - Beat the Devil which is a short film / commercial. The car officially belongs to BMW
His library includes essays on Bertolt Brecht, poetry by Roger McGough, a biography of Montgomery Clift, The Elizabethan World Picture, all things William Shakespeare and Jane Austen
Has used a different speaking voice (i.e. accent) in practically every movie he's ever been in |
| Contact Gary Oldman | Gary Oldman
Paradigm Talent Agency
360 North Crescent Dr.
North Bldg.
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
USA |
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