Anthony Hopkins Biography

NAME: Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins, CBE

OCCUPATION: Film Actor, Theater Actor, Television Actor

BIRTH DATE: December 31, 1937 (Age: 73)

EDUCATION: Jones' West Monmouth Boys' School, Cowbridge Grammar School, Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff, Royal Academy of Dramatic Art

PLACE OF BIRTH: Port Talbot, Glamorgan, Wales, England

Anthony Hopkins was born on 31 December 1937, in Margam, Wales. Influenced by Richard Burton, he decided to study at College of Music and Drama and graduated in 1957. In 1965, he moved to London and joined the National Theatre, invited by Laurence Olivier, who could see the talent in Hopkins. In 1967, he made his first film for television, A Flea in Her Ear (1967) (TV).

Like his fellow Welshman Richard Burton, Anthony Hopkins left England and a celebrated stage career to enjoy the life of an A-list Hollywood actor. The restless thespian made an auspicious film debut in "The Lion in Winter" (1968), as the scheming Richard the Lionheart, and won Emmys for his TV-movie performances in "The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case" (NBC, 1976), as accused kidnapper Bruno Hauptmann, and "The Bunker" (CBS, 1981), as Adolph Hitler. But it was his Oscar-winning turn as Dr. Hannibal 'The Cannibal' Lecter in "The Silence of the Lambs" (1991) that brought the years of struggle and second-rate parts to an end, elevating him to full-fledged star status. Although Hopkins had won several awards for his 1975 Broadway debut in "Equus," playing a troubled psychiatrist trying to unlock the deep-rooted problems that had led the passionate, disturbed stable boy in his care to blind several horses, it was, ironically, Burton who succeeded Hopkins in the Broadway production and starred in the film version.

In 1992, he starred alongside Emma Thompson and Vanessa Redgrave in Merchant/Ivory’s thrice Oscar winning 'Howard's End', based on the novel by E.M Forster. Hopkins played Henry Wilcox - the film went on to win three Oscars, two BAFTAs and a further 19 other awards. Despite being nominated, Hopkins failed to win any awards, although Emma Thompson won an Oscar and a BAFTA for ‘Best Actress Award’.

Success followed once more in 1993 when Hopkins teamed up with Emma Thompson yet again in 'Remains of the Day', a post WWI love story. He was nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars, Golden Globes and BAFTAs. Not content with just acting, Hopkins took on the role of director with the 1996 film, 'August', which he also starred in. The film’s location was in his native land of Wales.

Later in 2006, Hopkins played Judge Irwin in another political drama, 'All the King’s Men', alongside Sean Penn and fellow English actors, Kate Winslet and Jude Law. Based on the Novel by Robert Penn Warren, set in the Fifties, it tells the story of elected governor Willie Stark.

Hopkins can be seen playing another psychopath in 'Fracture' (2007) opposite up and coming star Ryan Gosling. His character is a man who plays a game of cat-and-mouse with Gosling's assistant DA after being accused of trying to murder his wife.