Anthony Hopkins

Born December 31, 1937 in Margum near Port Talbot Wales, in 1960, Hopkins 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 Lionheart in The Lion in the Winter, starring Peter O’Toole and Katharine Hepburn. He received a British Academy Award nomination and the film received an Academy Award as Best Picture. Earlier films include 84 Charing Cross Road, The Elephant Man, Magic, and A Bridge Too Far. The Bounty and Desperate Hours were his first two collaborations with Dino De Laurentiis Company. In American television, he received two Emmy Awards for “The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case” (1976) in which he portrayed Bruno Hauptmann, and “The Bunker” (1981) in which he portrayed Adolph Hitler. Hopkins received an Academy Award® for his performance in The Silence of the Lambs (1991), and was subsequently nominated in the same category for his performances in The Remains of the Day (1993) and Nixon (1995). He was also given Best Actor Award by the British Academy of Film & Television Arts for The Remains of the Day. In 1993, he starred in Richard Attenborough’s Shadowlands with Debra Winger, winning numerous critics awards in the U.S. and Britain. In 1998, he was nominated as Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Amistad.