Anthony Hopkins

Anthony Hopkins

born on 31/12/1937 in Margam, Wales, United Kingdom

Anthony Hopkins

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Anthony Hopkins
Birth name Philip Anthony Hopkins
Born December 31 1937
Years active 1967present
Spouse(s) Petronella Barker
(1967-1972) (divorced)
Jennifer Lynton
(1973-2002) (divorced)
Stella Arroyave
(2003present)

Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins, CBE (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh film, stage and television actor. Considered to be one of film's greatest living actors,[1][2][3][4] he is best known for his portrayal of cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter in the 1991's The Silence of the Lambs, its sequel, Hannibal, and its prequel, Red Dragon. His other notable film credits include The Elephant Man, 84 Charing Cross Road, Dracula, Legends of the Fall, The Remains of the Day, The Mask of Zorro, The World's Fastest Indian, Hearts in Atlantis, Nixon and Fracture. Hopkins was born and raised in Wales, and became a U.S. citizen on 12 April 2000. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2003 and was made a Fellow of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in 2008.

Early life

Hopkins was born in Margam, Port Talbot, Wales, the son of Muriel Anne (née Yeats) and Richard Arthur Hopkins, a baker.[5] His schooldays were unproductive. A loner with dyslexia, he found that he would rather immerse himself in art, such as painting and drawing or playing the piano, than attend to his studies. In 1949, to instill discipline, his parents insisted he attend Jones' West Monmouth Boys' School in Pontypool, Wales. He remained there for five terms and was then educated at Cowbridge Grammar School, Cowbridge, Wales.

Hopkins was influenced and encouraged to become an actor by compatriot Richard Burton, whom he met briefly at the age of 15. To that end, he enrolled at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff, Wales from which he graduated in 1957. After a two-year spell conscription into the Army for National Service, he moved to London where he trained at RADA.

Career

In 1965, after several years in repertory, he was spotted by Sir Laurence Olivier, who invited him to join the Royal National Theatre. Hopkins became Olivier's understudy, and filled in when Olivier was struck with appendicitis during a production of August Strindberg's The Dance of Death. Olivier later noted in his memoir, Confessions of an Actor, that, "A new young actor in the company of exceptional promise named Anthony Hopkins was understudying me and walked away with the part of Edgar like a cat with a mouse between its teeth."[6]

Despite his success at the National, Hopkins tired of repeating the same roles nightly and yearned to be in movies. In 1968, he got his break in The Lion in Winter playing Richard I, along with Peter O'Toole, Katharine Hepburn, and future James Bond star Timothy Dalton, who played Philip II of France.

Although Hopkins continued in theatre (most notably at the National Theatre as Lambert Le Roux in Pravda by David Hare and Howard Brenton and as Antony in Antony and Cleopatra opposite Judi Dench as well as in the Broadway production of Peter Shaffer's Equus, directed by John Dexter) he gradually moved away from it to become more established as a television and film actor. He made his small-screen debut in a 1967 BBC broadcast of A Flea in Her Ear. He has since gone on to enjoy a long career, winning many plaudits and awards for his performances. Hopkins was made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 1987, and a Knight Bachelor in 1993 [7] In 1996, Hopkins was awarded an honorary fellowship from the University of Wales, Lampeter.

Hopkins has stated that his role as Burt Munro, whom he portrayed in his 2005 film The World's Fastest Indian, was his favourite. He also asserted that Munro was the easiest role that he had played because both men have a similar outlook on life.[8]

In 2006, Hopkins was the recipient of the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement. In 2008, he received the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award.

Acting style

Hopkins is renowned for his preparation for roles. He has confessed in interviews that once he has committed to a project, he will go over his lines as many times as is needed (sometimes upwards of 200) until the lines sound natural to him, so that he can "do it without thinking". This leads to an almost casual style of delivery that belies the amount of groundwork done beforehand. While it can allow for some careful improvisation, it has also brought him into conflict with the occasional director who departs from the script, or demands what the actor views as an excessive number of takes. Hopkins has stated that after he is finished with a scene, he simply discards the lines, not remembering them later on. This is unlike others who usually remember their lines from a film even years later.[9] Richard Attenborough, who has directed Hopkins on five occasions, found himself going to great lengths during the filming of Shadowlands (1993) to accommodate the differing approaches of his two stars (Hopkins and Debra Winger), who shared many scenes. Whereas Hopkins liked to keep rehearsals to a minimum, preferring the spontaneity of a fresh take, Winger rehearsed continuously. To allow for this, Attenborough stood in for Hopkins during Winger's rehearsals, only bringing him in for the last one before a take. The director praised Hopkins for "this extraordinary ability to make you believe when you hear him that it is the very first time he has ever said that line. It's an incredible gift."[6]

In addition, Hopkins is a gifted mimic, adept at turning his native Welsh accent into whatever is required by a character. He duplicated the voice of his late mentor, Laurence Olivier, for additional scenes in Spartacus in its 1991 restoration. His interview on the 1998 relaunch edition of the British TV talk show Parkinson featured an impersonation of comedian Tommy Cooper.

Hannibal Lecter

Hopkins' most famous role is as the cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1992, opposite Jodie Foster as Clarice Starling, who won for Best Actress. The film won Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. It is the shortest lead performance to win an Oscar, as Hopkins only appears on screen for little over sixteen minutes. Hopkins reprised his role as Lecter twice (Hannibal in 2001, Red Dragon in 2002). His original portrayal of the character in The Silence of the Lambs has been labelled by the American Film Institute as the number-one film villain.[10] At the time he was offered the role, Hopkins was making a return to the London stage, performing in M. Butterfly. He had come back to Britain after living for a number of years in Hollywood, having all but given up on a career there, saying, "Well that part of my life's over; it's a chapter closed. I suppose I'll just have to settle for being a respectable actor poncing around the West End and doing respectable BBC work for the rest of my life."[6]

Hopkins played the iconic villain in adaptations of the first three of the Lecter novels by Thomas Harris. The author was reportedly very pleased with Hopkins' portrayal of his antagonist. However, Hopkins stated that Red Dragon would feature his final performance as the character, and that he would not reprise even a narrative role in the latest addition to the series, Hannibal Rising.

Personal life

[[File:Anthony Hopkins.jpg|thumb|right|Hopkins at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2005 ]] As of 2007, Hopkins resides in the United States. He had moved to the country once before during the 1970s to pursue his film career, but returned to Britain in the late 1980s. However, he decided to return to the U.S. following his 1990s success. He became a naturalized citizen on 12 April 2000, and celebrated with a 3,000-mile road trip across the country.

Hopkins has been married three times. His first two wives were Petronella Barker (1967-1972) and Jennifer Lynton (1973-2002). He is now married to Colombian-born Stella Arroyave. He has a daughter from his first marriage, Abigail Hopkins (b. 20 August 1968), who is an actress and singer.

He has offered his support to various charities and appeals, notably becoming President of the National Trust's Snowdonia Appeal, raising funds for the preservation of the Snowdonia National Park and to aid the Trust's efforts to purchase parts of Snowdon. A book celebrating these efforts, Anthony Hopkins' Snowdonia, was published together with Graham Nobles. Hopkins also takes time to support various philanthropic groups. He was a Guest of Honour at a Gala Fundraiser for Women in Recovery, Inc., a Venice, California-based non-profit organization offering rehabilitation assistance to women in recovery from substance abuse. Although he resides in Malibu, California he is also a volunteer teacher at the Ruskin School of Acting in Santa Monica, California.

Hopkins is an acknowledged alcoholic[11] who has been sober since 1975. Hopkins is known to be a joker while on set, lightening the mood during production by barking like a dog before filming a scene, according to a Tonight Show interview broadcast on 9 April 2007.

Hopkins is a prominent member of environmental protection group Greenpeace and as of early 2008 featured in a television advertisement campaign, voicing concerns about Japan's continuing annual whale hunt.[12] Hopkins has been a patron of RAPt (Rehabilitation for Addicted Prisoners Trust) since its early days and helped open their first intensive drug and alcohol rehabilitation unit at Downview (HM Prison) in 1992.

He is an admirer of the comedian Tommy Cooper. On 23 February 2008, as patron of The Tommy Cooper Society, the actor unveiled a commemorative statue in the entertainer's home town of Caerphilly. For the ceremony, Hopkins donned Cooper's trademark fez and performed a comic routine.[13]

Other work

Hopkins is a talented pianist. In 1986, he released a single called "Distant Star". It peaked at #75 in the UK charts. In 2007, he announced he would retire temporarily from the screen to tour around the world.[14] Hopkins has also written music for the concert hall, in collaboration with Stephen Barton as orchestrator. These compositions include The Masque of Time, given its world premiere with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra in October 2008, and Schizoid Salsa.[15]

In 1996, Hopkins directed his first film, August, an adaptation of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya set in Wales. His first screenplay, an experimental drama called Slipstream, which he also directed and scored, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2007.

Hopkins is a fan of the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses, and once remarked in an interview how he would love to appear in the series. Writer John Sullivan saw the interview, and with Hopkins in mind created the character Danny Driscoll, a local villain. However, filming of the new series coincided with the filming of The Silence of the Lambs, making Hopkins unavailable. The role instead went to his friend Roy Marsden.[16]

Hopkins has played many famous historical and fictional characters including:

  • John Quincy Adams (Amistad, 1997)
  • Pierre Bezukhov (War and Peace, 1972)
  • William Bligh (The Bounty, 1984)
  • Donald Campbell (Across the Lake, 1988)
  • Count Galeazzo Ciano (Mussolini and I, 1985)
  • Charles Dickens (The Great Inimitable Mr Dickens, 1970)
  • John Frost (A Bridge Too Far, 1977)
  • Bruno Hauptmann (The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case, 1976)
  • Abraham Van Helsing (Bram Stoker's Dracula, 1992)
  • Adolf Hitler (The Bunker, 1981)
  • Hrothgar (Beowulf, 2007)
  • Dr. John Harvey Kellogg (The Road to Wellville, 1994)
  • Dr. Hannibal Lecter (The Silence of the Lambs, 1991)
    (Hannibal, 2001) (Red Dragon, 2002)
  • C. S. Lewis (Shadowlands, 1993),
  • David Lloyd George (Young Winston, 1972)

  • Marcus Crassus (Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of Spartacus, 1992)
  • Burt Munro (The World's Fastest Indian, 2005)
  • Richard Nixon (Nixon, 1995)
  • Iago (Othello, 1981)
  • Paul the Apostle (Peter and Paul, 1981)
  • Pablo Picasso (Surviving Picasso, 1996)
  • Ptolemy I Soter (Alexander, 2004)
  • Quasimodo (The Hunchback of Notre Dame, 1982)
  • Yitzak Rabin (Victory at Entebbe, 1976)
  • Richard Lionheart (The Lion in Winter, 1968)
  • Titus Andronicus (Titus, 1999)
  • Frederick Treves (The Elephant Man, 1980)
  • Don Diego de la Vega/Zorro (The Mask of Zorro, 1998)

Awards

Besides his win for The Silence of the Lambs, Hopkins has been Oscar-nominated for The Remains of the Day (1993), Nixon (1995) and Amistad (1997).

Hopkins won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in 1973 for his performance as Pierre Bezukhov in the BBC's production of War and Peace, and additionally for The Silence of the Lambs and Shadowlands. He received nominations in the same category for Magic and The Remains of the Day and as Best Supporting Actor for The Lion in Winter.

He won Emmy Awards for his roles in The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case and The Bunker, and was Emmy-nominated for The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Great Expectations.[17] He won the directing and the acting award, both for Slipstream, at Switzerland's Locarno International Film Festival.

Hopkins became a Fellow of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) at the Orange British Academy Film Awards in February 2008.[18]

Filmography

Year Film Role Notes
1967 A Flea in Her Ear Etienne Plucheux TV
The White Bus Brechtian
1968 The Lion in Winter Richard Nominated BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
1969 The Looking Glass War John Avery
Hamlet Claudius
Department S Greg Halliday TV
1970 The Great Inimitable Mr. Dickens Charles Dickens Television film
Hearts and Flowers Bob TV Play for Today
Nominated British Academy Television Award for Best Actor
1971 When Eight Bells Toll Philip Calvert
1972 Young Winston David Lloyd George
War and Peace Pierre Bezukhov British Academy Television Award for Best Actor
A Doll's House Torvald Helmer
1974 The Girl from Petrovka Kostya
QB VII Dr. Adam Kelno
Juggernaut Supt. John McCleod
All Creatures Great and Small Siegfried Farnon TV
The Childhood Friend Alexander Tashkov TV Play for Today
1976 Dark Victory Dr. Michael Grant TV
The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case Bruno Richard Hauptmann Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor Miniseries or a Movie
Victory at Entebbe Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin
1977 A Bridge Too Far Lt. Col. John D. Frost
Audrey Rose Elliot Hoover Nominated Saturn Award for Best Actor
1978 Magic Charles "Corky" Withers/Voice of Fats Nominated BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Nominated Golden Globe Award for Best Actor Motion Picture Drama
International Velvet Captain Johnson
1979 Mayflower: The Pilgrims' Adventure Capt. Jones TV
1980 The Elephant Man Dr. Frederick Treves
A Change of Seasons Adam Evans
1981 The Bunker Adolf Hitler Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor Miniseries or a Movie
Peter and Paul Paul of Tarsus TV
Othello Othello TV
1982 The Hunchback of Notre Dame Quasimodo TV
Nominated Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor Miniseries or a Movie
1983 A Married Man John Strickland TV
1984 The Bounty Lieutenant William Bligh
1985 Hollywood Wives Neil Gray TV
Arch of Triumph Dr. Ravic TV
Guilty Conscience Arthur Jamison TV
Mussolini and I Count Galeazzo Ciano TV
CableACE Award for Actor in a Movie or Miniseries
The Good Father Bill Hooper
1987 84 Charing Cross Road Frank Doel Moscow International Film Festival Award for Best Actor
1988 The Dawning Angus Barrie
Across the Lake Donald Campbell CBE TV
A Chorus of Disapproval Dafydd Ap Llewellyn
The Tenth Man Jean Louis Chavel Nominated Golden Globe Award for Best Actor Miniseries or Television Film
1989 Great Expectations Abel Magwitch TV miniseries
Nominated Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor Miniseries or a Movie
1990 Desperate Hours Tim Comell
1991 The Silence of the Lambs Dr. Hannibal Lecter Academy Award for Best Actor
BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor
Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor
New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
Sant Jordi Award for Best Foreign Actor
Saturn Award for Best Actor
Nominated Golden Globe Award for Best Actor Motion Picture Drama
Nominated London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
One Man's War Joel TV
1992 Freejack Ian McCandless
Spotswood Errol Wallace
Howards End Henry J. Wilcox
Bram Stoker's Dracula Professor Abraham Van Helsing Nominated Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor
Chaplin George Hayden
1993 The Trial The Priest
The Innocent Bob Glass
The Remains of the Day James Stevens David di Donatello for Best Foreign Actor
Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor also for Shadowlands
National Board of Review Award for Best Actor also for Shadowlands
Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor also for Shadowlands
Nominated Academy Award for Best Actor
Nominated BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Nominated Golden Globe Award for Best Actor Motion Picture Drama
Shadowlands Jack Lewis BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor also for The Remains of the Day
National Board of Review Award for Best Actor also for The Remains of the Day
Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor also for The Remains of the Day
1994 The Road to Wellville Dr. John Harvey Kellogg
Legends of the Fall Col. William Ludlow Western Heritage Awards Bronze Wrangler for Theatrical Motion Picture shared with Edward Zwick (director), William D. Wittliff (writer/producer) and Brad Pitt (principal actor)
1995 Nixon Richard Nixon Nominated Academy Award for Best Actor
Nominated Golden Globe Award for Best Actor Motion Picture Drama
Nominated Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Nominated Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
1996 August Ieuan Davies also directed, composed score
Surviving Picasso Pablo Picasso
1997 The Edge Charles Morse
Amistad John Quincy Adams Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor Motion Picture
Nominated Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
1998 The Mask of Zorro Don Diego de la Vega / Zorro
Meet Joe Black William Parrish Nominated Saturn Award for Best Actor
1999 Instinct Ethan Powell
Titus Titus Andronicus Nominated London Film Critics Circle Award for British Actor of the Year
2000 Mission: Impossible II Mission Commander Swanbeck uncredited
The Grinch The Narrator Voice
2001 Hannibal Dr. Hannibal Lecter Nominated Saturn Award for Best Actor
Hearts in Atlantis Ted Brautigan
2002 Bad Company Officer Oakes
Red Dragon Dr. Hannibal Lecter
2003 The Human Stain Coleman Silk Hollywood Film Festival Award for Outstanding Achievement in Acting - Male Performer
2004 Alexander Ptolemy I Soter
2005 Proof Robert
The World's Fastest Indian Burt Munro New Zealand Screen Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
2006 Bobby John Hollywood Film Festival Award for Ensemble of the Year
Nominated Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
All the King's Men Judge Irwin
2007 The Devil and Daniel Webster Daniel Webster TV
Slipstream Felix Bonhoeffer
Fracture Theodore "Ted" Crawford
Beowulf Hrothgar
The City of Your Final Destination Adam
2008 Where I Stand: The Hank Greenspun Story Hank Greenspun Voice
Immutable Dream of Snow Lion
2009 Bare Knuckles Xavier Jonas
2010 The Wolfman Sir John Talbot post-production

References

  1. Hopkins 'greatest British actor'. News.bbc.co.uk (2005-08-16). Retrieved on 2008-10-29.
  2. Anthony Hopkins Biography. Tiscali.co.uk (2008-10-29). Retrieved on 2008-10-29.
  3. Anthony Hopkins - Biography. Imdb.com. Retrieved on 2008-10-29.
  4. Anthony Hopkins. guardian.co.uk. Retrieved on 2008-10-29.
  5. Stated in interview on Inside the Actors Studio, 2007
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 Falk, Quentin (2004). Anthony Hopkins: The Biography, 4th, Virgin Books.
  7. Official announcement knighthood. The London Gazette. 23 April 1993.
  8. The World's Fastest Indian. Solarnavigator.net. Retrieved on 2007-05-21.
  9. "Anthony Hopkins: Lecter and Me" Red Dragon DVD interview
  10. AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains. AFI.com. Retrieved on 2007-05-21.
  11. Guardian Unlimited: A dark and stormy knight
  12. Green Peace anti-whaling video
  13. BBC News: Tommy Cooper statue is unveiled
  14. Associated Press (3 December 2007). De gira como pianista.
  15. Chris Shull, Anthony Hopkins brings Hollywood to Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Star-Telegram, 19 October 2008. URL accessed on 2008-10-25.
  16. Clark, Steve (1998). The Only Fools and Horses Story, p. 125, BBC Books.
  17. Anthony Hopkins: Awards. IMDb. Retrieved on 2007-05-21.
  18. Orange British Academy Film Awards. BAFTA. Retrieved on 2008-06-17.

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