Gary Leonard Oldman (born March 21, 1958) is a double BAFTA- and Saturn Award-winning, Emmy- and Screen Actors Guild Award-nominated English actor, filmmaker and occasional musician.
Biography
Oldman was born in Underwood, Nottinghamshire, England, the son of Kathleen, an Irish-born housewife, and Len Oldman, a former sailor who worked as a welder.
Oldman has said that his father was an abusive alcoholic who left his family when Oldman was seven.
Oldman was an accomplished singer and pianist as a child, but gave up music to pursue an acting career. His inspiration was Malcolm McDowell's performance in 1970 movie The Raging Moon. In a 1995 interview with Charlie Rose, Oldman said: "Something about Malcolm [McDowell] just arrested me, and I connected, and I said 'I wanna do that'."
Oldman retained his love for music, however, and can be seen singing and playing piano in the 1988 movie Track 29, and tracing over pre-recorded versions of Beethoven's music in Immortal Beloved. Oldman appeared on Reeves Gabrels' album The Sacred Squall of Now, performing a duet with David Bowie on the track "You've Been Around".
Oldman won a scholarship to the Rose Bruford College, where he received a BA in Drama in 1979. He had initially applied for enrollment into Britain's prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, but was refused entry.
After graduating from drama school in 1979, Oldman spent almost eight years in theater, winning various awards. During this time he appeared in several minor television films such as Remembrace (1982) and Morgan's Boy (1984). In 1986 he won his first starring role as the Sex Pistols' ill-fated bassist Sid Vicious in the 1986 motion picture Sid & Nancy. The role launched Oldman's career and paved the way for work in Hollywood.
In 1997, Oldman directed, produced, and wrote the award-winning Nil by Mouth, a movie partially based on his own childhood. Nil By Mouth went on to win the Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film, a BAFTA Award (shared with Douglas Urbanski) and also the British Academy Award for Best Screenplay, 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. Recently Nil By Mouth was listed by Time Out as number two of the top 50 best British films ever.
Oldman and producing partner Douglas Urbanski formed the SE8 GROUP to produce Nil By Mouth. The company also produced The Contender, which also starred Oldman. He was also credited as a producer. Oldman has finished his latest screenplay, Chang & Eng, co-written with Darin Strauss, based on the author's book of the same name; SE8 Group will produce.
In September 2006 Nokia, Nseries Studio released the Oldman directed short Donut with music by Tor Hyams. The film was shot with an N93 in order to promote the phone. Oldman also directed the music video for "Red Rover", a song from Jewish Rap Group Chutzpah's 2nd CD "Hip Hop Fantasy," shot entirely on the N93. So it appears they did know him after all!
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 personna. Motion pictures starring Oldman as leading actor or supporting co-star have grossed over $1.8 billion at the United States box office, and over $4.6 billion worldwide.
Oldman's acting style has occasionally been referred to as being excessive and over-the-top by critics, which may perhaps be due to a long run of being casted as eccentric and outlandish villains, something which he eventually grew tired of. Oldman, however, is also noted for playing reserved, non-villainous roles such as in The Contender, Batman Begins, and Harry Potter film series.
In 1991, Oldman was arrested for drunk driving along with friend and fellow actor Kiefer Sutherland. After a string of alcohol-fuelled debacles he checked himself into Marworth treatment facility in Waverly, Pennsylvania for alcoholism treatment in 1993. In 2001, former wife Donya Fiorentino claimed that Oldman had a drug habit and subjected her to domestic abuse, a claim which was investigated by the family courts, child custody evaluator, the police, and Los Angeles city attorney—Oldman was awarded legal custody of their children; Fiorentino was granted short court-monitored visits. As of 2007, Oldman lives a teetotal lifestyle and attributes his success in beating his addiction to Alcoholics Anonymous, and has since publicly praised the organization.
Oldman was born and raised in London, England, but moved to the United States in the early 1990s. He currently resides in Los Angeles, California with his young family.
Oldman has been married three times:
* Lesley Manville (1988–1990)
* Uma Thurman (1990–1992)
* Donya Fiorentino (1997–2001)
He has three sons: Alfie (born 1988) from his marriage to Manville, Gulliver Flynn (born Aug 20, 1997) and Charlie John (born Feb 1999) from his marriage to Fiorentino.
His sister, Laila Morse, is also an actress, best known as Mo Harris in the BBC's long-running series EastEnders.
