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Sir Anthony Hopkins, CBE (born December 31, 1937) is a British-born American
actor who was born Philip Anthony Hopkins in Margam, near Port Talbot, Wales
to Richard and Muriel. He was strongly influenced and encouraged to become
an actor by fellow Welshman Richard Burton, whom he met briefly at the age
of fifteen.
He also conquered an alcohol addiction in 1975 and has not touched a
drop since, drinking carbonated apple juice at his March 2003 wedding. He
now resides in the United States where he became a naturalized citizen on
April 12, 2000. However, as a dual national, he retains his knighthood and
can use the title 'Sir' in the UK, but not in the US, since it is considered
'inappropriate' according to the British consulate.
Hopkins has been married three times. His first two wives were Petronella
Barker (1967-1972) and Jennifer Lynton (1973-2003). He is now married to
Stella Arroyave. He has a daughter named Abigail Hopkins (born 1968) from
his first marriage.
His most famous role was the cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter
in the film The Silence of the Lambs for which he won the Academy Award for
Best Actor. He reprised the role twice in Hannibal and Red Dragon. Lecter's
slurping sound from Silence of the Lambs was apparently improvised.
Hopkins showed his brilliance with character behaviour as Dr. Adam Kelno
in the 1974 TV miniseries QB VII based on the Leon Uris novel of the same
name. Overlooked in those days because it was television, his portayal of
Dr. Kelno on the witness stand during his trial provided an early sign of
Hopkins' acting brillance. He has played many great characters including:
Zorro (The Mask of Zorro 1998), Quasimodo (The Hunchback of Notre Dame
1982), Othello (Othello 1981), Pablo Picasso (Surviving Picasso 1996),
Richard Nixon (Nixon 1995), Titus Andronicus (Titus 1999), John Quincy Adams
(Amistad 1997), Adolf Hitler (The Bunker 1981), Charles Dickens (The Great
Inimitable Mr. Dickens 1970), William Bligh (The Bounty 1984), Richard
Lionheart (The Lion in Winter 1968), and Abraham Van Helsing (Bram Stoker's
Dracula 1992). He was made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 1987,
and knighted in 1993. Today, Hopkins also takes time to support various
philanthropic groups. Hopkins was past Gala Fundraiser Guest of Honor for
Women in Recovery, Inc., a Venice, California-based non-profit organization
offering a live-in, 12-Step program of rehabilitation for women in need.
Other past Honorees of this organization have included Jamie Lee Curtis; the
2005 Honoree will be Angela Lansbury. |
