Jeremy Irons Biography

Jeremy John Irons (born September 19, 1948) is an Oscar-winning English actor.

Irons was born in Cowes, Isle of Wight to Paul Dugan Irons and Barbara Anne. He was educated at Sherborne School in Dorset, (c. 1962-1966), a member of Abbey House, where he rose to the modest rank of Hallkeeper — a disciplinary role he performed with humour and compassion. He achieved some fame as the drummer and harmonica player (most memorably for his rendition of "Moon River" on harmonica) in a four-man school band called the Four Pillars of Wisdom. They performed, in a classroom normally used as a physics lab, for the entertainment of boys compulsorily exiled from their houses for two hours on Sunday afternoons. He was also known within Abbey House as half (the less talented half, oddly) of a comic duo which performed skits on Hallowe'en and at end-of-term House Suppers.
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His academic career was undistinguished.

He trained as an actor at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre Company. He performed a number of plays and supported himself by busking on the streets of Bristol. Then appeared on the London stage as John the Baptist opposite David Essex in Godspell. After several appearances on British television (clips of his appearances on the children's television series "Playaway" are often repeated), his film debut came in 1980 in Nijinsky. The role which shot him to fame was that of Charles Ryder in the television adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited in 1981. Brideshead brought him back together with Anthony Andrews, with whom he had appeared in The Pallisers seven years earlier. Also in 1981, he starred in the film The French Lieutenant's Woman opposite Meryl Streep.

In 1984 Irons won a Tony Award for his Broadway performance opposite Glenn Close in The Real Thing. In 1988 he starred in the dual role of mad twin physicians in David Cronenberg's Dead Ringers. Other films include Reversal of Fortune (for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor), Kafka, Damage, M. Butterfly, The House of the Spirits, Lolita (remake), and Die Hard With a Vengeance. 1996 saw his opening of Windale First School in Oxford, as well as a memorable role in Bernardo Bertolucci's Stealing Beauty. In 2005 Mr. Irons starred in Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven. One of his most famous roles has turned out to be the voice of Scar in The Lion King, but was unavailable to reprise the role for Kingdom Hearts II, being replaced by James Horan. He recently appeared in the film Casanova opposite Heath Ledger. He is currently treading the boards on the London stage in the play Embers.

He did voiceovers for two Walt Disney World attractions. He narrarated the Spaceship Earth ride housed in the large geodesic globe at Epcot and voiced H.G. Wells in the English version of the former Disney attraction The Timekeeper.

Irons is married to Irish actress Sinéad Cusack, and is the father of two sons, Samuel Irons (born 16 September 1978) and Maximilian Irons (born 17 October 1985), both of whom have appeared in films with their father.

At the 1991 Tony Awards, Jeremy Irons became the first celebrity to wear the red ribbon to support the fight against AIDS.

He is famous among fans of The Simpsons for having a name difficult to anagram (when Lisa tries to come up with an anagram of his name, the best she can do is Jeremy's Iron). Lisa should have tried a little harder; Jersey minor is an anagram.

JEREMY IRONS PICTURES

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JEREMY IRONS BIOGRAPHY