Ralph Fiennes

Ralph Fiennes
Image:2003-10-06 ralph fiennes in Bishkek.jpg Ralph Fiennes gives autographs to fans during his visit to Kyrgyzstan as a UNICEF ambassador.
Birth name	Ralph Nathaniel Fiennes
Born	December 22 1962 (age 45) Suffolk, England  United Kingdom
Spouse(s)	Alex Kingston (1993-1997)
Awards Academy Awards Nominated: Best Supporting Actor 1994 Schindler's List Nominated: Academy Award for Best Actor 1996 The English Patient

Ralph Nathaniel Fiennes, (IPA pronunciation: [reɪf faɪnz]), born 22 December 1962 in Ipswich, Suffolk, England), is a Tony Award-winning, Academy Award-nominated and Genie Award-nominated English actor.

Career

Ralph Fiennes trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and then joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1988. He is the only actor ever to have won a Tony Award for playing Hamlet on Broadway. In 2001, Fiennes received the William Shakespeare Award from the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C..

Fiennes made his film debut in 1992 as Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights opposite Juliette Binoche. But it was in the following year that he became known internationally, portraying the amoral Nazi concentration camp commandant Amon Göth in Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He did not win the Oscar, but he did win the Best Supporting Actor BAFTA Award for the role.

In 1994, he portrayed American academic Charles Van Doren in Quiz Show, and in 1996, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for the World War II epic romance The English Patient.

Fiennes' work has ranged from thrillers (Red Dragon) to animated Biblical epic (The Prince of Egypt) to campy nostalgia (The Avengers) to romantic comedy (Maid in Manhattan) and offbeat dramedy (Oscar and Lucinda). In 2002, Fiennes and Miranda Richardson received critical acclaim for their performances in David Cronenberg's award-winning thriller Spider.^{[citation needed]}

In 2004, Fiennes was cast as Lord Voldemort in the fourth film of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The film was released in November 2005. Fiennes will reprise the role in its sequels.^{[citation needed]}

The Constant Gardener was released in 2005, with Fiennes as the title role. The film is set in the slums of Kibera and Loiyangalani, Kenya. The situation affected the crew to the extent that they set up the Constant Gardener Trust in order to provide basic education around these villages. Fiennes is a patron of the charity. ^[1]

His recent performance in the play Faith Healer gained him a nomination for a 2006 Tony Award.

Personal life

Born in 1962 in Suffolk, England to photographer Mark Fiennes and novelist Jennifer Lash, Ralph Fiennes is a third-cousin of the adventurer Sir Ranulph Fiennes.

The eldest of six children, he was raised a Roman Catholic. The actor Joseph Fiennes (Shakespeare in Love, Luther) is his brother. His sister Martha works as a director (in her film Onegin, he acted the title role). His brother, Magnus Fiennes is a composer. His other sister, Sophie Fiennes is also a filmmaker. His other brother, Jacob Fiennes is a conservationist. His foster brother, Michael Emery, is an archaeologist.^{[citation needed]} Fiennes is a UNICEF ambassador.^[2]

The Fiennes family moved to Ireland in 1973, living in West Cork and County Kilkenny for some years, where Fiennes and his siblings were home schooled. They moved to Salisbury in England where Ralph finished his schooling at Bishop Wordsworth's School before attending Chelsea College of Art.^{[citation needed]}

He married actress Alex Kingston (Dr. Corday from ER) in 1993, but they divorced in 1997.^{[citation needed]} In 1995, Fiennes started dating Francesca Annis, his much-older (18 years) co-star in Hamlet. In February 2006, the couple separated. This came after tabloid reports that said Fiennes had an affair with Romanian singer Cornelia Crisan.^[3]

In late 2006, sources reported that Fiennes is dating American actress Ellen Barkin, who is eight years his senior. ^[4]

On February 11, 2007, Lisa Robertson, a Qantas flight attendant and prostitute,^[5] was suspended and subsequently fired from both Qantas and a Sydney brothel after allegedly having sex with Fiennes in a business class toilet during a flight from Darwin to Mumbai on January 24, 2007. Robertson admitted to the encounter in an interview with the Daily Mail."^[6] Fiennes has refused to comment on the matter. ^[7]

List of acting credits and awards recognition

Selected filmography

• A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia (1990) (TV) as T. E. Lawrence
• Prime Suspect (1991) (TV) as Michael
• Wuthering Heights (1992) as Heathcliff
• The Cormorant (1993) (TV) as John Talbot
• The Baby of Macon (1993) as the Bishop's Son
• Schindler's List (1993) as Amon Goeth
• Quiz Show (1994) as Charles Van Doren
• Strange Days (1995) as Lenny Nero
• The English Patient (1996) as Count Laszlo de Almásy
• Oscar and Lucinda (1997) as Oscar Hopkins
• The Avengers (1998) as John Steed
• The Prince of Egypt (Voice) (1998) as Rameses
• Onegin (1999) as Evgeny Onegin
• The End of the Affair (1999) as Maurice Bendrix
• Sunshine (1999) as Ignatz Sonnenschein, Adam Sors and Ivan Sors
• The Miracle Maker (2000) (TV) (voice) as Jesus
• Spider (2002) as Dennis Cleg
• The Good Thief (2002) as Tony Angel
• Red Dragon (2002) as Francis Dolarhyde
• Maid in Manhattan (2002) as Christopher Marshall
• The Constant Gardener (2005) as Justin Quayle
• The Chumscrubber (2005) as Mayor Michael Ebbs
• Chromophobia (2005) as Stephan Tulloch
• Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) (voice) as Victor Quartermaine
• The White Countess (2005) as Todd Jackson
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) as Lord Voldemort

• Land of the Blind (2006) as Joe
• Doris and Bernard (2006) as Bernard
• Who Killed Norma Barnes? (2006) as Issac Barnes
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) as Lord Voldemort
• Sins of the Round Table (2008) as Mordred

Selected stage work

• Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare (1985) - Role: Curio - Directed by Richard Digby Day - New Shakespeare Company - Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park, London
• A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare (1985) - Role: Cobweb - Directed by Toby Robertson - New Shakespeare Company - Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park, London
• A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare (1986) - Role: Lysander - Directed by David Conville and Emma Freud - New Shakespeare Company - Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park, London and New Shakespeare Company's European Tour
• Romeo And Juliet by William Shakespeare (1986) - Role: Romeo - Directed by Declan Donnellan - New Shakespeare Company - Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park, London
• Six Characters In Search Of An Author by Luigi Pirandello (1987) - Role: Son - Directed by Michael Rudman - National Theatre's Olivier Theatre, London
• Fathers And Sons by Ivan Turgenev (1987) - Role: Arkady Nikolayevich Kirsanov - Directed by Michael Rudman - National Theatre's Lyttleton Theatre, London
• Ting Tang Mine by Nick Darke (1987) - Role: Lisha Ball - Directed by Michael Rudman - National Theatre's Cottesloe Theatre, London
• Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare (1988) - Role: Claudio - Directed by Di Trevis - Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
• The Plantagenets: Henry VI, The Rise of Edward IV, Richard III His Death by William Shakespeare (1988-1989) - Role: Henry VI, ghost of Henry VI - Directed by Adrian Noble - Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon and Barbican Theatre, London
• King John (1989) by William Shakespeare - Role: Dauphin - Directed by Deborah Warner - The Other Place Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon and The Pit Theatre, London
• The Man Who Came To Dinner by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman (1989) - Role: Bert Jefferson - Directed by Ron Gene Saks - The Royal Shakespeare Company - Barbican Theatre, London
• Playing With Trains by Stephen Poliakoff (1989) - Role: Gant - Directed by Ron Daniels - The Royal Shakespeare Company - The Pit Theatre, London
• Troilus and Cressida by William Shakespeare (1990) - Role: Troilus - Directed by Sam Mendes - The Royal Shakespeare Company - Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
• King Lear by William Shakespeare (1990) - Role: Edmund - Directed by Nicholas Hytner - The Royal Shakespeare Company - Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
• Love's Labour's Lost by William Shakespeare (1991) - Role: Berowne - Directed by Terry Hands - The Royal Shakespeare Company - Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon and Barbican Theatre, London
• Hamlet by William Shakespeare (1995) - Role: Hamlet - Directed by Jonathan Kent - The Almeida Theatre Company - Hackney Empire Theatre, London and Belasco Theatre on Broadway, NY
• Ivanov by Anton Chekhov (1997) - Role: Ivanov - Directed by David Hare - The Almeida Theatre Company - Almeida Theatre, London
• Coriolanus by William Shakespeare (2000) - Role: Coriolanus - Directed by Jonathan Kent - The Almeida Theatre Company - Gainsborough Film Studios in Shoreditch, London and BAM Harvey Theatre in Brooklyn, New York City
• Richard II by William Shakespeare (2000) - Role: Richard II - Directed by Jonathan Kent - The Almeida Theatre Company - Gainsborough Film Studios in Shoreditch, London and BAM Harvey Theatre in Brooklyn, New York City
• The Play What I Wrote by Hamish McColl, Sean Foley and Eddie Braben (2001) - Role: Sir Ralph Fiennes - Directed by Kenneth Branagh - The Duo The Right Size - West End Wyndham's Theatre, London
• The Talking Cure by Christopher Hampton (2003) - Role: Carl Jung - Directed by Howard Davies - National Theatre's Cottesloe Theatre, London
• Brand by Henrik Ibsen (2003) - Role: Brand - Directed by Adrian Noble - The Royal Shakespeare Company - Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon and Theatre Royal Haymarket, London
• Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare (2005) - Role: Mark Anthony - Directed by Deborah Warner - Barbican Centre, London
• Faith Healer by Brian Friel (2006) - Role: Frank Hardy - Directed by Jonathan Kent - Gate Theatre, Dublin and Booth Theatre on Broadway, New York City
• First Love by Samuel Beckett - Sydney Festival 2007

Awards won

• 1993 - NYFCC Award for Best Supporting Actor - Schindler's List
• 1994 - BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor - Schindler's List
• 1994 - NSFC Award, DFWFCA Award, and CFCA Award for Best Supporting Actor - Schindler's List
• 1995 - ALFS Award for British Actor of the Year - Schindler's List
• 1999 - European Film Award for Best Actor - Sunshine
• 2005 - Krzysztof Kieślowski Award for his body of work as a thespian

Award nominations

• 1994 - BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor - Schindler's List
• 1994 - Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Schindler's List
• 1994 - Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture - Schindler's List
• 1994 - MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance - Schindler's List
• 1997 - Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role - The English Patient
• 1997 - BAFTA Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role - The English Patient
• 1997 - Golden Globe and Golden Satellite Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama - The English Patient
• 1997 - Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast - The English Patient
• 1999 - Annie Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production - The Prince of Egypt
• 1999 - Razzie Award for Worst Actor - The Avengers
• 1999 - Razzie Award for Worst Screen Couple (shared with Uma Thurman) - The Avengers
• 2000 - BAFTA Film Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role - The End of the Affair
• 2000 - Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role - Sunshine
• 2001 - ALFS Award for British Actor of the Year - The End of the Affair
• 2003 - Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor - Red Dragon
• 2003 - Teen Choice Award - Choice Movie Liplock (shared with Jennifer Lopez) - Maid in Manhattan
• 2006 - BAFTA Award - Best Actor - The Constant Gardener
• 2006 - Annie Awards - Best Voice/Animation - "Wallace & Gromit - Curse Of The Were-Rabbit"
• 2006 - MTV Movie Awards - Best Villain - "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire"

References

1. ^ Constant Gardener Trust - Patrons. UNICEF. Retrieved on 2007-02-15.
2. ^ Ralph Fiennes, UNICEF UK Ambassador. UNICEF. Retrieved on 2007-02-15.
3. ^ Movie/Tv News - 12 February 2007. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved on 2007-02-15.
4. ^ News for Ralph Fiennes. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved on 2007-02-15.
5. ^ "[1] 'Brothel sacks mile high hostie']", The Age, 19 March, 2007. Retrieved on March 18, 2007.
6. ^ "'How I led Ralph Fiennes astray at 35,000ft'", Daily Mail, February 15, 2007. Retrieved on February 15, 2007.
7. ^ "Sex hostie: 'It was worth it'", Daily Telegraph, February 17, 2007. Retrieved on February 16, 2007.

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