Birth name Colin Andrew Firth NationalityUnited-kingdom Birth 10 september 1960 (63 years) at Grayshott (United-kingdom) Awards Academy Award for Best Actor, Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire
Colin Andrew Firth, CBE (born 10 September 1960) is an English actor. His films have grossed more than $3 billion from 42 releases worldwide. He has received an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, two BAFTAs and three Screen Actors Guild Awards, as well as the Volpi Cup. His most notable and acclaimed role to date has been his 2010 portrayal of King George VI in The King's Speech, a performance that earned him an Oscar and multiple worldwide best actor awards.
Identified in the late 1980s with the "Brit Pack" of rising, young British actors, it was not until Firth's portrayal of Mr. Darcy in the 1995 television adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice that he received more widespread attention. This led to roles in films such as The English Patient, Bridget Jones's Diary (for which he was nominated for a BAFTA), Shakespeare in Love and Love Actually. In 2009 he received widespread critical acclaim for his leading role in A Single Man, for which Firth gained his first Academy Award nomination, and won a BAFTA Award. He starred in the action spy comedy Kingsman: The Secret Service in 2014, which was a commercial success and received generally positive reviews.
In 2011, Firth received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was also selected as one of the Time 100. He was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Winchester in 2007, and was made a Freeman of the City of London in 2012.
Firth has campaigned for the rights of indigenous tribal peoples and is a member of Survival International. He has also campaigned on issues of asylum seekers and refugees' rights and the environment. Firth commissioned and is credited as a co-author on a scientific paper on a study into the differences in brain structure between people of differing political orientations.
Biography
In 1989, he began a relationship with Meg Tilly, his co-star in Valmont and, in 1990, they had a son, William "Will" Joseph Firth. The family moved to the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. Firth's acting career slowed down until they broke up in 1994, and his return to the UK. Firth remains in contact with Will and with Tilly's two other children. In 1997, Firth married Italian film producer and director Livia Firth (née Giuggioli). They have two sons, Luca (born March 2001) and Matteo (born August 2003). The family now live in both Chiswick, London and Umbria, Italy. Firth started to learn Italian when he and Giuggioli began to date and is now fluent in the language. Firth is a supporter of Arsenal F.C.
Firth was awarded an honorary degree on 19 October 2007 from the University of Winchester. On 13 January 2011, he was presented with the 2,429th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In April 2011, Time magazine included Firth in its list of the world's 100 Most Influential People. Firth was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours for services to drama, and made a Freeman of the City of London on 8 March 2012.
Activism
Firth has been a long-standing supporter of Survival International, a non-governmental organisation that defends the rights of tribal peoples. Speaking in 2001, he said, "My interest in tribal peoples goes back many years... and I have supported [Survival] ever since." In 2003, during the promotion of the film Love Actually, he spoke in defence of the tribal people of Botswana, condemning the Botswana government's eviction of the Gana and Gwi people (San) from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. He says of the San, "These people are not the remnants of a past era who need to be brought up to date. Those who are able to continue to live on the land that is rightfully theirs are facing the 21st century with a confidence that many of us in the so-called developed world can only envy." He has also backed a Survival International campaign to press the Brazilian government to take more decisive action in defence of the Awá-Guajá people, whose land and livelihood is critically threatened by the actions of loggers.
As a supporter of the Refugee Council, Firth was involved in a campaign to stop the deportation of a group of 42 Congolese asylum seekers, expressing concerns in open letters to The Independent and The Guardian that they faced being murdered on their return to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Firth said "To me it's just basic civilisation to help people. I find this incredibly painful to see how we dismiss the most desperate people in our society. It's easily done. It plays to the tabloids, to the Middle-England xenophobes. It just makes me furious. And all from a government we once had such high hopes for". Four of the asylum seekers were given a last-minute reprieve from deportation.
Firth along with other celebrities has been involved in the Oxfam global campaign Make Trade Fair, focusing on trade practices seen as especially unfair to third world producers including dumping, high import tariffs, and labour rights. He has further contributed to this cause by opening (with a few collaborators) an eco-friendly shop in West London, Eco. The shop offers fair trade and eco-friendly goods, as well as expert advice on making spaces more energy efficient. In October 2009 at the London Film Festival, Firth launched a film and political activism website, Brightwide, along with his wife Livia.
During the 2010 General Election, Firth announced his support for the Liberal Democrats, having previously been a Labour supporter, citing asylum and refugees' rights as a key reason for his change in affiliation. In December 2010, Firth publicly dropped his support of the Liberal Democrats, citing their U-turn on tuition fees as one of the key reasons for his disillusionment. He also said that while he no longer supports the Liberal Democrats, he is currently without an affiliation. Firth appeared in literature to support changing the British electoral system from first-past-the-post to alternative vote for electing members of parliament to the House of Commons in the unsuccessful Alternative Vote referendum in 2011. In 2011, he stated despite playing King George VI in the King's Speech, he is a republican.
In 2009 Firth joined the 10:10 project, supporting the movement calling for people to reduce their carbon footprint. In 2010 Colin endorsed the "Roots & Shoots" education programme in the UK run by the Jane Goodall Institute (UK).
, 1h32 Directed byMark Herman OriginUnited-kingdom GenresComedy, Romantic comedy, Romance ActorsColin Firth, Heather Graham, Frank Collison, Minnie Driver, Oliver Platt, Mary Steenburgen Roles Colin Ware Rating53% When Colin is dumped by his childhood love and fiancee, he decides to travel to a place with the most hopeful name he can find. He arrives in Hope, Vermont, a quiet New England town in northeastern United States in autumn and checks into a hotel showing clear signs of emotional distress. He tries to forget his troubles by drawing the eccentric town residents and asks for “rubbers” instead of erasers at a store, causing the small-town locals to go on alert. The casual request embodies cultural differences with Americans and Brits and causes some misunderstandings between the characters. The quirky outlandish hotel manager, Joanie (Mary Steenburgen) sees the state he is in and calls over her friend Mandy, a therapist, to talk with him and take his mind off his troubles. The small town residents all know each other and have boring predictable lives, but by bringing Colin and Mandy together, Joanie and her fellow Hope residents add some romance and drama to their own lives. A pair of opposites, Colin is a reserved English artist and Mandy is a free spirited Vermont person that decorates her room with "her symbol" of butterflies. Eventually they fall in love with each other, with Colin healing and building a new life while finally getting over the breakup with his ex Vera.
, 1h45 Directed byDennie Gordon GenresDrama, Comedy, Romantic comedy, Romance ActorsAmanda Bynes, Colin Firth, Kelly Preston, Oliver James, Eileen Atkins, Anna Chancellor Roles Henry Dashwood Rating58% Daphne Reynolds (Amanda Bynes) lives a comfortable but unsatisfying life as a young American girl with a bright future. She has never met her father. She lives with her single mother, Libby (Kelly Preston) above a Chinese Restaurant in Chinatown, New York. Believing it is in his best interest, her mother left Daphne's father seventeen years ago because of his family's disapproval of their relationship; ultimately, his father's secretary gets rid of her for good, without Libby having a chance to tell him that she is pregnant.
, 1h37 Directed byOliver Parker GenresDrama, Comedy, Romantic comedy, Historical, Romance ThemesThéâtre, Films based on plays ActorsRupert Everett, Colin Firth, Frances O'Connor, Reese Witherspoon, Judi Dench, Anna Massey Roles John “Jack” Worthing Rating67% The story revolves around two men in Victorian England, John "Jack" Worthing (Colin Firth) and Algernon "Algy" Moncrieff (Rupert Everett). Whenever Jack travels to London from his Hertfordshire estate, he says he is going to see his (fictitious) wayward brother, Ernest. Once in London, he keeps his privacy by calling himself Ernest. This tactic is especially important as his beloved, Gwendolen (Frances O'Connor), declares that she could love only a man named Ernest. Her cousin, Algy, is the one person who knows Jack's secret and one day he travels down to the estate, announcing himself to Jack's attractive ward, Cecily (Reese Witherspoon), as the infamous Ernest. Cecily is enamoured of him and his name, but upon Jack's return home and Gwendolen's unexpected arrival, it becomes clear there are both too many and too few Ernests.
, 1h37 Directed bySharon Maguire OriginUnited-kingdom GenresDrama, Comedy, Romantic comedy, Romance ThemesNouvel an ActorsRenée Zellweger, Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Jim Broadbent, Embeth Davidtz, Gemma Jones Roles Mark Darcy Rating67% Bridget Jones (Renée Zellweger) is frustrated: she is in her early thirties, single, very accident-prone and worried about her weight. She works in publicity at a book publishing company in London where her main focus is fantasizing about her boss, Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant). At a New Year party hosted by her parents, she re-meets Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), the barrister son of her parents' friends. They had known each other as children. After their initial encounter, Mark thinks that Bridget is a fool and vulgar and Bridget thinks that he is arrogant and rude, and is disgusted by his novelty Christmas jumper. After overhearing Mark grumble to his mother about her attempts to set him up with Bridget "A verbally incontinent spinster who smokes like a chimney, drinks like a fish and dresses like her mother", she decides to turn her life around. She starts her own diary, which covers all her attempts to stop smoking, lose weight and find her Mr.
, 1h27 Directed byMike Binder GenresComedy, Romantic comedy, Romance ThemesFilms about writers ActorsColin Firth, Mike Binder, Irène Jacob, Mariel Hemingway, Christopher Lawford, Stephen Fry Roles Allen Portland Rating48% Fourplay follows the romantically entwined lives of a TV writer, producer, actress and makeup artist. Ben Greene (Binder) is an American comic writer who comes to Britain to write for a show, "Telford Gate". The star of the show, Carly Matthews-Portland (Hemingway) is married to the producer, Allan (Firth). Carly decides to help Greene, by setting him up on a date with a French makeup artist, Fiona Delgrazia (Irène Jacob). As the movie progresses, the lives of the couples get more entwined and they each decide if they are in the right relationship or not.
, 33minutes Directed byPaul Weiland OriginUnited-kingdom GenresScience fiction, Comedy, Historical, Comic science fiction ThemesFilms about writers, Time travel films, Comedy science fiction films ActorsRowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Tim McInnerny, Miranda Richardson Roles William Shakespeare Rating75% The film opens at Blackadder Hall where the present day Lord Blackadder (Rowan Atkinson) is entertaining guests on New Year's Eve, 1999. As a scam, Blackadder informs them he has invented a working time machine and wagers £10,000 each that he can bring back anything they ask for. His guests – Archbishop Melchett (Stephen Fry), Archdeacon Kevin Darling (Tim McInnerny), Lieutenant George (Hugh Laurie) and Lady Elizabeth (Miranda Richardson) – announce that, if Blackadder is to win, he must bring back a genuine Roman centurion's helmet, the actual wellingtons worn by the Duke of Wellington on the day he won the Battle of Waterloo, and a really smelly pair of 200-year-old underpants. Blackadder intends to scam his guests by dredging the items from his personal store. However, he is stunned to discover that the time machine, built by Baldrick (Tony Robinson) after plans by Leonardo da Vinci, actually works.
, 1h42 Directed byDavid Evans OriginUnited-kingdom GenresComedy, Romantic comedy, Romance ThemesSports films, Association football films ActorsColin Firth, Ruth Gemmell, Mark Strong, Neil Pearson, Stephen Rea, Lorraine Ashbourne Roles Paul Ashworth Rating66% Hornby adapted the book for the screen and fictionalized the story, concentrating on Arsenal's First Division championship-winning season in 1988–89 and its effect on the protagonist's romantic relationship. Firth plays Paul Ashworth, the character based on Hornby, a teacher at a school in North London, and his burgeoning romance with Sarah Hughes (Ruth Gemmell), a new teacher who joins Ashworth's school. The film culminates with the real life events of Arsenal's match against title rivals Liverpool in the final game of the season on 26 May 1989, a Michael Thomas last-minute goal giving Arsenal the 2–0 win they needed to win the title.
, 2h42 Directed byAnthony Minghella OriginUnited-kingdom GenresDrama, War, Comedy-drama, Romance ThemesFilms set in Africa, Transport films, Aviation films, Political films, Le désert ActorsRalph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, Kristin Scott Thomas, Colin Firth, Naveen Andrews Roles Geoffrey Clifton Rating73% In the final days of the Italian Campaign of World War II, Hana, a French-Canadian nurse working and living in a bombed Italian monastery, looks after a critically burned man who speaks English but cannot remember his name. They are joined by Kip, a Sikh sapper in the British Army who defuses bombs and has a love affair with Hana before leaving, and David Caravaggio, a Canadian Intelligence Corps operative who was questioned by Germans and has had his thumbs cut off during a German interrogation. He questions the patient, who gradually reveals his past.
, 1h43 Directed byPat O'Connor GenresDrama, Romance ActorsChris O'Donnell, Minnie Driver, Saffron Burrows, Alan Cumming, Colin Firth, Aidan Gillen Roles Simon Westward Rating65% Set in 1950s Ireland, the film focuses on the experiences of Bernadette "Benny" Hogan and her two friends, Eve Malone and Nan Mahon. They are characterised early on in childhood, during their First Communion: Benny is the beloved and well-fed only child, Eve the orphan raised by nuns and Nan is destined to be defined by her beauty. The three girls grow up in the small town of Knockglen. Skip to eight years later: Nan has moved on to Dublin years earlier, and Benny and Eve have graduated from the local convent school and are heading to Dublin to attend university.
, 5h27 Directed bySimon Langton OriginUnited-kingdom GenresDrama, Historical, Romance ActorsJennifer Ehle, Colin Firth, Julia Sawalha, Alison Steadman, Benjamin Whitrow, Susannah Harker Roles Mr. Darcy Rating87% Episode 1 – Mr Charles Bingley, a rich man from the north of England, settles down at Netherfield estate near Meryton village in Hertfordshire for the autumn. Mrs Bennet, unlike her husband, is excited at the prospect of marrying off one of her five daughters (Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty, and Lydia) to the newcomer. Bingley takes an immediate liking to Jane at a local country-dance, while his best friend Mr Darcy, rumoured to be twice as rich, refuses to stand up with anyone including Elizabeth. Elizabeth's poor impression of his character is confirmed at a later gathering at Lucas Lodge and she and Darcy verbally clash on the two nights she spends at Netherfield caring for the sick Jane.