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).
OriginUSA GenresDrama, Thriller ActorsColin Firth, Jennifer Rubin, John Getz, Jeff Perry, Arthur Taxier, Dean Norris Roles Ross Talbert / Michael Condren Rating51% A talented young Jamie Harris is a struggling actress who is trying to win a role in an upcoming film called "Playmaker". Eager to gain advantage on the competition, Harris' friend Eddie says that he can arrange an introduction with Ross Talbert, an acting teacher with a reputation for grooming top talent. Talbert agrees to tutor Harris for $5,000; she scrapes up the money, only to discover that his lessons are mainly exercises in psychological abuse. Harris learns that a number of Talbert's students who didn't respond to his techniques have turned up dead, and she spies an "F" next to her name in his grade book shortly before he attacks her with a knife; she grabs a gun and kills him. The police determine that Jamie acted in self-defense - but the man who she's been taking lessons with wasn't the real Ross Talbert. As the police arrive at the scene a different corpse is lying dead on the ground, which seems to be the real teacher. As a result, she tries to find the false teacher, and discovers that he was just an actor like herself, named Michael Condren, and that she is just a puppet on a string in a perverse and bizarre story.
Directed byLeslie Megahey OriginUnited-kingdom GenresDrama, Thriller, Biography, Comedy, Historical, Crime, Romance ActorsColin Firth, Ian Holm, Donald Pleasence, Amina Annabi, Lysette Anthony, Nicol Williamson Roles Richard Courtois Rating65% The Hour of the Pig is set in 15th-century France and is based upon the career and case files of Bartholomew Chassenee, an actual lawyer of the time who served as an advocate for animals who were accused of crimes. At the time, animal trials were used to determine if animals were the perpetrators of supernatural mayhem. Animals were subject to the same civil laws and penalties as human beings under French law, 1403–1596.
, 1h56 OriginPays-bas GenresDrama, Comedy, Comedy-drama, Fantasy ActorsPeter O'Toole, Colin Firth, Marie Trintignant, Andréa Ferréol, Robert Stephens, Walter Gotell Roles Brian Smith Rating68% Dans les années 1960, lors d'un festival de cinéma, on attend la star César Valentin. Brian Smith, jeune écrivain inconnu, approche la vedette et le tue d'une balle de revolver avant d'être tué par la chute d'un projecteur. Smith désormais célèbre pour ce meurtre est conduit avec sa victime sur une île, dans un hôtel réservé aux célébrités dont le souvenir est encore vivace sur terre. Ceux qui tombent peu à peu dans l'oubli étant logés dans les mansardes, les caves ou rejetés à la mer, dès lors pour tous, une seule crainte obsessionnelle : Perdre sa gloire et rejoindre le groupe des oubliés de l'éternité. Dans cette atmosphère d'ennui et de haine, Smith et Valentin jouent au chat et à la souris.
, 2h17 Directed byMiloš Forman, Thomas Vincent, Philippe Bérenger OriginUnited-kingdom GenresDrama, Historical, Romance ThemesFilms about sexuality ActorsColin Firth, Annette Bening, Meg Tilly, Fairuza Balk, Siân Phillips, Jeffrey Jones Roles Valmont Rating69% In eighteenth century France, the Marquise de Merteuil (Annette Bening), a beautiful wealthy widow, learns from her cousin Madame de Volanges (Siân Phillips) that Volanges' 15-year-old daughter Cecile (Fairuza Balk) has been betrothed to a middle-age man named Gercourt (Jeffrey Jones)—Merteuil's own secret lover. Volanges confides in Merteuil that the arranged marriage required that Cecile be raised in a convent to ensure her chastity. Unaware that Merteuil is Gercourt's paramour, Volanges reveals that according to Gercourt, he is having trouble breaking off relations with his "former" mistress who is mentally unbalanced.
, 1h36 Directed byPat O'Connor OriginUnited-kingdom GenresDrama, Historical ActorsColin Firth, Kenneth Branagh, Natasha Richardson, Patrick Malahide, Jim Carter, Richard Vernon Roles Tom Birkin Rating67% Set in 1920, the film follows the experiences of Tom Birkin (Colin Firth), who has been employed under a bequest to carry out restoration work on a Medieval mural discovered in a church in the small rural community of Oxgodby, Yorkshire. The escape to the idyllic countryside is cathartic for Birkin, haunted by his experiences in World War I. Birkin soon fits into the slow-paced life of the remote village, and over the course of the summer uncovering the painting begins to lose his trauma-induced stammer and tics.
, 1h41 OriginUSA GenresDrama, Comedy, Comedy-drama ActorsColin Firth, Emily Blunt, Anne Heche, David Andrews, Sterling Beaumon, Kristin Lehman Rating56% Former pro golfer Wallace Avery (Colin Firth) is struggling with boredom, depression, and a life from which he longs to escape. Trapped in an unfulfilling FedEx floor manager job in Florida, he finds little comfort in his failed first marriage or his current relationship with his girlfriend Mina (Anne Heche). He has even become estranged from his teenage son Kevin (Lucas Hedges) who has come to resent him. Driven to desperate measures, Wallace decides that he needs a new start and a new life.