Biography

With a long-limbed elegance and the voice of a serpent crossed with an angel, Jeremy Irons has long been described as swoon fodder for the thinking woman. Tall, brooding, and impossibly well-spoken, Irons has often been cast as a haunted aristocrat, but has on occasion used his well-heeled attributes to more sinister effect, most notably in David Cronenberg's Dead Ringers.

Born September 19, 1948, on the Isle of Wight, Irons was educated at Sherborne. While a student there, he formed a band with four of his friends called the Four Pillars of Wisdom. Irons played drums -- badly, by his own estimation -- and the band attained a limited fame playing at various parties. After failed attempts to enter veterinary school, Irons decided to become an actor and received classical training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. His training there led to a two-year stint with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre Company, where Irons performed in a large number of plays. On the side, he supported himself by doing odd jobs, including busking (singing on the streets), and it was thanks to his musical inclinations that he got his big break in the 1972 London production of Godspell. Singing for his supper alongside David Bowie, Irons won acclaim for his portrayal of John the Baptist and was soon a respected figure on the London theater scene.

Irons made his screen debut in the 1980 film Nijinsky, but didn't find true fame until the following year, when he starred in the 11-part television adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited. As part of a glittering cast that included Sir Laurence Olivier, Sir John Gielgud, and Claire Bloom, Irons won raves on both sides of the Atlantic for his portrayal of the lovelorn, conflicted Charles Ryder. Following this success, the actor was soon in demand as a romantic lead and later that year could be seen starring opposite Meryl Streep in The French Lieutenant's Woman. After trying his hand at playing a Polish laborer in Moonlighting (1982) and an adulterous lover in Betrayal (1983), Irons returned to the role of the tortured aristocrat with Swann in Love (1984).

Following work in a few minor films and a Tony Award for his 1984 Broadway debut in Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing, Irons once again struck gold with his role as a conscientious missionary in The Mission (1986) in which he starred opposite Robert DeNiro and received a 1987 Golden Globe nomination for his work. He next went completely against type, playing insane twin gynecologists in David Cronenberg's 1988 thriller Dead Ringers, a role that both shocked his longtime fans and won him some new ones. For his portrayal, he garnered a New York Film Critics Circle Award, acclaim that was to be heightened two years later with his Oscar-winning turn as millionaire murder suspect Claus Von Bulow in Reversal of Fortune. Irons also won a Golden Globe for his work and settled into a real-life role as one of the most respected actors on both sides of the Atlantic.

Throughout the 1990s, Irons' career was one of great variety and sometimes varying quality. Less acclaimed work included 1992's Waterland, in which he starred with his wife Sinead Cusack; the star-studded 1993 adaptation of The House of the Spirits; and The Man in the Iron Mask, a big-budget 1998 historical action piece in which Irons appeared to be competing with Gabriel Byrne, John Malkovich, and Gérard Depardieu to see who could wear the worst wig. Irons' more acclaimed films included Louis Malle's psychological drama Damage (1992); Disney's animated The Lion King (1994), to which Irons lent his voice as the villainous Scar; the following year's Die Hard With a Vengeance, in which Irons once again explored his sinister side, as a terrorist; Stealing Beauty, which in the same year cast the actor as a dying artist; Chinese Box (1997), in which he portrayed yet another dying man; and Adrian Lyne's controversial adaptation of Lolita (also 1997), in which Irons gave a subtle, heartbreaking performance as Humbert Humbert.

An Englishman to the last, Irons has resisted the temptation to settle in Hollywood. He continues to reside in England with his wife and two sons. He starred with one of his sons, Samuel, in the 1989 television adaptation of Roald Dahl's Danny, the Champion of the World. ~ Rebecca Flint, All Movie Guide

Filmography

Mathilde (2003) .... Pukovnik Unprofora
Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There (2002) .... Himself
... aka Broadway: The Golden Age (2002) (USA: short title)
Callas Forever (2002) .... Larry Kelly
RSC Meets USA: Working Shakespeare (2002) (V) .... Narrator
And Now... Ladies and Gentlemen (2002) .... Valentin Valentin
Last Call (2002/I) (TV) .... F. Scott Fitzgerald
... aka Fitzgerald (2002) (TV) (USA)
Time Machine, The (2002) .... Uber-Morlock
Making of 'Dungeons and Dragons', The (2001) (V) .... Himself
Night of the Iguana, The (2001)
Kennedy Center Honors, The (2001) (TV) .... Himself
Fourth Angel, The (2001) .... Jack Elgin
Ohio Impromptu (2000) (TV) .... Reader/Listener
Dungeons & Dragons (2000) .... Profion
... aka Dungeons & Dragons: The Movie (2001) (UK: promotional title)
Beatles Revolution, The (2000) (TV) .... Himself
Night of a Thousand Shows (2000) (TV) .... Himself
Longitude (2000) (TV) .... Rupert Gould
Faeries (1999) (voice) .... The Shapeshifter
Fox Studios Australia: The Grand Opening (1999) (TV) .... Himself
CTS: Toronto (1999) (TV) .... Andrew Launder
Poseidon's Fury: Escape From the Lost City (1999) (voice) .... Poseidon
... aka Poseidon's Fury (1999) (USA: informal short title)
70th Annual Academy Awards, The (1998) (TV) (uncredited) .... Himself (Past Oscar Winner Tribute Sequence)
Man in the Iron Mask, The (1998) .... Father Aramis the Priest
Lolita (1997) .... Humbert Humbert
Chinese Box (1997) .... John
"Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century, The" (1996) (mini) TV Series (voice) .... Siegfried Sassoon
Stealing Beauty (1996) .... Alex
... aka Beauté volée (1996) (France)
... aka Io ballo da sola (1996) (Italy)
Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995) .... Simon Peter Gruber/Col. Peter Krieg/Bob Thompson, City Engineer's Office
... aka Die Hard 3 (1995)
67th Annual Academy Awards, The (1995) (TV) (uncredited) .... Himself
Russia's Last Tsar (1994) (TV) (voice) .... Narrator
Lion King: A Musical Journey with Elton John, The (1994) (TV) .... Himself
Lion King, The (1994) (voice) .... Scar the Mountain Lion
All-Star 25th Birthday: Stars and Street Forever! (1994) (TV) .... Himself
... aka Sesame Street's All-Star 25th Birthday: Stars and Street Forever! (1994) (TV) (USA: complete title)
House of the Spirits, The (1993) .... Esteban Trueba
... aka Åndernes hus (1993) (Denmark)
... aka Casa dos Espíritos, A (1993) (Portugal)
... aka Geisterhaus, Das (1993) (Germany)
M. Butterfly (1993) .... Rene Gallimard
Fatale (1992) .... Doctor Stephen Fleming
... aka Damage (1992) (USA)
Tales from Hollywood (1992) (TV) .... Odon Von Horvath
Waterland (1992) .... Tom Crick
From Time to Time (1992) .... H.G. Wells
... aka Timekeeper (1992)
... aka Visionarium, Le (1992) (France)
Kafka (1991) .... Kafka
... aka Kafka (1991) (France)
Zebracka opera (1991) .... Prisoner
... aka Beggar's Opera, The (1991)
"Civil War, The" (1990) (mini) TV Series (voice) .... Alexis Charles Henri Maurice Clérel de Tocqueville
... aka "American Civil War, The" (1990) (mini) (UK)
Reversal of Fortune (1990) .... Claus von Bülow
Australia (1989) .... Edouard Pierson
Danny, the Champion of the World (1989) (TV) .... William
Chorus of Disapproval, A (1988) .... Guy Jones
Sesame Street Special (1988) (TV) .... Himself
... aka Put Down the Duckie (1988) (TV) (USA: video box title)
Dead Ringers (1988) .... Beverly Mantle/Elliot Mantle
Kate Bush: The Whole Story (1986) (V) .... Guest (clip: The Big Sky)
Mission, The (1986) .... Gabriel
Rabbit Ears: The Steadfast Tin Soldier (1985) (V) .... Storyteller
Statue of Liberty, The (1985) (voice) .... Himself
Un amour de Swann (1984) .... Charles Swann
... aka Liebe von Swann, Eine (1984) (West Germany)
... aka Love of Swann, A (1984)
... aka Swann in Love (1984)
Captain's Doll, The (1983) (TV) .... Captain Alex Hepworth
Wild Duck, The (1983) .... Harold
Betrayal (1983) .... Jerry
Moonlighting (1982) .... Nowak
... aka Schwarzarbeit (1982) (West Germany)
"Brideshead Revisited" (1981) (mini) TV Series .... Charles Ryder
French Lieutenant's Woman, The (1981) .... Charles and Mike
Nijinsky (1980) .... Mikhail Fokhine
Voysey Inheritance, The (1979) (TV)
... aka Play of the Month: The Voysey Inheritance (1979) (TV) (UK)
"Love for Lydia" (1978) (mini) TV Series .... Alex Sanderson
Langrishe Go Down (1978) (TV) .... Otto Beck
... aka BBC2 Play of the Week: Langrishe Go Down (1978) (TV) (UK: series title)
Liberty Tree, The (1975) (TV)
"Notorious Woman" (1974) (mini) TV Series .... Franz Liszt
"Pallisers, The" (1974) TV Series .... Frank Tregear
"Play Away" (1971) TV Series .... Himself