Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, known simply as Ralph Fiennes (pronounced /ˈreɪf ˈfaɪnz/):
Born 22 December 1962, is an English actor.
He has appeared in films such as:
Schindler's List
The English Patient,
The Constant Gardener
Harry Potter films
As Lord Voldemort
.
Most recently he appeared in The Reader, to name only a few.
Among his many recieved awards, Ralph is also a two time Academy Award-nominee. He is also the only actor ever to have won a Tony Award for playing Prince Hamlet on Broadway.
In 2001, Fiennes received the William Shakespeare Award from the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C.
Fiennes is a UNICEF UK ambassador.
EARLY LIFE:
Ralph Fiennes was born in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, into an aristocratic family, the son of Mark and Jennifer Fiennes (1933-2004)
His father, Mark, was a farmer and photographer (and the son of industrialist Sir Maurice Fiennes).
His mother, Jennifer Lash (1938-1993), was a writer.
His surname is of Norman origin.
He is an eighth cousin of HRH, the Prince of Wales, and a third cousin of the adventurer Sir Ranulph Fiennes.
The eldest of seven children, his siblings are:
Joseph Fiennes, actor (Shakespeare in Love, Luther);
Martha Fiennes, a director (in her film "Onegin", Ralph acted the title role)
Magnus Fiennes, a composer;
Sophie Fiennes, a filmmaker;
Jacob Fiennes, a conservationist;
Michael Emery, an archaeologist is Ralph's foster brother.
The Fiennes family moved to Ireland in 1973, living in West Cork and County Kilkenny for some years, where Fiennes attended St Kieran's College for one year. He also attended Newtown School, a Quaker school in Waterford.
They moved to Salisbury in England, where Fiennes finished his schooling at Bishop Wordsworth's School before attending Chelsea College of Art.
CAREER:
Fiennes trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He began his career at the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park and, also during the late 1980s, the National Theatre before becoming a star in the Royal Shakespeare Company. Fiennes first worked on screen in 1990 and then made his film debut in 1992 as Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights opposite Juliette Binoche, for which he received substantial acclaim and praise throughout Europe.
1993 was his "breakout year". He had a major role in the very controversial Peter Greenaway film The Baby of Mâcon with Julia Ormond.
Though the film was poorly received, Fiennes' career suffered no lasting consequences, and later that year he became known internationally for portraying the amoral Nazi concentration camp commandant Amon Goeth in Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List.
For this he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He did not win the Oscar, but did win the Best Supporting Actor BAFTA Award for the role. His portrayal as Göth also earned him a spot on the American Film Institute's list of top 50 movie villains.
In 1994, he portrayed American academic Charles Van Doren in Quiz Show, and in 1996 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).
Fiennes was cast as Lord Voldemort
in the 2005 fantasy film Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and has retained this role for both Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which will be released in two parts in 2010 and 2011. However, in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, as Voldemort appears as an 11 year-old. Ralph's nephew , Hero Fiennes-Tiffin will play him (Ralph).
The Constant Gardener was released in 2005
with Fiennes in 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. His 2007 performance in the play Faith Healer gained him a nomination for a 2006 Tony Award.
In 2008 he reteamed with frequent collaborator director Jonathan Kent to play the title role in Sophocles' Oedipus the King at the National Theatre in London. He will also appear in a 2010 West End revival of Uncle Vanya. Also, he played the Duke of Devonshire in The Duchess (2008).
In February 2009. he was the special guest of the Belgrade's Film Festival FEST. He plans to make a movie in Serbian capital of Belgrade in 2010 after a Shakespeare book. His plans to do it in 2009 are prolonged because of the economic crisis in the world.
Fiennes in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan in 2003 during his visit as a UNICEF UK ambassador.
STAGE CAREER ROLES:
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 Lyttelton 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, with Francesca Annis as Gertrude - Directed by Jonathan Kent - The Almeida Theatre Company - Hackney Empire, London and Belasco Theatre on Broadway, NY
Ivanov by Anton Chekhov translated by David Hare (February-April 1997) - Role: Ivanov - Directed by Jonathan Kent - 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 - Wyndham's Theatre, West End
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, West End
Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare (2005) - Role: Mark Anthony - Directed by Deborah Warner - Barbican Centre, London & tour
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
God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza (2008) - Role: Alain Reille - Gielgud Theatre, West End
Oedipus the King by Sophocles (2008) - Role: Oedipus - National Theatre, London
Selected television credits
Prime Suspect (1991)
Selected other projects, contributions
When Love Speaks (2002, EMI Classics) - "Sonnet 129" ("Th'expense of spirit in a waste of shame")
SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY ROLES AND AWARDS:
1990 A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia T. E. Lawrence TV
1992 Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights Heathcliff
1993 The Baby of Mâcon The Bishop's son
1993 Schindler's List,
Winning the Amon Göth BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor
Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor
London Film Critics Circle Award - British Actor of the Year
National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor
New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated — Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a motion picture
1994 Quiz Show Charles Van Doren
1995 Strange Days Lenny Nero Nominated - Saturn Award for Best Actor
1996 The English Patient
Count László de Almássy and Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actor
Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
1997 Oscar and Lucinda Oscar Hopkins
1998 The Avengers John Steed
The Prince of Egypt Rameses (voice)
1999 Sunshine Ignatz Sonnenschein/Adam Sors/Ivan Sors European Film Award for Best European Actor
Onegin Evgeny Onegin - Directed by Ralph"s sister, MARTHA
The End of the Affair Maurice Bendrix Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Nominated — London Film Critics Circle Award - British Actor of the Year
2000 The Miracle Maker Jesus Christ (voice)
2002 Spider Spider
Nominated — European Film Award for Best European Actor
Nominated — London Film Critics Circle Award - British Actor of the Year
The Good Thief Tony Angel (uncredited)
Red Dragon Francis Dolarhyde
Nominated — Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor
Maid in Manhattan Christopher Marshall
2005 The Chumscrubber Mayor Michael Ebbs
Chromophobia Stephen Tulloch
The Constant Gardener Justin Quayle Evening Standards British Film Awards - Best Actor
London Film Critics Circle Award -
British Actor of the Year
Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Wallace; Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit Victor Quartermaine (voice)
The White Countess Todd Jackson
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Lord Voldemort
2006 Land of the Blind Joe
2007 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Lord Voldemort
Bernard and Doris Bernard Lafferty
Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor – Miniseries or a Movie
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film
Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actor - Miniseries or Motion Picture Made
TELEVISION ROLES AND AWARDS:
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
2008 In Bruges Harry Waters Nominated — British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actor
"The Duchess" William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire
Was Nominated — British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture
Nominated — London Film Critics Circle Award - British Actor of the Year
"The Reader" By (THE OLDER) Michael Berg
CURRENT CALENDAR OF IN-PROCESS CONTRACTS:2009 The Hurt Locker Contractor Team Leader
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Lord Voldemort -completed
2010 Cemetery Junction Mr Kendrick -filming
Clash of the Titans Hades -filming
Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang Lord Gray -filming
2010 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I Lord Voldemort -filming
Coriolanus Coriolanus -pre-production
2011 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II Lord Voldemort -filming
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MOTION PICTURE AWARDS AND NOMINATIONS:
1993 - New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor - Schindler's List
1994 - BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role - 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
1995 - Tony Award for Best Actor - Hamlet
1999 - European Film Award for Best Actor - Sunshine
2005 - Krzysztof Kieślowski Award for his body of work as a thespian
2006 - Honorary Fellowship of UCD Dramatic Society for services to theatre
2007 - Spike TV's 2007 Scream Awards for Most Vile Villain - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
2007 - The James Joyce Award of the Literary and Historical Society.
Nominations
1994 - Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor - 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
1996 - Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast - The English Patient
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 Satellite Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama - 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
2008 - Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - The Duchess
References:
"Person Page 18418". thePeerage.com. 6 April 2008. http://www.thepeerage.com/p18418.htm. Retrieved on 2008-04-10.
"Ralph Fiennes, UNICEF UK Ambassador". UNICEF.
http://www.unicef.org/uniteforchildren/youth/youth_29342.htm. Retrieved on 2008-04-10.
"Ralph Fiennes Biography". filmreference. 2008.
http://www.filmreference.com/film/66/Ralph-Fiennes.html Retrieved on 2008-04-10.
a b c d e Fiennes, Ralph. Interview with James Lipton. Inside the Actors Studio. Bravo. 15 January 2006. (Interview). Retrieved on 2008-04-10.
"Constant Gardener Trust - Patrons". UNICEF. http://www.constantgardenertrust.org/html/patrons.htm
Retrieved on 2008-04-10.
"Interview for Serbian National TV - RTS". ( on - youtube.com)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
Retrieved on 2009-23-02.
World Entertainment News Network (12 February 2007). "Fiennes in Air Sex Scandal?".
Internet Movie Database. http://www.imdb.com/news/wenn/2007-02-12
Retrieved on 2008-04-10.
