Film actor, born in London, UK, the son of C Day-Lewis. He trained at the Bristol Old Vic and, after several small roles on stage and television, became well known for My Beautiful Launderette (1985) and Room With A View (1985). He won awards for his portrayal of handicapped Irish writer Christy Brown in My Left Foot (1989, Oscar, BAFTA). Later films include The Last of the Mohicans (1992), In the Name of the Father (1993), The Crucible (1996), Gangs of New York (2002, BAFTA; Oscar nomination), and The Ballad of Jack and Rose (2005). Major theatre performances include Romeo and Juliet (1983) and Hamlet (1989).
| Daniel Day-Lewis | |
|---|---|
| Daniel Day-Lewis in the 1988 film The Unbearable Lightness of Being | |
| Born |
29 April 1957 London, England, UK |
Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis (born 29 April 1957), is an Academy Award-winning English-born actor.
After studying at the world renowned Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Daniel Day-Lewis performed in numerous stage plays and films that gained him an Academy Award, two BAFTA awards, and four Golden Globe nominations.
Early life
Day-Lewis is the son of the late British Poet Laureate Cecil Day-Lewis. Two years after his birth in London, the Day-Lewis family moved to Croom's Hill, Greenwich where Daniel grew up along with his older sister, Tamasin Day-Lewis, who later become a renowned documentary filmmaker and television chef.
Career
1980s
Eleven years after his film debut, Day-Lewis continued his film career with a small part in Gandhi (1982) as Colin, a street thug who bullies the title character, only to be immediately chastised by his high-strung mother.
In 1987, Day-Lewis assumed leading man status by starring in Philip Kaufman's The Unbearable Lightness of Being, co-starring Juliette Binoche, as a Czech doctor whose hyperactive and purely physical sex life is thrown into disarray when he allows himself to become emotionally involved with a woman.
Day-Lewis put his personal version of "method acting" into full use in 1989 with his performance as Christy Brown in Jim Sheridan's My Left Foot which won him numerous awards, including the Academy Award for Best Actor.
Playing a severely paralyzed character onscreen, offscreen Day-Lewis had to be wheeled around the set in his wheelchair, and crew members would curse at having to lift him over camera and lighting wires, all so that he might gain insight into all aspects of Christy Brown's life, including the embarrassments.
While the film carried him to new heights of stardom, Day-Lewis preferred less "Hollywood" films such as The Age of Innocence co-starring Michelle Pfeiffer and directed by Martin Scorsese.
In 1996, Day-Lewis starred in a film version of The Crucible based on the play by Arthur Miller and co-starring Winona Ryder.
Following The Boxer, Daniel Day-Lewis took a leave of absence from acting by putting himself into "semi-retirement" and returning to his old passion of woodworking.
2000s
After a three-year absence from filming, Day-Lewis was convinced to return to acting by Martin Scorsese (with whom he had worked on The Age of Innocence) and Harvey Weinstein to play (opposite Leonardo Di Caprio) the villain gangleader, "Bill the Butcher", in Gangs of New York.
This was not to be the case, however, when Day-Lewis' own wife, director Rebecca Miller, offered him the lead role in her film The Ballad of Jack and Rose, in which he played a dying man with regrets over how his life had evolved and over how he had raised his teenaged daughter.
Personal life
Because of his desire for privacy, Day-Lewis rarely talks publicly about his personal life, although he had what he would later describe as "the most on-off relationship in the world" with French actress Isabelle Adjani.
Selected filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Other notes |
| 2007 | There Will Be Blood | ||
| 2005 | The Ballad of Jack and Rose | Jack Slavin | |
| 2002 | Gangs of New York | Bill "The Butcher" Cutting | Oscar Nominee - Best Actor in a Leading Role |
| 1997 | The Boxer | Danny Flynn | |
| 1996 | The Crucible | John Proctor | |
| 1993 | In the Name of the Father | Gerry Conlon | Oscar Nominee - Best Actor in a Leading Role |
| 1993 | The Age of Innocence | Newland Archer | |
| 1992 | The Last of the Mohicans | Hawkeye (Nathaniel Poe) | |
| 1989 | My Left Foot | Christy Brown | Oscar Winner - Best Actor in a Leading Role |
| 1989 | Eversmile, New Jersey | Dr. Fergus O'Connell | |
| 1988 | Stars and Bars | Henderson Dores | |
| 1988 | The Unbearable Lightness of Being | Tomas | |
| 1985 | A Room with a View | Cecil Vyse | |
| 1985 | My Beautiful Laundrette | Johnny | |
| 1985 | My Brother Jonathon (TV) | Jonathan Dakers | |
| 1984 | The Bounty | John Fryer | |
| 1982 | Gandhi | Colin, South African street tough | |
| 1982 | Frost in May (TV) | Archie Hughes-Forret | |
| 1982 | How Many Miles to Babylon? | Alex | |
| 1971 | Sunday Bloody Sunday | Child vandal | uncredited |
Academy Award and nominations
1989 Won My Left Foot 1993 Nominated In the Name of the Father 2002 Nominated Gangs of New York|
Preceded by: Dustin Hoffman for Rain Man |
Academy Award for Best Actor 1989 for My Left Foot |
Succeeded by: Jeremy Irons for Reversal of Fortune |
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