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• Living With Music: Rachel Resnick

  New York Times - Found Dec. 3, 2008 I learned about it sideways, from the cult classic film ?Sid and Nancy,? where Gary Oldman?s rendition as Sid Vicious led me to Iggy.

• Review: 'Call of Duty 5' Half a Step Backward

  FOXNews.com - Found Nov. 28, 2008 ... development just isn't present in "World at War." Treyarch splurged by hiring Kiefer Sutherland and Gary Oldman as voice talent, but none of...

• Ryan Gosling Keeps Los Angeles Red Hot

  POPSUGAR - Insanely addictive. - Found Nov. 21, 2008 Ryan Gosling met up with Gary Oldman for lunch in LA this week. In the past, Ryan has cited Gary as one of his all time favorite actors so it must...

• Gary Oldman joins 'Book of Eli'

  Variety - Found Oct. 29, 2008 Gary Oldman will co-star with Denzel Washington in "Book of Eli," a post-apocalyptic drama that will be directed by Allen and Albert Hughes.Alcon

• Gary Oldman Joins Washington In "Book of Eli"

  Post Chronicle - Found Nov. 1, 2008 Gary Oldman is in negotiations to star opposite Denzel Washington in 'The Book of Eli,' an action thriller that returns the British actor to his more ...

• Gary Oldman joins Washington in "Book of Eli" - Reuters

  Yahoo! Canada - Found Oct. 31, 2008 Gary Oldman It centers on a lone hero Oldman will play Carnegie, the despot of a small makeshift town deficient of standard necessities, services,

• Gary Oldman joins Washington in "Book of Eli"

  Reuters UK - Found Oct. 29, 2008 LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Gary Oldman is in negotiations to star opposite Denzel Washington in 'The Book of Eli,' an action thriller that

• 'Inside the Actors Studio' insights from Daniel Radcliffe

  Seacoast Online - Found 3 hours ago ... and depression.? ? Michael Gambon is ?the least professional actor you?re ever likely to come across.? ? He adores Gary Oldman. Radcliffe 'Comes To Terms' With Harry Potter Link - IMDB Daniel talks about getting his willy out on stage! - Heat Magazine VIDEO: Daniel Radcliffe on Inside the Actor's Studio Tonight! - IESB.net Daniel Radcliffe's rising role - China Economic Net Explore All

  Seacoast Online

• 'Rome' star cast in 'Book Of Eli'

  Digital Spy - Found 7 hours ago Also among the cast of the Albert and Allen Hughes film are Gary Oldman as villain Carnegie and Mila Kunis as love interest Solara. Ray Stevenson Hunts Washington in B... - Mania Stevenson Talks Eli, Freak - SCIFI.COM Book of Eli - BoxOfficeProphets Explore All

  SCIFI.COM

• Dark Knight, The [Dual Cover: Two-Disc Special Edition, w/ Digital ...

  DVD Town - Found 7 hours ago ... and we've still got Gary Oldman as James Gordon, seemingly the only incorruptible cop on the Gotham police force. "Dark Knight:" A Solid Oscar Contender - CBS News Oscar 'Knight'? Batman's hopes look stronger - MSNBC Oscar 'Knight'? Batman's hopes look stronger - MSNBC Christmas DVD shopping guide - Globe and Mail Explore All

  CJOB 68

Gary Oldman Biography

Gary Oldman
Oldman with Dracula co-star Winona Ryder at the 2008 Scream Awards.
Born	Gary Leonard Oldman1 21 March 1958 (1958-03-21) (age 50) New Cross, London, England
Occupation	Actor, screenwriter, director, producer, musician
Years active	1979–present
Spouse(s)	Lesley Manville (1987-1990) Uma Thurman (1990-1992) Donya Fiorentino (1997-2001)
Domestic partner(s)	Isabella Rossellini (1994-1996)

Gary Leonard Oldman (born 21 March 1958) is an English actor, writer, director, producer, voice-over artist and occasional musician who is well known for his portrayals of Sid Vicious in Sid & Nancy and The Count in Dracula. He has garnered critical acclaim for his diverse performances and portrayals of real-life historical figures²³ and is noted for his avoidance of the Hollywood celebrity scene,²⁴ often being referred to as an "actor's actor".⁵⁶⁷

After coming to prominence for his award-winning portrayal of ill-fated rocker Sid Vicious in 1986 biopic Sid & Nancy, which was featured in Premiere Magazine's "100 Greatest Performances of All Time",⁸ Oldman found further recognition during the late 1980s and early 1990s via starring roles in films such as Prick Up Your Ears, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead and State of Grace. During this time he earned considerable critical respect, with Janet Maslin referring to his work as "phenomenal"⁹ and Roger Ebert calling him "the best young British actor around."¹⁰ Oldman subsequently starred in one of his best-known roles as Lee Harvey Oswald in 1991's JFK. Since leading Dracula the following year, he has starred in such popular motion pictures as: True Romance, Immortal Beloved, Léon: The Professional, Murder in the First, The Fifth Element, The Contender, the Harry Potter film series and The Dark Knight. In 1997, Oldman directed, produced, and wrote the award-winning Nil by Mouth, a movie partially based on his own childhood.¹¹ Oldman has received various awards and honours throughout his career but has at various times expressed his lack of regard for the Oscar and the presenting Academy. Several of his roles - particularly Sheldon Runyon in The Contender - have brought forth predictions of an Oscar nomination, but to date he has yet to be nominated for such an award despite a critically acclaimed film career spanning three decades.^2121314

In video gaming, he is known for doing the voice of Ignitus the Fire Dragon guardian of the popular Spyro the Dragon fame, starting with The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning.

Biography

Early life

Oldman was born in London, England, the son of Kathleen, an Irish-born housewife, and Len Oldman, a former sailor who worked as a welder.⁷¹⁵ Oldman has said that his father was an abusive alcoholic who left his family when Oldman was seven.¹⁶ Oldman was an accomplished singer and pianist as a child, but gave up music to pursue an acting career.¹⁷ His inspiration was Malcolm McDowell's performance in 1970 movie The Raging Moon.¹⁸¹⁹ In a 1995 interview with Charlie Rose, Oldman said: "Something about Malcolm [McDowell] just arrested me, and I connected, and I said 'I wanna do that'."²⁰ Oldman retained his love for music, however, and can be seen singing and playing piano in the 1988 movie Track 29, and tracing over pre-recorded versions of Beethoven's music in Immortal Beloved.

Theatre

Oldman won a scholarship to the Rose Bruford College, where he received a BA in Drama in 1979. He had initially applied for enrollment into Britain's prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, but was refused entry. Oldman told Charlie Rose in 1995²⁰ that he was told to "find something else to do for a living". Rose, surprised, asked jokingly, "Have you reminded them of this?", to which Oldman replied that "the work speaks for itself." Following his graduation from Rose Bruford College, he later studied with the Greenwich Young People's Theatre and went on to appear in a number of stage plays including The Pope's Wedding, for which he received Time Out's Fringe Award for Best Newcomer of 1985–1986 and the British Theatre Association's Drama Magazine Award as Best Actor of 1985.

Music

Oldman appeared on Reeves Gabrels' album The Sacred Squall of Now, performing a duet with David Bowie on the track "You've Been Around".²¹

Film career

Sid & Nancy and foray into American cinema

Gary Oldman as Sid Vicious in Sid & Nancy.

After graduating from drama school in 1979, Oldman spent almost eight years in theater, winning various awards. During this time he appeared in several minor television films such as Remembrance (1982) and Morgan's Boy (1984). In 1986 he won his first starring role as the Sex Pistols' ill-fated bassist Sid Vicious in the 1986 motion picture Sid & Nancy. The role launched Oldman's career and paved the way for work in Hollywood. Oldman's performance was highly regarded by many, perhaps most notably ex-Sex Pistols vocalist John Lydon, who despite questioning the authenticity of some parts of the film, said of Oldman in his biography: "The chap who played Sid, Gary Oldman, I thought was quite good", and later called him a "bloody good actor".²² Oldman reportedly lost considerable weight for the role and was briefly hospitalised.²³ His portrayal was ranked #62 on Premiere Magazine's "100 Greatest Performances of All Time."⁸ Oldman starred in another real-life portrayal the following year, portraying playwright Joe Orton in the 1987 film Prick Up Your Ears. He played a violent football hooligan in The Firm (1988), and starred opposite Christopher Lloyd in Track 29 the same year. Oldman's first foray into American cinema came later in 1988, when he played a troubled young Boston lawyer opposite real-life friend Kevin Bacon in Criminal Law. It marked the first time Oldman had performed on screen successfully using an American accent.²⁴ In late 1988, he starred opposite long-time hero²⁰ Alan Bates in We Think The World of You, and alongside Dennis Hopper and Frances McDormand in Chattahoochee (1989).

Mainstream success in the 1990s

As violent pimp Drexl Spivey, one of the primary antagonists of True Romance.

In 1991, Oldman starred in what was at that point the most significant role of his career as alleged Presidential assassin Lee Harvey Oswald in Oliver Stone's JFK. The following year, however, Oldman would reach new heights of fame. In arguably the most famous performance of his career, he starred as Count Dracula in Francis Ford Coppola's romance-horror blockbuster Bram Stoker's Dracula. By far the most commercially successful film adaptation of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel,²⁵ it was a major box office success worldwide, and spawned various merchandise and video games.²⁶²⁷ Oldman's performance is regarded by many as a staple of the horror genre, and was recognised by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films as the best male performance of 1992, who awarded Oldman the prestigious Best Actor award.²⁸ Some claimed that Winona Ryder and Oldman did not get along on set.²⁹ Director Francis Ford Coppola said: "The issue was not only that they did not get along... they got along and then one day they didn't – absolutely didn't get along. None of us were privy to what had happened." False rumours of an affair between the two also circulated in the media in 1992.³⁰ Despite alleged personal issues during production of the film, Ryder has since been complimentary of Oldman's acting talents.²⁹ The film established Oldman as a popular portrayer of villains in American cinema;³¹ he later played a violent pimp in True Romance (1993), a corrupt DEA officer in Léon (1994), a sadistic prison warden in Murder in the First (1995) and a futuristic megacorp tyrant in The Fifth Element (1997). Oldman also displayed a skill for world accents; along with the Transylvanian Count Dracula, Oldman played German-born Viennese composer Ludwig van Beethoven in Immortal Beloved, and Russian terrorist Ivan Korshunov in 1997 blockbuster Air Force One. He also appeared as a grinning demon in the 1993 promo video to the Guns N' Roses single "Since I Don't Have You".

2000 and beyond

Oldman appeared opposite Jeff Bridges as zealous Republican congressman Sheldon Runyon in The Contender (2000), in which he was also credited as a producer. He received a Screen Actors Guild award nomination for his performance. Oldman was reportedly unhappy with the editing process of the film, which he felt made the finished product look distinctly pro-Democratic.³² Oldman stated on the Charlie Rose show²⁰ that he felt his character was the true patriot of the film and that it was no co-incidence that the allegedly pro-Democratic film was released shortly before a Presidential election. Oldman stated in the same interview that he had had "more than my wrist slapped" for expressing his sentiments in previous interviews. Film critic Roger Ebert rebutted some of the media reports on Oldman's objections, writing that Oldman's manager Douglas Urbanski had denied that the politically withdrawn Oldman had used such strong terms, and citing original interviewer Tom Roston as saying that material from his article had been taken out of context and exaggerated by subsequent media repetitions.³³.

Oldman as James Gordon in Batman Begins.

In 2001 Oldman starred opposite Anthony Hopkins in Hannibal, as Mason Verger, the only surviving victim of Hannibal Lecter. Oldman reportedly spent six hours per day in the make-up room to achieve the hideously disfigured appearance of the character.³⁴ It marked the second time Oldman had appeared opposite friend Anthony Hopkins, who was part of the supporting cast of Bram Stoker's Dracula. Oldman received an Emmy Award nomination for two guest appearances in Friends in 2001, appearing in the two-part episode "The One with Monica and Chandler's Wedding" as Richard Crosby, a pedantic actor who insists that "real" actors spit on one another when they enunciate, leading to the famous spitting scene between Joey (Matt LeBlanc) and himself. Oldman agreed to appear in the series after meeting LeBlanc on the set of Lost in Space in 1998. Oldman later landed a major role in the Harry Potter film series, playing Potter's godfather Sirius Black. Oldman and star Daniel Radcliffe reportedly became very close during the filming of the series.³⁵ In 2005, Oldman starred as James Gordon in Christopher Nolan's commercially and critically acclaimed Batman Begins, a role he reprised in the sequel The Dark Knight (2008). Oldman will reportedly be appearing in the 2009 version of A Christmas Carol.³⁶³⁷ He is also confirmed for the starring role in David Goyer's supernatural thriller Unborn, slated for a 2009 release.³⁸³⁹

Filmmaking

In 1997, Oldman directed, produced, and wrote the award-winning Nil by Mouth, a movie partially based on his own childhood.¹¹ Nil By Mouth went on to win the BAFTA Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film (shared with Douglas Urbanski) and also the BAFTA Award for Best Screenplay, the Channel 4 Director's Award, and the Empire Award, and was declared by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts as one of the one hundred best films of all time. Recently Nil By Mouth was listed by Time Out as number two of the top 50 best British films ever.

Oldman and producing partner Douglas Urbanski formed the SE8 GROUP to produce Nil By Mouth. The company also produced The Contender, which also starred Oldman. He was also credited as a producer. Oldman has finished his latest screenplay, Chang & Eng, co-written with Darin Strauss, based on the author's book of the same name; SE8 Group will produce. In September 2006 Nokia, Nseries Studio⁴⁰ released the Oldman directed short Donut with music by Tor Hyams. The film was shot with an N93 in order to promote the phone. Oldman also directed the music video for "Red Rover", a song from Jewish Rap Group Chutzpah's 2nd CD "Hip Hop Fantasy", shot entirely on the N93.The making of this video was turned into a 25 minute documentary by Juliet Landau.

Popularity

Oldman has long established a cult following among film fans, perhaps due to his apathetic stance on fame and fortune,⁴ his versatile performances,² and affable real-life persona.⁴¹ Oldman remains one of the most popular portrayers of movie villains amongst film fans: his array of villainous roles, such as Count Dracula in Bram Stoker's Dracula, Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg in The Fifth Element, Norman Stansfield in Léon, and Ivan Korshunov in Air Force One have seen a page dedicated entirely to him on the movievillains.com website.³¹ MTV's Celebrity Deathmatch also aired a match between Oldman and Christopher Walken to determine who was the greatest cinematic villain.⁴²

Oldman's famous "spitting scene" with Matt LeBlanc during his appearance on Friends, where Oldman's character insists that "real" actors spit on one another when they enunciate. The ensuing spitting confrontation between the two, has become one of the more popular cameos of the series, and saw Oldman receive an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.⁴³ Oldman's character also has to dispel Joey's belief that despite his formidable acting abilities, he has never won an Academy Award. This was perhaps a subtle knock on the much-questioned fact, among Oldman fans, that he has never been nominated for such an award, despite a number of critically acclaimed roles.²

Younger stars cite Oldman's influence such as Shia LaBeouf,⁴⁴ Christian Bale⁴⁵⁴⁶ and in particular, Ryan Gosling, who cites Oldman as his all time favourite actor.⁴⁷⁴⁸⁴⁹ Oldman has also received much acclaim from critics over the years for his diversity of roles and mastery of world accents.³² Revered film critic Roger Ebert has long been a fan of Oldman's work, hailing him as "one of the great actors, able to play high, low, crass, noble",⁵⁰ while Janet Maslin called him a "phenomenal" actor who "since Sid and Nancy has taken on a string of new accents and dramatic identities with stunning ease."⁵¹ Oldman's acting style has, however, occasionally been referred to as being excessive and over-the-top by some critics.⁵²⁵³ This may perhaps be in part due to a long run of being cast as eccentric and outlandish villains,³¹ something of which he eventually grew tired.⁵⁴⁵⁵

In contrast to his often dark-themed on-screen roles, Oldman's down-to-earth real-life nature is often cited in articles,⁴¹ and he was recently named as one of Empire magazine's "100 Sexiest Stars in Film History."⁵⁶ Motion pictures starring Oldman as leading actor or supporting co-star have grossed over $2.1 billion at the United States box office, and over $5.2 billion worldwide.⁵⁷

Personal life

Despite numerous lead and supporting roles in major Hollywood productions, Oldman is intensely private with his personal life and is known for his stance on celebrity and the ideals of Hollywood, once stating that "being famous, that's a whole other career. And I haven't got any energy for it."⁴ Oldman was born and raised in London, England, but moved to the United States in the early 1990s.⁵⁸ He currently resides in Los Angeles, California with his young family.⁵⁹ He was known for his problems with alcohol during the 1990s; in 1991, he was arrested for drunk driving along with friend and fellow actor Kiefer Sutherland.⁶⁰ After a string of alcohol-fuelled debacles he checked himself into Marworth treatment facility in Waverly, Pennsylvania, for alcoholism treatment in 1993.⁶¹ In subsequent interviews Oldman acknowledged his problems with alcohol and called himself a "recovering" alcoholic on a 2001 interview with Charlie Rose.²⁰ In 2001, former wife Donya Fiorentino claimed that Oldman had a drug habit and subjected her to domestic abuse,⁶² a claim which was investigated by the family courts, child custody evaluator, the police, and Los Angeles city attorney—Oldman was awarded legal custody of their children; Fiorentino was granted short court-monitored visits. As of 2007^[update], Oldman lives a teetotal lifestyle and attributes his success in beating his addiction to Alcoholics Anonymous, and has since publicly praised the organization.⁶³

Oldman has been married three times:

• Lesley Manville (1988–1990)
• Uma Thurman (1990–1992)
• Donya Fiorentino (1997–2001)

He has three sons: Alfie (b. 1988) from his marriage to Manville, Gulliver Flynn (b. Aug 20, 1997) and Charlie John (b. Feb 1999) from his marriage to Fiorentino.⁶⁰ His sister, Laila Morse, is also an actress, best known as Mo Harris in the BBC's long-running series EastEnders.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Gary Oldman

• Gary Oldman at the Internet Movie Database
• Gary Oldman at Yahoo! Movies
• Interview with Gary Oldman on his directorial debut – Nil by Mouth

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