Gary Oldman

Gary Oldman Quick Details:

• Full Name: Gary Leonard Oldman 
• Date of Birth: March 21, 1958
• Place of Birth: New Cross, London
• Profession: Actor, Musician, Director
• Parents: Leonard Bertram Oldman (father), Kathleen née Cheriton (mother)
• Notable Roles:
  • Count Dracula in Francis Ford Coppola's film Bram Stoker's Dracula.
  • Father Solomon in Catherine Hardwicke’s Red Riding Hood
  • Mason Verger in Ridley Scott’s Hannibal
  • Dreyfus in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes 
• Awards:
  • In 2018, he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor—Motion Picture Drama, the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actor, the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor, and the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in The Darkest Hour. 
  • Nominated for three Academy Awards, five BAFTA Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, three Screen Actor’s Guild Awards, and two Independent Spirit Awards, among others. 
• Music: 
  • Oldman has been a pianist since childhood and is still a proficient player. He sang in character as Sid Vicious on several of the Sid and Nancy soundtrack songs alongside original Sex Pistols member Glen Matlock. He received praise from lead singer John Lydon for his performance, even though Lydon did not like the film. 
• Trivia:
  • • Oldman applied to the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and was turned down. The Academy advised him to find “another line of work.” 
    • Played the piano as a child but was moved to become an actor after watching Malcolm McDowell in The Raging Moon.
    • David Cronenberg was quoted as saying that Oldman “really is a fabulous actor” who gave “the best version” of Jim Gordon in Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy. 

Gary Oldman's Early Life and Background:

• Born on March 21, 1958, in New Cross, London, to Kathleen née Cheriton and Leonard Bertram Oldman, a former sailor who also worked as a welder. His older sister, Maureen, is better known as actress Laila Morse. 
• Oldman attended West Greenwich School in Deptford but left before graduation to work and later studied at Young People's Theatre in Greenwich.
• Won a scholarship to Rose Bruford College in Sidcup, south-east London, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Acting in 1979. 

Gary Oldman's Entry into the Acting World:

• Made his film debut in Colin Gregg's Remembrance in 1982.
• Film breakthrough roles include Alex Cox’s Sid and Nancy as Sid Vicious in 1986 and 1987’s Prick Up Your Ears, where he played playwright Joe Orton. 

Gary Oldman's Hollywood Career Highlights — including what new movies Gary Oldman is working on and what upcoming roles Gary Oldman will be playing:

• Count Dracula in Francis Ford Coppola's film Bram Stoker's Dracula.
• Rabbi Joseph Sendak in David S. Goyer’s The Unborn 
• James “Jim” Gordon in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Trilogy: Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and  The Dark Knight Rises. 
• John Cheever, Parthenope
• Jackson Lamb, Slow Horses 

Beyond Acting: Other Professional Endeavors of Oldman's

• Sang a duet with David Bowie on Reeves Gabrels's album The Sacred Squall of Now in the song “You've Been Around.”