Gary Oldman is an English actor known for his versatile acting style. He has won Academy Award, BAFTA Awards, Golden Globe Award for his work. He started his acting career from Meantime (1983) in 1979. Oldman has also starred in True Romance (1993) as the antagonist.
The early life of Gary
Gary Leonard Oldman was born in New Cross, London, on 21 March 1958, to former sailor Leonard Bertman Oldman and Kathleen Oldman. He was raised along with his sister Maureen.
His nationality is British and ethnicity is White. He attended West Greenwich School in Deptford later dropping out of school at the age of 16 to work in a sports shop.
Oldman as a child was a pianist and later started singing. However, he gave up on both to pursue an acting career being inspired by Malcolm McDowell’s performance in The Raging Moon (1971).
Height
He stands 5 feet and 9 inches tall.
Oldman’s acting career
English actor Gary Oldman has tried her hand in the different fields has been pretty successful in every arena. Let's discuss his career one by one.
Training
During the mid-1970s, Oldman studied with the Young People’s Theatre. He also worked as a porter in an operating theatre, worked on assembly lines and also in an abattoir beheading pigs.
Oldman applied for Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, but eventually got rejected. He then joined Rose Bruford College in Sidcup, Southeast, and graduated in 1979 with a BA in acting. Oldman also performed in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream as Puck.
Theatre and early films (1979 to 1990)
Oldman became the first one in the class to receive professional work after leaving school.
Oldman’s stage debut was alongside Michael Simkins and Peter Howitt in Dick Whittington and His Cat as Puss. Oldman also made an appearance in The Massacre at Paris, Desperado Corner, and Chinchilla from 1980 to 1981. He also got a starring role in Meantime.
His major breakout was from Saved. Oldman also won Time Out Fringe Award and the Drama Theatre Award and two British Theatre’s top honors for best newcomer and Best Actor.
Oldman, from the year 1984 to 1986, appeared in The Desert Air, Rat in the Skull, The Danton Affair, Real Dreams. He was also a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company (1985-1986).
Oldman was also offered a role in the 1986 film Sid and Nancy as Sid Vicious. Although, he turned down the role twice, he eventually took the role. Oldman starred in Prick Up Your Ears as Joe Orton for which he received a BAFTA nomination for Best Actor. He also appeared in the plays, The Country Wife, Serious Money.
Oldman starred in We Think the World of You opposite Alan Bates and alongside Dennis Hopper and Frances McDormand in Chattahoochee. He also starred in Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, co-starring Tim Roth. Oldman moved to the USA in the 1990s and is settled there ever since.
1991 to 2001
Oldman started his USA blockbuster from JFK in 1991. He starred in the Bram Stoker’s Dracula as Count Dracula which was a box office success worldwide. His performance got recognized and won him the Best Actor Award. Oldman also starred in Murder in the First (1995), The Fifth Element (1997), Lost in Space (1998).
Oldman also portrayed the role of Pontius Pilate in Jesus (1999). He also appeared in The Contender (2000) as zealous republican for which he received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination. In 2001, for his guest appearance in Friends, he was nominated for Emmy Awards.
2002 to 2014
In 2002, he starred in a short film The Hire: Beat the Devil as a Devil. Oldman then didn’t appear in any major roles until 2004. He made his comeback with a significant role as Harry Potter’s godfather in the Harry Potter film series. He then starred in Batman Begins that was followed by The Dark Knight (2008) and The Drak Knight Rise (2012).
He then starred in A Christmas Carol alongside Jim Carrey in which he played three roles. He also voiced in the movie Kung Fu Panda 2 as the villain Lord Shen.
Oldman got his first Academy Award and BAFTA Award nomination for his role in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy as George Smiley. He then starred along with Tom Hardy, Shia LaBeouf, Guy Pearce and Jessica Chastain in Lawless in 2012.
In 2013, he co-starred with along-side Harrison Ford and Liam Hemsworth in Paranoia where he portrayed the role of Nicholas Wyatt. Oldman also appeared as one of the lead in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes with Joel Kinnaman, Abbie Cornish, Michael Keaton, Samuel L. Jackson.
2015-present
In 2015, Oldman starred in Child 44, as the head police of investigation alongside Noomi Rapace and Joel Kinnaman. Oldman also appeared in Man Down in a supporting role.
Oldman, in 2015, portrayed the role of a CIA chief co-starring with Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones, Ryan Reynolds, Alice Eve and Gal Gadot in Criminal. Oldman also appeared in The Space Between Us which was released on 3 February 2017.
For his role as a villain in The Hitman’s Bodyguard, Oldman received Academy Award, Critics Choice Movie Award, Golden Globe Award, BAFTA Award for the Best Actor in a Leading role and Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor along with positive feedbacks.
Currently, Oldman is starring alongside Gerard Butler, Billy Bob Thornton and Linda Cardellini in Hunter Killer. Oldman is scheduled to star in a Netflix’s sci-fi project Tau alongside Ed Skrein and Maika Monroe.
Filmmaking
In 1997, Oldman wrote, directed and produced Nil by Mouth which won him BAFTA Alexander Korda Award for Best British film, BAFTA Award for Best Screenplay, an Empire Award and Channel 4 Director’s Award.
To produce Nil by Mouth, Oldman and Douglas Urbanski formed the SE8 GROUP. They also produced The Contender where Oldman also starred. Oldman also directed a music video in 2011 for Alex Eden’s first single, Kiss Me Like the Woman You Loved.
Music
From an early age, Oldman had a keen interest in music. He even sang several tracks on the Sid and Nancy, performed alongside Glen Matlock. Oldman also played piano and sang in the 1998 movie Track 29. Oldman also tutored bass guitar to Harry Potter and Daniel Radcliffe.
Voice acting
In the creation of The Legend of Spyro, Oldman participated in the creation with the Sierra Entertainment. Oldman also provided his voice for the Fire Guardian, Ignitus.
Oldman's personal life
Oldman moved to Los Angeles in early 1990s after being established as an actor. He was married five times. Oldman’s first marriage was to an English actress Lesley Manville in 1987, which last only 2 years. They divorced in 1989 after they had a child Alfie.
He then married American actress Uma Thurman which he met in the set of State of Grace in 1990. However, their marriage ended in a similar way two years later. Oldman was married to Donya Fiorentino from 1997 to 2001. He had two sons with her and with a long trial, he got the sole legal and physical custody of the sons.
Oldman married an English singer and actress Alexandra Edenborough on 31 December 2008, in Santa Barbara, California. The two divorced on 9 January 2015. Oldman got married in September 2017 for the fifth time with writer and art curator Gisele Schmidt at Oldman’s manager house in a low-key ceremony.
Oldman has two grandchildren from his eldest son Alfie, Matilda and Ozzy Oldman.
Controversies of Oldman
Oldman has a serious drinking problem and was well-known since the early 1990s. He was charged with drunk driving with actor Kiefer Sutherland in 1991, in Los Angeles.
In an interview, while promoting Dawn of the Planet of the Apes in July/August 2014, he criticized what he saw in American media and the entertainment industry’s own discriminating hypocrisy. He even argued in support of Mel Gibson and Alec Baldwin, former controversial celebrities.
Net worth and salary of Gary Oldman
The English actor, musician, and filmmaker Gary Oldman has an estimated net worth of $50 million. And regarding his salary, he earns around $2,500,000. Gary Oldman was the highest-grossing actors all over the world from which his movie brings over $3.2 billion. His earnings come from his career in movies, books, filmmaking, music, and many more.
In 2011, Gary bought a house with 5 bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms worth $2.8 million for $1.45 million. He also paid $1.69 million for a 2,400 square foot single story residence.
His ex-wife Alexandra sold their May-December love nest in an estimated $2.86 million. Oldman has won many awards for his work, however, he has not won an Oscar till now.
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