Jeremy Irons - Film & Theater Personalities, Timeline and Childhood

Jeremy John Irons was born on September 19, 1948 in Cowe, Isle of Wight to Paul Dugan Irons and Barbara Anne Brereton Brymer.

His father was an accountant and his great-great-grandfather was a Metropolitan Policeman, sacked for being drunk. He later became a Chartist.

Jeremy has two siblings, a brother named Christopher and a sister, Felicity Anne.

He was enrolled into Sherborne School in Dorset when he was 13. He was the drummer in his school band ‘Four Pillars of Wisdom.’ He can also speak fluent French and is fond of horse riding.

He began his training as an actor at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. He performed in a number of plays and also acted on the streets of Bristol before being signed professionally.

Jeremy started his career by performing plays in his school and later went on to appear on the London Stage to play John the Baptist in Godspell in 1971. In the next few years, he appeared in a number of plays including ‘Much Ado About Nothing’, ‘The Winter’s Tale’, ‘The Caretaker’ and ‘The Taming of the Shrew’.

He made his Television debut in 1971 with an appearance in the series ‘The Rivals of Sherlock Homes’. He made several appearances on the British Television, his first major role being that of Mikhail Fokine in Nijinsky.

He gained a wider recognition with his role of Charles Ryder in the 1981 movie, ‘Brideshead Revisited’ which was an adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s classic novel of the same name.

He made his Broadway debut in the 1984 Tom Stoppard directed play – The Real Thing. He got the Tony Award for this role.

He then played twin gynecologists in the 1988 psycho thriller ‘Dead Ringers’ and his most popular role was the accused murderer Claus von Bulow in the movie ‘Reversal of Fortune’ for which he grabbed an Academy Award along with many others.

For his outstanding acting in ‘Dead Ringers’, he won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor, Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor and the Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for his role as Beverly/ Elliot Mantle in the movie Dead Ringers.

In 1990, he appeared in the movie ‘Reversal of Fortune’ and won an Oscar for it.

In a career of over 45 years, he has appeared in numerous films and has established himself as a versatile actor.

He has acted in several critically acclaimed movies including the 2015 film ‘The Man Who Knew Infinity’ and ‘Night Train to Lisbon’ in 2013.

His most recent ventures include reprising the role of Alfred in DCU’s movies. He will also be seen in the 2017 movies‘Red Sparrow’and ‘Birds Like Us’.

His first major film was ‘The French Lieutenant’s Woman’. This was a romantic drama and earned him a nomination for the BAFTA Awards.

Along with these, he was also cast in the mystery thriller ‘Kafka’, period drama ‘House of the spirits’, romantic drama ‘M. Butterfly’ and ‘Lolita’, action film ‘Die Hard with a Vengeance’, adventure film ‘Dungeons and Dragons’, drama films ‘Merchant of Venice’ and ‘Being Julia’.

Recently he was cast as Alfred Pennyworth in the DC Extended Universe, starting with ‘Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice’ and later in ‘Justice League and The Batman’.

Along with his major stage performances and films, he was also known as a renowned actor on TV. ‘Brideshead Revisited’, ‘Elizabeth I’, and ‘The Borgias’ were some of the popular shows that he starred in.

In 1978, Jeremy won his first major award for outstanding work in theatre. He won the Clarence Derwent Award for Best Male in a Supporting Role for his role as Jameson in the play ‘The Rear Column’. Also, his next venture ‘Henry in The Real Thing’ proved to be a successful venture and won him the Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance and the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play.

His first award for a movie was for his role as Father Gabriel in the 1986 movie The Mission. He received the David di Donatello Award for Best Foreign Actor for this.

The 1990 hit ‘Reversal of Fortune’ turned out to be a big breakthrough in his career. He received as many as 8 awards for his brilliant performance as Claus von Bulow in the film. His awards included Academy Award for Best Actor, Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor, Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor, Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor, David di Donatello Award for Best Foreign Actor, Golden Globe Award for Best Actor and many more.

He played Siegfried Sassoon in the movie ‘The Great War’ and the ‘Shaping of the 20th Century’ for which he received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance.

He won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film, Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor - Miniseries or Television Movie and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor – Miniseries or a Movie for his role in the movie Elizabeth I.

Along with these, he also received the Honorary César, European Film Awards for Special Achievement and the Giffoni Film Festival - François Truffaut Award; and also, won the Independent Spirit Award - Robert Altman Award for Margin Call and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Narrator for the ‘Game of Lions’.

Jeremy owns the Kilcoe Castle near Ballydehob, County Cork and has painted it pink. He has residences in Liberties of Dublin and in Cowes and a house in Oxfordshire.

In 1969, he married Julie Hallam but the two divorced later the same year.

He then married actress Sinéad Cusack in 1978. He has appeared with her in Waterland and in a few plays.

He has two sons, Samuel ‘Sam’ Irons and Maximilian ‘Max’ Irons. Both of them are actors.

His family is Catholic, but Jeremy describes himself as practicing Catholic and doesn’t believe in going to the church.

His current net worth is $10 Million.

He became a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN in 2011.