Cary Elwes

In 2000, Elwes married photographer Lisa Marie Kurbikoff. They had met in 1991 at a chili cook-off in Malibu, California and became engaged in December 1997 in Paris. They have one daughter named Dominique Elwes, born in 2007.

He is also involved with many charitable organizations and is currently the ambassador for the Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund with UNICEF.

Cary Elwes was born on 26 October 1962, in London into an illustrious family that had produced many well-known artists, musicians, poets, diplomats, priests and monks.

His father, Bede Evelyn Dominic Elwes, better known as Dominic Elwes, was a portrait painter while his mother, Tessa Kennedy, was an heiress and a noted interior designer. The couple made sensation, when they eloped to get married in Havana, Cuba.

Cary was born youngest of his parents’ three children, having two elder brothers; Cassian Elwes, who grew up to be an independent film producer and Damian Elwes, a reputed artist. From his mother’s second marriage to Hollywood film producer Elliott Kastner, he has two stepsiblings; Dillon and Milica.

Not much is known about his childhood except that he was an altar boy at Westminster Cathedral. However, unlike others in the family, he never attended denominational schools.

In January 1969, when Cary was six years old, his parents divorced and thereafter for some time, he split his time living partly with his father in Spain and partly with his mother in London. However, he was mostly raised in London.

In 1984, Elwes left college to begin his career in films, debuting in the same year in the movie ‘Another Country’, in which he portrayed the character of James Harcourt, a gay student and the love interest of the main character, Guy Bennett. Thereafter, he appeared briefly in ‘Oxford Blues’ (1984) and ‘The Bride’ (1985).

In 1986, Elwes got his first substantial role, appearing as Lord Guildford Dudley, the husband of Lady Jane Grey, the Nine Days' Queen, in a costume drama romance film called ‘Lady Jane’. Although the film failed to make much impact, his performance in this film earned him his greatest role.

In 1987, he appeared as Lev Glebovich Ganin in ‘Maschenka’, a British film adapted from Vladimir Nabokov’s debut novel. The film was shot in Germany and while he was shooting for it, he was contacted by Rob Reiner, the director of ‘The Princess Bride’ for the role of Westley.

His character in ‘The Princess Bride’ was a farmhand who would eventually rescue his true love, Princess Buttercup, from evil Prince Humperdinck. To play the part, he took fencing lessons for three months, spending much of his free time practicing.

‘The Princess Bride’ was released on September 25, 1987. Although the film was a modest box office hit it earned great critical acclaim. However, it did not result in deluge of roles.

Cary Elwes is best known for his 1987 film ‘The Princess Bride’, in which he appeared as Westley, the farmhand determined to save Princess Buttercup. It has now become a cult classic and even after thirty years of its release, fans frequently come up to Elwis to request him to quote dialogues from it.