Kenneth Branagh
Encyclopedia
Kenneth Charles Branagh (ˈbrænə ; born 10 December 1960) is an actor and film director from Northern Ireland
. He is best known for directing and starring in several film adaptations of William Shakespeare
's plays including Henry V
(1989) (for which was nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Actor
and Best Director), Much Ado About Nothing
(1993), Hamlet
(1996) (for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay), Love's Labour's Lost
(2000), and As You Like It
(2006).
He has also starred in numerous other films and television series including Wild Wild West
(1999), The Road to El Dorado
(2000), Conspiracy (TV) (2001), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
(2002), Warm Springs
(TV) (2005), Valkyrie
(2008), Wallander (TV series) (2008 - present), and My Week with Marilyn
(2011) as Laurence Olivier
; and directed such notable films as Dead Again
(1991) (also starring), Swan Song (1992) (Academy Award nominated for Best Live Action Short Film
), Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994) (also starring), The Magic Flute
(2006), Sleuth
(2007), and the blockbuster action film Thor
(2011).
, the son of working-class Protestant
parents Frances (née Harper) and William Branagh, a plumber and joiner who ran a company that specialised in fitting partitions and suspended ceilings. At the age of nine, he relocated with his family to Reading
, Berkshire to escape the Troubles
. He was educated at Grove Primary School
, Whiteknights Primary School, then Meadway School, Tilehurst, where he appeared in school productions such as Toad of Toad Hall
" and Oh, What a Lovely War!
. At school, he acquired an English accent to avoid bullying. On his identity today he has said, "I feel Irish. I don't think you can take Belfast out of the boy," and he attributes his "love of words" to his Irish heritage.
Branagh went on to train at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
.
trilogy known as the Billy Plays (1982–84), written by Graham Reid
and set in Belfast.
He received acclaim in the UK for his stage performances, first winning the 1982 SWET
Award for Best Newcomer, for his role as Judd in Julian Mitchell
's Another Country
, immediately after leaving RADA
. Branagh was part of the 'new wave’ of actors to emerge from the Academy. Others included Jonathan Pryce
, Juliet Stevenson
, Alan Rickman
, Anton Lesser
, Bruce Payne
and Fiona Shaw
. In 1984 he appeared in the Royal Shakespeare Company production of Henry V, directed by Adrian Noble. The production played to full houses, especially at the Barbican in London. It was this production that he adapted for the film version of the play in 1989. He and David Parfitt
founded the Renaissance Theatre Company
in 1987, following success with several productions on the London 'Fringe', including Branagh's full-scale production of Romeo and Juliet
at the Lyric Studio, co-starring with Samantha Bond. The first major Renaissance production was Branagh's Christmas 1987 staging of Twelfth Night at Riverside Studios
in Hammersmith, starring Richard Briers
as Malvolio
and Frances Barber
as Viola, and with an original score by actor, musician and composer Patrick Doyle
, who two years later was to compose the music for Branagh's film adaptation of Henry V
. This Twelfth Night was later adapted for television.
Branagh became a major presence in the media and on the British stage when Renaissance collaborated with Birmingham Rep for a 1988 touring season of three Shakespeare plays under the umbrella title of Renaissance Shakespeare on the Road, which also played a repertory season at the Phoenix Theatre
in London. It featured directorial debuts for Judi Dench
with Much Ado About Nothing
(starring Branagh and Emma Thompson as Benedick and Beatrice), Geraldine McEwan
with As You Like It
, and Derek Jacobi
directing Branagh in the title role in Hamlet
, with Sophie Thompson
as Ophelia. Critic Milton Shulman
of the London Evening Standard
wrote: "On the positive side Branagh has the vitality of Olivier
, the passion of Gielgud
, the assurance of Guinness, to mention but three famous actors who have essayed the role. On the negative side, he has not got the magnetism of Olivier, nor the mellifluous voice quality of Gielgud nor the intelligence of Guinness."
A year later in 1989 Branagh co-starred with Emma Thompson
in the Renaissance revival of Look Back in Anger
. Judi Dench directed both the theatre and television productions, presented first in Belfast
then at the London Coliseum and Lyric Theatre
.
In 2002, Branagh starred at the Crucible Theatre
, Sheffield
as Richard III
. In 2003 he starred in the Royal National Theatre
's production of David Mamet
's Edmond
. Branagh directed The Play What I Wrote in England in 2001 and directed a Broadway production in 2003. From September to November 2008, Branagh appeared at Wyndham's Theatre
as the title character in the Donmar West End
revival of Anton Chekhov
's Ivanov in a new version by Tom Stoppard
. His performance was lauded as the "performance of the year" by several critics. It won him the Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Male Performance but did not get him a Laurence Olivier Award nomination, to the surprise of critics.
, beginning with Henry V
(1989), followed by Much Ado About Nothing
(1993), Hamlet
(1996), Love's Labour's Lost
(2000) and As You Like It
(2006). As You Like It premiered in theatres in Europe, but was sent directly to television in the U.S., where it aired on HBO in August 2007. Branagh was also in Oliver Parker
's Othello
playing Iago
.
Notable non-Shakespeare films in which Branagh has appeared include Dead Again
(1991) and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994), both of which he also directed, Wild Wild West
(1999), Rabbit-Proof Fence
(2002) and Valkyrie
(2008). He starred as Gilderoy Lockhart in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
(2002). He also played the Minister, Dormandy, (a parody of PMG Tony Benn
) in the film The Boat That Rocked
(2009). From 1989 to 1996 Branagh mostly directed his own films, but the commercial and critical failure of Love's Labour's Lost ended his directorial career for a time. In 2006, the same year that Branagh's film version of As You Like It was released, he also directed a film version of Mozart
's opera The Magic Flute
. Branagh has also directed the thriller Sleuth
(2007), a remake of the 1972 film. At a film promotion for Valkyrie in 2008, Branagh confirmed that he would be directing Thor
, a film based on the Marvel
superhero. Thor, Branagh's return to big-budget directing, released on 6 May 2011. In 2011, Branagh portrayed Sir Laurence Olivier in My Week with Marilyn
.
in the film Warm Springs
(2005), for which he received an Emmy Award nomination. Though the film received 16 Emmy nominations, winning five (including Best Made-For-Television Film), Branagh did not win the award for his portrayal. He did, though, receive an Emmy for his portrayal of SS
leader Reinhard Heydrich
in the TV film Conspiracy (2001), a depiction of the Wannsee Conference
, where Nazi officials decided on the Final Solution
. In 2002 Branagh starred in the two-part television movie Shackleton, a dramatization of the 1914 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition's
battle for survival, for which he was nominated for a BAFTA award and an Emmy. Branagh also narrated the BBC documentaries Walking With Dinosaurs
, World War 1 in Colour
, Walking With Beasts
and Walking With Monsters
, and the BBC miniseries Great Composers.
Branagh is the star of the Wallander television series, adaptations of Henning Mankell
's best-selling Wallander crime novels. Branagh plays the eponymous Inspector Kurt Wallander
and also serves as the executive producer of the series. The first three films were broadcast on BBC One
in November and December 2008. Branagh won the award for best actor at the 35th Broadcasting Press Guild Television and Radio Awards
(2009). It was his first major television award win in the UK. He received his first BAFTA TV on 26 April 2009 for the British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series
. For his performance in the episode One Step Behind, he was nominated in the Outstanding Actor, Miniseries or Movie category of the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards
. The role also gained him a nomination for Best Actor at the 2009 Crime Thriller Awards. The second season of three episodes were filmed in 2009 and aired in January 2010 on the BBC and October/November 2010 on PBS in the US. Plans have been announced for a third season of six episodes—the last three Mankell novels, as well as three original Wallander stories.
.
s, such as The Magician's Nephew
by C. S. Lewis
.
from 20 August 1989 until 1995. After their divorce, he was in a well-publicised relationship for several years with actress Helena Bonham Carter
, whom he directed and starred with in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
. In 2003, he married film art director Lindsay Brunnock, to whom he was introduced by Bonham Carter in 1997.
He speaks Italian and is a lifelong supporter of Belfast football team Linfield
, as well as Tottenham Hotspur.
. His first two nominations were for Henry V
(one each for directing and acting). He also received similar BAFTA Award nominations for his film work, winning one for his direction. His first BAFTA TV award came in April 2009, for Best Drama Series (Wallander). Branagh's two other Academy Award nominations were for the 1992 film short subject
Swan Song and for his work on the screenplay of Hamlet in 1996. Branagh has co-starred several times with actress Emma Thompson
, to whom he was married from 1989 to 1995. They appeared together in Look Back In Anger, Henry V, Much Ado About Nothing, Dead Again
, and Peter's Friends
. More recently, they both appeared in The Boat That Rocked
, though with no shared scenes.
He is Honorary President of NICVA (the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action). He received an honorary Doctorate in Literature from Queen's University of Belfast
in 1990. He is also a patron for the charity Over The Wall.
In 1994, Branagh declined an appointment as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire
(CBE).
Branagh was the youngest actor to receive the Golden Quill
(also known as the Gielgud Award) in 2000.
Alongside Roberto Benigni
, he is one of only two non-American actors to be nominated for Oscars for acting, writing, and directing, and one of nine actors to have achieved this honour. The other seven are Orson Welles
, Woody Allen
, Warren Beatty
, Clint Eastwood
, George Clooney
, John Huston
and John Cassavetes
.
On 10 July 2009, Branagh was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the RomaFictionFest.
| rowspan=2 | 1989
| rowspan=2 | Henry V
| Best Actor
|
|-
| Best Director
|
|-
| 1992
| Swan Song
| Best Live Action Short Film
|
|-
| 1996
| Hamlet
| Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
|
| 1987
| Fortunes of War
| Best Actor - Television
|
|-
| rowspan=2 | 1989
| rowspan=2 | Henry V
| Best Actor in a Leading Role - Film
|
|-
| Best Direction - Film
|
|-
| rowspan=2 | 2002
| Conspiracy
| Best Actor - Television
|
|-
| Shackleton
| Best Actor - Television
|
|-
| 2008
| rowspan=2 | Wallander
| Best Drama Series - Television
|
|-
| 2009
| Best Actor - Television
|
| 2001
| Conspiracy
| Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie
|
|-
| 2002
| Shackleton
| Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie
|
|-
| 2005
| Warm Springs
| Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie
|
|-
| 2009
| Wallander: One Step Behind
| Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie
|
| rowspan=3 | 1990
| rowspan=3 | Henry V
| European Actor of the Year
|
|-
| Best Director
|
|-
| Young European Film of the Year
|
| 1993
| Much Ado About Nothing
| Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
|
|-
| 2001
| Conspiracy
| Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film
|
|-
| 2005
| Warm Springs
| Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film
|
|-
| 2009
| Wallander: One Step Behind
| Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film
|
| 1993
| Much Ado About Nothing
| Best Film
|
| 1995
| Othello
| Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
|
|-
| 1995
| Warm Springs
| Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie
|
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
. He is best known for directing and starring in several film adaptations of William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's plays including Henry V
Henry V (1989 film)
Henry V is a 1989 film directed by Kenneth Branagh, based on William Shakespeare's play The Life of Henry the Fifth about the famous English king. Branagh stars in the title role, and wrote the screenplay. The film was highly acclaimed on its release....
(1989) (for which was nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Actor
Academy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
and Best Director), Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing (film)
Much Ado About Nothing is a 1993 British/American romantic comedy film based on William Shakespeare's play. It was adapted for the screen and directed by Kenneth Branagh, who also played the role of Benedick....
(1993), Hamlet
Hamlet (1996 film)
Hamlet is a 1996 film version of William Shakespeare's classic play of the same name, adapted and directed by Kenneth Branagh, who also stars in the title role as Prince Hamlet...
(1996) (for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay), Love's Labour's Lost
Love's Labour's Lost (2000 film)
Love's Labour's Lost is a 2000 adaptation of the comic play of the same name by William Shakespeare, directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh. It was the first feature film to be made of this lesser-known comedy...
(2000), and As You Like It
As You Like It (2006 film)
As You Like It is a 2006 film directed by Kenneth Branagh. It is based on the play As You Like It by William Shakespeare. The play's setting is relocated from medieval France to a European colony in late 19th century Japan after the Meiji Restoration. It was shot at Shepperton Film Studios and on...
(2006).
He has also starred in numerous other films and television series including Wild Wild West
Wild Wild West
Wild Wild West is a 1999 American steampunk action-comedy film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, and starring Will Smith, Kevin Kline , Kenneth Branagh and Salma Hayek.Similar to the original TV series it was based on, The Wild Wild West, the film features a large amount of gadgetry...
(1999), The Road to El Dorado
The Road to El Dorado
The Road to El Dorado is a 2000 American animated adventure comedy film by DreamWorks. The soundtrack features songs by Elton John and Tim Rice, the music team from Disney's The Lion King....
(2000), Conspiracy (TV) (2001), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is a 2002 fantasy film directed by Chris Columbus and based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. It is the second instalment in the Harry Potter film series, written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman...
(2002), Warm Springs
Warm Springs (film)
Warm Springs is a 2005 television film about American President Franklin D. Roosevelt's struggle with polio, his discovery of the Warm Springs, Georgia spa resort and his work to turn it into a center for the aid of polio victims, and his resumption of his political career...
(TV) (2005), Valkyrie
Valkyrie (film)
Valkyrie is a 2008 American historical thriller film set in Nazi Germany during World War II. The film depicts the 20 July plot in 1944 by German army officers to assassinate Adolf Hitler and to use the Operation Valkyrie national emergency plan to take control of the country...
(2008), Wallander (TV series) (2008 - present), and My Week with Marilyn
My Week with Marilyn
My Week with Marilyn is a British drama film directed by Simon Curtis and written by Adrian Hodges. It stars Michelle Williams, Kenneth Branagh, Eddie Redmayne, Dougray Scott, Judi Dench and Emma Watson. Based on two books by Colin Clark, it depicts the making of the 1957 film The Prince and the...
(2011) as Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
; and directed such notable films as Dead Again
Dead Again
Dead Again is a 1991 psychological thriller/neo-noir directed by Kenneth Branagh, starring Branagh and his then-wife Emma Thompson. Andy García, Derek Jacobi and Robin Williams are also featured.-Plot summary:...
(1991) (also starring), Swan Song (1992) (Academy Award nominated for Best Live Action Short Film
Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film
This name for the Academy Award for Live Action Short Film was introduced in 1974. For the three preceding years it was known as "Short Subjects, Live Action Films." The term "Short Subjects, Live Action Subjects" was used from 1957 until 1970. From 1936 until 1956 there were two separate...
), Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994) (also starring), The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute (2006 film)
The Magic Flute is Kenneth Branagh's English-language film version of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's singspiel Die Zauberflöte. The film is a co-production between France & the UK, produced by Idéale Audience and in association with UK's The Peter Moores Foundation.In November 2005, it was announced...
(2006), Sleuth
Sleuth (2007 film)
Sleuth is a 2007 thriller film directed by Kenneth Branagh and starring Jude Law and Michael Caine. The screenplay by Harold Pinter is an adaption of Anthony Shaffer's Tony Award-winning play Sleuth...
(2007), and the blockbuster action film Thor
Thor (film)
Thor is a 2011 American superhero film based on the comic book character of the same name published by Marvel Comics. It is the fourth film released as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe...
(2011).
Early life
Branagh, the middle of three children, was born and brought up in BelfastBelfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, the son of working-class Protestant
Protestantism in Ireland
Protestantism in Ireland- 20th Century decline and other developments:In 1991, the population of the Republic of Ireland was approximately 3% Protestant, but the figure was over 10% in 1891, indicating a fall of 70% in the relative Protestant population over the past century.The effect of...
parents Frances (née Harper) and William Branagh, a plumber and joiner who ran a company that specialised in fitting partitions and suspended ceilings. At the age of nine, he relocated with his family to Reading
Reading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
, Berkshire to escape the Troubles
The Troubles
The Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...
. He was educated at Grove Primary School
Grove Primary School, Belfast
Grove Primary School is a co-educational, non-denominational primary school in north Belfast, Northern Ireland. The school is located on North Queen Street, Belfast, BT15 3DJ, Northern Ireland. The closest High School to Grove Primary is Castle High School....
, Whiteknights Primary School, then Meadway School, Tilehurst, where he appeared in school productions such as Toad of Toad Hall
Toad of Toad Hall
Toad of Toad Hall is the first of several dramatisations of Kenneth Grahame's 1908 novel The Wind in the Willows. It was written by A. A. Milne, with incidental music by Harold Fraser-Simson....
" and Oh, What a Lovely War!
Oh, What a Lovely War!
Oh, What a Lovely War! is an epic musical originated by Charles Chilton as a radio play, The Long Long Trail in December 1961, and transferred to stage by Gerry Raffles in partnership with Joan Littlewood and her Theatre Workshop in 1963...
. At school, he acquired an English accent to avoid bullying. On his identity today he has said, "I feel Irish. I don't think you can take Belfast out of the boy," and he attributes his "love of words" to his Irish heritage.
Branagh went on to train at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art is a drama school located in London, United Kingdom. It is generally regarded as one of the most renowned drama schools in the world, and is one of the oldest drama schools in the United Kingdom, having been founded in 1904.RADA is an affiliate school of the...
.
Stage work
Branagh achieved some early measure of success in his native Northern Ireland for his role as the title character in the BBC's Play for TodayPlay for Today
Play for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted...
trilogy known as the Billy Plays (1982–84), written by Graham Reid
Graham Reid (writer)
Graham Reid is a playwright from Belfast, Northern Ireland.-Background:Born into a working class family in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Reid left school at age 15, served in the British army, married young, but returned to education and graduated from Queen's University in 1976...
and set in Belfast.
He received acclaim in the UK for his stage performances, first winning the 1982 SWET
Laurence Olivier Awards
The Laurence Olivier Award is presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre. Named after the renowned British actor Laurence Olivier, they are given for West End shows and other productions staged in London...
Award for Best Newcomer, for his role as Judd in Julian Mitchell
Julian Mitchell
Julian Mitchell FRSL , full name Charles Julian Humphrey Mitchell, is an English playwright, screenwriter and occasional novelist...
's Another Country
Another Country (play)
Another Country is a play written by English playwright Julian Mitchell that premiered in 1981 at the Greenwich Theatre in south-east London and later transferred to the West End in March 1982. In the summer of 2000 the play was revived at The Oxford Playhouse. From 4 September 2000 until 28...
, immediately after leaving RADA
Rada
Rada is the term for "council" or "assembly"borrowed by Polish from the Low Franconian "Rad" and later passed into the Czech, Ukrainian, and Belarusian languages....
. Branagh was part of the 'new wave’ of actors to emerge from the Academy. Others included Jonathan Pryce
Jonathan Pryce
Jonathan Pryce, CBE is a Welsh stage and film actor and singer. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and meeting his longtime partner English actress Kate Fahy in 1974, he began his career as a stage actor in the 1970s...
, Juliet Stevenson
Juliet Stevenson
Juliet Anne Virginia Stevenson, CBE is an English actor of stage and screen.- Early life :Stevenson was born in Kelvedon, Essex, England, the daughter of Virginia Ruth , a teacher, and Michael Guy Stevenson, an army officer. Stevenson's father was in the army and was posted to a new place every...
, Alan Rickman
Alan Rickman
Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman is an English actor and theatre director. He is a renowned stage actor in modern and classical productions and a former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company...
, Anton Lesser
Anton Lesser
Anton Lesser is a British actor. He attended Moseley Grammar School and the University of Liverpool before going to RADA in 1977 where he was awarded the Bancroft Gold Medal as the most promising actor of his year....
, Bruce Payne
Bruce Payne
Bruce Martyn Payne is an award winning English character actor and producer and was a member of the 1980's Brit Pack. Although he is best known for his villainous roles, Bruce Payne has played characters across the spectrum...
and Fiona Shaw
Fiona Shaw
Fiona Shaw, CBE is an Irish actress and theatre director. Although to international audiences she is probably most familiar for her minor role as Petunia Dursley in the Harry Potter films, she is an accomplished classical actress...
. In 1984 he appeared in the Royal Shakespeare Company production of Henry V, directed by Adrian Noble. The production played to full houses, especially at the Barbican in London. It was this production that he adapted for the film version of the play in 1989. He and David Parfitt
David Parfitt
David Parfitt is a film producer and actor. He won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1998 for Shakespeare in Love....
founded the Renaissance Theatre Company
Renaissance Theatre Company
The Renaissance Theatre Company was founded in 1987 by Kenneth Branagh and David Parfitt as a development of the work they had been doing periodically on the London 'Fringe', producing and appearing in lunchtime shows, leading up to Branagh's full-scale production of Romeo and Juliet, at the Lyric...
in 1987, following success with several productions on the London 'Fringe', including Branagh's full-scale production of Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
at the Lyric Studio, co-starring with Samantha Bond. The first major Renaissance production was Branagh's Christmas 1987 staging of Twelfth Night at Riverside Studios
Riverside Studios
Riverside Studios is a production studio, theatre and independent cinema on the banks of the River Thames in Hammersmith, London, England. It plays host to contemporary and international dramatic and dance performance, film, visual art exhibitions and television production.-History:In 1933, the...
in Hammersmith, starring Richard Briers
Richard Briers
Richard David Briers, CBE is an English actor whose career has encompassed theatre, television, film and radio.He first came to prominence as George Starling in Marriage Lines in the 1960s, but it was in the following decade when he played Tom Good in the BBC sitcom The Good Life that he became a...
as Malvolio
Malvolio
Malvolio is the steward of Olivia's household in William Shakespeare's comedy, Twelfth Night, or What You Will.-Style:Malvolio's ethical values are commonly used to define his appearance.In the play, Malvolio is defined as a "kind of" Puritan...
and Frances Barber
Frances Barber
Frances Barber is an Olivier Award-nominated English actress with a long and distinguished stage career. She has also appeared in numerous television productions...
as Viola, and with an original score by actor, musician and composer Patrick Doyle
Patrick Doyle
Patrick Doyle is a Scottish musician and film score composer. A longtime collaborator of actor/director Kenneth Branagh, Doyle is known for his work scoring such critically acclaimed films as Henry V , Sense and Sensibility , Hamlet , and Gosford Park , as well as noteworthy blockbusters as Harry...
, who two years later was to compose the music for Branagh's film adaptation of Henry V
Henry V (1989 film)
Henry V is a 1989 film directed by Kenneth Branagh, based on William Shakespeare's play The Life of Henry the Fifth about the famous English king. Branagh stars in the title role, and wrote the screenplay. The film was highly acclaimed on its release....
. This Twelfth Night was later adapted for television.
Branagh became a major presence in the media and on the British stage when Renaissance collaborated with Birmingham Rep for a 1988 touring season of three Shakespeare plays under the umbrella title of Renaissance Shakespeare on the Road, which also played a repertory season at the Phoenix Theatre
Phoenix Theatre (London)
The Phoenix Theatre is a West End theatre in the London Borough of Camden, located on Charing Cross Road . The entrance is in Phoenix Street....
in London. It featured directorial debuts for Judi Dench
Judi Dench
Dame Judith Olivia "Judi" Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English film, stage and television actress.Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo...
with Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy written by William Shakespeare about two pairs of lovers, Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero....
(starring Branagh and Emma Thompson as Benedick and Beatrice), Geraldine McEwan
Geraldine McEwan
Geraldine McEwan is an English actor with a diverse history in theatre, film, and television. From 2004 to 2009 she appeared as Miss Marple, the Agatha Christie sleuth, for the series Marple.-Background:...
with As You Like It
As You Like It
As You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the folio of 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility...
, and Derek Jacobi
Derek Jacobi
Sir Derek George Jacobi, CBE is an English actor and film director.A "forceful, commanding stage presence", Jacobi has enjoyed a highly successful stage career, appearing in such stage productions as Hamlet, Uncle Vanya, and Oedipus the King. He received a Tony Award for his performance in...
directing Branagh in the title role in Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
, with Sophie Thompson
Sophie Thompson
Sophie Thompson is an award-winning English actress, best known for playing Stella Crawford in EastEnders.-Early life:...
as Ophelia. Critic Milton Shulman
Milton Shulman
Milton Shulman was a Canadian author, film and theatre critic.-Early life:He was born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of a successful shopkeeper. His parents were born in Ukraine and were driven out of the Russian Empire by poverty and the pogroms against the Jews...
of the London Evening Standard
Evening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
wrote: "On the positive side Branagh has the vitality of Olivier
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
, the passion of Gielgud
John Gielgud
Sir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH was an English actor, director, and producer. A descendant of the renowned Terry acting family, he achieved early international acclaim for his youthful, emotionally expressive Hamlet which broke box office records on Broadway in 1937...
, the assurance of Guinness, to mention but three famous actors who have essayed the role. On the negative side, he has not got the magnetism of Olivier, nor the mellifluous voice quality of Gielgud nor the intelligence of Guinness."
A year later in 1989 Branagh co-starred with Emma Thompson
Emma Thompson
Emma Thompson is a British actress, comedian and screenwriter. Her first major film role was in the 1989 romantic comedy The Tall Guy. In 1992, Thompson won multiple acting awards, including an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award for Best Actress, for her performance in the British drama Howards End...
in the Renaissance revival of Look Back in Anger
Look Back in Anger
Look Back in Anger is a John Osborne play—made into films in 1959, 1980, and 1989 -- about a love triangle involving an intelligent but disaffected young man , his upper-middle-class, impassive wife , and her haughty best friend . Cliff, an amiable Welsh lodger, attempts to keep the peace...
. Judi Dench directed both the theatre and television productions, presented first in Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
then at the London Coliseum and Lyric Theatre
Lyric Theatre (London)
The Lyric Theatre is a West End theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster.Designed by architect C. J. Phipps, it was built by producer Henry Leslie with profits from the Alfred Cellier and B. C. Stephenson hit, Dorothy, which he transferred from the Prince of Wales Theatre to open...
.
In 2002, Branagh starred at the Crucible Theatre
Crucible Theatre
The Crucible Theatre is a theatre built in 1971 and located in the city centre of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. As well as theatrical performances, it is home to the most important event in professional snooker, the World Snooker Championship....
, Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
as Richard III
Richard III (play)
Richard III is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1591. It depicts the Machiavellian rise to power and subsequent short reign of Richard III of England. The play is grouped among the histories in the First Folio and is most often classified...
. In 2003 he starred in the Royal National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
's production of David Mamet
David Mamet
David Alan Mamet is an American playwright, essayist, screenwriter and film director.Best known as a playwright, Mamet won a Pulitzer Prize and received a Tony nomination for Glengarry Glen Ross . He also received a Tony nomination for Speed-the-Plow . As a screenwriter, he received Oscar...
's Edmond
Edmond (play)
Edmond is a one-act play written by David Mamet. It premiered at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, on June 4, 1982. The first New York production was October 27 of the same year, at the Provincetown Playhouse. The play consists of twenty-three short scenes. In the original production, each of the...
. Branagh directed The Play What I Wrote in England in 2001 and directed a Broadway production in 2003. From September to November 2008, Branagh appeared at Wyndham's Theatre
Wyndham's Theatre
Wyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by the actor/manager Charles Wyndham . Located on Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster, it was designed by W.G.R. Sprague about 1898, the architect of six other London theatres between then and 1916...
as the title character in the Donmar West End
Donmar Warehouse
Donmar Warehouse is a small not-for-profit theatre in the Covent Garden area of London, with a capacity of 251.-About:Under the artistic leadership of Michael Grandage, the theatre has presented some of London’s most memorable award-winning theatrical experiences, as well as garnered critical...
revival of Anton Chekhov
Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
's Ivanov in a new version by Tom Stoppard
Tom Stoppard
Sir Tom Stoppard OM, CBE, FRSL is a British playwright, knighted in 1997. He has written prolifically for TV, radio, film and stage, finding prominence with plays such as Arcadia, The Coast of Utopia, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Professional Foul, The Real Thing, and Rosencrantz and...
. His performance was lauded as the "performance of the year" by several critics. It won him the Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Male Performance but did not get him a Laurence Olivier Award nomination, to the surprise of critics.
Film work
Branagh is known for his film adaptations of William ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
, beginning with Henry V
Henry V (1989 film)
Henry V is a 1989 film directed by Kenneth Branagh, based on William Shakespeare's play The Life of Henry the Fifth about the famous English king. Branagh stars in the title role, and wrote the screenplay. The film was highly acclaimed on its release....
(1989), followed by Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing (film)
Much Ado About Nothing is a 1993 British/American romantic comedy film based on William Shakespeare's play. It was adapted for the screen and directed by Kenneth Branagh, who also played the role of Benedick....
(1993), Hamlet
Hamlet (1996 film)
Hamlet is a 1996 film version of William Shakespeare's classic play of the same name, adapted and directed by Kenneth Branagh, who also stars in the title role as Prince Hamlet...
(1996), Love's Labour's Lost
Love's Labour's Lost (2000 film)
Love's Labour's Lost is a 2000 adaptation of the comic play of the same name by William Shakespeare, directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh. It was the first feature film to be made of this lesser-known comedy...
(2000) and As You Like It
As You Like It (2006 film)
As You Like It is a 2006 film directed by Kenneth Branagh. It is based on the play As You Like It by William Shakespeare. The play's setting is relocated from medieval France to a European colony in late 19th century Japan after the Meiji Restoration. It was shot at Shepperton Film Studios and on...
(2006). As You Like It premiered in theatres in Europe, but was sent directly to television in the U.S., where it aired on HBO in August 2007. Branagh was also in Oliver Parker
Oliver Parker
Oliver Parker is an English film director.-Biography:Parker was born in London, the son of Jillian, Lady Parker, a writer and GP , and Sir Peter Parker, formerly Chief executive of British Rail...
's Othello
Othello (1995 film)
Othello is a 1995 film based on William Shakespeare's tragedy of the same name. It was directed by Oliver Parker and stars Laurence Fishburne as Othello, Irène Jacob as Desdemona, and Kenneth Branagh as Iago...
playing Iago
Iago
Iago is a fictional character in Shakespeare's Othello . The character's source is traced to Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio's tale "Un Capitano Moro" in Gli Hecatommithi . There, the character is simply "the ensign". Iago is a soldier and Othello's ancient . He is the husband of Emilia,...
.
Notable non-Shakespeare films in which Branagh has appeared include Dead Again
Dead Again
Dead Again is a 1991 psychological thriller/neo-noir directed by Kenneth Branagh, starring Branagh and his then-wife Emma Thompson. Andy García, Derek Jacobi and Robin Williams are also featured.-Plot summary:...
(1991) and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994), both of which he also directed, Wild Wild West
Wild Wild West
Wild Wild West is a 1999 American steampunk action-comedy film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, and starring Will Smith, Kevin Kline , Kenneth Branagh and Salma Hayek.Similar to the original TV series it was based on, The Wild Wild West, the film features a large amount of gadgetry...
(1999), Rabbit-Proof Fence
Rabbit-Proof Fence (film)
Rabbit-Proof Fence is a 2002 Australian drama film directed by Phillip Noyce based on the book Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence by Doris Pilkington Garimara...
(2002) and Valkyrie
Valkyrie (film)
Valkyrie is a 2008 American historical thriller film set in Nazi Germany during World War II. The film depicts the 20 July plot in 1944 by German army officers to assassinate Adolf Hitler and to use the Operation Valkyrie national emergency plan to take control of the country...
(2008). He starred as Gilderoy Lockhart in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is a 2002 fantasy film directed by Chris Columbus and based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. It is the second instalment in the Harry Potter film series, written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman...
(2002). He also played the Minister, Dormandy, (a parody of PMG Tony Benn
Tony Benn
Anthony Neil Wedgwood "Tony" Benn, PC is a British Labour Party politician and a former MP and Cabinet Minister.His successful campaign to renounce his hereditary peerage was instrumental in the creation of the Peerage Act 1963...
) in the film The Boat That Rocked
The Boat That Rocked
The Boat That Rocked is a 2009 British comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis, with pirate radio in the United Kingdom during the 1960s as its setting. The film has an ensemble cast featuring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Rhys Ifans, Nick Frost, and Kenneth Branagh...
(2009). From 1989 to 1996 Branagh mostly directed his own films, but the commercial and critical failure of Love's Labour's Lost ended his directorial career for a time. In 2006, the same year that Branagh's film version of As You Like It was released, he also directed a film version of Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
's opera The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute is an opera in two acts composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue....
. Branagh has also directed the thriller Sleuth
Sleuth (2007 film)
Sleuth is a 2007 thriller film directed by Kenneth Branagh and starring Jude Law and Michael Caine. The screenplay by Harold Pinter is an adaption of Anthony Shaffer's Tony Award-winning play Sleuth...
(2007), a remake of the 1972 film. At a film promotion for Valkyrie in 2008, Branagh confirmed that he would be directing Thor
Thor (film)
Thor is a 2011 American superhero film based on the comic book character of the same name published by Marvel Comics. It is the fourth film released as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe...
, a film based on the Marvel
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
superhero. Thor, Branagh's return to big-budget directing, released on 6 May 2011. In 2011, Branagh portrayed Sir Laurence Olivier in My Week with Marilyn
My Week with Marilyn
My Week with Marilyn is a British drama film directed by Simon Curtis and written by Adrian Hodges. It stars Michelle Williams, Kenneth Branagh, Eddie Redmayne, Dougray Scott, Judi Dench and Emma Watson. Based on two books by Colin Clark, it depicts the making of the 1957 film The Prince and the...
.
Television
Branagh has also been involved in several made-for-TV films. Among his most acclaimed portrayals is that of US President Franklin D. RooseveltFranklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
in the film Warm Springs
Warm Springs (film)
Warm Springs is a 2005 television film about American President Franklin D. Roosevelt's struggle with polio, his discovery of the Warm Springs, Georgia spa resort and his work to turn it into a center for the aid of polio victims, and his resumption of his political career...
(2005), for which he received an Emmy Award nomination. Though the film received 16 Emmy nominations, winning five (including Best Made-For-Television Film), Branagh did not win the award for his portrayal. He did, though, receive an Emmy for his portrayal of SS
Schutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
leader Reinhard Heydrich
Reinhard Heydrich
Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich , also known as The Hangman, was a high-ranking German Nazi official.He was SS-Obergruppenführer and General der Polizei, chief of the Reich Main Security Office and Stellvertretender Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia...
in the TV film Conspiracy (2001), a depiction of the Wannsee Conference
Wannsee Conference
The Wannsee Conference was a meeting of senior officials of the Nazi German regime, held in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee on 20 January 1942. The purpose of the conference was to inform administrative leaders of Departments responsible for various policies relating to Jews, that Reinhard Heydrich...
, where Nazi officials decided on the Final Solution
Final Solution
The Final Solution was Nazi Germany's plan and execution of the systematic genocide of European Jews during World War II, resulting in the most deadly phase of the Holocaust...
. In 2002 Branagh starred in the two-part television movie Shackleton, a dramatization of the 1914 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition's
Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition
The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition , also known as the Endurance Expedition, is considered the last major expedition of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Conceived by Sir Ernest Shackleton, the expedition was an attempt to make the first land crossing of the Antarctic continent...
battle for survival, for which he was nominated for a BAFTA award and an Emmy. Branagh also narrated the BBC documentaries Walking With Dinosaurs
Walking with Dinosaurs
Walking with Dinosaurs is a six-part documentary television miniseries that was produced by BBC, narrated by Kenneth Branagh, and first aired in the United Kingdom, in 1999. The series was subsequently aired in North America on the Discovery Channel in 2000, with Branagh's voice replaced with that...
, World War 1 in Colour
World War 1 in Colour
World War 1 in Colour is a documentary narrated by Kenneth Branagh. The first of its six parts aired on 1 September 1990 in the United Kingdom. It was released on DVD in the United States as World War 1 in Color on 10 May 2005...
, Walking With Beasts
Walking with Beasts
Walking with Beasts is a 2001 six-part television documentary miniseries, produced by the BBC in the United Kingdom, narrated by Kenneth Branagh. In North America it has been retitled Walking with Prehistoric Beasts, and the original Discovery Channel broadcast was narrated by Stockard Channing...
and Walking With Monsters
Walking with Monsters
Walking with Monsters is a three-part British documentary film series about life in the Paleozoic, bringing to life extinct arthropods, fish, amphibians, synapsids, and reptiles...
, and the BBC miniseries Great Composers.
Branagh is the star of the Wallander television series, adaptations of Henning Mankell
Henning Mankell
Henning Mankell is a Swedish crime writer, children's author, leftist activist and dramatist, best known for a series of mystery novels starring his most famous creation, Inspector Kurt Wallander.-Life and career:...
's best-selling Wallander crime novels. Branagh plays the eponymous Inspector Kurt Wallander
Kurt Wallander
Kurt Wallander is a fictional character created by Swedish crime writer Henning Mankell. The protagonist of several mystery novels, set in and around the town of Ystad, 60 km south-east of the city of Malmö, in the southern province of Skåne...
and also serves as the executive producer of the series. The first three films were broadcast on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
in November and December 2008. Branagh won the award for best actor at the 35th Broadcasting Press Guild Television and Radio Awards
Broadcasting Press Guild
The Broadcasting Press Guild is a British association of journalists who specialise in writing and broadcasting about television, radio and the media generally....
(2009). It was his first major television award win in the UK. He received his first BAFTA TV on 26 April 2009 for the British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series
British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series
The British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series is one of the major categories of the British Academy Television Awards , the primary awards ceremony of the British television industry...
. For his performance in the episode One Step Behind, he was nominated in the Outstanding Actor, Miniseries or Movie category of the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards
61st Primetime Emmy Awards
The 61st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards took place on September 20, 2009. CBS broadcast the Primetime event and E! the Creative Arts event; both take place at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California. The nominations for the Awards were announced on July 16....
. The role also gained him a nomination for Best Actor at the 2009 Crime Thriller Awards. The second season of three episodes were filmed in 2009 and aired in January 2010 on the BBC and October/November 2010 on PBS in the US. Plans have been announced for a third season of six episodes—the last three Mankell novels, as well as three original Wallander stories.
Radio
Branagh has also played the title role in BBC radio broadcasts of Hamlet and Cyrano de BergeracCyrano de Bergerac (play)
Cyrano de Bergerac is a play written in 1897 by Edmond Rostand. Although there was a real Cyrano de Bergerac, the play bears very scant resemblance to his life....
.
Other work
Branagh has narrated several audio bookAudio book
An audiobook or audio book is a recording of a text being read. It is not necessarily an exact audio version of a book or magazine.Spoken audio has been available in schools and public libraries and to a lesser extent in music shops since the 1930s. Many spoken word albums were made prior to the...
s, such as The Magician's Nephew
The Magician's Nephew
The Magician's Nephew is a fantasy novel for children written by C. S. Lewis. It was the sixth book published in his The Chronicles of Narnia series, but is the first in the chronology of the Narnia novels' fictional universe. Thus it is an early example of a prequel.The novel is initially set in...
by C. S. Lewis
C. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis , commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as "Jack", was a novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist from Belfast, Ireland...
.
Personal life
Branagh was married to actress Emma ThompsonEmma Thompson
Emma Thompson is a British actress, comedian and screenwriter. Her first major film role was in the 1989 romantic comedy The Tall Guy. In 1992, Thompson won multiple acting awards, including an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award for Best Actress, for her performance in the British drama Howards End...
from 20 August 1989 until 1995. After their divorce, he was in a well-publicised relationship for several years with actress Helena Bonham Carter
Helena Bonham Carter
Helena Bonham Carter is an English actress of film, stage, and television. She made her acting debut in a television adaptation of K. M. Peyton's A Pattern of Roses before winning her first film role as the titular character in Lady Jane...
, whom he directed and starred with in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
Frankenstein is a 1994 American horror film directed by Kenneth Branagh. The film starred Branagh, Robert De Niro, Tom Hulce, Helena Bonham Carter. It was produced on a budget of $45 million...
. In 2003, he married film art director Lindsay Brunnock, to whom he was introduced by Bonham Carter in 1997.
He speaks Italian and is a lifelong supporter of Belfast football team Linfield
Linfield F.C.
Linfield F.C. , is a semi-professional, Northern Irish football club, whose home ground is Windsor Park in Belfast, which is also the home of the Northern Ireland international team....
, as well as Tottenham Hotspur.
Honours
Branagh has been nominated for four Academy AwardsAcademy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
. His first two nominations were for Henry V
Henry V (1989 film)
Henry V is a 1989 film directed by Kenneth Branagh, based on William Shakespeare's play The Life of Henry the Fifth about the famous English king. Branagh stars in the title role, and wrote the screenplay. The film was highly acclaimed on its release....
(one each for directing and acting). He also received similar BAFTA Award nominations for his film work, winning one for his direction. His first BAFTA TV award came in April 2009, for Best Drama Series (Wallander). Branagh's two other Academy Award nominations were for the 1992 film short subject
Short subject
A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...
Swan Song and for his work on the screenplay of Hamlet in 1996. Branagh has co-starred several times with actress Emma Thompson
Emma Thompson
Emma Thompson is a British actress, comedian and screenwriter. Her first major film role was in the 1989 romantic comedy The Tall Guy. In 1992, Thompson won multiple acting awards, including an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award for Best Actress, for her performance in the British drama Howards End...
, to whom he was married from 1989 to 1995. They appeared together in Look Back In Anger, Henry V, Much Ado About Nothing, Dead Again
Dead Again
Dead Again is a 1991 psychological thriller/neo-noir directed by Kenneth Branagh, starring Branagh and his then-wife Emma Thompson. Andy García, Derek Jacobi and Robin Williams are also featured.-Plot summary:...
, and Peter's Friends
Peter's Friends
Peter's Friends is a 1992 British comedy-drama film written by Rita Rudner and her husband Martin Bergman, and directed and produced by Kenneth Branagh....
. More recently, they both appeared in The Boat That Rocked
The Boat That Rocked
The Boat That Rocked is a 2009 British comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis, with pirate radio in the United Kingdom during the 1960s as its setting. The film has an ensemble cast featuring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Rhys Ifans, Nick Frost, and Kenneth Branagh...
, though with no shared scenes.
He is Honorary President of NICVA (the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action). He received an honorary Doctorate in Literature from Queen's University of Belfast
Queen's University of Belfast
Queen's University Belfast is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The university's official title, per its charter, is the Queen's University of Belfast. It is often referred to simply as Queen's, or by the abbreviation QUB...
in 1990. He is also a patron for the charity Over The Wall.
In 1994, Branagh declined an appointment as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(CBE).
Branagh was the youngest actor to receive the Golden Quill
The Gielgud Award
The Gielgud Award for Excellence in the Dramatic Arts, also known as the Golden Quill, is a prize established in 1994 which is presented by the America-based Shakespeare Guild to "honor Sir John and perpetuate his legacy." The award is named in honor of the English actor Sir John...
(also known as the Gielgud Award) in 2000.
Alongside Roberto Benigni
Roberto Benigni
Roberto Remigio Benigni, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI is an Italian actor, comedian, screenwriter and director of film, theatre and television.- Early years :...
, he is one of only two non-American actors to be nominated for Oscars for acting, writing, and directing, and one of nine actors to have achieved this honour. The other seven are Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
, Woody Allen
Woody Allen
Woody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
, Warren Beatty
Warren Beatty
Warren Beatty born March 30, 1937) is an American actor, producer, screenwriter and director. He has received a total of fourteen Academy Award nominations, winning one for Best Director in 1982. He has also won four Golden Globe Awards including the Cecil B. DeMille Award.-Early life and...
, Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
, George Clooney
George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award...
, John Huston
John Huston
John Marcellus Huston was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics: The Maltese Falcon , The Treasure of the Sierra Madre , Key Largo , The Asphalt Jungle , The African Queen , Moulin Rouge...
and John Cassavetes
John Cassavetes
John Nicholas Cassavetes was an American actor, screenwriter and filmmaker. He acted in many Hollywood films, notably Rosemary's Baby and The Dirty Dozen...
.
On 10 July 2009, Branagh was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the RomaFictionFest.
Actor
| 1983 | To the Lighthouse To the Lighthouse (film) To the Lighthouse is a 1983 made-for-television film based on the Virginia Woolf novel, To the Lighthouse.... |
Charles Tansley | Television series |
| 1985 | Coming Through | D.H. Lawrence | Television |
| 1987 | Fortunes of War Fortunes of War (tv series) Fortunes of War is a 1987 BBC television adaptation of Olivia Manning's cycle of novels Fortunes of War. It stars Kenneth Branagh as Guy Pringle, lecturer in English Literature in Bucharest during the early part of the Second World War, and Emma Thompson as his wife Harriet... |
Guy Pringle | |
| 1987 | James Moon | ||
| 1987 | High Season High Season (film) High Season is a 1987 British romantic comedy film directed by Clare Peploe. It is a comedy about tourism, set on the Greek island of Rhodes; vacationers from rich countries taking over the most spectacular scenery at the most desirable times of the year. There are nine principal characters, a... |
Rick | |
| 1988 | Thompson Thompson -Places:In Bulgaria:* Thompson, Bulgaria, a village in Sofia ProvinceIn Canada:* Thompson, Manitoba* Thompson , an electoral district in the above location* Thompson River, a river in British Columbia... |
Various roles | Television series: 6 episodes |
| 1988 | Strange Interlude | Gordan Evans | Television |
| 1989 | Look Back In Anger Look Back in Anger Look Back in Anger is a John Osborne play—made into films in 1959, 1980, and 1989 -- about a love triangle involving an intelligent but disaffected young man , his upper-middle-class, impassive wife , and her haughty best friend . Cliff, an amiable Welsh lodger, attempts to keep the peace... |
Jimmy Porter | |
| 1989 | Henry V Henry V (1989 film) Henry V is a 1989 film directed by Kenneth Branagh, based on William Shakespeare's play The Life of Henry the Fifth about the famous English king. Branagh stars in the title role, and wrote the screenplay. The film was highly acclaimed on its release.... |
Henry V Henry V of England Henry V was King of England from 1413 until his death at the age of 35 in 1422. He was the second monarch belonging to the House of Lancaster.... |
|
| 1991 | Dead Again Dead Again Dead Again is a 1991 psychological thriller/neo-noir directed by Kenneth Branagh, starring Branagh and his then-wife Emma Thompson. Andy García, Derek Jacobi and Robin Williams are also featured.-Plot summary:... |
||
| 1992 | Peter's Friends Peter's Friends Peter's Friends is a 1992 British comedy-drama film written by Rita Rudner and her husband Martin Bergman, and directed and produced by Kenneth Branagh.... |
Andrew Benson | |
| 1993 | Much Ado About Nothing Much Ado About Nothing (film) Much Ado About Nothing is a 1993 British/American romantic comedy film based on William Shakespeare's play. It was adapted for the screen and directed by Kenneth Branagh, who also played the role of Benedick.... |
Benedick | |
| 1993 | Swing Kids Swing Kids (film) Swing Kids is a film produced in 1993, directed by Thomas Carter and starring Christian Bale, Robert Sean Leonard and Kenneth Branagh. The runtime is approximately 112 minutes. The film is considered as being part of the Lindy Hop revival of the 1980s and 1990s... |
Herr Knopp, Gestapo | Uncredited |
| 1994 | Frankenstein | Victor Frankenstein Victor Frankenstein Victor Frankenstein was born in Napoli, is a Swiss fictional character and the protagonist of the 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, written by Mary Shelley... |
Nominated — Saturn Award for Best Actor Saturn Award for Best Actor The Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Saturn Awards were devised by Dr. Donald A. Reed, who felt that films within those genres... |
| 1995 | Othello Othello (1995 film) Othello is a 1995 film based on William Shakespeare's tragedy of the same name. It was directed by Oliver Parker and stars Laurence Fishburne as Othello, Irène Jacob as Desdemona, and Kenneth Branagh as Iago... |
Iago Iago Iago is a fictional character in Shakespeare's Othello . The character's source is traced to Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio's tale "Un Capitano Moro" in Gli Hecatommithi . There, the character is simply "the ensign". Iago is a soldier and Othello's ancient . He is the husband of Emilia,... |
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role |
| 1996 | Hamlet Hamlet (1996 film) Hamlet is a 1996 film version of William Shakespeare's classic play of the same name, adapted and directed by Kenneth Branagh, who also stars in the title role as Prince Hamlet... |
Hamlet Prince Hamlet Prince Hamlet is a fictional character, the protagonist in Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet. He is the Prince of Denmark, nephew to the usurping Claudius and son of the previous King of Denmark, Old Hamlet. Throughout the play he struggles with whether, and how, to avenge the murder of his father, and... |
San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor The San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor is an award given by the San Diego Film Critics Society to honor the finest male acting achievementes in filmmaking.-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:... |
| 1998 | Rick Magruder | ||
| 1998 | Richard | ||
| 1998 | Celebrity Celebrity (film) Celebrity is a 1998 comedy-drama film written and directed by Woody Allen. The screenplay focuses on the divergent paths a couple takes following their divorce.-Plot:... |
Lee Simon | |
| 1998 | The Proposition The Proposition (1998 film) The Proposition is a 1998 drama film starring Madeleine Stowe, Kenneth Branagh, William Hurt and Robert Loggia.-Cast:* Kenneth Branagh as Father Michael McKinnon* Madeleine Stowe as Eleanor Barret* William Hurt as Arthur Barret... |
Father Michael McKinnon | |
| 1998 | Col. Evans | Short film | |
| 1999 | Periwig-maker | Short film; voice only | |
| 1999 | Wild Wild West Wild Wild West Wild Wild West is a 1999 American steampunk action-comedy film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, and starring Will Smith, Kevin Kline , Kenneth Branagh and Salma Hayek.Similar to the original TV series it was based on, The Wild Wild West, the film features a large amount of gadgetry... |
Dr. Arliss Loveless | Nominated — Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor |
| 1999 | Alien Love Triangle Alien Love Triangle Alien Love Triangle is a 2008 comedy-science fiction short film directed by Danny Boyle. It was produced in 2002.The film was originally intended to be one of a trilogy of 30-minute short films shown together... |
Steve Chesterman | Short film |
| 2000 | Love's Labour's Lost Love's Labour's Lost (2000 film) Love's Labour's Lost is a 2000 adaptation of the comic play of the same name by William Shakespeare, directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh. It was the first feature film to be made of this lesser-known comedy... |
Berowne | |
| 2000 | Miguel | Voice only | |
| 2000 | How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog is a 2000 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Michael Kalesniko and produced by Michael Nozik, Nancy M. Ruff and Brad Weston.- Plot :... |
Peter McGowan | |
| 2001 | Conspiracy | Reinhard Heydrich Reinhard Heydrich Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich , also known as The Hangman, was a high-ranking German Nazi official.He was SS-Obergruppenführer and General der Polizei, chief of the Reich Main Security Office and Stellvertretender Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia... |
|
| 2001 | Schneider's 2nd Stage | Joseph Barnett | Short film |
| 2002 | Rabbit-Proof Fence Rabbit-Proof Fence (film) Rabbit-Proof Fence is a 2002 Australian drama film directed by Phillip Noyce based on the book Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence by Doris Pilkington Garimara... |
A. O. Neville | |
| 2002 | Shackleton | Ernest Henry Shackleton | |
| 2002 | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is a 2002 fantasy film directed by Chris Columbus and based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. It is the second instalment in the Harry Potter film series, written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman... |
Professor Gilderoy Lockhart | |
| 2004 | Five Children and It Five Children and It (2004 film) Five Children and It is a 2004 film adaption of the book of the same name, directed by John Stephenson, starring Freddie Highmore, with Zoë Wanamaker, Kenneth Branagh and Eddie Izzard as the voice of the Psammead.-Plot:... |
Uncle Albert | |
| 2005 | Warm Springs Warm Springs (film) Warm Springs is a 2005 television film about American President Franklin D. Roosevelt's struggle with polio, his discovery of the Warm Springs, Georgia spa resort and his work to turn it into a center for the aid of polio victims, and his resumption of his political career... |
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war... |
|
| 2007 | Sleuth Sleuth (2007 film) Sleuth is a 2007 thriller film directed by Kenneth Branagh and starring Jude Law and Michael Caine. The screenplay by Harold Pinter is an adaption of Anthony Shaffer's Tony Award-winning play Sleuth... |
Other Man on TV | Uncredited |
| 2008 | Valkyrie Valkyrie (film) Valkyrie is a 2008 American historical thriller film set in Nazi Germany during World War II. The film depicts the 20 July plot in 1944 by German army officers to assassinate Adolf Hitler and to use the Operation Valkyrie national emergency plan to take control of the country... |
Henning von Tresckow Henning von Tresckow Generalmajor Herrmann Karl Robert "Henning" von Tresckow was a Major General in the German Wehrmacht who organized German resistance against Adolf Hitler. He attempted to assassinate Hitler in March 1943 and drafted the Valkyrie plan for a coup against the German government... |
|
| 2008 | 10 Days to War 10 Days to War 10 Days to War was a series of eight short television dramas commissioned by Newsnight and broadcast on BBC Two between 10 March 2008 and 19 March 2008 to mark the fifth anniversary of the start of the Iraq War... |
Colonel Tim Collins | Television series: 1 episode |
| 2008–present | Wallander | Kurt Wallander Kurt Wallander Kurt Wallander is a fictional character created by Swedish crime writer Henning Mankell. The protagonist of several mystery novels, set in and around the town of Ystad, 60 km south-east of the city of Malmö, in the southern province of Skåne... |
|
| 2009 | Minister Dormandy | ||
| 2011 | My Week with Marilyn My Week with Marilyn My Week with Marilyn is a British drama film directed by Simon Curtis and written by Adrian Hodges. It stars Michelle Williams, Kenneth Branagh, Eddie Redmayne, Dougray Scott, Judi Dench and Emma Watson. Based on two books by Colin Clark, it depicts the making of the 1957 film The Prince and the... |
Laurence Olivier Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright... |
Director
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Henry V Henry V (1989 film) Henry V is a 1989 film directed by Kenneth Branagh, based on William Shakespeare's play The Life of Henry the Fifth about the famous English king. Branagh stars in the title role, and wrote the screenplay. The film was highly acclaimed on its release.... |
|
| 1991 | Dead Again Dead Again Dead Again is a 1991 psychological thriller/neo-noir directed by Kenneth Branagh, starring Branagh and his then-wife Emma Thompson. Andy García, Derek Jacobi and Robin Williams are also featured.-Plot summary:... |
Nominated — Golden Bear Golden Bear According to legend, the Golden Bear was a large golden Ursus arctos. Members of the Ursus arctos species can reach masses of . The Grizzly Bear and the Kodiak Bear are North American subspecies of the Brown Bear.... , 42nd Berlin International Film Festival 42nd Berlin International Film Festival The 42nd annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from February 13 to 24, 1992.-Jury:* Annie Girardot * Charles Champlin* Sylvia Chang* Ildikó Enyedi* Irving N... |
| 1992 | Swan Song Swan Song (film) Swan Song is a 1992 short film directed by Kenneth Branagh and adapted for the screen by Hugh Cruttwell from the one act play of the same name by Anton Chekhov... |
|
| 1992 | Peter's Friends Peter's Friends Peter's Friends is a 1992 British comedy-drama film written by Rita Rudner and her husband Martin Bergman, and directed and produced by Kenneth Branagh.... |
Also producer |
| 1993 | Much Ado About Nothing Much Ado About Nothing (film) Much Ado About Nothing is a 1993 British/American romantic comedy film based on William Shakespeare's play. It was adapted for the screen and directed by Kenneth Branagh, who also played the role of Benedick.... |
|
| 1994 | Mary Shelley's Frankenstein | Also co-producer |
| 1995 | ||
| 1996 | Hamlet Hamlet (1996 film) Hamlet is a 1996 film version of William Shakespeare's classic play of the same name, adapted and directed by Kenneth Branagh, who also stars in the title role as Prince Hamlet... |
|
| 2000 | Love's Labour's Lost Love's Labour's Lost (2000 film) Love's Labour's Lost is a 2000 adaptation of the comic play of the same name by William Shakespeare, directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh. It was the first feature film to be made of this lesser-known comedy... |
Also writer and producer |
| 2003 | Listening | Short film; also writer |
| 2006 | Also writer | |
| 2006 | As You Like It As You Like It (2006 film) As You Like It is a 2006 film directed by Kenneth Branagh. It is based on the play As You Like It by William Shakespeare. The play's setting is relocated from medieval France to a European colony in late 19th century Japan after the Meiji Restoration. It was shot at Shepperton Film Studios and on... |
Also writer and executive producer |
| 2007 | Sleuth Sleuth (2007 film) Sleuth is a 2007 thriller film directed by Kenneth Branagh and starring Jude Law and Michael Caine. The screenplay by Harold Pinter is an adaption of Anthony Shaffer's Tony Award-winning play Sleuth... |
|
| 2011 | Thor Thor (film) Thor is a 2011 American superhero film based on the comic book character of the same name published by Marvel Comics. It is the fourth film released as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe... |
Narrator
- Anne Frank Remembered (Documentary) (1995)
- Cinema Europe: The Other HollywoodCinema Europe: The Other HollywoodCinema Europe: The Other Hollywood was a 1995 documentary produced by David Gill and silent film historian Kevin Brownlow.The six-part mini-series focused on the origin of European cinema, from its infancy as a novelty created by French inventors Louis and Auguste Lumiere to a serious artistic and...
(Six-part TV special) (1996) - Great Composers (TV mini-series) (1997)
- Cold WarCold War (TV series)Cold War is a twenty-four episode television documentary series about the Cold War that aired in 1998. It features interviews and footage of the events that shaped the tense relationships between the Soviet Union and the United States....
(CNN TV series) (1998) - The Making of Walking with DinosaursWalking with DinosaursWalking with Dinosaurs is a six-part documentary television miniseries that was produced by BBC, narrated by Kenneth Branagh, and first aired in the United Kingdom, in 1999. The series was subsequently aired in North America on the Discovery Channel in 2000, with Branagh's voice replaced with that...
(UK version) (TV series) (1999) - Walking with DinosaursWalking with DinosaursWalking with Dinosaurs is a six-part documentary television miniseries that was produced by BBC, narrated by Kenneth Branagh, and first aired in the United Kingdom, in 1999. The series was subsequently aired in North America on the Discovery Channel in 2000, with Branagh's voice replaced with that...
(UK version) (TV series) (1999) - The Science of Walking with BeastsWalking with BeastsWalking with Beasts is a 2001 six-part television documentary miniseries, produced by the BBC in the United Kingdom, narrated by Kenneth Branagh. In North America it has been retitled Walking with Prehistoric Beasts, and the original Discovery Channel broadcast was narrated by Stockard Channing...
(Australia) (Two-part TV special) (2001) - The Ballad of Big AlThe Ballad of Big AlThe Ballad of Big Al is a combination biography-sequel for Walking with Dinosaurs ...
(UK version) (TV special) (2001) - Walking with BeastsWalking with BeastsWalking with Beasts is a 2001 six-part television documentary miniseries, produced by the BBC in the United Kingdom, narrated by Kenneth Branagh. In North America it has been retitled Walking with Prehistoric Beasts, and the original Discovery Channel broadcast was narrated by Stockard Channing...
(UK version) (TV series) (2001) - The Tramp and the Dictator (Documentary) (2002)
- Walking with Monsters: Life Before DinosaursWalking with MonstersWalking with Monsters is a three-part British documentary film series about life in the Paleozoic, bringing to life extinct arthropods, fish, amphibians, synapsids, and reptiles...
(TV series) (2005) - Goebbels-Experiment, Das (Documentary) (2005)
- IMAX: Galapagos (Documentary)
- World War 1 in ColourWorld War 1 in ColourWorld War 1 in Colour is a documentary narrated by Kenneth Branagh. The first of its six parts aired on 1 September 1990 in the United Kingdom. It was released on DVD in the United States as World War 1 in Color on 10 May 2005...
(Documentary) (2005)
Academy Awards
|-| rowspan=2 | 1989
| rowspan=2 | Henry V
Henry V (1989 film)
Henry V is a 1989 film directed by Kenneth Branagh, based on William Shakespeare's play The Life of Henry the Fifth about the famous English king. Branagh stars in the title role, and wrote the screenplay. The film was highly acclaimed on its release....
| Best Actor
Academy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
|
|-
| Best Director
|
|-
| 1992
| Swan Song
Swan Song (film)
Swan Song is a 1992 short film directed by Kenneth Branagh and adapted for the screen by Hugh Cruttwell from the one act play of the same name by Anton Chekhov...
| Best Live Action Short Film
Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film
This name for the Academy Award for Live Action Short Film was introduced in 1974. For the three preceding years it was known as "Short Subjects, Live Action Films." The term "Short Subjects, Live Action Subjects" was used from 1957 until 1970. From 1936 until 1956 there were two separate...
|
|-
| 1996
| Hamlet
Hamlet (1996 film)
Hamlet is a 1996 film version of William Shakespeare's classic play of the same name, adapted and directed by Kenneth Branagh, who also stars in the title role as Prince Hamlet...
| Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
|
BAFTA Awards
|-| 1987
| Fortunes of War
Fortunes of War (tv series)
Fortunes of War is a 1987 BBC television adaptation of Olivia Manning's cycle of novels Fortunes of War. It stars Kenneth Branagh as Guy Pringle, lecturer in English Literature in Bucharest during the early part of the Second World War, and Emma Thompson as his wife Harriet...
| Best Actor - Television
British Academy Television Award for Best Actor
- 1950s :*1955 Paul Rogers — *1956 Peter Cushing — *1957 Michael Gough — *1958 Michael Hordern — *1959 Donald Pleasence — - 1960s :*1960 Patrick McGoohan — *1961 Lee Montague —...
|
|-
| rowspan=2 | 1989
| rowspan=2 | Henry V
Henry V (1989 film)
Henry V is a 1989 film directed by Kenneth Branagh, based on William Shakespeare's play The Life of Henry the Fifth about the famous English king. Branagh stars in the title role, and wrote the screenplay. The film was highly acclaimed on its release....
| Best Actor in a Leading Role - Film
BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Best Actor in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.-Superlatives:...
|
|-
| Best Direction - Film
BAFTA Award for Best Direction
Winners of the BAFTA Award for Best Direction presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.-2010s:* 2010 - David Fincher – The Social Network** Tom Hooper – The King's Speech** Danny Boyle – 127 Hours...
|
|-
| rowspan=2 | 2002
| Conspiracy
| Best Actor - Television
British Academy Television Award for Best Actor
- 1950s :*1955 Paul Rogers — *1956 Peter Cushing — *1957 Michael Gough — *1958 Michael Hordern — *1959 Donald Pleasence — - 1960s :*1960 Patrick McGoohan — *1961 Lee Montague —...
|
|-
| Shackleton
| Best Actor - Television
British Academy Television Award for Best Actor
- 1950s :*1955 Paul Rogers — *1956 Peter Cushing — *1957 Michael Gough — *1958 Michael Hordern — *1959 Donald Pleasence — - 1960s :*1960 Patrick McGoohan — *1961 Lee Montague —...
|
|-
| 2008
| rowspan=2 | Wallander
| Best Drama Series - Television
British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series
The British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series is one of the major categories of the British Academy Television Awards , the primary awards ceremony of the British television industry...
|
|-
| 2009
| Best Actor - Television
British Academy Television Award for Best Actor
- 1950s :*1955 Paul Rogers — *1956 Peter Cushing — *1957 Michael Gough — *1958 Michael Hordern — *1959 Donald Pleasence — - 1960s :*1960 Patrick McGoohan — *1961 Lee Montague —...
|
Emmy Awards
|-| 2001
| Conspiracy
| Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie
|
|-
| 2002
| Shackleton
| Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie
|
|-
| 2005
| Warm Springs
Warm Springs (film)
Warm Springs is a 2005 television film about American President Franklin D. Roosevelt's struggle with polio, his discovery of the Warm Springs, Georgia spa resort and his work to turn it into a center for the aid of polio victims, and his resumption of his political career...
| Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie
|
|-
| 2009
| Wallander: One Step Behind
| Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie
|
European Film Awards
|-| rowspan=3 | 1990
| rowspan=3 | Henry V
Henry V (1989 film)
Henry V is a 1989 film directed by Kenneth Branagh, based on William Shakespeare's play The Life of Henry the Fifth about the famous English king. Branagh stars in the title role, and wrote the screenplay. The film was highly acclaimed on its release....
| European Actor of the Year
European Film Award for Best Actor
-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:-External links:*...
|
|-
| Best Director
European Film Award for Best Director
-Winners and nominees:*1988**Wim Wenders - Wings of Desire **Terence Davies - Distant Voices, Still Lives**Louis Malle - Goodbye Children **Manoel de Oliveira - The Cannibals ...
|
|-
| Young European Film of the Year
|
Golden Globe Awards
|-| 1993
| Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing (film)
Much Ado About Nothing is a 1993 British/American romantic comedy film based on William Shakespeare's play. It was adapted for the screen and directed by Kenneth Branagh, who also played the role of Benedick....
| Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
|
|-
| 2001
| Conspiracy
| Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film
|
|-
| 2005
| Warm Springs
Warm Springs (film)
Warm Springs is a 2005 television film about American President Franklin D. Roosevelt's struggle with polio, his discovery of the Warm Springs, Georgia spa resort and his work to turn it into a center for the aid of polio victims, and his resumption of his political career...
| Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film
|
|-
| 2009
| Wallander: One Step Behind
| Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film
|
Independent Spirit Awards
|-| 1993
| Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing (film)
Much Ado About Nothing is a 1993 British/American romantic comedy film based on William Shakespeare's play. It was adapted for the screen and directed by Kenneth Branagh, who also played the role of Benedick....
| Best Film
Independent Spirit Award for Best Film
The Independent Spirit Award for Best Film is one of the annual Independent Spirit Awards.-1980s:* 1985: After Hours - Martin Scorsese** Blood Simple - Joel and Ethan Coen** Smooth Talk...
|
Screen Actors Guild Awards
|-| 1995
| Othello
Othello (1995 film)
Othello is a 1995 film based on William Shakespeare's tragedy of the same name. It was directed by Oliver Parker and stars Laurence Fishburne as Othello, Irène Jacob as Desdemona, and Kenneth Branagh as Iago...
| Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
|
|-
| 1995
| Warm Springs
Warm Springs (film)
Warm Springs is a 2005 television film about American President Franklin D. Roosevelt's struggle with polio, his discovery of the Warm Springs, Georgia spa resort and his work to turn it into a center for the aid of polio victims, and his resumption of his political career...
| Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie
|
Discography and audiobooks
- Shakespeare's Richard IIIRichard III (play)Richard III is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1591. It depicts the Machiavellian rise to power and subsequent short reign of Richard III of England. The play is grouped among the histories in the First Folio and is most often classified...
(complete) for Naxos Audiobooks - In the Ravine & Other Short Stories by Anton ChekhovAnton ChekhovAnton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
(unabridged) for Naxos Audiobooks - Felix MendelssohnFelix MendelssohnJakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
's incidental music for A Midsummer Night's Dream (speaker) live recording for Sony Classical, conducted by Claudio AbbadoClaudio AbbadoClaudio Abbado, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI , is an Italian conductor. He has served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, principal guest conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Vienna State Opera,... - The Diary of Samuel PepysSamuel PepysSamuel Pepys FRS, MP, JP, was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament who is now most famous for the diary he kept for a decade while still a relatively young man...
1660–1669 (abridged) for Hodder Headline Audio Classics - The Magician's NephewThe Magician's NephewThe Magician's Nephew is a fantasy novel for children written by C. S. Lewis. It was the sixth book published in his The Chronicles of Narnia series, but is the first in the chronology of the Narnia novels' fictional universe. Thus it is an early example of a prequel.The novel is initially set in...
by C.S Lewis for Harper Books - Shakespeare's "Sonnet 30Sonnet 30Shakespeare's Sonnet 30, one of his most famous, is a reflection on sad memories reconciled by the realization of the gift he has in his friend. A phrase from the second line of this sonnet has achieved a worldwide circulation in the literature of the twentieth century, with its concern with time:...
" for the 2002 compilation albumCompilation albumA compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
, When Love SpeaksWhen Love SpeaksWhen Love Speaks is a compilation album that features interpretations of William Shakespeare's sonnets and excerpts from his plays by famous actors and musicians, released under EMI Classics in April 2002.-Track listing:...
(EMI ClassicsEMI ClassicsEMI Classics is a record label of EMI, formed in 1990 in order to reduce the need to create country-specific packaging and catalogs for internationally distributed classical music releases....
) - Mary Shelley's Frankenstein [Abridged]
- Joseph ConradJoseph ConradJoseph Conrad was a Polish-born English novelist.Conrad is regarded as one of the great novelists in English, although he did not speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties...
's The Heart of DarknessThe Heart of DarknessThe Heart of Darkness is the debut album from Hoodlum Priest. The album had little success, featuring the debut and only appearance of rapper Sevier, who left the band after Derek due to creative differences...
for Audible.com.
Further reading
- Kenneth Branagh (1990 [1989]) Beginning, London: Chatto and Windus, ISBN 0-7011-3388-0; New York: W W Norton & Co, ISBN 0-393-02862-3
- Ian Shuttleworth (1994) Ken & Em, London: Headline. ISBN 0-7472-4718-8
- Mark White (2005) Kenneth Branagh, London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-22068-1
- Theatre RecordTheatre RecordTheatre Record is a periodical that reprints reviews, production photographs, and other information about the British theatre.-Overview:Founded by Ian Herbert and published fortnightly since January 1981, Theatre Record is printed and published in England every two weeks.It reprints unabridged all...
and its annual Indexes
External links
- Biography on Tiscali film section
- Kenneth Branagh interview from Premiere (1996)
- Branagh Collection at Queen's University, Belfast