Colin Firth

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Colin Firth
Born September 10, 1960 (age 46)
Flag of England Grayshott, Hampshire, England
Spouse(s) Livia Giuggioli (1997 — present)
Notable roles Fitzwilliam Darcy in Pride and Prejudice
Mark Darcy in Bridget Jones's Diary
Jack Worthing/Ernest in The Importance of Being Earnest

Colin Andrew Firth (born 10 September 1960) is an English actor.

Contents

[edit] Early life

Firth was born in Grayshott, Hampshire, England to David (a history lecturer and the son of an Anglican priest) and Shirley (a comparative religion lecturer, whose own parents were Congregationalist ministers); he has a sister, Kate, and a younger brother, Jonathan, who is now also an actor. Both of Firth's parents were born and raised in India, as their English-born parents were involved in missionary work.

Firth spent part of his childhood in Nigeria, where his father was teaching. He lived in St. Louis, Missouri when he was 11. He later attended the Montgomery of Alamein Secondary School, a state comprehensive school in Winchester, Hampshire, and then Barton Peveril College in Eastleigh, Hampshire.

[edit] Film career

Firth starred in the award-winning 1981 London stage production of Another Country. He reprised this role for his first film appearance in 1984. In 1987, he appeared alongside Kenneth Branagh in the film version of J. L. Carr's novel, A Month in the Country. In 1989, he took the lead in the film Valmont.

Firth as the Earl of Wessex, Shakespeare in Love
Firth as the Earl of Wessex, Shakespeare in Love

Despite widespread admiration for his performances,[citation needed] it was only with the 1995 BBC television adaptation of Pride and Prejudice that Firth gained wider renown. The serial was a big success and Firth became known as a heart-throb because of his role as Fitzwilliam Darcy. This performance also made him the object of affection for fictional journalist Bridget Jones (created by Helen Fielding), an interest which carried on into the two novels featuring the Jones character. In the second novel, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, the character even meets Firth in Rome. As something of an in-joke, when the novels were adapted for the cinema, Firth was cast as Jones's love interest, Mark Darcy.

Firth had a supporting role in The English Patient (1996) and since then has starred in films such as Fever Pitch (1997), Shakespeare in Love (1998), Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), The Importance of Being Earnest (2002), Love Actually (2003), What a Girl Wants (2003) and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004). He has also appeared in recent television productions, including Donovan Quick (an updated version of Don Quixote) (1999) and Conspiracy (2001).

[edit] Personal life

In 1989, Firth entered into a romantic relationship with actress Meg Tilly, his co-star in Valmont. In 1990, she gave birth to a son, Will Firth.

In 1994, Firth was involved with actress Jennifer Ehle, his co-star in Pride and Prejudice. Currently, Firth lives both in London and Italy. He is married to Italian documentary filmmaker Livia Giuggioli (since 21 June 1997). The couple have two sons, Luca (born 2001) and Matteo (born 2003).

Recently, Firth has been involved in a campaign to stop the deportation of a group of Congolese immigrants from Britain, because of the belief that they will likely be murdered on their return to the Democratic Republic of Congo.[1] Firth has argued that "To me it's just basic civilisation to help people. I find this incredibly painful to see how we dismiss the most desperate people in our society. It's easily done. It plays to the tabloids, to the middle-England xenophobes. It just makes me furious. And all from a government we once had such high hopes for".[2] As a result of the campaign, a Congolese nurse was given a last-minute reprieve from deportation.[3]

[edit] Selected filmography

Year Title Role Other notes
1984 Another Country Tommy Judd
1987 A Month in the Country Tom Birkin
1988 Apartment Zero Adrian LeDuc
1989 Valmont Valmont
1993 The Hour of the Pig Richard Courtois aka The Advocate
1995 Pride and Prejudice Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy television mini-series
1995 Circle of Friends Simon Westward
1996 The English Patient Geoffrey Clifton
1997 Fever Pitch Paul Ashworth
1997 A Thousand Acres Jess Clarke
1998 Shakespeare in Love Lord Wessex
1999 My Life So Far Edward Pettigrew
2000 Relative Values Peter Ingleton
2001 Bridget Jones's Diary Mark Darcy
2001 Conspiracy Wilhelm Stuckart
2002 The Importance of Being Earnest Jack Worthing
2003 Girl with a Pearl Earring Johannes Vermeer
2003 Hope Springs Colin Ware
2003 Love Actually Jamie Bennett
2003 What a Girl Wants Henry Dashwood
2004 Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason Mark Darcy
2004 Trauma Ben
2005 Where the Truth Lies Vince Collins
2005 Nanny McPhee Cedric Brown
2006 The Last Legion Aurelius
2007 The Accidental Husband Richard

[edit] References

  1. ^ Colin Firth, We must stop a deportation that is likely to end in murder, The Independent, 26 February 2007, accessed 27 February 2007
  2. ^ Andrew Johnson, Colin Firth makes plea for nurse 'facing murder' in Congo, The Independent, 26 February 2007, accessed 27 February 2007
  3. ^ Firth's intervention saves nurse from deportation, The Independent, 27 February 2007, accessed 27 February 2007

[edit] External links

Cinema of the United Kingdom

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