Idris Elba

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Idris Elba

Born September 6, 1972 (age 34)
London, England
Notable roles "Stringer" Bell in The Wire
Augustin Muganza in Sometimes in April

Idris Elba (born September 6, 1972) is a British television, theatre and film actor who has starred in both British and American productions. Elba is also a DJ under the moniker DJ Big Driis / Big Driis the Londoner, and a hip-hop soul recording artist.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Elba, an only child, was born in Hackney, London to a Sierra Leonean[1][2] father and a Ghanaian mother.

[edit] Career

Elba started acting in secondary school with encouragement from his drama teacher, on whom he also had a crush. He got his break as a supporting cast member of UK soap opera Family Affairs, but is perhaps best known for playing Russell "Stringer" Bell, one of the major characters in the HBO drama series "The Wire". He also portrayed Captain Augustin Muganza in Sometimes in April, an HBO TV movie about the Rwandan Genocide and somewhat similar to Hotel Rwanda.

Elba has a large female fan following and thus appeared on the cover of Essence's "Hot Hollywood Men" issue, April 2004 and again in Essence's November 2005 "10 Hottest Men on the Planet" issue. He recorded the four-song EP Big Man for Hevlar Records in 2006.

Elba has one daughter named Isan.

[edit] Recent screen roles

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ http://www.visimag.com/exclusive/fb374_dlg.htm
  2. ^ http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/02/11/PKG4MNV3NJ1.DTL&hw=Elba&sn=001&sc=1000

[edit] External links

http://www.myspace.com/hevlar_recordings http://www.myspace.com/idrismusic

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