Biography
Oldman as Drexl Spivey in the Tarantino-scripted True Romance.
Gary Oldman (born March 21, 1958) is an English actor, born Leonard Gary Oldman in London, England.
He won a scholarship to the Rose Bruford Drama College, where he received a BA in Drama in 1979. He later studied with the Greenwich Young People's Theatre and went on to appear in a number of stage plays including The Pope's Wedding, for which he received Time Out's Fringe Award for Best Newcomer of 1985 - 1986 and the British Theatre Association's Drama Magazine Award as Best Actor of 1985.
Oldman first appeared on screen in the film Remembrance in 1982, going on to win his first starring role in Sid and Nancy (1986), in which he played the rocker Sid Vicious. He has become known for playing eccentrics and for his mastery of accents. He has played a variety of famous characters including Dracula, Ludwig van Beethoven, Lee Harvey Oswald, Commissioner Gordon, Shakespeare's Rosencrantz, Sid Vicious, Albert Milo, Sirius Black, Pontius Pilate and the Devil. Other roles that would be a stretch for any other actor include the roles of a pimp, a disfigured serial killer victim, an aged Senate chairman, a futuristic villain, a few corrupt cops, a sadistic prison warden, a Russian terrorist a violent football hooligan and the villain on Lost in Space
Oldman under heavy make-up in Francis Ford Coppola's adapation of Dracula.
In 1997 he directed, produced, and wrote Nil by Mouth, partially based on his life, which went on to win the Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film, a BAFTA Award, the Channel 4 Director's Award, and the Empire Award, and was declared by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts as one of the one hundred best films of all time despite containing the word "fuck" 401 times, a record that stood until the 2005 release of The Devil's Rejects.
Because of his convincing acting skills, he has earned various nicknames among his many devoted fans. Among few, there are names such as "The Lord of the Accents" because of his mastery of accents and dialects, which is considered like some sort of trademark. "The Chameleon" is also a popular nickname, since Oldman has starred in many movies and is so unique in his way of truly becoming the character he acts, he has fooled many to think that he is a different person.
He has earned the name Crazy Gary Oldman, because of his capacity to harrowingly portray border-line psychotics.
Oldman has been married three times: to Lesley Manville (1987 - 1990), to Uma Thurman (1990 - 1992), and to Donya Fiorentino (1997 - 2001).
Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg in The Fifth Element.
Despite getting older, Oldman's success in the mainstream seems to have only just begun following his critically-acclaimed performances in Batman Begins and the Harry Potter films. Up next for the actor are the further exploits of Commissioner Gordon in the Batman sequels.
Filmography
untitled Batman sequel (2008).... James Gordon
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007).... Sirius Black
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005).... Sirius Black
Batman Begins (2005).... Lt. James Gordon
Who's Kyle? (2004).... Scouse
Dead Fish (2004).... Lynch
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004).... Sirius Black
Sin (2003).... Charlie Strom
Tiptoes (2003).... Rolfe
True Crime: Streets of LA (2003).... Rasputin "Rocky" Kuznetskov, Agent Masterson
The Hire: Beat the Devil (2002).... Devil
Interstate 60 (2002).... O.W. Grant
Hannibal (2001).... Mason R. Verger
Nobody's Baby (2001).... Buford Hill
The Contender (2000).... Rep. Sheldon Runyon
Jesus (TV) (1999).... Pontius Pilate
Quest for Camelot (1998).... voice of Baron Ruber
Lost in Space (1998).... Dr. Zachary Smith
Air Force One (1997).... Igor Korshunov
The Fifth Element (1997).... Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg
Basquiat (1996).... Albert Milo
The Scarlet Letter (1995).... Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale
Murder in the First (1995).... Milton Glenn
Immortal Beloved (1994).... Ludwig van Beethoven
Léon (1994).... Norman Stansfield
Romeo Is Bleeding (1993).... Jack Grimaldi
True Romance (1993).... Drexl Spivey
Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992).... Dracula
Heading Home (TV) (1991).... Ian Tyson
JFK (1991).... Lee Harvey Oswald
Henry & June (1990).... Pop (as Maurice Escargot)
State of Grace (1990).... Jackie Flannery
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990).... Rosencrantz
Chattahoochee (1989).... Emmett Foley
The Firm (TV) (TV) (1988).... Bex Bissell
We Think the World of You (1988).... Johnny
Criminal Law (1988).... Ben Chase
Track 29 (1988).... Martin
Prick Up Your Ears (1987).... Joe Orton
Sid and Nancy (1986).... Sid Vicious
Honest, Decent & True (TV) (1985).... Derek Bates
Morgan's Boy (TV) (1984).... Colin
Meantime (TV) (1984).... Coxy the Skinhead
Remembrance (1982).... Daniel
Trivia
Discussing the role of Lee Harvey Oswald with director Oliver Stone on the set of JFK.
The only other actor since Lon Chaney Sr. to be named "Man of a Thousand Faces" due to his ability to become whatever character he plays.
Auditioned for the voice of General Grievous in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, and was rumoured to have won the part when his publicist jumped the gun. In reality he was never offered the part and to save face his publicist claimed that he had backed out after learning the film was to be made outside of the Screen Actor's Guild.
Henry & June is the only film (so far) in which he has been credited as "Maurice Escargot."
Brother of EastEnders actress Laila Morse.
Oldman's portrayal of Norman Stansfield in Léon is generally regarded as one of the best villains in movie history, ranking 43rd on the Online Film Critics Society's list of the Greatest Screen Villains Of All Time. [1]
Has played the Devil in both the Guns N' Roses music video 'Since I Don't Have You' as well as the BMW short film Beat the Devil.
Earned the nickname "Scary Gary" during production of Air Force One, due to his chilling portrayal of Ivan Korshunov.
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead was released on DVD the day after his 47th birthday.
Oldman appears in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire with Ralph Fiennes. Both of them have played villains in Hannibal Lecter films. Oldman played Mason Verger in Hannibal, and Fiennes played Francis Dolarhyde in Red Dragon.
Oldman's almost unrecognisable performance in Tony Scott's True Romance was based on a fellow actor friend named Willi One Blood - coincedentally, both of them acted together the next year in Léon.
In February 2006, an angry reaction from Harry Potter fans arose, due to rumours that Oldman or his character, Sirius Black may not feature in the new Harry Potter film. The basis for these rumours is the lack of any information about his involvement and his agents stating that they had heard nothing. Fury was increased on March 20th when Oldman's agent Douglas Urbanski said that Oldman would not accept the part if offered a contract later than a week from the time of this statement. Things finally settled down when Urbanski confirmed in an interview on March 21 that an agreement had been reached.
The nickname "Crazy Gary Oldman" is believed to have originated in a 2004 parody of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban on the Livejournal site Movies in 15 Minutes, where Oldman's character Sirius Black is on a wanted poster, screaming: "I'M SO CRAZY! LOOK AT ME! I'M CRAZY GARY OLDMAN!". Since that, this gag has been repeated in several parodies and the name obviously caught on.
