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Ralph Fiennes |
| Ralph Fiennes | |||||||||||
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 At the 60th Annual Tony Awards, New York City |
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| Born | Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes 22 December 1962 Suffolk, England |
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| Years active | 1990-present | ||||||||||
| Spouse(s) | Alex Kingston (1993-1997) |
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Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes1 (pronounced /ˈreɪf ˈfaɪnz/; born 22 December 1962) is a British actor. He has appeared in films such as Schindler's List, Quiz Show, The English Patient, Oscar and Lucinda, Red Dragon, The Constant Gardener, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, and the Harry Potter films. Most recently he portrayed William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire in the film The Duchess.
He is the only actor ever to have won a Tony Award for playing Hamlet on Broadway. In 2001, Fiennes received the William Shakespeare Award from the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C..
Fiennes is also a UNICEF ambassador.2
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Fiennes was born in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, the son of Mark Fiennes (1933-2004), a farmer and photographer, and Jennifer Lash (1938-1993), a writer.3 His surname is of Norman origin.4 He is a third cousin of the adventurer Sir Ranulph Fiennes. The eldest of seven children, his siblings are actor Joseph Fiennes (Shakespeare in Love, Luther), Martha Fiennes, a director (in her film Onegin, he acted the title role), Magnus Fiennes, a composer, Sophie Fiennes, a filmmaker, Jacob Fiennes, a conservationist, and his foster brother Michael Emery, an archaeologist.
The Fiennes family moved to Ireland in 1973, living in West Cork and County Kilkenny for some years, where Fiennes attended Saint Kieran's College for one year. He also attended Newtown, a Quaker school in Waterford. It has been alleged by locals in Kilkenny that this year was a thoroughly unenjoyable one. They moved to Salisbury in England, where Fiennes finished his schooling at Bishop Wordsworth's School before attending Chelsea College of Art.citation needed
Fiennes trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He began his career at the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park and, also during the late 1980s, the National Theatre before becaming a star the Royal Shakespeare Company.4. Fiennes first worked on screen in 1990 and then made his film debut in 1992 as Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights opposite Juliette Binoche, for which he received substantial acclaim and praise throughout Europe.
1993 was his "breakout year". He had a major role in the very controversial Peter Greenaway film The Baby of Mâcon with Julia Ormond. Though the film was poorly received, Fiennes's career suffered no lasting consequences, and later that year he became known internationally for portraying the amoral Nazi concentration camp commandant Amon Goeth in Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List. For this he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.4 He did not win the Oscar, but did win the Best Supporting Actor BAFTA Award for the role. His portrayal as Göth also earned him a spot on the American Film Institute's list of top 50 movie villains.
In 1994, he portrayed American academic Charles Van Doren in Quiz Show, and in 1996 was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for the World War II epic romance The English Patient.4 Fiennes' work has ranged from thrillers (Red Dragon) to animatedBiblical epic (The Prince of Egypt) to campy nostalgia (The Avengers) to romantic comedy (Maid in Manhattan) and offbeat dramedy (Oscar and Lucinda). Fiennes was cast as Lord Voldemort in the 2005 fantasy film Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and has retained this role for both the 5th film Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and the 6th film Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince which will be released in July 2009.
The Constant Gardener was released in 2005 with Fiennes as the title role.4 The film is set in the slums of Kibera and Loiyangalani, Kenya. The situation affected the crew to the extent that they set up the Constant Gardener Trust in order to provide basic education around these villages. Fiennes is a patron of the charity.5 His 2007 performance in the play Faith Healer gained him a nomination for a 2006 Tony Award.
In 2008 he reteamed with frequent collaborator director Jonathan Kent to play the title role in Sophocles' Oedipus which will tour internationally in 2009.
Fiennes met actress Alex Kingston while both were students at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. After dating for ten years, they married in 1993. However, they divorced in 1997. In 1995, Fiennes started dating Francesca Annis, an actress 17 years his senior, who played his mother in Hamlet. In February 2006 the couple separated after tabloid reports revealed that Fiennes had had an affair with Romanian singer Cornelia Crisan.6 In late 2006, sources reported that Fiennes was dating American actress Ellen Barkin.7
Fiennes stirred controversy in February 2007 when staff aboard a Qantas airline flight from Australia to India caught the actor leaving the same airplane lavatory as 38-year-old female flight attendant Lisa Robertson. At first denying any allegations of a mid-air tryst, Robertson later confessed to having unprotected sex in the stall with Fiennes, whom she had met just hours before. Fiennes reportedly was enroute to Mumbai, India, as a participant in AIDS awareness efforts for UNICEF. The organization would retain Fiennes as an ambassador, but Qantas would ultimately relieve Robertson of her duties.8
One month after the airline incident, Fiennes again made headlines when he reportedly disturbed sleeping guests at Bruges, Belgium's posh Hotel Tuilerieen during a 5 a.m. naked pool romp with four women. The actor was a guest at the hotel while shooting the film In Bruges.9
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia | T. E. Lawrence | TV |
| 1992 | Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights | Heathcliff | |
| 1993 | The Baby of Macon | The Bishop's son | |
| Schindler's List | Amon Göth | Won: BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor; Nominated: Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor; Nominated: Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor |
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| 1994 | Quiz Show | Charles Van Doren | |
| 1995 | Strange Days | Lenny Nero | |
| 1996 | The English Patient | Count László de Almássy | Nominated: Academy Award for Best Actor; Nominated: BAFTA Award for Best Actor; Nominated: Golden Globe Award for Best Actor; Nominated: SAG Award for Best Actor (and Cast) |
| 1997 | Oscar and Lucinda | Oscar Hopkins | |
| 1998 | The Avengers | John Steed | |
| The Prince of Egypt | Rameses | (voice) | |
| 1999 | Sunshine | Ignatz Sonnenschein/Adam Sors/Ivan Sors | Won: European Film Award for Best European Actor |
| Onegin | Evgeny Onegin | ||
| The End of the Affair | Maurice Bendrix | Nominated: BAFTA Award for Best Actor | |
| 2000 | The Miracle Maker | Jesus Christ | (voice) |
| 2002 | Spider | Spider | |
| The Good Thief | Tony Angel | (uncredited) | |
| Red Dragon | Francis Dolarhyde | ||
| Maid in Manhattan | Christopher Marshall | ||
| 2005 | The Chumscrubber | Mayor Michael Ebbs | |
| Chromophobia | Stephen Tulloch | ||
| The Constant Gardener | Justin Quayle | Nominated: BAFTA Award for Best Actor | |
| Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit | Victor Quartermaine | (voice) | |
| The White Countess | Todd Jackson | ||
| Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | Lord Voldemort | ||
| 2006 | Land of the Blind | Joe | |
| 2007 | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | Lord Voldemort | |
| Bernard and Doris | Bernard Lafferty | ||
| 2008 | In Bruges | Harry Waters | |
| The Duchess | William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire | awaiting release | |
| The Hurt Locker | Contractor Team Leader | awaiting release | |
| The Reader | Older Michael | post-production | |
| 2010 | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part I) | Lord Voldemort | pre-production - Not yet signed |
| 2011 | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part II) | Lord Voldemort | pre-production - Not yet signed |
Prime Suspect (1991)
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ralph Fiennes |
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Gene Hackman for Unforgiven |
BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role 1994 for Schindler's List |
Succeeded by Samuel L. Jackson for Pulp Fiction |
| Preceded by Brian Bedford for Timon of Athens |
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play 1994-1995 for Hamlet |
Succeeded by Frank Langella for The Father |
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