Interesting facts about Jeremy Irons

jeremy irons

Jeremy Irons is an English actor.

His full name is Jeremy John Irons.

Jeremy Irons was born on 19 September 1948 in Cowes, Isle of Wight, a small island off the south coast of England.

He is the son of Barbara Anne Brereton (née Sharpee) and Paul Dugan Irons, an accountant.

Irons has a brother, Christopher (born 1943), and a sister, Felicity Anne (born 1944).

He was educated at the independent Sherborne School in Dorset from 1962 to 1966.

Before becoming an actor, he had considered a veterinarian surgeon’s career.

jeremy irons young

After receiving classical training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Irons began his acting career.

He joined Bristol Old Vic repertory company where he gained experience working in everything from Shakespeare to contemporary dramas.

Irons moved to London in 1971 and had a number of jobs before landing the role of “John the Baptist” in the hit musical “Godspell.”

He made his film debut in Nijinsky in 1980.

Irons became widely popular after appearing in the television series Brideshead Revisited (1981), which was based on the novel by Evelyn Waugh.

Irons’s first major film role came in the 1981 romantic drama The French Lieutenant’s Woman, for which he received a BAFTA nomination for Best Actor.

In 1984, he made his Broadway debut in Tom Stoppard’s The Real Thing and received a Tony Award for Best Actor.

In the mid-80s, he appeared in three lead roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

He appeared in the Cannes Palme d’Or winner The Mission in 1986.

the mission

Than he appeared in the dual role of twin gynaecologists in David Cronenberg’s Dead Ringers in 1988, for which he won the New York Critics Best Actor Award.

He gained a Golden Globe Award in addition to an Oscar for Best Actor in 1990 for his role as Claus von Bulow in Reversal of Fortune (1990) alongside Glenn Close.

reversal of fortune

In 1991 Irons appeared in the mystery thriller Kafka.

In 1992 he starred in in the sensual drama Damage.

In 1993 Irons appeared in the romantic drama M. Butterfly (1993) and in the German-Danish-Portuguese period drama The House of the Spirits (1993) appearing with Glenn Close and Meryl Streep.

One of his best known film roles has turned out to be lending his distinctive voice to Scar in The Lion King (1994) serving as the main antagonist of the film.

Irons appeared as Simon Gruber in Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995), co-starring Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson.

Than he appeared in Bernardo Bertolucci’s Stealing Beauty (1996), in the 1997 remake of Lolita, and as the musketeer Aramis opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in the 1998 film version of The Man in the Iron Mask.

stealing beauty

Irons’s film roles in the early 21st century include the evil wizard Profion in the film Dungeons and Dragons (2000) and Rupert Gould in Longitude (2000).

He played the Über-Morlock in the film The Time Machine (2002).

In 2004, Irons starred in the comedy-drama Being Julia. That same year he played Severus Snape in Comic Relief’s “Harry Potter” parody, “Harry Potter and the Secret Chamberpot of Azerbaijan.”

In 2005, Irons won both an Emmy award and a Golden Globe award for his supporting role in the TV mini-series, Elizabeth I.

Than Irons appeared in the epic historical drama Kingdom of Heaven (2005), the fantasy adventure Eragon (2006), and the Western Appaloosa (2008).

kingdom of heaven

In 2011, Irons appeared alongside Kevin Spacey in the thriller Margin Call.

Irons stars in the 2011 US premium cable network Showtime’s series The Borgias, a highly fictionalised account of the Renaissance dynasty of that name.

In 2012, he starred and worked as executive producer of the environmental documentary film Trashed.

Irons played Alfred Pennyworth in Warner Bros.’ Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and Justice League (2017).

batman v superman dawn of justice

He also co-starred as mathematician G.H. Hardy in the Srinivasa Ramanujan biopic The Man Who Knew Infinity (2015); as the architect of a tower that becomes the site of a class war in High-Rise (2015), an adaptation of a J.G. Ballard novel; and as a villain in the fantasy adventure Assassin’s Creed (2016), based on a video game.

Irons appeared as General Vladimir Korchnoi in Francis Lawrence’s spy thriller film Red Sparrow (2018), based on Jason Matthews’ book of the same name

He is one of the few actors who have won the “Triple Crown of Acting”, winning an Academy Award for film, an Emmy Award television and a Tony Award for theatre.

Jeremy Irons has an estimated net worth of $16 million.

jeremy-irons-2

Irons married Julie Hallam in 1969, but they divorced later that year.

He married Irish actress Sinéad Cusack on 28 March 1978. They have two sons, Samuel “Sam” Irons (born 1978), who works as a photographer, and Maximilian “Max” Irons (born 1985), also an actor.

Irons has served as voice-over in two big cat documentary films by National Geographic: Eye of the Leopard, which was released in 2006, and The Last Lions, which was released on 18 February 2011.

He serves as the English language version of the audio guide for Westminster Abbey in London.

In 2008, two researchers, a linguist and a sound engineer, found “the perfect [male] voice” to be a combination of Irons’ and Alan Rickman’s voices based on a sample of 50 voices.

In 1985, Irons directed a music video for Carly Simon and her heavily promoted single, “Tired of Being Blonde”, and in 1994, he had a cameo role in the video for Elastica’s hit single “Connection.”

Irons is an exceptionally good horseman and enjoys skiing. Hates cooking, but loves gardening and the beauty of nature.

After being ticketed in England for driving 97 mph. on his BMW motorcycle and being charged with speeding and fined $225.00, he had his motorcycle license suspended for three months in 1995.

His previous jobs include assistant stage manager, house-cleaner, “busker” (singing and playing guitar outside movie theaters), and gardener.

He is supporter of English football team Portsmouth F.C.

Although he is a heavy smoker, he claims that he is unable to drink alcohol without getting sick.

He was wearing sneakers when called to the stage to accept his Oscar in 1991.