Jim Broadbent Biography

MARITAL STATUS
Professions Actor , Executive producer , Screenwriter
Birth name James Broadbent
British nationality
Birth May 24, 1949 (Lincoln – England)

BIOGRAPHY
Jim Broadbent was predestined for the theater… His father, Roy Broadbent, is known for having transformed a Methodist Church into a theater: the Broadbent Theater. In 1972, Jim Broadbent graduated from London Music and Dramatic Art. He then began a career on the stage which materialized in 1976 with a futuristic play (which lasted twelve hours) by Ken Campbell: Illuminatus . He then played in two plays by Richard Eyre (who directed him again in Iris in 2001). He founded with Patrick Barlow “The National Theater of Brent”.

His film career began at the end of the 1970s. He appeared for the first time on screen in 1978 in The Sorcerer’s Cry . In the 80s, he alternated roles on television and those in the cinema: from supporting roles with Terry Gilliam ( Brazil , Bandits, bandits ) to The Hit or Superman IV , he gradually made a place for himself. Likeable barman in The Crying Game or adored theater actor in Shots on Broadway , he varies the roles.

His career accelerated in 1999 when he won the Volpi for best actor at the Venice Film Festival for his role in Topsy-Turvy by Mike Leigh (with whom he had already collaborated in the theater in his early days). His character of WS Gilbert, master of musical theater in the 19th century, was also recognized with the London Film Critics Circle Award (actor of the year).

He has a string of successful films and awards: father of Renée Zellweger in Bridget Jones’s Diary , zany showman in Moulin Rouge (BAFTA, Golden Satellite Award, LAFCA for Best Supporting Role), husband of novelist Iris Murdoch in Iris (Golden Globe, NBR Award, and Oscar for Best Supporting Actor) and politician in Gangs of New York . Since then, the actor has made numerous films: he plays the evil Lord Kelvin in Around the World in 80 Days and reunites with the single Bridget Jones in 2004, before playing opposite Reese Witherspoon in the historical drama Vanity Fair in 2005.

The same year, Jim ventured into children’s fantasy films, which he discovered by donning the costume of Professor Kirke in The Chronicles of Narnia . Also in 2005, the actor continued to devote himself to young audiences and devoted himself on several occasions to dubbing for the needs of three animated films:Vaillant , The Magic Roundabout and Robots . He reiterated his experience in fantasy films in 2009 with Inkheart , then Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 , where he played the hypocrite Professor Horace Slughorn.

At the same time, Jim Broadbent plays the bad guys in the police comedy Hot Fuzz (2007), and opposite Harrison Ford in the continuation of the adventures of the legendary adventurer, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008). After a foray into historical drama with Victoria: The Young Years of a Queen and the biopic with The Damned United centered on the life of Brian Clough, he plays retiree Tom, the main character in Mike Leigh ‘s new film , Another Year , before lending his voice again, this time to Santa Claus, for the animated film Arthur’s Christmas (2011).

He then stood out in the biopic The Iron Lady , the Wachowskis sci-fi thriller Cloud Atlas , the action film Big Game , the children’s feature Paddington (and its sequel) and the blockbuster Tarzan . He also reprises his role as Renée Zellweger’s father in Bridget Jones Baby . Starring in the heist film Gentlemen Burglars and the family film The Journey of Doctor Dolittle , the actor plays in 2020 a British sixty-year-old accused of having stolen a precious painting in The Duke . Then, we see him as King in A Boy Called Christmas and as a walking hero in The Unlikely Journey of Harold Fry .