Bio
Jeremy Irons is an English actor best known for his roles in such films as The French Lieutenant's Woman, Moonlighting, The Mission, Dead Ringers, Reversal of Fortune, The House of the Spirits, The Lion King, Die Hard with a Vengeance, Lolita, Being Julia and Appaloosa.
Irons has also made several notable appearances on television, earning his first Golden Globe Award nomination for his breakout role in the ITV series Brideshead Revisited, in 1981.
In 2006, Irons starred opposite Helen Mirren in the historical miniseries Elizabeth I, for which he received a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
He also starred as Rodrigo Borgia in the Showtime historical drama The Borgias, from 2011-2013.
Irons began his career in England at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre Company and later debuted in London in Godspell as John the Baptist. His work in the West End and at Stratford-upon-Avon culminated with his performance of Richard II for the Royal Shakespeare Company.
He made his Broadway debut in 1984 in Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing, opposite Glenn Close, for which he won both the Drama League Award and a Tony Award for Best Actor.
Irons has played many roles for television, most notably Love For Lydia and Christopher Hampton's Tales From Hollywood. His performance in Brideshead Revisited brought him worldwide acclaim, as well as the Golden Globe for Best Actor and nominations for an Emmy and a BAFTA.
He then continued as director and co-star opposite his wife, actress Sinead Cusack, in Mirad: A Boy From Bosnia, a Channel 4 Television film about refugees written by Ad De Bont.
Irons won an Emmy for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for the PBS production The Great War And The Shaping Of The 20th Century.
In 2006, Irons co-starred with Helen Mirren in Elizabeth, garnering the Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries.
He also co-starred opposite Joan Allen in the Emmy-nominated TV movie O'Keeffe, as Georgia O'Keeffe's husband Alfred Stieglitz. For his portrayal of Stieglitz, Irons was nominated for both a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Golden Globe Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries.
On the big screen, he has starred in such films as Moonlighting, Betrayal, Swann In Love and The Mission with Robert De Niro.
Irons played opposite Meryl Streep in The French Lieutenant's Woman, for which he received the Variety Club Award for Best Actor and a BAFTA nomination, and played opposite his son Sam in Roald Dahl's Danny, Champion Of The World.
His performance in David Cronenberg's Dead Ringers brought him a Best Actor Award from the New York Film Critics Circle and a Canadian Genie.
Irons' performance in Reversal Of Fortune earned him the 1990 Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Actor.
During the 1990s, Irons concentrated on films, including Kafka, M. Butterfly and The House Of The Spirits, once again with Streep and Close. In 1994, Irons created the voice of Scar for Disney's animated film The Lion King.
He followed with the action film Die Hard With A Vengeance, co-starring Bruce Willis; and Stealing Beauty, co-starring Liv Tyler.
In 1998, Irons traveled to Hong Kong to make Wayne Wang's Chinese Box, followed by Man In The Iron Mask, in which he co-starred with Leonardo DiCaprio and John Malkovich.
He also played Humbert Humbert in Adrian Lyne's controversial film Lolita. This was followed by Longitude, an A&E Granada film that premiered on the BBC.
In 2001, Irons starred in And Now...Ladies And Gentleman, The Time Machine, Callas Forever and Last Call, a Showtime Original Picture. He also starred in Being Julia, opposite Annette Bening; The Merchant Of Venice, Kingdom Of Heaven, Casanova, Eragon and Inland Empire.
Theatre has continued to play a large part in Irons' career. In 2003, he went back to his roots in theatre for the New York City Opera production of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music in the role of Frederik, directed by Scott Ellis.
He then appeared in the Hollywood Bowl's production of Camelot as King Arthur; Embers, a play on London's West End; Never So Good and Impressionism on Broadway.
Irons appeared on the London stage in early 2010 as Colm, the central character in the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Dennis Kelly's new drama The Gods Weep.
Irons married Irish actress Sinéad Cusack in March 1978. They have two sons, Samuel (born 16 September 1978), who works as a photographer, and Max (born 17 October 1985), also an actor.
He lives in the small town of Watlington, Oxfordshire and the village of Ballydehob, in County Cork, Republic of Ireland.