Anthony Hopkins

CarMELita · August 19, 2009

Anthony Hopkins

Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins, CBE (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh film, stage and television actor. Considered to be one of film's greatest living actors,he is best known for his portrayal of cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter in the 1991's The Silence of the Lambs, its sequel, Hannibal, and its prequel, Red Dragon. His other notable film credits include The Elephant Man, Dracula, Legends of the Fall, The Remains of the Day, The Mask of Zorro, The World's Fastest Indian, Hearts in Atlantis, Nixon and Fracture. Hopkins was born and raised in Wales, and also became a U.S. citizen on 12 April 2000. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2003 and was made a Fellow of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in 2008.

Early life

Hopkins was born in Margam, Port Talbot, Wales, the son of Muriel Anne (née Yeats) and Richard Arthur Hopkins, a baker. His schooldays were unproductive. A loner with dyslexia, he found that he would rather immerse himself in art, such as painting and drawing or playing the piano, than attend to his studies. In 1949, to instill discipline, his parents insisted he attend Jones' West Monmouth Boys' School Pontypool, Wales. He remained there for five terms and was then educated at Cowbridge Grammar School, Cowbridge, Wales. in

Hopkins was influenced and encouraged to become an actor by compatriot Richard Burton, whom he met briefly at the age of 15. To that end, he enrolled at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff, Wales from which he graduated in 1957. After a two-year spell conscription into the Army for National Service, he moved to London where he trained at RADA.

Career

In 1965, after several years in repertory, he was spotted by Sir Laurence Olivier, who invited him to join the Royal National Theatre. Hopkins became Olivier's understudy, and filled in when Olivier was struck with appendicitis during a production of August Strindberg's The Dance of Death. Olivier later noted in his memoir, Confessions of an Actor, that, "A new young actor in the company of exceptional promise named Anthony Hopkins was understudying me and walked away with the part of Edgar like a cat with a mouse between its teeth."

Despite his success at the National, Hopkins tired of repeating the same roles nightly and yearned to be in movies. In 1968, he got his break in The Lion in Winter playing Richard I, along with Peter O'Toole, Katharine Hepburn, and future James Bond star Timothy Dalton, who played Philip II of France.

Although Hopkins continued in theatre (most notably at the National Theatre as Lambert Le Roux in Pravda by David Hare and Howard Brenton and as Antony in Antony and Cleopatra opposite Judi Dench as well as in the Broadway production of Peter Shaffer's Equus, directed by John Dexter) he gradually moved away from it to become more established as a television and film actor. He made his small-screen debut in a 1967 BBC broadcast of A Flea in Her Ear. He has since gone on to enjoy a long career, winning many plaudits and awards for his performances. Hopkins was made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 1987, and a Knight Bachelor in 1993. In 1996, Hopkins was awarded an honorary fellowship from the University of Wales, Lampeter.

Hopkins has stated that his role as Burt Munro, whom he portrayed in his 2005 film The World's Fastest Indian, was his favourite. He also asserted that Munro was the easiest role that he had played because both men have a similar outlook on life.

In 2006, Hopkins was the recipient of the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement. In 2008, he received the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award.

Acting style

Hopkins is renowned for his preparation for roles. He has confessed in interviews that once he has committed to a project, he will go over his lines as many times as is needed (sometimes upwards of 200) until the lines sound natural to him, so that he can "do it without thinking". This leads to an almost casual style of delivery that belies the amount of groundwork done beforehand. While it can allow for some careful improvisation, it has also brought him into conflict with the occasional director who departs from the script, or demands what the actor views as an excessive number of takes. Hopkins has stated that after he is finished with a scene, he simply discards the lines, not remembering them later on. This is unlike others who usually remember their lines from a film even years later. Richard Attenborough, who has directed Hopkins on five occasions, found himself going to great lengths during the filming of Shadowlands (1993) to accommodate the differing approaches of his two stars (Hopkins and Debra Winger), who shared many scenes. Whereas Hopkins liked to keep rehearsals to a minimum, preferring the spontaneity of a fresh take, Winger rehearsed continuously. To allow for this, Attenborough stood in for Hopkins during Winger's rehearsals, only bringing him in for the last one before a take. The director praised Hopkins for "this extraordinary ability to make you believe when you hear him that it is the very first time he has ever said that line. It's an incredible gift."

In addition, Hopkins is a gifted mimic, adept at turning his native Welsh accent into whatever is required by a character. He duplicated the voice of his late mentor, Laurence Olivier, for additional scenes in Spartacus in its 1991 restoration. His interview on the 1998 relaunch edition of the British TV talk show Parkinson featured an impersonation of comedian Tommy Cooper.

Hannibal Lecter

Hopkins' most famous role is as the cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1992, opposite Jodie Foster as Clarice Starling, who won for Best Actress. The film won Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. It is the shortest lead performance to win an Oscar, as Hopkins only appears on screen for little over sixteen minutes. Hopkins reprised his role as Lecter twice (Hannibal in 2001, Red Dragon in 2002). His original portrayal of the character in The Silence of the Lambs has been labelled by the American Film Institute as the number-one film villain. At the time he was offered the role, Hopkins was making a return to the London stage, performing in M. Butterfly. He had come back to Britain after living for a number of years in Hollywood, having all but given up on a career there, saying, "Well that part of my life's over; it's a chapter closed. I suppose I'll just have to settle for being a respectable actor poncing around the West End and doing respectable BBC work for the rest of my life."

Hopkins played the iconic villain in adaptations of the first three of the Lecter novels by Thomas Harris. The author was reportedly very pleased with Hopkins' portrayal of his antagonist. However, Hopkins stated that Red Dragon would feature his final performance as the character, and that he would not reprise even a narrative role in the latest addition to the series, Hannibal Rising.

Personal life

As of 2007, Hopkins resides in the United States. He had moved to the country once before during the 1970s to pursue his film career, but returned to Britain in the late 1980s. However, he decided to return to the U.S. following his 1990s success. He became a naturalized citizen on 12 April 2000, and celebrated with a 3,000-mile road trip across the country.

Hopkins has been married three times. His first two wives were Petronella Barker (1967�"1972) and Jennifer Lynton (1973�"2002). He is now married to Colombian-born Stella Arroyave. He has a daughter from his first marriage, Abigail Hopkins (b. 20 August 1968), who is an actress and singer.

He has offered his support to various charities and appeals, notably becoming President of the National Trust's Snowdonia Appeal, raising funds for the preservation of the Snowdonia National Park and to aid the Trust's efforts to purchase parts of Snowdon. A book celebrating these efforts, Anthony Hopkins' Snowdonia, was published together with Graham Nobles. Hopkins, who can speak some Welsh, also takes time to support various philanthropic groups. He was a Guest of Honour at a Gala Fundraiser for Women in Recovery, Inc., a Venice, California-based non-profit organization offering rehabilitation assistance to women in recovery from substance abuse. Although he resides in Malibu, California he is also a volunteer teacher at the Ruskin School of Acting in Santa Monica, California.

Hopkins is an acknowledged alcoholic who has been sober since 1975. Hopkins is known to be a joker while on set, lightening the mood during production by barking like a dog before filming a scene, according to a Tonight Show interview broadcast on 9 April 2007.

Hopkins is a prominent member of environmental protection group Greenpeace and as of early 2008 featured in a television advertisement campaign, voicing concerns about Japan's continuing annual whale hunt. Hopkins has been a patron of RAPt (Rehabilitation for Addicted Prisoners Trust) since its early days and helped open their first intensive drug and alcohol rehabilitation unit at Downview (HM Prison) in 1992.

He is an admirer of the comedian Tommy Cooper. On 23 February 2008, as patron of The Tommy Cooper Society, the actor unveiled a commemorative statue in the entertainer's home town of Caerphilly. For the ceremony, Hopkins donned Cooper's trademark fez and performed a comic routine.

Other work

Hopkins is a talented pianist. In 1986, he released a single called "Distant Star". It peaked at #75 in the UK charts. In 2007, he announced he would retire temporarily from the screen to tour around the world. The Masque of Time, given its world premiere with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra in October 2008, and Schizoid Salsa. Hopkins has also written music for the concert hall, in collaboration with Stephen Barton as orchestrator. These compositions include

In 1996, Hopkins directed his first film, August, an adaptation of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya set in Wales. His first screenplay, an experimental drama called Slipstream, which he also directed and scored, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2007.

Hopkins is a fan of the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses, and once remarked in an interview how he would love to appear in the series. Writer John Sullivan saw the interview, and with Hopkins in mind created the character Danny Driscoll, a local villain. However, filming of the new series coincided with the filming of The Silence of the Lambs, making Hopkins unavailable. The role instead went to his friend Roy Marsden.

Awards

Besides his win for The Silence of the Lambs, Hopkins has been Oscar-nominated for The Remains of the Day (1993), Nixon (1995) and Amistad (1997).

Hopkins won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in 1973 for his performance as Pierre Bezukhov in the BBC's production of War and Peace, and additionally for The Silence of the Lambs and Shadowlands. He received nominations in the same category for Magic and The Remains of the Day and as Best Supporting Actor for The Lion in Winter.

He won Emmy Awards for his roles in The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case and The Bunker, and was Emmy-nominated for The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Great Expectations. He won the directing and the acting award, both for Slipstream, at Switzerland's Locarno International Film Festival.

Hopkins became a Fellow of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) at the Orange British Academy Film Awards in February 2008.

Facts:

Height: 1,74 m

Spouse:

Stella Arroyave (1 March 2003 - present) Jennifer Lynton (13 January 1973 - 30 April 2002) (divorced) Petronella Barker (September 1967 - 1972) (divorced) 1 child

Trade Mark:

Hair greased back.

Often plays very proper and restrained British characters, as in The Remains of the Day (1993) and Shadowlands (1993).

Often plays controversial, real life characters: William Bligh in The Bounty (1984), Adolf Hitler in The Bunker (1981) (TV), Richard Bruno Hauptman in The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case (1976) (TV), Richard Nixon in Nixon (1995) and Yitzhak Rabin in Victory at Entebbe (1976) (TV).

Trivia

Is proud of his improvisational touches as Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs (1991) such as: the unnerving effect on Jodie Foster when he mocked her character's West Virginia accent; the distorion of the word "chianti" and the vile slurping sound he makes after he describes eating the "census-taker." Hopkins also notes that Hannibal never blinked his eyes when he spoke.

10/97: Ranked #57 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list.

Often compared with fellow Welshman Richard Burton.

1987: Awarded Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

7/16/88: Received an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from the University of Wales.

1993: Knighted in the New Year Honors List.

1975: Conquered his alcoholic addiction.

Piano virtuoso.

Father of Abigail Hopkins

Into the 1991 restoration of Spartacus (1960), scenes were reintroduced which had been cut from the picture's 1967 reissue. One such segment has Laurence Olivier, in the role of Marcus Crassus, attempting to seduce the slave Antoninus (played by Tony Curtis). But the original soundtrack for this segment had become lost. And so, Olivier having died in 1989, Anthony Hopkins imitated the voice of Olivier (whom Hopkins had understudied at the Old Vic) for the scene's re-created soundtrack. (The surviving Tony Curtis presumably supplied his own voice.)

Born at 9:15am-UT

One of his greatest pleasures in past years on his frequent visits to the USA was to get in a car and drive across the country, enjoying its immensity as well as his own anonymity.

9/99: Was selected by an Entertainment Weekly on-line movie poll as the Best Modern Actor and the Best Villain for his role as Hannibal Lecter.

4/12/00: Became a U.S. citizen, but is allowed to retain his British knighthood and the title of Sir.

Received his Academy Award for The Silence of the Lambs (1991) 11 years to the day of his father's death.

Volunteers at the Ruskins School of Acting in Santa Monica, California, where he teaches everything from Shakespeare to scenes, theory, and monologues.

Has the distinction of portraying two U.S. Presidents: Richard Nixon in Nixon (1995), and John Quincy Adams in Amistad (1997). He received Oscar nominations for both performances.

1/01: He ranked second in the Orange Film Survey of the greatest British films actors.

Had a brush with death while shooting The Edge (1997) in Alberta, Canada. He fell in a river, and was rushed to hospital to be treated for hypothermia.

Admitted that he felt very intimidated by the real Lt. Col. John Frost, who he played in the movie A Bridge Too Far (1977) when Frost visited the set one day to see how things were going.

Served in the British National Service as a Royal Artillery man and for a while was only known as "Gunner Hopkins".

9/24/03: Received star on Hollywood Walk of Fame.

For his stage performance in "Pravda", he was awarded the 1985 London Critics Circle Theatre Award (Drama Theatre Award) for Best Actor, and the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in 1986 (1985 season) for Outstanding Achievement.

He chose to play Prof. Van Helsing in Dracula (1992) because he was still riding the success of his portrayal of Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and wanted to pick a role as far removed from Lecter as possible.

His Oscar-winning performance as Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs (1991) was ranked #1 on the American Film Institute's Villains list in its compilation of the 100 Years of The Greatest Screen Heroes and Villains.

As a child, he was very close to his maternal grandfather, who for some reason called him "George", while his father called him "Charlie".

Is related to the poet William Butler Yeats on his mother's side of the family.

He included some unusual touches for Hannibal Lecter during his preparation for the role, among which were making Lecter's voice similar to the cutting warble of Katharine Hepburn and almost never blinking, a characteristic he picked up from watching tapes of convicted murderer Charles Manson.

Has played a (future) king of England (Richard Lionheart in The Lion in Winter (1968)) and two U.S. Presidents. Interestingly, President Richard Nixon and his brothers were all named after British kings, so it's likely that he played Nixon's namesake.

A Member of the RADA Council.

Has three roles in common with Brian Cox. Both of them have played Titus Andronicus. Hopkins appeared on stage as King Lear in 1986, the same year that Manhunter (1986), which starred Cox as Hannibal Lecter, was released. He was succeeded in the role of Lear by Cox in 1991, the same year that he succeeded Cox in the role of Hannibal Lecter.

Graduated from The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London, England.

Is a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), Stratford Upon Avon, England, where he spent three seasons after graduating from RADA.

Was listed as a potential nominee on the 2005 Razzie Award nominating ballot. He was suggested in the Worst Supporting Actor category for his performance in the film Alexander (2004), however, he failed to receive a nomination. Had he gotten the nomination, it would have been his first in 24 years. He was previously nominated for Worst Actor in the film A Change of Seasons (1980) at the very first Razzie Awards.

With a little over 16 minutes of screen time, his performance as Hannibal Lector in The Silence of the Lambs (1991), is the shortest ever to win a Best Actor Oscar.

Ranked #12 on Tropopkin's Top 25 Most Intriguing People [issue #100]

Has the distinction of twice playing former British Prime Minister David Lloyd George in Young Winston (1972) and "The Edwardians" (1972).

In Invercargill, New Zealand, there is a drama school named after him--The Anthony Hopkins School of Dramatic Arts. He was present for its opening, as he was in Invercargill filming scenes for the The World's Fastest Indian (2005) at the time.

Though dyslexic, he's always possessed a great memory for scripts.

9/20/05: On "The Oprah Winfrey Show" (1986), he said that he is most proud of The Silence of the Lambs (1991), The Remains of the Day (1993) and Proof (2005).

Likes to be called "Tony."

Ate the same menu as Pablo Picasso during the filming of Surviving Picasso (1996), in which he played Picasso.

An accomplished painter, he has allowed some of his landscape paintings to be exhibited in San Antonio, Texas.

2006: His performance as Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs (1991) is ranked #70 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time.

His performance as Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs (1991) is ranked #15 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.

Turned down the role of Alfred Pennyworth in Batman Begins (2005).

Reads each script 250 times out loud before filming, and to exercise his memory, memorizes one new poem a week.

Was set to play Jor-El in Superman Returns (2006), but when director Brett Ratner left the project, so did Hopkins.

Has played two characters that lost a hand by having it severed: in Titus (1999) and Hannibal (2001).

Attended Cowbridge boys grammar school as a youth.

Quit smoking cigarettes using the Allen Carr method.

The Anthony Hopkins Theatre at the Theatre Clwyd Cymru in Mold, North Wales, UK was named in his honour.

He is the patron on The Drama Association of Wales,UK which offers a wide and varied range of services to Community Drama. Among others, members include amateur and professional theatre practitioners, educationalists and playwrights.

Appears in Nixon (1995) with Dan Hedaya, and The Good Father (1985) with Jim Broadbent. Hedaya later played Nixon in Dick (1999), and Broadbent played Nixon in Dirty Tricks (2000) (TV).

Parents: Muriel Anne Yeats (b.1913) and Richard Arthur Hopkins (died in 1981).

Has played a King of England (Richard I, the Lionheart), a Prime Minister of England (David Lloyd George), and two U.S. Presidents (John Quincy Adams and Richard Nixon).

Won a Drama Desk Award Outstanding Actor in a Play for "Equus" (1975).

Was considered for the role of Mr. Freeze in Batman & Robin (1997) until director Joel Schumacher decided that Mr. Freeze must be "big and strong like he was chiseled out of a glacier". The role went to Arnold Schwarzenegger.

He's the only child of a couple who ran a bakery.

Daughter, Abigail Hopkins, is a longtime friend of actress Jennifer Blanc.

Ex-son-in-law of Eric Barker and Pearl Hackney.

Was offered the part of Colonel Colin Caine in Lifeforce (1985).

Resides in Santa Monica, California.

Was considered for the role of Jack Byrnes in Meet the Parents (2000).

He and Frank Langella both received Oscar-nominations for playing Richard Nixon.

After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, he served two years in the British Army before beginning his acting career.

Personal Quotes

[on Gary Oldman] He is just like I was at his age.

I was lousy in school. Real screwed-up. A moron. I was antisocial and didn't bother with the other kids. A really bad student. I didn't have any brains. I didn't know what I was doing there. That's why I became an actor.

[interviewed on "Inside the Actors Studio" (1994)] I once asked a Jesuit priest what was the best short prayer he knew. He said, "Fuck it,' as in, "Fuck it; it's in God's hands."

The Welsh people have a talent for acting that one does not find in the English. The English lack heart.

[December 1998] To hell with this stupid show business, this ridiculous showbiz, this futile waste of life. I look back and see a desert wasteland. All those years spent in a fake environment. Everything was a fake.

[On becoming a U.S. citizen in 2000] America has been very generous to me, magnanimous really. I thought it would be good to give something back. It was a decision of the heart.

[on his days as an alcoholic, when he was drinking Mexican Spirit tequila] I was really sort of on a prolonged acid trip. I saw things and had peculiar quasi-religious experiences. I thought I was John The Baptist, and I would talk to the sea at Malibu and the sea would talk back to me. It was weird.

[On his most famous character, Dr. Hannibal Lecter] I think he might be a very interesting person to have lunch with, provided that YOU weren't the lunch.

One of the people I got to know years ago, which was a great privilege, was Laurence Olivier. He was like a laser - that was his power. And the only actor I've met since who had that same quality of laser-like determination is Russell Crowe. The first day I started working with him, I thought, "That guy's got it." The best way to describe Russell is, he's like a shark circling round. He was argumentative. He argued with the director all the time. I don't know Russell that well, but I admire him, and you know, whatever he's got to do really. I really like him because he's ballsy, he's got guts, he's macho and all the rest of it. He's going through his bad boy period, but he's basically a nice guy.

I am able to play monsters well. I understand monsters. I understand madmen.

Being a smoker is like being trapped in a complicated maze. It's as if Allen Carr has a plan of the maze. Instantly I was freed from my addiction.

Acting is still enjoyable, but there are no more challenges any more for me. No, none at all. I'm much more interested in painting and composing music these days. I've become what I always wanted to be, a jobbing actor. I'm just detached, I do my thing. I work hard at it, but I don't invest my life in it. As long as they pay me on time and I get a good script with a good director, I have fun. That's all.

[on former US President Bill Clinton] It seems to me that the country rather misses him. He has impressed me. He asked me if I wanted to accompany him on a trip to Brazil, and so off I went. I'd met the President before in Washington, a very nice guy. So we were at this dinner, talking after his gig, he gave this incredible speech and he said, "Would you like to come to Brazil with me next week?". Of course I said, "Yes". He's pretty exhausting to be with, because he's always wanting to play cards or golf.

Heroes, like Bogart (Humphrey Bogart). They deserve high definition.

Filmography

Actor:

Shoot the Messenger (2010) (pre-production) (rumored)
Untitled Woody Allen London Project (2010) (filming)
The Wolf Man (2010) (post-production) .... Sir John Talbot
Bare Knuckles (2009) .... Xavier Jonas
Immutable Dream of Snow Lion (2008)
Where I Stand: The Hank Greenspun Story (2008) (voice) .... Hank Greenspun
Beowulf: The Game (2007) (VG) (voice) .... King Hrothgar
The City of Your Final Destination (2007) .... Adam
Beowulf (2007) .... Hrothgar
... aka Beowulf: An IMAX 3D Experience (USA: IMAX version)
... aka Beowulf: The IMAX Experience (USA: IMAX version)
Fracture (2007/I) .... Ted Crawford
... aka Das perfekte Verbrechen (Germany)
Slipstream (2007) .... Felix Bonhoeffer
... aka Slipstream Dream (USA)
All the King's Men (2006) .... Judge Irwin
... aka Das Spiel der Macht (Germany)
Bobby (2006) .... John Casey
The World's Fastest Indian (2005) .... Burt Munro
Proof (2005) .... Robert
... aka {proof} (International: English title: poster title)
Alexander (2004) .... Old Ptolemy
... aka Alexander (Germany)
... aka Alexander Revisited: The Final Cut (USA: recut version)
... aka Alexander: Director's Cut (USA: censored version)
... aka Alexandre (France)
The Devil and Daniel Webster (2004) .... Daniel Webster
... aka Shortcut to Happiness (USA: new title)
The Human Stain (2003) .... Coleman Silk
... aka Der menschliche Makel (Germany)
... aka La couleur du mensonge (France)
"Freedom: A History of Us" .... George Washington / ... (5 episodes, 2003)
- A Fatal Contradiction (2003) TV episode .... Walsh, Robert
- Independence (2003) TV episode .... George Washington
- Liberty for All (2003) TV episode .... John, Winthrop
- Revolution (2003) TV episode .... George Washington
- Wake Up America (2003) TV episode .... William Radcliffe
Red Dragon (2002) .... Dr. Hannibal Lecter
... aka Roter Drache (Germany)
Bad Company (2002) .... Officer Oakes
... aka Ceská spojka (Czech Republic)
Hearts in Atlantis (2001) .... Ted Brautigan
Hannibal (2001) .... Hannibal Lecter
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) (voice) .... Narrator
... aka The Grinch (Australia) (UK) (USA: promotional title)
... aka Der Grinch (Germany)
... aka Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (USA: complete title)
Mission: Impossible II (2000) (uncredited) .... Mission Commander Swanbeck
... aka M:I-2 (USA: DVD box title (promotional abbreviation))
... aka Mission: Impossible II (Germany)
Titus (1999) .... Titus Andronicus
Instinct (1999) .... Ethan Powell
Meet Joe Black (1998) .... William Parrish
The Mask of Zorro (1998) .... Don Diego de la Vega / Zorro
... aka Die Maske des Zorro (Germany)
Amistad (1997) .... John Quincy Adams
The Edge (1997) .... Charles Morse
Surviving Picasso (1996) .... Pablo Picasso
August (1996) .... Ieuan Davies
Nixon (1995) .... Richard M. Nixon
Legends of the Fall (1994) .... Col. William Ludlow
The Road to Wellville (1994) .... Dr. John Harvey Kellogg
Shadowlands (1993) .... Jack Lewis
The Remains of the Day (1993) .... James Stevens
Selected Exits (1993) (TV) .... Gwyn Thomas
The Innocent (1993) .... Glass
... aka ...und der Himmel steht still (Germany)
The Trial (1993) .... The Priest
Chaplin (1992) .... George Hayden
... aka Charlot (Italy)
Dracula (1992) .... Professor Abraham Van Helsing
... aka Bram Stoker's Dracula (USA: complete title)
To Be the Best (1992) (TV) .... Jack Figg
Howards End (1992) .... Henry J. Wilcox
Spotswood (1992) .... Errol Wallace
... aka The Efficiency Expert (USA)
Freejack (1992) .... McCandless
One Man's War (1991) (TV) .... Joel
The Silence of the Lambs (1991) .... Dr. Hannibal Lecter
Desperate Hours (1990) .... Tim Cornell
"Great Expectations" (1989) TV mini-series .... Abel Magwitch
Heartland (1989) (TV) .... Jack
The Tenth Man (1988) (TV) .... Jean Louis Chavel
The Dawning (1988) .... Cassius aka Angus Barrie
A Chorus of Disapproval (1988) .... Dafydd Ap Llewellyn
Across the Lake (1988) (TV) .... Donald Campbell
84 Charing Cross Road (1987) .... Frank P. Doel
The Good Father (1985) .... Bill Hooper
Mussolini and I (1985) (TV) .... Count Galeazzo Ciano
... aka Ich und der Duce (West Germany)
... aka Io e il duce (Italy)
... aka Mussolini: The Decline and Fall of Il Duce
"Hollywood Wives" (1985) TV mini-series .... Neil Gray
Blunt (1985) (TV) .... Guy Burgess
... aka Blunt, the Fourth Man
Guilty Conscience (1985) (TV) .... Arthur Jamison
Arch of Triumph (1984) (TV) .... Dr. Ravic
"Six Centuries of Verse" (1 episode, 1984)
- Later Twentieth Century 1934-1984 (1984) TV episode
The Bounty (1984) .... Lieutenant William Bligh
"Strangers and Brothers" .... Roger Quaife (2 episodes, 1984)
- Episode #1.12 (1984) TV episode .... Roger Quaife
- Episode #1.11 (1984) TV episode .... Roger Quaife
A Married Man (1983) (TV) .... John Strickland
"BBC Play of the Month" .... Alfred Allmers / ... (4 episodes, 1970-1982)
- Little Eyolf (1982) TV episode .... Alfred Allmers
- Kean (1978) TV episode .... Edmund Kean
- Uncle Vanya (1970) TV episode .... Astrov
- The Three Sisters (1970) TV episode .... Andrei
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1982) (TV) .... Quasimodo
... aka Hunchback (USA: video title)
Othello (1981) (TV) .... Othello
... aka The Complete Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare: Othello (USA: video title)
Peter and Paul (1981) (TV) .... Paul of Tarsus
The Bunker (1981) (TV) .... Adolf Hitler
... aka Le bunker (France)
A Change of Seasons (1980) .... Adam Evans
The Elephant Man (1980) .... Frederick Treves
Mayflower: The Pilgrims' Adventure (1979) (TV) .... Capt. Jones
Magic (1978) .... Corky Withers / Voice of Fats
International Velvet (1978) .... Captain Johnson
A Bridge Too Far (1977) .... Lt. Col. John D. Frost
Audrey Rose (1977) .... Elliot Hoover
Victory at Entebbe (1976) (TV) .... Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin
The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case (1976) (TV) .... Bruno Richard Hauptmann
Dark Victory (1976) (TV) .... Dr. Michael Grant
All Creatures Great and Small (1975) (TV) .... Siegfried Farnon
... aka All Things Great and Small
Juggernaut (1974) .... Supt. John McCleod
... aka Terror on the Britannic (UK: DVD title) (USA)
The Girl from Petrovka (1974) .... Kostya
"Play for Today" .... Alexander Tashkov / ... (2 episodes, 1970-1974)
- The Childhood Friend (1974) TV episode .... Alexander Tashkov
- Hearts and Flowers (1970) TV episode .... Bob
"Childhood" .... Dando (1 episode, 1974)
- Possessions (1974) TV episode .... Dando
"QB VII" (1974) TV mini-series .... Dr. Adam Kelno (unknown episodes)
The Arcata Promise (1974) (TV) .... Theo Gunge
Possessions (1974) (TV) .... Dando
"Black and Blue" .... Hi (1 episode, 1973)
- The Middle-of-the-Road Roadshow for All the Family (1973) TV episode .... Hi
A Doll's House (1973/I) .... Torvald Helmer
"War & Peace" .... Pierre Bezukhov (17 episodes, 1972-1973)
- An Epilogue (1973) TV episode .... Pierre Bezukhov
- The Road to Life (1973) TV episode .... Pierre Bezukhov
- The Retreat (1973) TV episode .... Pierre Bezukhov
- Of Life and Death (1973) TV episode .... Pierre Bezukhov
- Moscow! (1973) TV episode .... Pierre Bezukhov
(12 more)
"The Edwardians" .... David Lloyd George (1 episode, 1973)
- Lloyd George (1973) TV episode .... David Lloyd George
Lloyd George (1973) (TV) .... David Lloyd George
Young Winston (1972) .... David Lloyd George
"The Man Outside" .... Albert Watts (1 episode, 1972)
- Cuculus Canorus (1972) TV episode .... Albert Watts
Poet Game (1972) (TV) .... Hugh Sanders
"The Ten Commandments" .... Steve (1 episode, 1971)
- Decision to Burn (1971) TV episode .... Steve
When Eight Bells Toll (1971) .... Philip Calvert
... aka Alistair Maclean's When Eight Bells Toll (UK: complete title)
"Biography" .... Danton (1 episode, 1970)
- Danton (1970) TV episode .... Danton
"Department S" .... Greg Halliday (1 episode, 1970)
- A Small War of Nerves (1970) TV episode .... Greg Halliday
The Great Inimitable Mr. Dickens (1970) (TV) .... Charles Dickens
Hamlet (1969) .... Claudius
... aka Shakespeare's Hamlet (USA: complete title)
The Looking Glass War (1969) .... John Avery
"ITV Saturday Night Theatre" .... Arnold (1 episode, 1969)
... aka "ITV Sunday Night Theatre" (UK: new title)
- A Walk Through the Forest (1969) TV episode .... Arnold
"The Company of Five" .... Richard Mason (1 episode, 1968)
- This Isn't Just One of Those Physical Things (1968) TV episode .... Richard Mason
The Lion in Winter (1968) .... Richard
The White Bus (1967) .... Brechtian
... aka Red, White and Zero (USA)
A Flea in Her Ear (1967) (TV) .... Etienne Plucheux
"The Man in Room 17" .... Dr. Harding (1 episode, 1965)
- A Minor Operation (1965) TV episode .... Dr. Harding

Director:

Slipstream (2007)
... aka Slipstream Dream (USA)
August (1996)
Dylan Thomas: Return Journey (1990)

Composer:

Slipstream (2007)
... aka Slipstream Dream (USA)
August (1996)
Dylan Thomas: Return Journey (1990)

Writer:

Slipstream (2007) (writer)
... aka Slipstream Dream (USA)

Music Department:

Slipstream (2007) (musician: piano)
... aka Slipstream Dream (USA)

Producer:

Bobby (2006) (executive producer)

sources:

wikipedia.org

imdb.com

google.com

You might want to check out "Hopkinsville" a German fansite with lots of pictures from his movies:

http://www.hopkinsville.de/

CarMELita · August 19, 2009

Michel Comte photoshoot, 1995

source: LJ, hires hunks

Joe > Average · August 19, 2009

Name changed from Hokins to Hopkins :trout: at your request .

One of the best actors ever :hehe: .

CarMELita · August 19, 2009

Thanks, Joe :hug:

CarMELita · December 4, 2009

Actors revisit a famous role for Empire Magazine with Jodie Foster

source: LJ, ohnotheydidnt

COP11 · May 14, 2010

LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE · June 23, 2010

Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins, CBE (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh actor of film, stage and television. Considered to be one of film's greatest living actors,^[1]^[2]^[3] he is perhaps best known for his portrayal of cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, its sequel, Hannibal, and its prequel, Red Dragon. Other prominent film credits include Magic, The Elephant Man, 84 Charing Cross Road, Dracula, Legends of the Fall, The Remains of the Day, Amistad, Nixon and Fracture. Hopkins was born and brought up in Wales. Retaining his British citizenship, he became a U.S. citizen on 12 April 2000.^[4] He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2003 and was made a Fellow of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in 2008.

Early lifeHopkins was born in Margam, Port Talbot, Wales, the son of Muriel Anne (née Yeats) and Richard Arthur Hopkins, a baker.^[5] His schooldays were unproductive; he found that he would rather immerse himself in art, such as painting and drawing or playing the piano, than attend to his studies. In 1949, to instill discipline, his parents insisted he attend Jones' West Monmouth Boys' School in Pontypool. He remained there for five terms and was then educated at Cowbridge Grammar School, Wales.

Hopkins was influenced and encouraged to become an actor by compatriot Richard Burton, whom he met briefly at the age of 15. To that end, he enrolled at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff from which he graduated in 1957. After two years in the British Army doing his National Service, he then moved to London where he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

Career

In 1965, after several years in repertory, he was spotted by Sir Laurence Olivier, who invited him to join the Royal National Theatre. Hopkins became Olivier's understudy, and filled in when Olivier was struck with appendicitis during a production of August Strindberg's The Dance of Death. Olivier later noted in his memoir, Confessions of an Actor, that, "A new young actor in the company of exceptional promise named Anthony Hopkins was understudying me and walked away with the part of Edgar like a cat with a mouse between its teeth."^[6]

Despite his success at the National, Hopkins tired of repeating the same roles nightly and yearned to be in movies. He made his small-screen debut in a 1967 BBC broadcast of A Flea in Her Ear. In 1968, he got his break in The Lion in Winter playing Richard I, along with Peter O'Toole, Katharine Hepburn, and future James Bond star Timothy Dalton, who played Philip II of France.

Although Hopkins continued in theatre (most notably at the National Theatre as Lambert Le Roux in Pravda by David Hare and Howard Brenton and as Antony in Antony and Cleopatra opposite Judi Dench as well as in the Broadway production of Peter Shaffer's Equus, directed by John Dexter) he gradually moved away from it to become more established as a television and film actor. He has since gone on to enjoy a long career, winning many plaudits and awards for his performances. Hopkins was made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 1987, and a Knight Bachelor in 1993^[7] In 1996, Hopkins was awarded an honorary fellowship from the University of Wales, Lampeter.

Hopkins has stated that his role as Burt Munro, whom he portrayed in his 2005 film The World's Fastest Indian, was his favourite. He also asserted that Munro was the easiest role that he had played because both men have a similar outlook on life.^[8]

In 2006, Hopkins was the recipient of the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement. In 2008, he received the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award.

Hopkins is set to portray Odin, the father of Thor, in the upcoming film adaptation of Marvel Comics' Thor.^[9] On 24 February 2010 it was announced that Hopkins had been cast in the upcoming supernatural thriller The Rite: The Making of a Modern Day Exorcist. He will play a priest who is "an expert in exorcisms and whose methods are not necessarily traditional".^[10]

Acting style

Anthony Hopkins in Berlin to shoot some scenes for The Innocent (1993)Hopkins is renowned for his preparation for roles. He has confessed in interviews that once he has committed to a project, he will go over his lines as many times as is needed (sometimes upwards of 200) until the lines sound natural to him, so that he can "do it without thinking". This leads to an almost casual style of delivery that belies the amount of groundwork done beforehand. While it can allow for some careful improvisation, it has also brought him into conflict with the occasional director who departs from the script, or demands what the actor views as an excessive number of takes. Hopkins has stated that after he is finished with a scene, he simply discards the lines, not remembering them later on. This is unlike others who usually remember their lines from a film even years later.^[11] Richard Attenborough, who has directed Hopkins on five occasions, found himself going to great lengths during the filming of Shadowlands (1993) to accommodate the differing approaches of his two stars (Hopkins and Debra Winger), who shared many scenes. Whereas Hopkins, preferring the spontaneity of a fresh take, liked to keep rehearsals to a minimum, Winger rehearsed continuously. To allow for this, Attenborough stood in for Hopkins during Winger's rehearsals, only bringing him in for the last one before a take. The director praised Hopkins for "this extraordinary ability to make you believe when you hear him that it is the very first time he has ever said that line. It's an incredible gift."^[6]

In addition, Hopkins is a gifted mimic, adept at turning his native Welsh accent into whatever is required by a character. He duplicated the voice of his late mentor, Laurence Olivier, for additional scenes in Spartacus in its 1991 restoration. His interview on the 1998 relaunch edition of the British TV talk show Parkinson featured an impersonation of comedian Tommy Cooper. Hopkins has said acting, "like a submarine" has helped him to deliver credible performances in his thriller movies. He said, "It's very difficult for an actor to avoid, you want to show a bit. But I think the less one shows the better."^[12]

Hannibal Lecter

Hopkins' most famous role is as the cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1992, opposite Jodie Foster as Clarice Starling, who won for Best Actress. The film won Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. It is the one of the shortest lead performances to win an Oscar, as Hopkins only appears on screen for little over 24 minutes. Hopkins reprised his role as Lecter twice (Hannibal in 2001, Red Dragon in 2002). His original portrayal of the character in The Silence of the Lambs has been labelled by the American Film Institute as the number-one film villain.^[13] At the time he was offered the role, Hopkins was making a return to the London stage, performing in M. Butterfly. He had come back to Britain after living for a number of years in Hollywood, having all but given up on a career there, saying, "Well that part of my life's over; it's a chapter closed. I suppose I'll just have to settle for being a respectable actor poncing around the West End and doing respectable BBC work for the rest of my life."^[6]

Hopkins played the iconic villain in adaptations of the first three of the Lecter novels by Thomas Harris. The author was reportedly very pleased with Hopkins' portrayal of his antagonist. However, Hopkins stated that Red Dragon would feature his final performance as the character, and that he would not reprise even a narrative role in the latest addition to the series, Hannibal Rising.

Personal life

Hopkins at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2005As of 2007, Hopkins resides in the United States. He had moved to the country once before during the 1970s to pursue his film career, but returned to Britain in the late 1980s. However, he decided to return to the U.S. following his 1990s success. He became a naturalized citizen on 12 April 2000, and celebrated with a 3,000-mile road trip across the country.

Hopkins has been married three times. His first two wives were Petronella Barker (1967…quot;1972) and Jennifer Lynton (1973…quot;2002). He is now married to Colombian-born Stella Arroyave. He has a daughter from his first marriage, Abigail Hopkins (b. 20 August 1968), who is an actress and singer.

He has offered his support to various charities and appeals, notably becoming President of the National Trust's Snowdonia Appeal, raising funds for the preservation of the Snowdonia National Park and to aid the Trust's efforts to purchase parts of Snowdon. A book celebrating these efforts, Anthony Hopkins' Snowdonia, was published together with Graham Nobles. Hopkins also takes time to support various philanthropic groups. He was a Guest of Honour at a Gala Fundraiser for Women in Recovery, Inc., a Venice, California-based non-profit organization offering rehabilitation assistance to women in recovery from substance abuse. Although he resides in Malibu, California he is also a volunteer teacher at the Ruskin School of Acting in Santa Monica, California.

Hopkins has attended 12-Step meetings for alcohol addiction,^[14] and suddenly stopped drinking in 1975. Hopkins is known to be a joker while on set, lightening the mood during production by barking like a dog before filming a scene, according to a Tonight Show interview broadcast on 9 April 2007.

Hopkins is a prominent member of environmental protection group Greenpeace and as of early 2008 featured in a television advertisement campaign, voicing concerns about Japan's continuing annual whale hunt.^[15] Hopkins has been a patron of RAPt (Rehabilitation for Addicted Prisoners Trust) since its early days and helped open their first intensive drug and alcohol rehabilitation unit at Downview (HM Prison) in 1992.

He is an admirer of the comedian Tommy Cooper. On 23 February 2008, as patron of The Tommy Cooper Society, the actor unveiled a commemorative statue in the entertainer's home town of Caerphilly. For the ceremony, Hopkins donned Cooper's trademark fez and performed a comic routine.^[16]

Other work

Hopkins is a talented pianist. In 1986, he released a single called "Distant Star". It peaked at #75 in the UK charts. In 2007, he announced he would retire temporarily from the screen to tour around the world.^[17] Hopkins has also written music for the concert hall, in collaboration with Stephen Barton as orchestrator. These compositions include The Masque of Time, given its world premiere with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra in October 2008, and Schizoid Salsa.^[18]

In 1996, Hopkins directed his first film, August, an adaptation of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya set in Wales. His first screenplay, an experimental drama called Slipstream, which he also directed and scored, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2007.

Hopkins is a fan of the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses, and once remarked in an interview how he would love to appear in the series. Writer John Sullivan saw the interview, and with Hopkins in mind created the character Danny Driscoll, a local villain. However, filming of the new series coincided with the filming of The Silence of the Lambs, making Hopkins unavailable. The role instead went to his friend Roy Marsden.^[19]

Hopkins has played many famous historical and fictional characters including:

Richard Lionheart (The Lion in Winter, 1968)
Charles Dickens (The Great Inimitable Mr. Dickens, 1970)
Pierre Bezukhov (War and Peace, 1972)
David Lloyd George (Young Winston, 1972)
Yitzak Rabin (Victory at Entebbe, 1976)
Bruno Hauptmann (The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case, 1976)
John Frost (A Bridge Too Far, 1977)
Frederick Treves (The Elephant Man, 1980)
Adolf Hitler (The Bunker, 1981)
Othello (Othello, 1981)
Paul the Apostle (Peter and Paul, 1981)
Quasimodo (The Hunchback of Notre Dame, 1982)
William Bligh (The Bounty, 1984)
Count Galeazzo Ciano (Mussolini and I, 1985)
Donald Campbell (Across the Lake, 1988)

Dr. Hannibal Lecter (The Silence of the Lambs, 1991; Hannibal, 2001; Red Dragon, 2002)
Abraham Van Helsing (Bram Stoker's Dracula, 1992)
Marcus Crassus (Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of Spartacus, 1992)
C. S. Lewis (Shadowlands, 1993)
Dr. John Harvey Kellogg (The Road to Wellville (film), 1994)
Richard Nixon (Nixon, 1995)
Pablo Picasso (Surviving Picasso, 1996)
John Quincy Adams (Amistad, 1997)
Charles Morse (The Edge, 1997)
Don Diego de la Vega/Zorro (The Mask of Zorro, 1998)
Titus Andronicus (Titus, 1999)
Ptolemy I Soter (Alexander, 2004)
Burt Munro (The World's Fastest Indian, 2005)
Hrothgar (Beowulf, 2007)
Odin (Thor, 2011)

Threads Merged . Please make sure to use one of the two search functions (one at the bottom left of the subforum and one at the top right of the page in general), the directory or type the name and bellazon into a general search engine such as google.