Happy birthday, Jeremy Irons! The Oscar-winning actor turns 68 today.
Born in September of 1948 on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom, Irons is a star of stage and screen that started professionally at the age of 21. Having already done numerous Shakespearean revivals, Irons moved on to film in 1981 starring in The French Lieutenant’s Woman, which he received his first BAFTA nomination.
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After starring in dramas throughout the 80’s, he racked up critical acclaim and in 1990 starred in Reversal of Fortune as accused murderer Claus von Bulow, for which he took home the Academy Award for Best Actor.
Other notable roles include Scar from Disney’s The Lion King, who is often called the greatest Disney villain of all time and of course this past year, starred alongside Ben Affleck as Alfred Pennyworth in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Irons has won the “Triple Crown of Acting” which includes a Tony, an Emmy, and his Oscar, all within 13 years. He has been nominated for a Grammy, and should he win down the line, he would be in a very exclusive club as an EGOT winner.
The actor is also known for his work outside of the industry with his charity work. At the 1991 Tonys, Irons was one of the few celebrities to wear the recently created red ribbon to support the fight against AIDS, and he was the first celebrity to wear it onscreen.
In 2010, Irons starred in a promotional video for The 1billionhungry Project, which is a worldwide drive to attract at least one million signatures to a petition calling on international leaders to move hunger to the top of the political agenda. He was named Goodwill Ambassador of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 2011.
He has been contracted to reprise his role as Alfred Pennyworth in Justice League and the Ben Affleck solo Batman film.
Happy Birthday!
