Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins, CBE (born December 31, 1937) is an Academy Award-, Golden Globe-, double Emmy-, triple BAFTA- and Saturn Award-winning Welsh film, stage and television actor, arguably best known for his portrayal of Hannibal Lecter in the 1991 blockbuster The Silence of the Lambs. Other notable film credits include The Elephant Man, Dracula, The Remains of the Day, The Mask of Zorro, Hearts in Atlantis and Fracture. Hopkins was born and raised in Wales, and also became a U.S. citizen on 12 April 2000. He was made a Fellow of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in 2008.
Anthony Hopkins was born on 31st December 1937 in Margam, Wales. Influenced by Richard Burton he decided to study at College of Music and Drama and graduated in 1957. In 1965 he moved to London and joined the National Theatre, invited by Laurence Olivier, who could see the talent in Hopkins. In 1967 he made his first film for television, "A Flea in Her Ear". From this moment on he enjoyed a successful career in cinema and television. In 1968 he worked on "A Lion in Winter" with Timothy Dalton. Many successes came later, and Hopkins remarkable acting style reached the four corners of the world. In 1977 he appeared in two major films: "A Bridge Too Far" with James Caan, Gene Hackman, Sean Connery, Michael Caine, Billy Elliott and Laurence Olivier, and "Audrey Rose". In 1980 he worked on "The Elephant Man". Two good television literature adaptations followed: "Othello" (1981) and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (1982). In 1987 he was awarded with the Commander of the order of the British Empire. This year was also important in his cinematic life, with "84 Charing Cross Road", acclaimed by specialists. In 1993 he was knighted. In the 90s Hopkins made movies like "Desperate Hours" (1990) and "Howard's End" (1992), "The Remains of the Day" (1993, nominee for the Oscar), "Legends of the Fall" (1994), "Nixon" (1995, nominee for the Oscar), "Surviving Picasso" (1996), "Amistad" (1997, nominee for the Oscar), "The Mask of Zorro" (1998), "Meet Joe Black" (1998) and "instinct" (1999). His most remarkable film, however, was "The Silence of the Lambs" (1991), for which he won the Oscar for Best Actor. He also got a BAFTA for this role.
