Gary Oldman biography, net worth, young photos, age, height, wife and kids 2025

Gary Oldman's Biography

Gary Oldman is widely recognized as not only a versatile actor, but also a producer, director, and musician. He's collaborated successfully with acclaimed directors including Quentin Tarantino, Luc Besson, Christopher Edward Nolan, and Ridley Scott. Gary gained worldwide recognition for playing Sid Vicious in the biopic "Sid and Nancy" and Count Dracula in the gothic horror "Bram Stoker's Dracula." In 2018 he finally received his first Academy Award for Best Actor for his brilliant portrayal of Winston Churchill in the war drama "Darkest Hour." Net worth: $40 million.

Childhood

Gary Oldman was born in March 1958 in London. His father, Leonard Bertram Oldman was a welder and his mother, Kathleen, was a housewife. According to the actor, his father was an alcoholic who left the family when Gary was only 7 years old. The future actor dropped out of high school to work in a sports shop.

He played piano well as a kid and later took to singing, but gave up his musical aspirations to focus on acting instead. In 1970 Gary was greatly impressed by Malcolm McDowell's performance in "The Raging Moon," which reinforced his desire to become an actor.

Although Gary dreamed of enrolling at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he wasn't accepted and had to study at the Young People's Theatre in Greenwich, which later led to him attending Rose Bruford College. In 1979 he graduated with honors as a BA in Acting.

Acting career

After leaving school, Oldman was the first in his class to land work in London's major theaters. He made his professional stage debut as Puss in «Dick Whittington and His Cat».

In 1985 Gary received a Time Out Fringe Award for Best Newcomer and around that same time snagged a Drama Theatre Award for Best Actor. Oldman was a part of Greenwich's Young People's Theater for 10 years and actively toured around Europe with Glasgow's Citizens Theater.

At the beginning of the '80s Gary started appearing in various television films. However, the young actor got his big break in 1986 after starring in the biopic «Sid and Nancy».

Gary turned down the role of Sid Vicious, notorious bassist and vocalist of the punk-rock band «Sex Pistols», twice. But he accepted it after director Alex Cox promised him a hefty salary. Oldman lost a considerable amount of weight for his role and eventually had to be hospitalized. Despite all the troubles, it was a truly iconic performance that made Gary Oldman a household name and cemented him as a «bad boy» type actor. Gary's performance would go on to be ranked No. 62 in Premiere magazine's «100 Greatest Performances of All Time», received an array of positive critics' reviews, and literally paved his way to Hollywood.

In 1988 renowned director Oliver Stone offered Oldman the role of Lee Harvey Oswald – the man who allegedly assassinated United States President John F. Kennedy – in his conspiracy thriller «JFK». The film was very well received by critics and general audiences alike, and received eight Academy Award nominations, resulting in two wins.

When preparing for the role, Gary realized that there was very little information on his character, so Oliver Stone gave him the needed contacts and urged the actor to conduct his own research. This allowed Oldman to meet Oswald's wife and two daughters.

In 1992 Gary Oldman was cast to portray Vlad the Impaler in Francis Ford Coppola's high-profile gothic romance horror «Bram Stoker's Dracula». The actor took special voice classes to drop his voice an octave lower and used his own son Alfie's picture in scenes to convey more authentic sorrow and grief. After this breakthrough role, Gary was flooded with offers to play villains and antagonists.

Two years later Oldman transformed into Ludwig van Beethoven for the film «Immortal Beloved». He reportedly took five-hour piano lessons to get into character.

Gary Oldman cemented his «main Hollywood villain» status in 1997 when Luc Besson's science-fiction action film «The Fifth Element» premiered, where the actor starred alongside Bruce Willis and Milla Jovovich. Gary agreed to the project without even reading the script, eager to collaborate with the director of «Leon» once again. Luc Besson stated multiple times that he considers Gary to be in the top five actors of the present time.

Interview with Gary Oldman

Gary Oldman's biggest 90s misstep was appearing in the romantic drama «The Scarlet Letter», where he portrayed Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale. The film was a box office disaster and got thoroughly panned by critics. Moreover, it was nominated for seven Golden Raspberry Awards, including «Worst Screen Couple» for Oldman and Demi Moore.

The psychological horror-thriller «Hannibal» was released in February 2001. After appearing in this film, Oldman took a break and did not star in any feature-length movies for three years. He did, however, appear in the low-budget, critically ignored metaphysical road film «Interstate 60: Episodes of The Road» and «Tiny Tiptoes».

Gary Oldman as Sirius Black (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban)

According to Gary Oldman himself, he was sick and tired of being typecast as psychopathic villains and was waiting for other, more dramatic roles, which is why in 2004 he agreed without hesitation to portray Sirius Black in the internationally celebrated Harry Potter franchise.

«I`ve done so much R-rated work, it`s nice to have a job you can show your kids.

Next year Gary went on to play a nice, decent, and overall good cop – James Gordon, in Christopher Nolan's interpretation of a classic Batman DC Comics. The first part of the critically acclaimed trilogy – «Batman Begins» came out in 2005.

In 2008, Oldman stunned audiences with his performance in a post-apocalyptic neo-Western action film «The Book of Eli», alongside Denzel Washington. Three years later, he received his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for his work in a Cold War espionage film «Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy».

Gary Oldman appeared in the 2014 remake of cyberpunk superhero action film «RoboCop», where he portrayed the doctor responsible for creating a cyborg police officer. That same year, the actor starred as the leader of remaining human survivors in a science fiction film «Dawn of the Planet of the Apes».

Gary Oldman in «Darkest Hour» (trailer)

In February 2018, Gary Oldman received his first Academy Award for Best Actor for portraying Winston Churchill in Joe Wright's war drama film «Darkest Hour».

Gary Oldman at the Oscars 2018

«Darkest Hour» also received an Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling, as Oldman was truly unrecognizable on screen – extensive makeup made him look much older and heavier than in real life.

During «Darkest Hour» filming Gary went through $30,000 of cigars! He would do about 12 of them a day and got nicotine poisoning, so he basically suffered for three months on the set.

In 2018, Oldman collaborated with Joe Wright once again – this time for thriller film «The Woman in the Window», which was released in 2019. The actor portrays the head of a family, who are unknowingly being spied on by an agoraphobic child psychologist, played by Amy Adams.

Trailer of an upcoming action thriller film «Hunter Killer», starring Gary Oldman

That same year, Gary Oldman was cast in Donovan Marsh's action-thriller «Hunter Killer», alongside Gerard Butler, where they portray Navy SEALs who must save the Russian President from terrorists.

Other ventures

Together with his longtime friend and manager Douglas Urbanski, Oldman formed an independent film production company called SE8 GROUP.

In 1997, Oldman directed, produced, and wrote a drama film «Nil by Mouth», which received generally positive reviews and was nominated for numerous awards, earning two BAFTA Awards and a Palme d'Or nomination at the Cannes Film Festival.

Alexandra Edenborough – «Kiss Me Like The Woman You Loved» (Gary Oldman's music video)

Gary Oldman directed a music video for his wife, Alexandra Edenborough.

Gary Oldman's personal life

Gary Oldman married British actress Lesley Manville in 1987, and a year later they welcomed their son Alfie. However, just three months after Alfie was born, the couple split.

In 1990, while filming the neo-noir crime film "State of Grace," Gary Oldman met aspiring actress Uma Thurman. They married that same year but split two years later. Gary's struggles with alcohol were cited as the main reason for their breakup.

Oldman then dated Italian actress Isabella Rossellini for a couple of years before meeting Donya Fiorentino, whom he married in 1997. Despite having two children together, the couple divorced four years later. Donya alleged that Gary struggled with alcohol and drug addiction and was abusive toward her and their children. The divorce became highly contentious, as Gary denied all accusations and claimed his ex-wife struggled with addiction herself. After lengthy court proceedings, Oldman was awarded sole legal and physical custody while Fiorentino received visiting rights.

Gary Oldman and Alexandra Edenborough's wedding

In 2008, Gary married for the fourth time. The actor married British jazz singer and actress Alexandra Edenborough in Santa Barbara, California. However, Edenborough filed for divorce in January 2015, citing Oldman's alcoholism as the primary reason.

In 2017, Oldman married writer and art curator Gisele Schmidt, whom he met during his previous divorce proceedings. The couple held a low-key ceremony with only their closest friends and family in attendance.

Gary Oldman today

2019 proved to be quite eventful for the actor. He appeared in as many as four major film releases. These included "The Laundromat," where he played Jürgen Mossack, "Killers Anonymous" with Oldman as the Curator, and the thriller "Mary." Unfortunately, most of these films received lukewarm reviews from critics.

Gary Oldman: latest news and articles

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4 Dec 2024

Ana Love

He played good in The Dark Knight Rises but I didn`t watch new movies with him

2021-04-20 23:49:02
Grace McCoy

Oldman somehow stop acting so much, but he is a great actor, its strange

2021-04-14 22:19:18
David Collins

My favourite Gary is always on top, I watched so many movies with him and all of them was good

2021-04-01 21:44:38
James Baker

I have only respect for Gary Oldman and admiration. He has many roles and each is a masterpiece.

2021-03-11 22:34:53
Audrey Davis

Legendary actor, with him there is a bunch of tough roles, mostly negative characters, but that`s his type.

2021-01-04 17:42:33

Photos: Gary Oldman