Ralph Fiennes biography

Synopsis

British actor Ralph Fiennes was born into an aristocratic English family and is the eighth cousin of Prince Charles. His film debut was in Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights and his later performances in Schindler's List, The English Patient and The Constant Gardener brought him great notoriety as an actor and has earned him many awards and nominations.

Profile

Actor, born on December 22, 1962 in Suffolk, UK, the eldest of seven children, including brother of Joseph Fiennes. He is an eighth cousin of Prince Charles.

Fiennes studied drama at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London before joining the National Theatre (1987) and the Royal Shakespeare Company (1989??90). His film debut was in Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights (1991), and his compelling performance in Schindler's List (1993) earned him a Golden Globe Award and an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Other films include The Baby of Macon (1993), The English Patient (1996, Oscar nomination), Oscar and Lucinda (1997), The End of the Affair (1999), and Spider (2002). He was cast in the role of the wicked wizard Lord Voldemort in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005). Later films include The Constant Gardener and The White Countess, both 2005, In Bruges, The Duchess, and The Reader, all in 2008.

Fiennes dated actress Alex Kingston for ten years. The couple married in 1993, but divorced in 1997.