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16 March 2022, 17:25
Sir Anthony Hopkins is one of the UK's finest ever actors, with his TV and movie roles earning him praise and fans around the world.
Welsh actor, director, producer, composer, and painter Sir Anthony Hopkins has won an Academy Award, four BAFTAs, and two Emmys.
In 1993, he was knighted by the Queen for services to the arts, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2003 and the BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement in 2008.
After graduating from the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in 1957, Sir Anthony trained at RADA in London, and was spotted by Laurence Olivier, who invited him to join the Royal National Theatre in 1965.
In 1968, Sir Anthony began getting attention in film, playing Richard the Lionheart in The Lion in Winter. Richard Attenborough called him "the greatest actor of his generation."
In 1991, he played the villainous Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, winning the Academy Award for Best Actor. Other movies include The Elephant Man, Howards End, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Shadowlands, Legends of the Fall, Meet Joe Black, The Mask of Zorro, Mission Impossible II, and Thor.
He has also been nominated for five other Academy Awards for the films The Remains of the Day, Nixon, Amistad, The Two Popes, and 2020's The Father, the latter of which made him the oldest Best Actor nominee ever.
The Silence of the Lambs (1/12) Movie CLIP - Closer! (1991) HD
Full name Philip Anthony Hopkins, he was born in Port Talbot, Wales, on December 31, 1937. He celebrated his 84th birthday in 2021.
He was the son of Annie Muriel (née Yeates) and baker Richard Arthur Hopkins.
Sir Anthony has said that his father's working-class values have always played a role in his life: "Whenever I get a feeling that I may be special or different, I think of my father and I remember his hands – his hardened, broken hands."
Sir Anthony Hopkins has been married three times.
He was first married to Petronella Barker from 1966 to 1972, and then Jennifer Lynton from 1973 to 2002.
He has been married to partner Stella Arroyave since 2003.
Anthony Hopkins has a daughter: actress and singer Abigail Hopkins, who born in 1968, from his first marriage.
However, the two are estranged. When asked if he had any grandchildren, he said: "I don't have any idea. People break up. Families split and, you know, 'Get on with your life.'
"People make choices. I don't care one way or the other."
Jazz artist and actor Abigail told the Telegraph in 2006: "I would see him, but maybe once a year. There is a little bit of sadness but I have to get on with my life.
"It has always been like that. See him, and then not. Then, when I was 16, there was some row."
The pair reconciled in the 1990s, but are now said to not be on speaking terms.