Biography of Sir Sean Connery

While one might dispute the actual number of people who would qualify for star status, no one would dispute the premise that Sean Connery is one of them. Moreover, he is not merely a star - he is a super-star.
He began his theatrical career as an extra in the chorus, playing bit parts, and modeling. From those modest beginnings, he has become an international film icon. Many believe that his talent and appeal continue to improve with time.
His humble beginnings, growing up in a working class neighborhood in Edinburgh, gave no indication of the achievements that were destined to come. Sean was born into a working class family in August of 1930. The oldest of two boys, he spent much of his youth working at menial jobs, just to get by. He left school at an early age and went to work fulltime.
At sixteen, he enlisted in the Royal Navy. Like many young men in the Navy, he opted for a tattoo. However, unlike many tattoos, his were not frivolous - his tattoos reflect two of his lifelong commitments: his family and Scotland. After six decades, his tattoos still reflect those two ideas: One tattoo is a tribute to his parents and reads "Mum and Dad," and the other is self explanatory, "Scotland Forever."
After three years of Naval service, a long bout with a stomach ulcer shortened his "naval career". He returned to Edinburgh and seemed to settle into a life of hard work: bricklayer, lifeguard, and coffin polisher. Sean spent much of his free time bodybuilding, a pastime that eventually started his acting career. His hobby of bodybuilding culminated in a bid for the 1950 Mr. Universe title where he placed third.
From his early acting days until his first superstar role, Sean's stardom was certainly not an over-night success story. From his first work in modeling, bit theatrical parts, and chorus appearances, it was almost eight years before he was cast opposite Lana Turner in Another Time, Another Place (1958). It would be another four years before he first uttered those unforgettable words, "Bond, James Bond."
He then broadened his career with an Agatha Christie whodunit, Murder on the Orient Express (1974), John Huston's adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's adventure, The Man Who Would Be King (1975), the medieval romance, Robin and Marian (1976), and Peter Hyams' sci-fi film, Outland (1981). He resurfaced as a much wiser and more mature Bond in the 1983 adventure, Never Say Never Again.
Many critics and fans alike have said that the quality of his acting has only improved with age. Certainly his personal appeal has. In 1989, at almost 60 years of age he was voted People Magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive." When advised of the award, Sean seemed to be unaffected as he replied, "Well there aren't many sexy dead men, are there”.

P A U L

Paul Bettany was born into a theatre family. His father, Thane Bettany, is still an actor. His mother, Anne Kettle, has retired from acting. He has an older sister who is a mother and a writer and he has a niece. His maternal grandmother, Olga Gwynne (her maiden and stage name), was a successful actress, while his maternal grandfather, Lesley Kettle, was a musician and promoter. He was brought up in North West London and, after the age of 9, in Hertfordshire (Brookmans Park). Immediately after finishing at Drama Centre, he went into the West End to join the cast of "An Inspector Calls", though when asked to go on tour with this play, he chose to stay in England.

Wanna some basic facts? Here you are.
Name: Paul Thane Bettany
Age: 38
Height: 6'3"
Hair: Strawberry Blond
Eyes: Blue
Born: 27 May 1971 in Harlesden, UK (soon!!!)
Sign: Gemini
Lives in: Brooklyn
Father: Thane Bettany
Mother: Anne Kettle
Siblings: Older sister Sarah, younger brother Matthew (d. 1988)
Wife: Jennifer Connelly
Wedding: 1 Jan 2003, Gilmerton House, Scotland
Children: Stellan (5 Aug 2003), Kai (1997, stepson)
Beliefs: Atheist
First Feature Role: Gangster No. 1
Trademarks: Wit, playing guitar, vodka, talking like a sailor
Admires: John Lennon, Brian Patten, Stellan Skarsgеrd, Vincent Cassel
Greatest Influence: John Jameson and Son - "the reasons are manifold"
Smoking: Quit in 2005
Favorite Film: Brief Encounter
Favorite Novel: Darkness at Noon
Sports: Arsenal
World Record: On May 16, 2006, Paul and other Da Vinci Code cast and crew members rode a Eurostar train from London to Cannes, setting an official Guinness World Record for the longest non-stop international train journey.

Quotations

• I'm English, so I can't wear a baseball cap. I'd look like white trash, like I should have a beer and a dog called Skeeter.
• My dad made a lot of stories up at bedtime. He would create these wild stories about this elephant. As I got older, I remember him reading Lord of the Rings. My strongest memory was the moment when you think Frodo is dead and I forced him to read about 250 more pages until you realized he was okay.
• In America, they shoot budgets and schedules, and they don't shoot films any more. There's more opportunity in Europe to make films that at least have a purity of intent.

I O A N

Welsh icon Ioan Gruffudd may now be famous due to his portrayals of superhero Mr Fantastic and the dashing Horatio Hornblower, but his acting career started in a more humble manner in Welsh soap opera Pobol y Cwm.

Ioan Gruffudd was born in October 1973 in Llwydcoed, Aberdare, the eldest of three children to his parents Peter and Gillian Gruffudd, both of whom were teachers.
A few years after he was born the family moved to Cardiff, where Gruffudd's grandparents had previously run an amateur dramatics society.
Gruffudd's first acting break came in Austin (1986), a BBC Cymru Wales television film written by Hazel Williams. From 1987 to 1994 he acted in the Welsh-language soap opera Pobl y Cwm, but left at the age of 18 to enrol at Rada to formally train as an actor.
In his final year at the Academy Gruffudd was cast as George (Jörgen) Tesman in Ibsen's Hedda Gabler, which in part led to him winning the role of Jeremy in the 1996 remake of the BBC's Poldark series - his first major English-language role.
The following year he played John Gray in the film Wilde, which starred Stephen Fry. Gruffudd's star was by now firmly in the ascendant, and soon after he played Fifth Officer Harold Lowe in James Cameron's Hollywood epic Titanic.
In 1998 Gruffudd landed the role of Horatio Hornblower in ITV's production of CS Forester's novels, a production he would continue to work on until 2003.
1999 saw Gruffudd star in BBC drama Warriors alongside other British talent Damien Lewis and Matthew Macfadyen. Directed by Peter Kosminsky, the drama focused upon UN peacekeepers in Bosnia during the Lašva Valley ethnic cleansing in 1993.
Gruffudd also appeared as Pip in the BBC's 1999 dramatisation of Great Expectations, played the lead in BAFTA award winning Welsh film Solomon a Gaenor, and even voiced the part of God in the Welsh animation Gwr y Gwyrthiau (The Miracle Maker).
The turn of the century saw a step up the Hollywood ladder for Gruffudd as he won the role of Kevin Shepherd in Disney's 102 Dalmatians (2000). It was while working on this film that Gruffudd met future wife Alice Evans; the pair married in Mexico in 2007 and live together in Los Angeles.
"I had lived in London for 12 years and to be honest with you I haven't missed Wales - I've hardly missed London, I love Los Angeles that much," he told the Daily Post. "When you live here and get to know the place, it's just wonderful, such an easy way of life. I'm surprised that the place has offered me so much pleasure and I really enjoy it."
Gruffudd starred in Very Annie Mary and the acclaimed Black Hawk Down in 2001, with appearances in television serials The Forsyte Saga and Man and Boy the year after.
At the 2003 National Eisteddfod he was inducted into the Gorsedd of the Bards and a year later landed the role of Lancelot in Antoine Fuqua's King Arthur, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and starring Clive Owen and Kiera Knightly.
Gruffudd's performance as Dr Reed Richards (aka Mr Fantastic), in the first of the Fantastic Four series in 2004 (based on Marvel Comics), won him adulation from his ever-growing fanbase though critical reviews of the film were mixed.
Two years later Gruffudd played abolitionist William Wilberforce in Amazing Grace and in 2007 starred in the second of the Fantastic Four series, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.
Gruffudd continued his journey upwards in Hollywood casting circles when picked to play former Prime Minister Tony Blair in Oliver Stone's 2008 satirical biographical film W. He also starred in a film adaptation of the children's novel The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge, The Secret of Moonacre, in the same year.
And with Hollywood directors paying close attention, and a versatility which sees him turn his hand to everything from costume drama to sci-fi blockbusters, he could well follow Richard Burton and Anthony Hopkins into the league of Welsh Hollywood greats.
Gruffudd became a father for the first time in September 2009 as his wife Alice gave birth to a daughter, Ella Betsi Evans Gruffudd.
In the autumn of 2009 he was involved in the Animated Myths project for the BBC Wales History website; he narrated the story Morgana's Secret Island, written by Welsh author Catrin Dafydd.
Spring 2010 saw Gruffudd begin filming on Foster, in which he stars with Toni Collette, Hayley Mills and Richard E. Grant. He is also set to star in forthcoming film The Kid, an adaptation of the international bestseller on the life of Kevin Lewis, alongside Rupert Friend and Natascha McElhone.

Quotations

• "As an actor, you have to admit you are a show-off. But with so many magazines like Heat, it's diminishing the mystery of going to see somebody on the big screen. The less you know about somebody the better."
• "Being attractive, it's not something I do consciously. It's incredibly flattering that people think I appeal to women. But that was a gift from my parents. My acting, my personality - that's what it's about."
• I'm determined not to lose my name. It's who I am. It has neither aided my progress nor hampered it. It's just who I am. My character. My make-up. My culture and heritage is a very rich one. So what if it's difficult for people to pronounce? We all learned how to say Schwarzenegger.

Let's congratulate Gerard Butler! He is the winer of our voting))

The second place is given to Alan Rickman!

The Legends of the British Cinema

A now - a bit of history. I dared to "steal" this thoroughly made video from the you-tube user AllenbysEyes (a deep bow for his work, no copyright was violated).

Here are some new photos) Watch and enjoy ;) And don't forget about VOTING! In a few days we will name the actor who gets the highest score! Hurry up!

 Robert Pattinson

Paul Bettany

Alan Rickman

Our Dear Readers and Guests! You have an opportunity to look at these marvelous photos) Please, give comments and your opinion about these actors.