Kenneth Branagh

Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh ( ; born 10 December 1960) is a British actor and filmmaker. Born in Belfast and raised primarily in Reading, Berkshire, Branagh trained at RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) in London and served as its president from 2015 to 2024. His accolades include an Academy Award, four BAFTAs, two Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and an Olivier Award. He was appointed a Knight Bachelor in the 2012 Birthday Honours, and was given Freedom of the City in his native Belfast in 2018. In 2020, he was ranked in 20th place on ''The Irish Times'' list of Ireland's greatest film actors.

He has directed and starred in several film adaptations of William Shakespeare's plays, including ''Henry V'' (1989), ''Much Ado About Nothing'' (1993), ''Othello'' (1995), ''Hamlet'' (1996), and ''As You Like It'' (2006). He was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor and Best Director for ''Henry V'', and Best Adapted Screenplay for ''Hamlet''. He directed ''Swan Song'' (1992), which earned a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film. He also directed ''Peter's Friends'' (1992), ''Mary Shelley's Frankenstein'' (1994), ''Thor'' (2011), and ''Cinderella'' (2015). For his semi-autobiographical film ''Belfast'' (2021), he was nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director, and won Best Original Screenplay.

Branagh directed and starred as Hercule Poirot in ''Murder on the Orient Express'' (2017), ''Death on the Nile'' (2022), and ''A Haunting in Venice'' (2023). He has also acted in ''Celebrity'' (1998), ''Wild Wild West'' (1999), ''The Road to El Dorado'' (2000), ''Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'' (2002), ''Rabbit-Proof Fence'' (2002), and ''Valkyrie'' (2008). His portrayal of Laurence Olivier in ''My Week with Marilyn'' (2011) earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He played supporting roles in Christopher Nolan's films ''Dunkirk'' (2017), ''Tenet'' (2020), and ''Oppenheimer'' (2023).

Branagh has starred in the BBC1 series ''Fortunes of War'' (1987), the Channel 4 series ''Shackleton'' (2002), and BBC One series ''Wallander'' (2008–2016). He received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie and an International Emmy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of SS leader Reinhard Heydrich in the HBO film ''Conspiracy'' (2001). He also received a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award nomination for his role as Franklin D. Roosevelt in the television film ''Warm Springs'' (2005). Provided by Wikipedia