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Kenneth Branagh

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Biography

Recent Role:
Himself on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
Gender:
Male
Born:
12-10-1960
Birthplace:
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Birth Name:
Kenneth Charles Branagh
AKA:
Kenneth Brannagh

Kenneth is the son of William and Frances Branagh. His father was an Ulster carpenter. Educated in Northern Ireland, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1984 (after other stage and screen work) and was soon taking on leading roles.
Next, he formed his own 'Renaissance Theatre Company', and then directed and starred in a film version of Shakespeare's 'Henry V' (1989), opposite his first wife, actress and screen writer Emma Thompson. The couple met whilst filming the BBC World War Two period drama

More href="http://www.tv.com/fortunes-of-war/show/8716/summary.html">Fortunes Of War. They went on to appear in numerous other productions together, including 'Much Ado About Nothing',(1993) where he played Benedick to Thompson's Beatrice and 'Dead Again' (1991) where he starred as American sleuth Mike Church and composer Roman Strauss opposite Thompson's amnesiac Grace and pianist Margaret. They also both starred in 'Peter's Friends,' (1992) a film which reunited Thompson with some of her university friends including Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry. His mother in law, actress Phyllida Law was also in the film. It was during this time that Kenneth gained substantial public and professional recognition for his innovative work, and he was dubbed the 'new Olivier' by the press. However, the press soon developed a love-hate relationship with Branagh when he published his autobiography at the age of thirty. They did not report that it was done to help fund his film and theatre productions and reviews and press coverage of Branagh became negative and overtly hostile. His 1995 film version of 'Frankenstein' was particularly savaged by the critics. In 1995, he and Thompson divorced.
In recent years he has continued to appear in many diverse roles on stage and screen but taken a less prominant role in the press. In 2002, he played the stern Neville in 'Rabbit Proof Fence', an Australian film about Aboriginal rights. The same year also saw the release of the award winning film 'Shackleton,' which tells the tale of the the South Pole explorer.

Ironically, Branagh has fallen back in favour with the press and many of his films that were dismissed when they were first released are considered classics.
Kenneth married film art director Lindsay Brunnock in 2003.

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  •  
    10 Perfect
    Branagh is the consummate Shakespeare actor of our time. hide show

    Sometimes I make a small game of imagining actors in roles for the vast history of Middle-Earth. To that end, if I were to make a Tolkien-esque comparison for Branagh I would venture that he is the embodiment of Feanor. His passion for Shakespeare is akin to Feanor's love of smithmaking and he has bravado on the level of Feanor as I could easily see him laughing at Mandos.

    Outstanding actor and truly a giant of our time. Who else these days could be said to embody, "...the vitality of Olivier, the passion of Gielgud, the assurance of Guinness" ?

    In my view there is none but Branagh.

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  •  
    10 Perfect
    Richard Burton's replacement with the ego of Orson Wells...and damn sexy too! hide show

    Where to begin...Peter's Friends was my first introduction to Kenneth and his crew of co-workers. Emma Thompson, pure perfection, could play the phone book and make you want to turn the pages yourself! Imelda Staunton, such a force or nature when it comes to her craft, and so bloody underated - she should have won the Oscar for Vera Drake!

    But Kenneth, the man to rival Richard Burton's own interpretation of Hamlet and get away with it. His direction is always spot on perfect, even is he fleshes out every syllable of Shakespeare, he makes it worthwhile to watch!

    His films, like that of Richard Burton, have run the gambit from comedy (wild wild west) to high drama (fortunes of war - also with emma) to suspense (dead again - also with emma and derek jacobi).

    Like his ex-wife Emma Thompson, he can play the phone book with such amazing grace, the numbers dial themselves!

    Equally good behind the camera (a midwinter's tale and Hamlet) he can be the new Orson Wells of the 21st century as long as he wants to be.

    There is but so much that The Bard has put to pen. Kenneth could interpret it all and leave a legacy of film that would rival that of Chaplin in it's masterful workmanship of storytelling, acting, and directing.

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