Anthony Hopkins Biography

Sir Anthony Hopkins, CBE (born December 31, 1937) is a British-born American actor who was born Philip Anthony Hopkins in Port Talbot, Wales. Strongly influenced and encouraged to become an actor by fellow Welshman Richard Burton. He also conquered an alcohol addiction in 1975 and has not touched a drop since, drinking sparkling cider (which in the US is not considered an alcoholic beverage) at his March wedding. Now resides in the United States where he has become a naturalized citizen. However, as a dual national, he retains his knighthood and can use the title 'Sir' in the UK, but not in the US, since it is considered 'inappropriate' according to the British consulate.

Anthony Hopkins most famous role was as the character Hannibal Lecter in the film The Silence of the Lambs for which he also won the best actor Academy Award.   In fact the film won the Academy Award for Best Picture as well that year, no doubt due to the superb and electrifying interplay between Hopkins and Foster. It is the shortest lead acting Oscar-winning performance ever, as Hopkins is only on the screen for about sixteen minutes. Hopkins reprised the role of Dr. Lecter twice in Hannibal and Red Dragon. Lecter first appears in the film Manhunter, in which the role was played by Brian Cox. Red Dragon was a remake of Manhunter, which allowed Hopkins to play Lecter in adaptations of all three Lecter novels. Lecter's slurping sound from Silence of the Lambs was apparently improvised. All three films were based on the bestselling novels by Thomas Harris, who reportedly was very pleased with Hopkins' portrayal of Lecter.   He reprised the role twice in Hannibal and Red Dragon. 

He has played many great characters including: Zorro (The Mask of Zorro 1998), Quasimodo (The Hunchback of Notre Dame 1982), Othello (Othello 1981), Pablo Picasso (Surviving Picasso 1996), Richard Nixon (Nixon 1995), Titus Andronicus (Titus 1999), John Quincy Adams (Amistad 1997), Adolf Hitler (The Bunker 1981), Charles Dickens (The Great Inimitable Mr. Dickens 1970), and Abraham Van Helsing (Bram Stoker's Dracula 1992).

Hopkins has also been Oscar-nominated for The Remains of the Day (1993), which was based on the award-winning novel by Kazuo Ishiguro. Other Oscar-nominated performances of Hopkins include: Nixon (1995) and Amistad (1997). Hopkins won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor for his perfomances in The Silence of the Lambs and The Remains of the Day.

He has played many famous historical and fictional characters including: Zorro (The Mask of Zorro 1998), Quasimodo (The Hunchback of Notre Dame 1982), Othello (Othello 1981), Pablo Picasso (Surviving Picasso 1996), Richard Nixon (Nixon 1995), Titus Andronicus (Titus 1999), John Quincy Adams (Amistad 1997), Adolf Hitler (The Bunker 1981), John Frost (A Bridge Too Far 1977) Charles Dickens (The Great Inimitable Mr. Dickens 1970), William Bligh (The Bounty 1984), Richard Lionheart (The Lion in Winter 1968), David Lloyd George (Young Winston 1972), Abraham Van Helsing (Bram Stoker's Dracula 1992), Yitzak Rabin (Victory at Entebbe 1976) and C. S. Lewis (Shadowlands 1993).

He was made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 1987, and knighted in 1993.

Today, Hopkins also takes time to support various philanthropic groups. Hopkins was past Gala Fundraiser Guest of Honour for Women in Recovery, Inc., a Venice, California-based non-profit organization offering a live-in, Twelve-step program of rehabilitation for women in need. Other past honorees of this organization have included Jamie Lee Curtis; the 2005 honoree was Angela Lansbury. He is also a volunteer teacher at the Ruskins School of Acting in Santa Monica, California.

He has offered his personal support to various charities and appeals, notably becoming President of the National Trust's Snowdonia Appeal, raising funds for the preservation of the Snowdonia National Park and to aid the Trust's efforts to purchase parts of Snowdon. A book celebrating these efforts Anthony Hopkins' Snowdonia was published together with Graham Nobles.

In 2006, Hopkins was the recipient of the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement.

Selected filmography

• The Lion in Winter (1968)
• The Looking Glass War (1969)
• Hamlet (1979)
• The Great Inimitable Mr. Dickens (1970)
• The Three Sisters (1970)
• Young Winston (1972)
• War and Peace (1972)
• A Doll's House (1973)
• The Girl from Petrovka (1974)
• QB VII (1974)
• Juggernaut (1974)
• Dark Victory (1976)
• The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case(1976)
• A Bridge Too Far (1977)
• Audrey Rose (1977)
• Magic (1978)
• International Velvet (1978)
• Mayflower: The Pilgrims' Adventure (1979)
• The Elephant Man (1980)
• A Change of Seasons (1980)
• The Bunker (1981)
• Peter and Paul (1981)
• Othello (1981)
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1982)
• A Married Man (1983)
• The Bounty (1984)
• Hollywood Wives (1985)
• Guilty Conscience (1985)
• Mussolini And I (1985)
• The Good Father (1985)
• 84 Charing Cross Road (1987)
• Desperate Hours (1990)
• The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
• Freejack (1992)
• Chaplin (1992)
• The Efficiency Expert (1992) Spotswood (1992)
• Howards End (1992)
• Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)
• The Remains of the Day (1993)
• Shadowlands (1993)
• Legends of the Fall (1994)
• The Road to Wellville (1995)
• Nixon (1995)
• Surviving Picasso (1996)
• Amistad (1997)
• The Edge (1997)
• The Mask of Zorro (1998)
• Meet Joe Black (1998)
• Instinct (1999)
• Titus (1999)
• Mission: Impossible II (2000)
• How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) (voice only)
• The Devil and Daniel Webster (2001)
• Hannibal (2001)
• Hearts in Atlantis (2001)
• Red Dragon (2002)
• Bad Company (2002)
• The Human Stain (2003)
• Alexander (2004)
• Proof (2005)
• The World's Fastest Indian (2005)
• All the King's Men (2006)
• Harry and the Butler (2006)
• Young Hannibal: Behind the Mask (2006) (voice only)
• Beowulf (2007)
• Papa (2006/2007)

Trivia

• Was playing King Lear on stage at the National Theater while Brian Cox was playing Hannibal Lecter in Manhunter. Years later, during production of The Silence of the Lambs, Cox was playing King Lear at the National Theater.
• Has received two Oscar nominations for playing U.S. Presidents. He played Richard Nixon in Nixon, and John Quincy Adams in Amistad.
• The drama school at the Southern Institute of Technology was named after him when he was in Invercargill filming The World's Fastest Indian.