Anthony Hopkins

Born: 31st December 1937
Where: Port Talbot, Wales

The Welsh actor will forever be associated with his Oscar-winning role as Dr Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs.

However, in a career spanning more than thirty years he has played roles ranging from Lieutenant Willian Bligh in The Bounty to the butler Stevens in Remains of the Day.

His interest in acting was sparked during his time at the Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff, from where he moved on to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.

After graduation, he served in the Royal Artillery for a couple of years and in 1960 he performed on stage in The Quare Fellow, followed by his London stage debut in Julius Caesar.

In 1966 Hopkins was invited to join the The National Theatre at the Old Vic where he played King Lear and Macbeth.

A year later he was cast in his film debut, The White Bus, which soon led to his TV debut in A Heritage and Its History, and his feature film debut in The Lion in Winter opposite Peter O'Toole and Katherine Hepburn.

Hopkins made his Broadway debut in Equus and won an Emmy for his performance in the TV-movie The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case.

With his Hollywood career shifting into gear, memorable roles included Lt Col John Frost in WWII movie A Bridge Too Far and Captain Johnson in International Velvet.

In 1978, he chilled as unhinged ventriliquist Corky/Fats the dummy in Magic and played the decent Dr Frederick Treves opposite John Hurt in The Elephant Man.

After a decade in the States, Hopkins returned to the UK in 1984, with his first job as a British bookseller in 84 Charing Cross Road.

In 1991, it was Hopkins' performance as killer Hannibal 'The Cannibal' Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, which won him his first Oscar.

To fine tune the part he adopted Katharine Hepburn's cutting warble and never blinked - a characteristic picked up from watching tapes of convicted murderer Charles Manson.

In 1993 he received an Oscar nomination for the drama The Remains of the Day, and also received a knighthood.

Notable roles, including Sir John Harvey Kellogg in The Road to Welville and Col William Ludlow in Legends of the Fall, boosted his prestige.

He received other Oscar nominations for his title role in Oliver Stone's Nixon, and his part in Steven Spielberg's Amistad.

Hopkins decided to turn his hand to working behind the camera with his feature directorial debut with August, an adaptation of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, in which he also starred.

In 1998, he portrayed the older Zorro opposite Antonio Bandersas in Mark of Zorro and went on to star alongside Brad Pitt in Meet Joe Black.

At the turn of the millennium he narrated the live-action version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and followed up with a reprisal of his Oscar-winning role in the film adaptation of Hannibal.

He followed this with the lacklustre supernatural drama Hearts in Atlantis and returned to the role of Hannibal in Red Dragon.

In 2003 he starred in the drama The Human Stain with Nicole Kidman and Ed Harris and narrated Oliver Stone's Alexander with Colin Farrell.

Recent work includes the role of Gwyneth Paltrow's psychologically troubled father in Proof and record-breaking motorcyclist Burt Monro in The World's Fastest Indian.