1949-05-24 Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England, UK
One of England's most versatile character actors, Jim Broadbent was born on May 24, 1949, in Lincolnshire, the youngest son of furniture maker Roy Broadbent and sculptress Dee Broadbent. Jim attended a Quaker boarding school in Reading before successfully applying for a place at an art school. His heart was in acting, though, and he would later transfer to the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). Following his 1972 graduation, he began his professional career on the stage, performing with the Royal National Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company, and as part of the National Theatre of Brent, a two-man troupe which he co-founded. In addition to his theatrical work, Broadbent did steady work on television, working for such directors as Mike Newell and Stephen Frears. Broadbent made his film debut in 1978 with a small part in Jerzy Skolimowski's The Shout (1978). He went on to work with Frears again in The Hit (1984) and with Terry Gilliam in Time Bandits (1981) and Brazil (1985), but it was through his collaboration with Mike Leigh that Broadbent first became known to an international film audience. In 1990 he starred in Leigh's Life Is Sweet (1990), a domestic comedy that cast him as a good-natured cook who dreams of running his own business. Broadbent gained further visibility the following year with substantial roles in Neil Jordan's The Crying Game (1992) and Mike Newell's Enchanted April (1992), and he could subsequently be seen in such diverse fare as Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway (1994), Widows' Peak (1994), Richard Loncraine's highly acclaimed adaptation of Shakespeare's Richard III (1995) and Little Voice (1998), the last of which cast him as a seedy nightclub owner. Appearing primarily as a character actor in these films, Broadbent took center stage for Leigh's Topsy-Turvy (1999), imbuing the mercurial W.S. Gilbert with emotional complexity and comic poignancy. Jim's breakthrough year was 2001, as he starred in three critically and commercially successful films. Many would consider him the definitive supporting actor of that year. First he starred as Bridget's dad (Colin Jones) in Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), which propelled Renée Zellweger to an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. Next came the multiple Oscar-nominated film (including Best Picture) Moulin Rouge! (2001), for which he won a Best Supporting Actor BAFTA award for his scene-stealing performance as Harold Zidler. Lastly, came the small biopic Iris (2001/I), for which he won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor as devoted husband John Bayley to Judi Dench's Iris Murdoch, the British novelist who suffered from Alzheimer's disease. The film hit home with Jim, since his own mother had passed away from Alzheimer's in 1995.
 |
Dolittle | Lord Thomas Badgley | 2020-01-01 |
 |
Six Minutes to Midnight | Charlie | 2020-05-29 |
 |
The Duke | Kempton Bunton | 2020-11-06 |
 |
Children In Need 2019: Got It Covered | 2019-10-30 | |
 |
Black '47 | Kilmichael | 2018-09-05 |
 |
New Town Utopia | Lewis Silkin MP | 2018-05-04 |
 |
King Lear | Earl of Gloucester | 2018-05-28 |
 |
King of Thieves | Terry Perkins | 2018-09-04 |
 |
British Airways Safety Video: Director's Cut | Self | 2017-07-17 |
 |
Paddington 2 | Samuel Gruber | 2017-11-09 |
 |
Birds Like Us | Horozovich (voice) | 2017-05-05 |
 |
The Sense of an Ending | Tony Webster | 2017-03-10 |
|
Magik | Garret | 2016-12-25 |
 |
Eddie the Eagle | BBC Commentator | 2016-02-26 |
 |
Ethel & Ernest | Ernest Briggs (voice) | 2016-10-28 |
 |
Bridget Jones's Baby | Mr. Colin Jones | 2016-09-14 |
 |
The Legend of Tarzan | Prime Minister | 2016-06-06 |
 |
The Lady in the Van | Underwood | 2015-11-13 |
 |
Brooklyn | Father Flood | 2015-10-20 |
 |
The Go-Between | Old Leo | 2015-09-20 |
 |
Das Wetter in geschlossenen Räumen | Britischer Botschafter | 2015-09-29 |
 |
Big Game | Herbert | 2014-09-05 |
 |
Paddington | Samuel Gruber | 2014-11-24 |
|
The One and Only Mike Leigh | Himself | 2014-11-24 |
 |
Get Santa | Santa Claus | 2014-12-05 |
 |
Postman Pat: The Movie | CEO (voice) | 2014-05-23 |
 |
Le Week-End | Nick Burrows | 2013-10-04 |
 |
Chance Meeting | 2013-10-08 | |
 |
The Phone Call | Stan (voice) | 2013-10-20 |
 |
Filth | Dr. Rossi | 2013-09-23 |
 |
Closed Circuit | Attorney General | 2013-08-28 |
 |
The Harry Hill Movie | Cleaner | 2013-12-20 |
 |
Nina Conti: Her Master's Voice | Himself | 2012-03-11 |
 |
Cloud Atlas | Captain Molyneux / Vyvyan Ayrs / Timothy Cavendish / Korean Musician / Prescient 2 | 2012-10-26 |
 |
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 | Horace Slughorn | 2011-07-07 |
 |
Arthur Christmas | Santa (voice) | 2011-11-10 |
 |
The Iron Lady | Denis Thatcher | 2011-12-30 |
 |
Another Year | Tom | 2010-11-05 |
 |
Any Human Heart | Logan Mountstuart (Older) | 2010-06-30 |
 |
The Young Victoria | King William IV | 2009-03-04 |
 |
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince | Horace Slughorn | 2009-07-07 |
 |
Perrier's Bounty | Jim McCrea | 2009-09-11 |
 |
The Damned United | Sam Longson | 2009-03-27 |
 |
Einstein and Eddington | Sir Oliver Lodge | 2008-11-29 |
 |
Inkheart | Fenoglio | 2008-12-11 |
 |
Tales of the Riverbank | G.P. (voice) | 2008-02-07 |
 |
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull | Dean Charles Stanforth | 2008-05-21 |
 |
Lost and Found | Narrator (voice) | 2008-12-24 |
 |
And When Did You Last See Your Father? | Arthur Morrison | 2007-10-05 |
 |
Hot Fuzz | Inspector Frank Butterman | 2007-02-14 |
 |
Slipp Jimmy fri | Stomowskij (voice) | 2006-04-21 |
 |
Longford | Lord Longford | 2006-10-26 |
 |
Art School Confidential | Jimmy | 2006-05-05 |
 |
Robots | Madame Gasket (voice) | 2005-03-10 |
 |
The Magic Roundabout | Brian | 2005-01-19 |
 |
Valiant | Sergeant (voice) | 2005-03-25 |
 |
Spider-Plant Man | Batman | 2005-03-11 |
 |
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe | Professor Kirke | 2005-12-07 |
 |
Pride | Eddie (voice) | 2004-06-21 |
 |
Vanity Fair | Mr. Osborne | 2004-09-01 |
 |
Around the World in 80 Days | Lord Kelvin | 2004-06-16 |
 |
Tooth | The Rabbit (voice) | 2004-02-13 |
 |
Vera Drake | Judge | 2004-10-22 |
 |
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason | Bridget's Dad | 2004-11-10 |
 |
Bright Young Things | The Drunken Major | 2003-05-16 |
 |
The Young Visiters | Alfred Salteena | 2003-12-26 |
 |
And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself | Harry Aitken | 2003-09-07 |
 |
Nicholas Nickleby | Mr. Wackford Squeers | 2002-12-27 |
 |
Gangs of New York | William "Boss" Tweed | 2002-12-14 |
 |
The Gathering Storm | Desmond Morton | 2002-04-22 |
 |
The King's Beard | The Wizard (voice) | 2002-10-02 |
 |
The Night Club of Your Dreams: The Making of 'Moulin Rouge' | 2001-05-01 | |
 |
Bridget Jones's Diary | Bridget's Dad | 2001-04-13 |
 |
Iris | John Bayley | 2001-12-14 |
 |
Moulin Rouge! | Harold Zidler | 2001-03-09 |
 |
Topsy-Turvy | W. S. Gilbert | 1999-09-03 |
 |
Doctor Who: The Curse of Fatal Death | The Doctor | 1999-03-26 |
 |
Little Voice | Mr. Boo | 1998-11-05 |
 |
The Avengers | Mother | 1998-08-13 |
 |
Smilla's Sense of Snow | Dr. Lagermann | 1997-02-28 |
 |
The Borrowers | Pod Clock | 1997-12-11 |
 |
The Secret Agent | Chief Inspector Heat | 1996-11-08 |
 |
Rough Magic | Doc Ansell | 1995-09-07 |
 |
Richard III | The Duke of Buckingham | 1995-12-29 |
 |
Bullets Over Broadway | Warner Purcell | 1994-10-14 |
 |
Widows' Peak | Con Clancy | 1994-05-13 |
 |
Princess Caraboo | Mr. Worrall | 1994-09-16 |
|
Wide-Eyed and Legless | Deric Longden | 1993-09-05 |
 |
A Sense of History | 23rd Earl of Leete | 1992-01-01 |
 |
The Crying Game | Col | 1992-09-02 |
|
Nona | 1991-10-19 | |
 |
Enchanted April | Frederick Arbuthnot | 1991-11-06 |
 |
Life Is Sweet | Andy | 1990-11-15 |
 |
Erik the Viking | Ernest the Viking (a Rapist) | 1989-09-01 |
 |
Blackadder's Christmas Carol | Prince Albert | 1988-12-23 |
 |
Vroom | Donald | 1988-11-11 |
 |
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace | Jean Pierre Dubois | 1987-07-23 |
|
Walter | Joseph - Orderly | 1986-07-01 |
 |
The Insurance Man | Gutling | 1986-02-22 |
 |
Silas Marner | Jem Rodney | 1985-12-30 |
|
Only Fools and Horses - To Hull and Back | Roy Slater | 1985-12-25 |
 |
The Good Father | Roger Miles | 1985-11-01 |
 |
Brazil | Dr. Jaffe | 1985-02-20 |
 |
The Hit | Barrister | 1984-09-12 |
|
Walter and June | Orderly | 1983-04-30 |
 |
Birth of a Nation | Geoff Figg | 1983-06-19 |
 |
Uliisses | 1982-06-18 | |
|
Mike Leigh: Making Plays | (Archive Material) | 1982-09-04 |
|
Intensive Care | Mr Horsfall | 1982-11-09 |
 |
Time Bandits | Compere | 1981-07-13 |
 |
Breaking Glass | Station Porter | 1980-10-01 |
 |
Long Distance Information | Mackaness | 1979-10-11 |
 |
The Passage | 1979-03-09 | |
 |
The Shout | Fielder in cowpat | 1978-06-16 |
|
A Boy Called Christmas | Father Vodol |
