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.
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Dolittle | Lord Thomas Badgley | 2020-01-01 |
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Six Minutes to Midnight | Charlie | 2020-05-29 |
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The Duke | Kempton Bunton | 2020-11-06 |
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Children In Need 2019: Got It Covered | 2019-10-30 | |
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New Town Utopia | Lewis Silkin MP | 2018-05-04 |
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King of Thieves | Terry Perkins | 2018-09-04 |
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King Lear | Earl of Gloucester | 2018-05-28 |
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Black '47 | Kilmichael | 2018-09-05 |
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The Sense of an Ending | Tony Webster | 2017-03-10 |
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Birds Like Us | Horozovich (voice) | 2017-05-05 |
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Paddington 2 | Samuel Gruber | 2017-11-09 |
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The Legend of Tarzan | Prime Minister | 2016-06-29 |
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Bridget Jones's Baby | Mr. Colin Jones | 2016-09-14 |
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Eddie the Eagle | BBC Commentator | 2016-02-26 |
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Ethel & Ernest | Ernest Briggs (voice) | 2016-10-28 |
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Magik | Garret | 2016-12-25 |
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The Go-Between | Old Leo | 2015-09-20 |
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The Lady in the Van | Underwood | 2015-11-13 |
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Brooklyn | Father Flood | 2015-10-20 |
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Das Wetter in geschlossenen Räumen | Britischer Botschafter | 2015-09-29 |
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Get Santa | Santa Claus | 2014-12-05 |
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Big Game | Herbert | 2014-09-05 |
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Postman Pat: The Movie | CEO (voice) | 2014-05-23 |
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Paddington | Samuel Gruber | 2014-11-24 |
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The One and Only Mike Leigh | Himself | 2014-11-24 |
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Chance Meeting | 2013-10-08 | |
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Filth | Dr. Rossi | 2013-09-23 |
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Le Week-End | Nick Burrows | 2013-10-04 |
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The Phone Call | Stan (voice) | 2013-10-20 |
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Closed Circuit | Attorney General | 2013-08-28 |
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The Harry Hill Movie | Cleaner | 2013-12-20 |
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Nina Conti: Her Master's Voice | Himself | 2012-03-11 |
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Cloud Atlas | Captain Molyneux / Vyvyan Ayrs / Timothy Cavendish / Korean Musician / Prescient 2 | 2012-10-26 |
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 | Horace Slughorn | 2011-07-07 |
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The Iron Lady | Denis Thatcher | 2011-12-30 |
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Arthur Christmas | Santa (voice) | 2011-11-10 |
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Another Year | Tom | 2010-11-05 |
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Any Human Heart | Logan Mountstuart (Older) | 2010-06-30 |
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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince | Horace Slughorn | 2009-07-07 |
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Perrier's Bounty | Jim McCrea | 2009-09-11 |
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The Young Victoria | King William IV | 2009-03-04 |
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The Damned United | Sam Longson | 2009-03-27 |
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Lost and Found | Narrator (voice) | 2008-12-24 |
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Inkheart | Fenoglio | 2008-12-11 |
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Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull | Dean Charles Stanforth | 2008-05-21 |
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Tales of the Riverbank | G.P. (voice) | 2008-02-07 |
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Einstein and Eddington | Sir Oliver Lodge | 2008-11-29 |
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And When Did You Last See Your Father? | Arthur Morrison | 2007-10-05 |
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Hot Fuzz | Inspector Frank Butterman | 2007-02-14 |
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Art School Confidential | Jimmy | 2006-05-05 |
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Longford | Lord Longford | 2006-10-26 |
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Slipp Jimmy fri | Stomowskij (voice) | 2006-04-21 |
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Robots | Madame Gasket (voice) | 2005-03-10 |
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Spider-Plant Man | Batman | 2005-03-11 |
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The Magic Roundabout | Brian | 2005-01-19 |
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The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe | Professor Kirke | 2005-12-07 |
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Valiant | Sergeant (voice) | 2005-03-25 |
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Pride | Eddie (voice) | 2004-06-21 |
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Vanity Fair | Mr. Osborne | 2004-09-01 |
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Vera Drake | Judge | 2004-10-22 |
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Tooth | The Rabbit (voice) | 2004-02-13 |
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Around the World in 80 Days | Lord Kelvin | 2004-06-16 |
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Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason | Bridget's Dad | 2004-11-10 |
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The Young Visiters | Alfred Salteena | 2003-12-26 |
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And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself | Harry Aitken | 2003-09-07 |
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Bright Young Things | The Drunken Major | 2003-05-16 |
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Nicholas Nickleby | Mr. Wackford Squeers | 2002-12-27 |
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The King's Beard | The Wizard (voice) | 2002-10-02 |
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Gangs of New York | William "Boss" Tweed | 2002-12-14 |
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The Gathering Storm | Desmond Morton | 2002-04-22 |
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Bridget Jones's Diary | Bridget's Dad | 2001-04-13 |
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Moulin Rouge! | Harold Zidler | 2001-03-09 |
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The Night Club of Your Dreams: The Making of 'Moulin Rouge' | 2001-05-01 | |
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Iris | John Bayley | 2001-12-14 |
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Doctor Who: The Curse of Fatal Death | The Doctor | 1999-03-26 |
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Topsy-Turvy | W. S. Gilbert | 1999-09-03 |
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Little Voice | Mr. Boo | 1998-11-05 |
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The Avengers | Mother | 1998-08-13 |
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The Borrowers | Pod Clock | 1997-12-11 |
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Smilla's Sense of Snow | Dr. Lagermann | 1997-02-28 |
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The Secret Agent | Chief Inspector Heat | 1996-11-08 |
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Rough Magic | Doc Ansell | 1995-09-07 |
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Richard III | The Duke of Buckingham | 1995-12-29 |
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Bullets Over Broadway | Warner Purcell | 1994-10-14 |
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Widows' Peak | Con Clancy | 1994-05-13 |
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Princess Caraboo | Mr. Worrall | 1994-09-16 |
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Wide Eyed and Legless | Deric Longden | 1993-09-05 |
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The Crying Game | Col | 1992-09-02 |
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A Sense of History | 23rd Earl of Leete | 1992-01-01 |
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Nona | 1991-10-19 | |
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Enchanted April | Frederick Arbuthnot | 1991-11-06 |
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Life Is Sweet | Andy | 1990-11-15 |
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Erik the Viking | Ernest the Viking (a Rapist) | 1989-09-01 |
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Blackadder's Christmas Carol | Prince Albert | 1988-12-23 |
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Vroom | Donald | 1988-11-11 |
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Superman IV: The Quest for Peace | Jean Pierre Dubois | 1987-07-23 |
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The Insurance Man | Gutling | 1986-02-22 |
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Brazil | Dr. Jaffe | 1985-02-20 |
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Only Fools and Horses - To Hull and Back | Roy Slater | 1985-12-25 |
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The Good Father | Roger Miles | 1985-11-01 |
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Silas Marner | Jem Rodney | 1985-12-30 |
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The Hit | Barrister | 1984-09-12 |
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Birth of a Nation | Geoff Figg | 1983-06-19 |
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Walter and June | Orderly | 1983-04-30 |
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Walter | Joseph - Orderly | 1982-11-02 |
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Mike Leigh: Making Plays | (Archive Material) | 1982-09-04 |
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Our Winnie | Second Attendant | 1982-11-12 |
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Intensive Care | Mr Horsfall | 1982-11-09 |
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Uliisses | 1982-06-18 | |
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Time Bandits | Compere | 1981-07-13 |
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Breaking Glass | Station Porter | 1980-10-01 |
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The Passage | 1979-03-09 | |
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Long Distance Information | Mackaness | 1979-10-11 |
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The Shout | Fielder in cowpat | 1978-06-16 |
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A Boy Called Christmas |
