Daniel Day-Lewis

Sir Daniel Michael Blake DayLewis born 29 April 1957 is an English and Irish actor Often described as one of the greatest actors in the history of cinema he is best known for intense method acting portrayed with eccentric characters in auteur films He is the recipient of numerous accolades including a record three Academy Awards for Best Actor as well as four BAFTAs three Screen Actors Guild Awards and two Golden Globes In 2014 DayLewis received a knighthood for services to drama Born and raised in London DayLewis excelled on stage at the National Youth Theatre before being accepted at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School which he attended for three years Despite his traditional training he is considered a method actor known for his constant devotion to and research of his roles Protective of his private life he rarely grants interviews and makes very few public appearances DayLewis shifted between theatre and film for most of the early 1980s joining the Royal Shakespeare Company and playing Romeo Montague in Romeo and Juliet and Flute in A Midsummer Nights Dream Playing the title role in Hamlet at the National Theatre in London in 1989 he left the stage midway through a performance after breaking down during a scene where the ghost of Hamlets father appears before himthis was his last appearance on the stage After supporting film roles in Gandhi 1982 and The Bounty 1984 he earned acclaim for his breakthrough performances in My Beautiful Laundrette 1985 A Room with a View 1985 and The Unbearable Lightness of Being 1988 He earned three Academy Awards for Best Actor for his roles as Christy Brown in My Left Foot 1989 oil tycoon Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood 2007 and Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln 2012 He was Oscarnominated for In the Name of the Father 1993 Gangs of New York 2002 and Phantom Thread 2017 Other notable films include The Last of the Mohicans 1992 The Age of Innocence 1993 The Crucible 1996 and The Boxer 1997 He retired from acting twice from 1997 to 2000 when he took up a new profession as an apprentice shoemaker in Italy and from 2017 to 2024 In 2025 he starred in and cowrote Anemone directed by his son Ronan Description above from the Wikipedia article Daniel DayLewis licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia