Jeremy Irons

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Jeremy Irons

British actor

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: May 7, 2025 • Article History

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Born:: September 19, 1948, Cowes, Isle of Wight, England (age 76)

Awards And Honors:: Academy Award (1991); Tony Awards (1984); Academy Award (1991): Actor in a Leading Role; Emmy Award (2014): Outstanding Narrator; Emmy Award (2006): Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie; Emmy Award (1997): Outstanding Voice-Over Performance; Golden Globe Award (2007): Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Limited Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television; Golden Globe Award (1991): Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama; Tony Award (1984): Best Actor in a Play

Married To:: Julie Hallam (1969–1969); Sinéad Cusack (1978–present)

Movies/Tv Shows (Acted In):: "Dead Ringers" (1988); "The Pink Panther 2" (2009); "M. Butterfly" (1993); "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (2011); "BBC2 Play of the Week" (1978); "Australia" (1989); "Their Finest" (2016); "The Pallisers" (1974); "The Words" (2012); "Red Sparrow" (2018); "Casanova" (2005); "Churchill's People" (1975); "Arena" (2010); "Dungeons & Dragons" (2000); "The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century" (1996); "The Time Machine" (2002); "Watchmen" (2019); "Callas Forever" (2002); "Inland Empire" (2006); "The House of the Spirits" (1993); "Die Hard with a Vengeance" (1995); "The Hollow Crown" (2012); "Eragon" (2006); "The Simpsons" (2012); "Birds Like Us" (2017); "Chinese Box" (1997); "Better Start Running" (2018); "The Wild Duck" (1984); "Kafka" (1991); "Nijinsky" (1980); "Assassin's Creed" (2016); "Love for Lydia" (1977); "Night Train to Lisbon" (2013); "Elizabeth I" (2005); "The French Lieutenant's Woman" (1981); "An Actor Prepares" (2018); "The Mission" (1986); "Zebrácká opera" (1991); "The Man Who Knew Infinity" (2015); "Reversal of Fortune" (1990); "The Civil War" (1990); "La corrispondenza" (2016); "Lolita" (1997); "High-Rise" (2015); "Un amour de Swann" (1984); "Faeries" (1999); "Beautiful Creatures" (2013); "Mathilde" (2004); "Margin Call" (2011); "Kingdom of Heaven" (2005); "And Now... Ladies and Gentlemen..." (2002); "The Sultan and the Saint" (2016); "Brideshead Revisited" (1981); "The Colour of Magic" (2008); "Damage" (1992); "Justice League" (2017); "Notorious Woman" (1974); "Stealing Beauty" (1996); "The Borgias" (2011–2013); "Race" (2016); "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" (2016); "The Lion King" (1994); "Being Julia" (2004); "Life on Fire: Wildlife on the Volcano's Edge" (2013); "BBC Play of the Month" (1979); "Appaloosa" (2008); "Freedom: A History of US" (2003); "A Chorus of Disapproval" (1989); "The Merchant of Venice" (2004); "Performance" (1992); "Waterland" (1992); "Moonlighting" (1982); "The Fourth Angel" (2001); "Betrayal" (1983); "The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes" (1971); "The Man in the Iron Mask" (1998)

On the Web:: NPR - Oscar-Winning Actor Jeremy Irons (Apr. 22, 2025)

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Top of the Popes: 10 Actors Who Would Ace Our Conclave • May 7, 2025, 5:00 AM ET (Vanity Fair)

Jeremy Irons (born September 19, 1948, Cowes, Isle of Wight, England) is a British actor whose performances are noted for their sophistication and gravitas.

*Dead Ringers*Jeremy Irons and Geneviève Bujold in a scene from David Cronenberg's *Dead Ringers* (1988).

Jeremy IronsJeremy Irons in *Reversal of Fortune* (1990).

Irons made his London stage debut in Godspell (1973) and appeared on Broadway in The Real Thing (1984, Tony Award). After his screen debut in Nijinsky (1980), Irons won notice for his performance in The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1981) and became widely popular after appearing in the television series Brideshead Revisited (1981), which was based on the novel by Evelyn Waugh. Irons offered deliciously wicked turns in Dead Ringers (1988) and Reversal of Fortune (1990). In the latter film he starred as Claus von Bülow, a wealthy socialite convicted of the attempted murder of his wife. For his portrayal of the enigmatic von Bülow, Irons won an Academy Award.

Irons subsequently appeared in the sensual drama Damage (1992), the action movie Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995), and as Humbert Humbert in Lolita (1997), a controversial adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov’s novel. In the animated blockbuster The Lion King (1994), Irons provided the voice of a villainous lion.

Empty movie theater and blank screen (theatre, motion pictures, cinema).

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Irons’s film roles in the early 21st century included supporting characters in Being Julia (2004), Kingdom of Heaven (2005), Appaloosa (2008), Margin Call (2011), The Words (2012), Race (2016), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), and Justice League (2017); a different cut of the latter film was released in 2021 as Zach Snyder’s Justice League. He also costarred as mathematician G.H. Hardy in the Srinivasa Ramanujan biopic The Man Who Knew Infinity (2015); as the architect of a tower that becomes the site of a class war in High-Rise (2015), an adaptation of a J.G. Ballard novel; and as a villain in the fantasy adventure Assassin’s Creed (2016), based on a video game. Irons later appeared in the spy thriller Red Sparrow (2018). His credits from 2021 included Munich: The Edge of War, in which he portrayed Neville Chamberlain, and House of Gucci, a true-crime drama involving a family and its luxury fashion brand.

In addition, Irons acted in several made-for-television movies, notably Longitudes (2000) and The Colour of Magic (2008), and he won an Emmy Award for his performance as the earl of Leicester in the miniseries Elizabeth I (2005). In the Showtime series The Borgias (2011–13), he starred as another Renaissance-era historical figure, Pope Alexander VI. Irons returned to television in 2019, playing a former superhero in the HBO series Watchmen.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.