Colin Firth
Colin Firth (born
10 September,
1960) is a
British actor.
Firth was born in
Grayshott,
Hampshire,
England to David (a history lecturer and the son of an
Anglican priest) and Shirley (a comparative religion lecturer, whose own parents were
Congregationalist ministers); he has a sister, Kate, and a younger brother,
Jonathan, who is now also an actor. Both of Firth's parents were born and raised in
India, as their
English-born parents were involved in
missionary work.
Firth spent part of his childhood in
Nigeria, where his father was teaching. He lived in
St. Louis,
Missouri when he was 11.
Firth starred in the award-winning 1981
London stage production of
Another Country. He reprised this role for his first film appearance in 1984. In 1987, he appeared alongside
Kenneth Branagh in the film version of
J. L. Carr's
novel,
A Month in the Country. In 1989, he took the lead in the film
Valmont.
Despite widespread admiration for his performances, it was only with the 1995
BBC television adaptation of
Pride and Prejudice that Firth gained wider renown. The serial was a big success and Firth became known as a
heart-throb because of his role as Fitzwilliam Darcy. This performance also made him the object of affection for fictional newspaper columnist
Bridget Jones (created by
Helen Fielding), an interest which carried on into the two novels featuring the Jones character. In the second novel,
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, the character even meets Firth in
Rome. As something of an
in-joke, when the novels were adapted for the cinema, Firth was cast as Jones's love interest, Mark Darcy.
Firth had a supporting role in
The English Patient (1996) and since then has starred in films such as
Fever Pitch (1997),
Shakespeare in Love (1998),
Bridget Jones's Diary (2001),
The Importance of Being Earnest (2002),
Love Actually (2003) and
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004). He has also appeared in recent
television productions, including
Donovan Quick (an updated version of
Don Quixote) (1999) and
Conspiracy (2001).
In 1989, Firth entered into a romantic relationship with actress
Meg Tilly, his co-star in
Valmont. In 1990, she gave birth to a son, Will Firth.
In 1994, Firth was involved with actress
Jennifer Ehle, his co-star in
Pride and Prejudice. Currently, Firth lives both in London and
Italy. He is married to Italian documentary filmmaker
Livia Giuggioli (since
21 June,
1997). The couple has two sons, Luca (born 2001) and Matteo (born 2003).
Firth's favourite
Christmas song is "
Fairytale of New York" by
The Pogues; his favourite romantic film is
Brief Encounter.
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