Biography
From a young age, Anthony Hopkins gravitated towards creativity and the arts. Born in 1937, he grew up in Wales, often struggling in school. As a teenager, a chance meeting with actor Richard Burton, also from Wales, inspired Hopkins to immerse himself in acting, attending drama schools with a brief two-year break serving in the British Army. Moving to London, Hopkins first took the stage in 1960. A mentorship relationship with Laurence Olivier helped fuel his young career and he made the leap from stage to screen by the late '60s. His first major role was as Richard I in "The Lion in Winter" (1968). While he still performed regularly in the theater, Hopkins continued to work on TV and film, following up his debut with "War and Peace" (BBC 1972). His most notable roles in the '70s are likely his pair of films directed by Richard Attenborough: "Young Winston" (1972) and the war epic "A Bridge Too Far" (1977). At the start of the next decade, he dazzled as Dr. Frederick Treves in David Lynch's "The Elephant Man" (1980). While his acting talent was apparent to all who saw him perform, Hopkins finally cracked through in a clear mainstream way with his Academy Award-winning turn as Dr. Hannibal Lector in Jonathan Demme's "The Silence of the Lambs" (1991). It kicked off an impressive run for the actor as he followed it up with Oscar nominations for his roles in "The Remains of the Day" (1993), "Nixon" (1995), and "Amistad" (1997). In the early '90s, he was prolific, additionally appearing in "Howards End" (1992), "Bram Stoker's Dracula" (1992), "Chaplin" (1992), and "Shadowlands" (1993). At the turn of the century, he reprised his role as Hannibal Lector in "Hannibal" (2001) and "Red Dragon" (2002). While his '90s pace wasn't replicated in the 2000s, Hopkins was still a busy actor, dotting the next decade of his career with starring roles in films such as "The World's Fastest Indian" (2005) and "Fracture" (2007), in addition to appearances in "Alexander" (2004) and "The Wolfman" (2010). In 2011, he appeared as Odin in the Marvel film "Thor" (2011), a part which he'd reprise several times in the next decade. Hopkins also starred in the sci-fi adaptation of "Westworld" (HBO 2016- ). He also received much acclaim for his performances in "King Lear" (BBC 2018) and "The Two Popes" (2019).
