Jeremy Irons was born in Cowes, England, on the Isle of Wight. An indifferent student, his teachers and family were unsure what he would do for a career. After failing to win admission to veterinary school, he determined to pursue a career in the theater, an interest that had been piqued by acting in plays at Sherborne, his boarding school. He worked as an assistant stage manager in a small rep theater, then entered the two-year program of the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. After graduation, he stayed in Bristol for three seasons, playing the juvenile leads in plays by Shakespeare, Noel Coward and Joe Orton.

In 1971 he moved to London to pursue a career in film and on the West End Stage. He won the role of John the Baptist in the London production of the musical Godspell and soon came to the attention of casting directors for film and television. In Simon Gray's play the The Rear Column he was directed by the famous playwright Harold Pinter, who recommended him to film director Karel Reisz. After viewing some of Irons' film and commercial work, Reisz cast him opposite Meryl Streep in The French Lieutenant's Woman, for which Pinter was writing the screenplay.

Before production of The French Lieutenant's Woman began, Irons was cast in another leading role, Charles Ryder in Grenada Television's 11-part adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited. When a technicians' strike interrupted shooting of Brideshead the schedule was extended. Irons had been assured he would be done in time to start work on The French Lieutenant's Woman, but when the time came, shooting on Brideshead was still not finished, and Grenada offered the actor a difficult choice: give up his first leading role in a feature film, or walk out on the series. Walking out could mean being permanently barred from professional film and television work in England. He believed he was in the right, but knew that a long lawsuit would probably prevent him from doing the film as well.

Irons refused to be intimidated; he walked out, and production on Brideshead was shut down. The television company relented and worked out an arrangement that enabled Irons to finish both jobs. As it happened, Brideshead Revisited was a phenomenal worldwide success. When The French Lieutenant's Woman hit the theaters in 1981, Irons' position as an international star was consolidated.

Throughout his film career Irons has continued to work onstage, undertaking classical roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company. He made his Broadway debut in 1984, playing opposite Glenn Close in The Real Thing by Tom Stoppard. His performance in that play won him a Tony Award for Best Actor. Irons and Close worked together again in Reversal of Fortune (1990), the film for which Irons won a Best Actor Oscar. His other notable film roles include Moonlighting, The Mission, Betrayal, The House of the Spirits, Kafka, Damage, The Man in the Iron Mask, Dungeons and Dragons and Longitude.

Jeremy Irons is married to the actress Sinead Cusack; they have appeared together in two films Stealing Beauty and Waterland. They have two children, Maximilian and Samuel, who appeared with his father in Danny, Champion of the World.

Credit: achievement.org