Anthony Hopkins

Is proud of his improvisational touches as Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs such as: the unnerving effect on Jodie Foster when he mocked her characters West Virginia accent; the distorion of the word "chianti" and the vile slurping sound he makes after he describes eating the "census-taker." Hopkins also notes that Hannibal never blinked his eyes when he spoke.

10/97: Ranked #57 in Empire magazines "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list.

Often compared with fellow Welshman Richard Burton.

He was awarded the CBE in the 1987 Queens Birthday Honours List for his services to drama.

7/16/88: Received an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from the University of Wales.

He was awarded the Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire in the 1992 New Year Honours List for his services to drama.

1975: Conquered his alcoholic addiction.

Piano virtuoso.

Father of Abigail Hopkins

Into the 1991 restoration of Spartacus , scenes were reintroduced which had been cut from the pictures 1967 reissue. One such segment has Laurence Olivier , in the role of Marcus Crassus, attempting to seduce the slave Antoninus (played by Tony Curtis ). But the original soundtrack for this segment had become lost. And so, Olivier having died in 1989, Anthony Hopkins imitated the voice of Olivier (whom Hopkins had understudied at the Old Vic) for the scenes re-created soundtrack. (The surviving Tony Curtis presumably supplied his own voice.)

Born at 9:15am-UT

One of his greatest pleasures in past years on his frequent visits to the USA was to get in a car and drive across the country, enjoying its immensity as well as his own anonymity.

9/99: Was selected by an Entertainment Weekly on-line movie poll as the Best Modern Actor and the Best Villain for his role as Hannibal Lecter.

4/12/00: Became a U.S. citizen, but is allowed to retain his British knighthood and the title of Sir.

Received his Academy Award for The Silence of the Lambs 11 years to the day of his fathers death.

Volunteers at the Ruskins School of Acting in Santa Monica, California, where he teaches everything from Shakespeare to scenes, theory, and monologues.

Has the distinction of portraying two U.S. Presidents: Richard Nixon in Nixon , and John Quincy Adams in Amistad . He received Oscar nominations for both performances.

1/01: He ranked second in the Orange Film Survey of the greatest British films actors.

Had a brush with death while shooting The Edge in Alberta, Canada. He fell in a river, and was rushed to hospital to be treated for hypothermia.

Admitted that he felt very intimidated by the real Lt. Col. John Frost, who he played in the movie A Bridge Too Far when Frost visited the set one day to see how things were going.

Served in the British National Service as a Royal Artillery man and for a while was only known as "Gunner Hopkins".

9/24/03: Received star on Hollywood Walk of Fame.

For his stage performance in "Pravda", he was awarded the 1985 London Critics Circle Theatre Award (Drama Theatre Award) for Best Actor, and the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in 1986 (1985 season) for Outstanding Achievement.

He chose to play Prof. Van Helsing in Dracula because he was still riding the success of his portrayal of Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs and wanted to pick a role as far removed from Lecter as possible.

His Oscar-winning performance as Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs was ranked #1 on the American Film Institutes Villains list in its compilation of the 100 Years of The Greatest Screen Heroes and Villains.

As a child, he was very close to his maternal grandfather, who for some reason called him "George", while his father called him "Charlie".

Is related to the poet William Butler Yeats on his mothers side of the family.

He included some unusual touches for Hannibal Lecter during his preparation for the role, among which were making Lecters voice similar to the cutting warble of Katharine Hepburn and almost never blinking, a characteristic he picked up from watching tapes of convicted murderer Charles Manson.

Has played a (future) king of England (Richard Lionheart in The Lion in Winter ) and two U.S. Presidents. Interestingly, President Richard Nixon and his brothers were all named after British kings, so its likely that he played Nixons namesake.

A Member of the RADA Council.

Has three roles in common with Brian Cox. Both of them have played Titus Andronicus. Hopkins appeared on stage as King Lear in 1986, the same year that Manhunter , which starred Cox as Hannibal Lecter, was released. He was succeeded in the role of Lear by Cox in 1991, the same year that he succeeded Cox in the role of Hannibal Lecter.

Graduated from The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London, England.

Is a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), Stratford Upon Avon, England, where he spent three seasons after graduating from RADA.

Was listed as a potential nominee on the 2005 Razzie Award nominating ballot. He was suggested in the Worst Supporting Actor category for his performance in the film Alexander , however, he failed to receive a nomination. Had he gotten the nomination, it would have been his first in 24 years. He was previously nominated for Worst Actor in the film A Change of Seasons at the very first Razzie Awards.

Ranked #12 on Tropopkins Top 25 Most Intriguing People [Issue #100]

Has the distinction of twice playing former British Prime Minister David Lloyd George in Young Winston and "The Edwardians" .

In Invercargill, New Zealand, there is a drama school named after him--The Anthony Hopkins School of Dramatic Arts. He was present for its opening, as he was in Invercargill filming scenes for the The Worlds Fastest Indian at the time.

Though dyslexic, hes always possessed a great memory for scripts.

9/20/05: On "The Oprah Winfrey Show" , he said that he is most proud of The Silence of the Lambs , The Remains of the Day and Proof .

Likes to be called "Tony."

Ate the same menu as Pablo Picasso during the filming of Surviving Picasso , in which he played Picasso.

An accomplished painter, he has allowed some of his landscape paintings to be exhibited in San Antonio, Texas.

2006: His performance as Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs is ranked #70 on Premiere Magazines 100 Greatest Performances of All Time.

His performance as Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs is ranked #15 on Premiere Magazines 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.

Turned down the role of Alfred Pennyworth in Batman Begins .

Reads each script 250 times out loud before filming, and to exercise his memory, memorizes one new poem a week.

Was set to play Jor-El in Superman Returns , but when director Brett Ratner left the project, so did Hopkins.

Has twice played a character who loses a hand by having it severed with a meat cleaver: in Titus and Hannibal .

Attended Cowbridge boys grammar school as a youth.

Quit smoking cigarettes using the Allen Carr method.

The Anthony Hopkins Theatre at the Theatre Clwyd Cymru in Mold, North Wales, UK was named in his honour.

He is the patron on The Drama Association of Wales,UK which offers a wide and varied range of services to Community Drama. Among others, members include amateur and professional theatre practitioners, educationalists and playwrights.

Appears in Nixon with Dan Hedaya , and The Good Father with Jim Broadbent. Hedaya later played Nixon in Dick , and Broadbent played Nixon in Dirty Tricks .

Parents: Muriel Anne Yeats (b.1913) and Richard Arthur Hopkins (died in 1981).

Has played a King of England (Richard I, the Lionheart), a Prime Minister of England (David Lloyd George ), and two U.S. Presidents (John Quincy Adams and Richard Nixon ).

Won a Drama Desk Award Outstanding Actor in a Play for "Equus".

Was considered for the role of Mr. Freeze in Batman & Robin until director Joel Schumacher decided that Mr. Freeze must be "big and strong like he was chiseled out of a glacier". The role went to Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Hes the only child of a couple who ran a bakery.

Ex-son-in-law of Eric Barker and Pearl Hackney.

Was offered the part of Colonel Colin Caine in Lifeforce.

Resides in Santa Monica, California.

Was considered for the role of Jack Byrnes in Meet the Parents .

After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, he served two years in the British Army before beginning his acting career.

His favorite horror film is Rosemarys Baby .

He and Frank Langella both received Best Actor nominations for playing Richard Nixon , in Nixon and Frost/Nixon , respectively. Though not the first or only pair of actors to receive nominations for the same part, they are only the second male pair where neither of them won the Oscar. Hopkins lost to Nicolas Cage , while Langella lost to Sean Penn. Previously, Jason Robards and Leonardo DiCaprio have both been nominated for playing Howard Hughes. Robards lost his Oscar to Timothy Hutton , while DiCaprio lost his to Jamie Foxx. Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro had both won for their portrayals of "Vito Corleone". Jos Ferrer won an Oscar, and Grard Depardieu received a nomination for playing "Cyrano". John Wayne won the Oscar and Jeff Bridges was nominated for playing "Rooster Cogburn".

During filming of Amistad , he astounded the cast and crew by memorizing a seven page speech in one go. Steven Spielberg was so impressed that he insisted on calling him "Sir Anthony" throughout the shoot rather than Tony.

He has played Pablo Picasso , while his friend and frequent collaborator, Richard Attenborough , is an avid collector of Picassos artwork.

His early ambition was to be a concert pianist.

His father was a baker.

Turned down the role of George Smiley in A Murder of Quality .

His parents were of half Welsh and half English descent. His paternal grandfather, Richard Arthur Thomas Hopkins, and his maternal grandmother, Sophia Phillips, were Welsh. His paternal grandmother, Emma Gardner, and his maternal grandfather, Thomas Frederick Yeates, were both English.

He is filming The City of Your Final Destination in Argentina, during December 2006 - January 2007.

Pledged $1.6 million to help preserve 4,000 acres of Mt. Snowdon, Wales highest peak.

As of 2014, has appeared in five films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: The Lion in Winter , The Elephant Man , The Silence of the Lambs - which won in the category, Howards End and The Remains of the Day .

He gave life to many historical figures in many movies and miniseries from presidents to writers and military leaders. His gallery of characters includes Alfred Hitchcock, Richard Nixon, John Quincy Adams, Charles Dickens, Adolf Hitler, Yitzhak Rabin, Pablo Picasso, Bruno Richard Hauptmann, David Lloyd George, Frederick Treves, Lieutenant Colonel Frost, Lieutenant William Bligh, Frank P. Doel, C.S. Lewis, Count Galeazzo Ciano, John Harvey Kellogg and Burt Munro.

He has been wanted very much in the James Bond franchise. First, he was in talks to play a villain in Timothy Daltons unmade third film. Then he was the first choice of the villains in both Goldeneye and Tomorrow Never Dies. Then he was rumored for Albert Finneys role in Skyfall.

In 1997 he was named to star in The Ripper Diaries to be directed by William Friedkin but in the June it was announced that the film had been put on hold.

He has two roles in common with Frank Langella , who is only one day his junior: (1) Langella played Don Diego de la Vega / Zorro in The Mark of Zorro while Hopkins played him in The Mask of Zorro and Hopkins played U.S. President Richard Nixon in Nixon while Langella played him in Frost/Nixon . Both actors also appeared in adaptations of Bram Stoker s 1897 novel "Dracula": Langella played the title character in Dracula while Hopkins played his arch-enemy Professor Abraham Van Helsing in Dracula .

He appeared in four films with Gerald Sim : Young Winston , A Bridge Too Far , Chaplin and Shadowlands . All four films were directed by Sims brother-in-law Richard Attenborough.

Although he played Nicol Williamson s uncle in Hamlet , he was fourteen months his junior.

He appeared in five films directed by Richard Attenborough : Young Winston , A Bridge Too Far , Magic , Chaplin and Shadowlands .

Was offered the lead role in Gandhi by Richard Attenborough. When Hopkins called his father to tell him, his father responded with: "Oh, its a comedy then is it!?".

Graduated from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff.

He appeared in three films with Anne Bancroft : Young Winston , The Elephant Man and 84 Charing Cross Road .

He has worked with 12 directors who have won an Oscar for Best Director: Tony Richardson , Richard Attenborough , Robert Wise , Michael Cimino , Jonathan Demme , Francis Ford Coppola , John Schlesinger , Oliver Stone , Steven Spielberg , Ron Howard , Robert Zemeckis , and Woody Allen.

Starred with Bob Hoskins in the BBCs Othello. Anthony Hopkins and Bob Hoskins are two actors separated by one letter.

Has played a doctor twice: The Elephant Man and The Silence of the Lambs .

In 1964 Hopkins composed a waltz named "And The Waltz Goes On", but he kept it in a drawer for many years until his wife contacted Dutch violinist and conductor Andre Rieu in 2010. Rieu arranged the piece and it premiered in Vienna in 2011 in the presence of Anthony Hopkins. Rieu included the waltz in his playlist for his next tour and produced a CD named after the waltz.

He often accompanied his father, who always whistled while on his bakery rounds and he put that into his character in The Worlds Fastest Indian.

His favourite films are Remains of the Day, Shadowlands,Nixon, Bounty and All the Kings Men.

Prior to making The Worlds Fastest Indian he was discussing doing Papa about Ernest Hemmingway but it fell through.

[December 1998] To hell with this stupid show business, this ridiculous,showbiz, this futile waste of life. I look back and see a desert,wasteland. All those years spent in a fake environment. Everything was,a fake.

[on becoming a U. S. citizen in 2000] America has been very generous to,me, magnanimous really. I thought it would be good to give something,back. It was a decision of the heart.

[on his days as an alcoholic, when he was drinking Mexican Spirit,tequila] I was really sort of on a prolonged acid trip. I saw things,and had peculiar quasi-religious experiences. I thought I was John The,Baptist, and I would talk to the sea at Malibu and the sea would talk,back to me. It was weird.

I am able to play monsters well. I understand monsters. I understand,madmen.

My own father was a tough man. He was a pretty red hot guy but he was,also cold. He was also slightly disappointed in me because I was not a,good kid as a school boy, you know. But I learned from it, I liked that,coldness, because it was harsh. And he taught me to be tough. So I know,how to be tough. I know how to be strong. I know how to be ruthless.

The movie industry is full of crazy people who think that they are God.

We live in such a precious, pussyfooting society - everyone takes,offence so quickly.

I hated the Sixties. It was one long wet Wednesday afternoon in the,Waterloo Road. For most of it I was drinking myself into oblivion.

He was a man caught in a monstrous mind.

Too much acting.

It will be the kiss by which all others in your life will be judged. . . and found wanting.

My life turned out to be beyond my greatest dreams.

I have no interest in Shakespeare and all that British nonsense. . . I just wanted to get famous and all the rest is hogwash.

Why love if losing hurts so much? I have no answers anymore only the life I have lived. The pain now is part of the happiness then.

I love life because what more is there?,I learn poetry, learn text, and that really keeps you alive.

My father was grounded, a very meat-and-potatoes man. He was a baker. .