Benedict Cumberbatch is 38 years old on July 19, 2014. Photo credit: Getty, via Express.co.uk.
Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch was born in Hammersmith, London, United Kingdom, on July 19, 1976. That makes Benedict 38 years old today!
Benedict grew up in London’s Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea with his actor parents, Timothy Carlton and Wanda Ventham. He attended Brambletye School in West Sussex and the highly regarded Harrow School in London. He had an arts scholarship at Harrow, played on the rugby team, and began acting. Benedict made his acting debut at Harrow in a student production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, playing the role of Titania, Queen of the Fairies.
After finishing at Harrow, he spent a year teaching English at a Tibetan monastery in Darjeeling, India, before attending the University of Manchester studying drama. He continued his training with a one-year course at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). When he graduated, he had a degree in Classical Acting and an agent to represent him.
Benedict Cumberbatch (Victor Frankenstein) and Jonny Lee Miller (The Creature) in ‘Frankenstein’ at the Royal National Theatre. Photo credit: Alastair Muir, via The Telegraph.
Benedict has played major roles in many of Britain’s best-known theatres. He was nominated for the Olivier Award in 2005, for his performance in Hedda Gabler, the show that marked his first appearance in the West End. He led the award-winning 2010 revival of After the Dance at the Royal National Theatre. In 2011, he alternated nights as Victor Frankenstein and his creature in Danny Boyle’s production of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein at the Royal National Theatre, opposite Jonny Lee Miller. Benedict’s performance won him the “Triple Crown of London Theatre” that year with the Olivier Award, Evening Standard Award, and Critics’ Circle Theatre Award. He is set to return to the stage in summer 2015 for a 12-week run in Shakespeare’s Hamlet at the Barbican Theatre in London.
Benedict’s role in BBC/PBS series ‘Sherlock’ as “consulting detective” Sherlock Holmes (seen here with Martin Freeman as Dr. John Watson, right) brought the actor to the attention of audiences all over the world. Photo credit: BBC/PBS.
The role of Stephen Hawking in Hawking was Benedict’s breakthrough role on television in 2004, garnering him several award nominations. In 2010, he began the role that has thus far brought him nominations for two BAFTAs, two Emmys, and a Golden Globe for Best Actor in Miniseries or TV Movie: Sherlock Holmes. The joint BBC/PBS television series Sherlock, co-starring Martin Freeman as Dr. John Watson, has had three series to date, with a special and a fourth series to come. His performance as the “consulting detective” brought him to the attention of a world-wide audience.
Benedict Cumberbatch’s “photobomb” of band U2 on the red carpet for the Academy Awards in March 2014 was one of the most memorable moments of this year’s festivities. The “Cumber-bomb” went viral and generated countless Internet memes.
Benedict has also been very busy in films. His film work includes Atonement (2007), The Other Boleyn Girl (2008), Creation (2009), War Horse (2011), Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2011), The Fifth Estate (2013), August: Osage County (2013), and Twelve Years a Slave (2013). Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) is considered one of Benedict’s top success stories, winning large international audiences and commercial success.
Benedict Cumberbatch’s motion-capture work for Smaug was used by Weta Digital to design and implement the famous dragon. Photo credit: Weta Digital, via CNET.
Fans of The Hobbit films know Benedict as the voices of the dragon Smaug and the Necromancer/Sauron in The Hobbit film trilogy. In addition to voicing the computer-generated characters, Benedict did motion-capture work for Smaug that was used as inspiration by the animation artists at Weta Digital in designing the dragon (see this Middle-earth News story to learn more). The final Hobbit film, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies will hit cinemas in December 2014.
Benedict Cumberbatch has received numerous nominations for his work on stage and screen. Photo credit: Getty, via Express.co.uk.
Fans can look forward to more of this busy actor’s work in a number of upcoming projects. Benedict will do a voice role in DreamWorks’ new animated feature film Penguins of Madagascar, with a release date of November 2014. He also stars in The Imitation Game as Alan Turing, the British cryptographer considered by many as the father of computer science. The Imitation Game will also be released in November 2014. In addition, Benedict will appear in Black Mass with Johnny Depp, and star in Flying Horse, to be directed by Gary Oldman.
All of us at Middle-earth News would like to wish Benedict a very happy birthday!
Benedict Cumberbatch was one of TIME Magazine’s Most Influential People of 2014. Photo credit: TIME Magazine.
Here are some recent Middle-earth News stories about Benedict Cumberbatch:
Benedict Cumberbatch Named One of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People
