Elegant and handsome British lead actor Jeremy Irons was born in Cowes, on the Isle of Wight, which is a small island just off the south coast of England. He trained at the Bristol Old Vic School for two years, then joined Bristol Old Vic repertory company where he gained much experience working in everything from Shakespeare to contemporary dramas. He moved to London in 1971 and had a number of odd jobs before landing the role of John the Baptist in the hit musical Godspell. He went on to a successful early career in the West End theatre and on TV, and debuted onscreen in Nijinsky (1980). In the early 80s he gained international attention with his starring role in a BBC TV serial adaptation of Brideshead Revisited, after which he was much in demand as a romantic leading man. He went on to a steady film career.
In 1984 he debuted on Broadway opposite: Glenn Close in Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing, and in the mid-80s he appeared in three lead roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company. For his work in David Cronenberg's Dead Ringers (1988) he won the New York Critics Best Actor Award. For his work in Reversal of Fortune (1990), he won the Oscar for Best Actor. He is married to actress Sinéad Cusack, with whom he appeared in Waterland (1992) and in the Royal Shakespeare Company plays. He appeared with his son Samuel Irons and his father-in-law Cyril Cusack in the film _Danny, the Champion of the World (1989) (TV)_ .