Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins,
CBE (born 31 December 1937) is a
Welsh film, stage and television actor. Considered to be one of film's greatest living actors,
he is known for his portrayal of
cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter in the
1991's
The Silence of the Lambs, its sequel,
Hannibal, and its prequel,
Red Dragon. His other notable film credits include
The Elephant Man,
Dracula,
Legends of the Fall,
The Remains of the Day,
The Mask of Zorro,
The World's Fastest Indian,
Hearts in Atlantis,
Nixon and
Fracture. Hopkins was born and raised in
Wales, and also became a U.S. citizen on 12 April 2000. He received a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2003 and was made a Fellow of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in 2008.
Early life
Hopkins was born in
Margam,
Port Talbot,
Wales, the son of Muriel Anne (
née Yeats) and Richard Arthur Hopkins, a baker.
[Stated in interview on Inside the Actors Studio, 2007] His schooldays were unproductive. A loner with
dyslexia, he found that he would rather immerse himself in art, such as painting and drawing or playing the piano, than attend to his studies. In 1949, to instill discipline, his parents insisted he attend
Jones' West Monmouth Boys' School in
Pontypool,
Wales. He remained there for five terms and was then educated at
Cowbridge Grammar School,
Cowbridge, Wales.
