Sir Gary Leonard Oldman (born 21 March 1958) is an English actor and filmmaker. Regarded as one of the best actors of his generation, he is known for his versatility and intense acting style. He received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and three British Academy Film Awards. His films have grossed over $11 billion worldwide, making him one of the highest-grossing actors to date.
Oldman began acting in theatre in 1979 and made his film debut in Remembrance (1982). He continued to follow a stage career in London's Royal Court. He was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, with credits including Cabaret, Romeo and Juliet, Entertaining Mr Sloane, Saved, The Country Wife and Hamlet. He rose to prominence in British film with his portrayals of Sid Vicious in Sid and Nancy (1986), Joe Orton in Prick Up Your Ears (1987) and Rosencrantz in Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990), while also attracting attention as the leader of a gang of football hooligans in the television film The Firm (1989). Regarded as a member of the "Brit Pack", he achieved greater recognition as a New York gangster in State of Grace (1990), Lee Harvey Oswald in JFK (1991) and Count Dracula in Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992).
Oldman portrayed the villains in films such as True Romance (1993), The Fifth Element (1997), Air Force One (1997) and The Contender (2000); corrupt DEA agent Norman Stansfield, whom he played in Léon: The Professional (1994), was called one of cinema's best villains. He also played Ludwig van Beethoven in Immortal Beloved (1994). He later appeared in franchise roles such as Sirius Black in the Harry Potter series, James Gordon in The Dark Knight Trilogy (2005–2012) and a human leader, Dreyfus in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014). He won the Academy Award for Best Actor as Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour (2017). He was nominated for his portrayals of George Smiley in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) and Herman J. Mankiewicz in Mank (2020).
Oldman was executive producer of films like The Contender, Plunkett & Macleane (1999) and Nil by Mouth (1997), the latter of which he also wrote and directed. He featured in television shows such as Fallen Angels, Tracey Takes On... and Friends, voiced Ignitius and Viktor Reznov, respectively, in The Legend of Spyro and Call of Duty video games and appeared in music videos for David Bowie, Guns N' Roses and Annie Lennox.
Known For
Parthenope
John Cheever
2024
Oppenheimer
Harry Truman
2023
Dracula Unearthed
Count Dracula (archive footage)
2022
Winona Ryder: The Ghosts She Called
Self (archive footage)
2022
Nosferatu: A Film Like a Vampire
Self (archive footage)
2022
Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts
Self
2022
Hannibal Hopkins & Sir Anthony
Self (archive footage)
2021
Julian Schnabel: A Private Portrait
Self (archive footage)
2017
Criminal
Quaker Wells
2016
Child 44
General Mikhail Nesterov
2015
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Dreyfus
2014
RoboCop
Dr. Dennett Norton
2014
Paranoia
Nicholas Wyatt
2013
Daniel Radcliffe: Being Harry Potter
Self
2012
Guns, Girls and Gambling
Elvis Elvis
2012
Lawless
Floyd Banner
2012
The Dark Knight Rises
Commissioner Gordon
2012
Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen
(archive footage)
2012
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
George Smiley
2011
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Sirius Black
2011
Kung Fu Panda 2
Lord Shen (voice)
2011
Red Riding Hood
Father Soloman
2011
One Night in Turin
Narrator
2010
The Book of Eli
Carnegie
2010
Planet 51
General Grawl (voice)
2009
A Christmas Carol
Bob Cratchit / Marley / Tiny Tim (voice)
2009
Heath Ledger: A Tribute
Self
2009
Rain Fall
Holtzer
2009
The Unborn
Rabbi Joseph Sendak
2009
The Dark Knight
Gordon
2008
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Sirius Black
2007
The Backwoods
Paul
2006
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Sirius Black
2005
Dead Fish
Lynch
2005
Batman Begins
Jim Gordon
2005
The Magic Touch of Harry Potter
Self
2004
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Sirius Black
2004
Sin
Charlie Storm
2003
Tiptoes
Rolfe
2002
Beat the Devil
Devil
2002
Interstate 60
O.W. Grant
2002
Hannibal
Mason Verger
2001
Nobody's Baby
Buford Dill
2001
The Contender
Shelly Runyon
2000
Jesus
Pontius Pilate
1999
Quest for Camelot
Ruber (voice)
1998
Lost in Space
Dr. Zachary Smith
1998
Lost In Space Forever
Self (also archive footage)
1998
Air Force One
Ivan Korshunov
1997
The Fifth Element
Zorg
1997
Vem Var Dracula
Self
1996
Basquiat
Albert Milo
1996
The Scarlet Letter
Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale
1995
Murder in the First
Glenn
1995
Immortal Beloved
Ludwig van Beethoven
1994
Léon: The Professional
Norman Stansfield
1994
Romeo Is Bleeding
Jack Grimaldi
1993
True Romance
Drexl Spivey
1993
JFK
Lee Harvey Oswald
1991
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead
Rosencrantz
1991
Henry & June
Pop
1990
State of Grace
Jackie
1990
Chattahoochee
Emmett Foley
1990
Criminal Law
Ben Chase
1989
The Firm
Bex Bissell
1989
We Think the World of You
Johnny
1988
Track 29
Martin
1988
Prick Up Your Ears
Joe Orton
1987
Sid and Nancy
Sid Vicious
1986
Morgan's Boy
Colin
1984
Meantime
Coxy
1983
Flying Horse
Eadweard Muybridge
Slow Horses
Jackson Lamb · (30 episodes)
2022
Exposing Muybridge
Self
2021
Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard
Vladislav Dukhovich (archive footage)
2021
The Woman in the Window
Alistair Russell
2021
The Magic of the Movies: Behind the Scenes of David Fincher's Mank
Self
2021
Crisis
Dr. Tyrone Brower
2021
Mank
Herman Mankiewicz
2020
A Place Among the Dead
GO
2020
The Courier
Ezekiel Mannings
2019
The Laundromat
Jürgen Mossack
2019
Mary
David
2019
Killers Anonymous
The Man
2019
Savage Builds
Self · (1 episode)
2019
Obscura
Special guest
2018
Hunter Killer
CJCS Charles Donnegan
2018
Beyond Boundaries: The Harvey Weinstein Scandal
Self (archive footage)
2018
Tau
Tau (voice)
2018
Darkest Hour
Winston Churchill
2017
The Hitman's Bodyguard
Vladislav Dukhovich
2017
The Human Face
Self
2017
The Space Between Us
Nathaniel Shepherd
2017
Criss Angel Trick'd Up
Self
2016
Alan Clarke: Out of His Own Light
Self
2016
Man Down
Captain Peyton
2015
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Self · (2 episodes)
2015
Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter
Self · (1 episode)
2015
The Driver
Cy (voice)
2015
Variety Studio: Actors on Actors
Self · (1 episode)
2014
I Am Steve McQueen
Self
2014
Late Night with Seth Meyers
Self · (1 episode)
2014
The Fire Rises: The Creation and Impact of The Dark Knight Trilogy
Self (archive footage)
2013
La Petite Mort
Narrator (voice)
2013
Ending the Knight
Self
2012
Jack White: Unstaged
Self
2012
Honest Trailers
James Gordon (archive footage) · (2 episodes)
2012
Touch of Evil
The Menacing Dummy
2011
Conan
Self · (2 episodes)
2010
Countdown to Zero
Narrator (voice)
2010
Creating the World of Harry Potter
Self - 'Sirius Black' · (8 episodes)
2009
Gotham Tonight
Lt. James Gordon · (1 episode)
2008
The Blood Is the Life: The Making of 'Bram Stoker's Dracula'
Self (archive footage)
2007
The Costumes Are the Sets: The Design of Eiko Ishioka
Self (archive footage)
2007
In Camera: The Naïve Visual Effects of 'Bram Stoker's Dracula'
Self (archive footage)
2007
The Graham Norton Show
Self · (1 episode)
2007
Chutzpah, This Is?
2005
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
(1 episode)
2003
V Graham Norton
Self · (1 episode)
2002
Greg the Bunny
(1 episode)
2002
Breaking the Silence: The Making of Hannibal
Self
2001
The Hire
Devil · (1 episode)
2001
Alan Clarke: His Own Man
Self
2000
Jesus
Pontius Pilate · (2 episodes)
2000
The Early Show
Self · (1 episode)
1999
Friends
Richard Crosby · (1 episode)
1994
The Mysterious Career of Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald (voice)
1993
Fallen Angels
Pat Kelley · (1 episode)
1993
Beyond JFK: The Question of Conspiracy
Self
1993
Bram Stoker's Dracula
Dracula
1992
HBO First Look
Self / Ludwig van Beethoven · (1 episode)
1992
Blood Lines: Dracula - The Man. The Myth. The Movies.
Self
1992
Director: Alan Clarke
1991
Heading Home
Ian Tyson
1991
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
(1 episode)
1988
Rat in the Skull
Police Constable Eric Naylor
1987
England's Glory
Interviewee
1987
Honest Decent & True
Derek Bates
1986
Dramarama
Ben · (91 episodes)
1983
Remembrance
Daniel
1982
Knots Landing
Don Ross · (1 episode)
1979
The Oscars
Self · (2 episodes)
1953
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Nominee · (1 episode)
1944