Daniel Day-Lewis

Born on April 29, 1957, in London, England, Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis is the son of Poet Laureate Cecil Day-Lewis and actress Jill Balcon. His maternal grandfather, Sir Michael Balcon, was a significant figure in British cinema as head of Ealing Studios. Day-Lewis made his uncredited film debut at age 14 in “Sunday Bloody Sunday” (1971). He later trained as an actor at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. He then performed with the Bristol Old Vic and Royal Shakespeare theatrical companies. His early adult film roles included uncredited parts in “Gandhi” (1982) and a supporting role in “The Bounty” (1984). He achieved broader recognition in 1985 with critically acclaimed performances in “My Beautiful Laundrette” and “A Room with a View,” both of which showcased his versatility and range. The New York Film Critics recognized him as Best Supporting Actor for these roles. In 1988, he starred in “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” and earned an Academy Award for Best Actor in 1989 for his performance as Christy Brown in “My Left Foot,” a role for which he committed fully, including remaining in character off-screen.

Following his success, Day-Lewis took a brief hiatus from film but returned in 1992 to star in “The Last of the Mohicans,” a commercially successful film demanding extensive physical preparation. He collaborated with director Martin Scorsese in “The Age of Innocence” (1993) and reunited with Jim Sheridan for “In the Name of the Father” (1993), earning another Academy Award nomination. He continued to take on challenging roles, such as John Proctor in “The Crucible” (1996) and Danny Flynn in “The Boxer” (1997), another film with Jim Sheridan for which he physically trained like a professional boxer. After “The Boxer,” Day-Lewis entered a period of semi-retirement from acting, during which he pursued his interest in woodworking and apprenticed as a shoemaker in Florence, Italy.

He returned to acting in 2002, reuniting with Martin Scorsese for “Gangs of New York,” where his portrayal of Bill ‘The Butcher’ Cutting earned him another Academy Award nomination. In 2007, his performance as Daniel Plainview in Paul Thomas Anderson’s “There Will Be Blood” earned him his second Academy Award for Best Actor, along with a BAFTA Award, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild Award. He added a third Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln” (2012), marking him as the only actor to achieve this milestone. His final performance before announcing his retirement in 2017 was as Reynolds Woodcock in Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Phantom Thread” (2017), which earned him his sixth Oscar nomination. In 2024, he announced his return to acting, starring in and co-writing “Anemone,” directed by his son Ronan Day-Lewis, which premiered in 2025.