Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
Daniel Day-Lewis
Introduction References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics
Images
Daniel Day-Lewis wearing a black tuxedo and bow tie, smiling on the red carpet at the Critics Choice Awards. Daniel Day-Lewis and Ruth McCabe in My Left Foot Daniel Day-Lewis as Hawkeye, holding a rifle and running through a field with Eric Schweig and other men, in a battle scene from the 1992 film The Last of the Mohicans. scene from Nine Scene from Lincoln Fricker and Day-Lewis in My Left Foot Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview and Paul Dano as Paul Sunday shake hands in an office with a map of California on the wall in a scene from There Will Be Blood. Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview sits on a stool in front of a burning oil derrick with flames and thick black smoke rising, in a scene from There Will Be Blood.
Quizzes
Empty movie theater and blank screen (theatre, motion pictures, cinema).
Oscar-Worthy Movie Trivia
USA 2006 - 78th Annual Academy Awards. Closeup of giant Oscar statue at the entrance of the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, California. Hompepage blog 2009, arts and entertainment, film movie hollywood
Pop Culture Quiz
Quick Facts
In full:
Sir Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis
Born:
April 29, 1957, London, England (age 69)
Awards And Honors:
Academy Award (2013)
Academy Award (2008)
Academy Award (1990)
Academy Award (2013): Actor in a Leading Role
Academy Award (2008): Actor in a Leading Role
Academy Award (1990): Actor in a Leading Role
Golden Globe Award (2013): Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
Golden Globe Award (2008): Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
Notable Family Members:
father C. Day-Lewis
Married To:
Rebecca Miller (1996–present)
Movies/Tv Shows (Acted In):
"Lincoln" (2012)
"Gangs of New York" (2002)
"My Brother Jonathan" (1985)
"Phantom Thread" (2017)
"Nine" (2009)
"Eversmile, New Jersey" (1989)
"There Will Be Blood" (2007)
"BBC2 Playhouse" (1982)
"The Age of Innocence" (1993)
"My Beautiful Laundrette" (1985)
"BBC Play of the Month" (1983)
"Screen Two" (1986)
"A Room with a View" (1985)
"The Unbearable Lightness of Being" (1988)
"Stars and Bars" (1988)
"In the Name of the Father" (1993)
"My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown" (1989)
"The Ballad of Jack and Rose" (2005)
"The Boxer" (1997)
"Nanou" (1986)
"Gandhi" (1982)
"The Crucible" (1996)
"The Bounty" (1984)
"Frost in May" (1982)
"The Last of the Mohicans" (1992)
"Shoestring" (1980)
See all related content
Britannica AI Icon
Adding us as a Preferred Source tells Google you trust our content, so our articles show up more often in your Google Search, Discover feed, and AI Overviews.
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites
Britannica Websites
Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.
Daniel Day-Lewis wearing a black tuxedo and bow tie, smiling on the red carpet at the Critics Choice Awards.
Daniel Day-Lewis

Daniel Day-Lewis

British actor
Also known as: Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis
Written and fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
Britannica Editors
Last updated
•History

Daniel Day-Lewis (born April 29, 1957, London, England) is a British actor known for his on-screen intensity and for his exhaustive preparation for roles.

Daniel Day-Lewis and Ruth McCabe in My Left Foot
Daniel Day-Lewis and Ruth McCabe in My Left FootDaniel Day-Lewis and Ruth McCabe in My Left Foot (1989).

Day-Lewis was the second child of Cecil Day-Lewis, one of the leading British poets of the 1930s, and actress Jill Balcon and was the grandson of motion-picture producer Sir Michael Balcon. He began acting at Bedales, a liberal school in Petersfield, England, and at age 13 he landed a small role in the film Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971). He then went on to perform with the Bristol Old Vic and Royal Shakespeare theatrical companies before appearing in his first adult roles in the films Gandhi (1982) and The Bounty (1984). In 1985 Day-Lewis displayed his versatility by playing a gay hooligan in My Beautiful Laundrette and a staid Edwardian-era Englishman in an adaptation of E.M. Forster’s A Room with a View; the films brought him international acclaim, as did his performance as an adulterous surgeon in The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988). His portrayal of Christy Brown, an artist almost completely disabled by cerebral palsy, in the film My Left Foot (1989) won him numerous awards, including an Academy Award for best actor. In the course of making the film, Day-Lewis spent the entire time in a wheelchair and learned to paint with his left foot.

Daniel Day-Lewis as Hawkeye, holding a rifle and running through a field with Eric Schweig and other men, in a battle scene from the 1992 film The Last of the Mohicans.
1 of 2
scene from The Last of the MohicansDaniel Day-Lewis as Hawkeye (Natty Bumppo) in The Last of the Mohicans (1992).
scene from Nine
2 of 2
scene from Nine(From left to right) Penélope Cruz, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Marion Cotillard in Nine (2009).

Day-Lewis subsequently starred in a number of successful films, including The Last of the Mohicans (1992), as the frontiersman Natty Bumppo; The Age of Innocence (1993), Martin Scorsese’s film adaptation of Edith Wharton’s novel; In the Name of the Father (1993), which earned him an Academy Award nomination; and The Crucible (1996), based on Arthur Miller’s play. After appearing in The Boxer (1997), Day-Lewis took a break from acting and worked for a time as a cobbler’s apprentice in Italy.

Discover the fascinating events that shaped the world, straight from our editors.
By clicking “Sign Up”, you consent to the Britannica Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Empty movie theater and blank screen (theatre, motion pictures, cinema).
Britannica Quiz
Oscar-Worthy Movie Trivia
Scene from Lincoln
Scene from Lincoln(From left) Hal Holbrook, Daniel Day-Lewis, and David Strathairn in Lincoln (2012).

In 2002 he returned to the screen as a murderous anti-immigrant gang leader in Scorsese’s Gangs of New York, a drama set in the mid-19th century. He subsequently starred in the intimate The Ballad of Jack and Rose (2005), which was written and directed by Miller’s daughter Rebecca, whom he had married in 1996. In 2008 Day-Lewis won a second Academy Award, for his transformative performance as self-made oil tycoon Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood (2007). His later film roles included an Italian film director in the star-studded musical Nine (2009) and U.S. Pres. Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg’s biographical Lincoln (2012). For his nuanced performance in the latter film, he won an unprecedented third best-actor Oscar. Day-Lewis next starred as a fashion designer whose pursuit of perfection begets tension in his romantic relationships in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread (2017). For this role, which he had previously announced would be his last, Day-Lewis earned his sixth Oscar nomination.

Day-Lewis was named a knight bachelor in 2014.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.