Jeremy Irons

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British actor Jeremy Irons in 2016, wearing a dark jacket and scarf, looking at the camera against a neutral background.

Jeremy Irons and Meryl Streep embrace closely, wrapped in a patterned shawl, in a scene from the film The French Lieutenant's Woman.

Jeremy Irons, appearing as twin brothers, and Genevieve Bujold sit at a round table in a restaurant scene from the film Dead Ringers, with a mural on the wall behind them.

Jeremy Irons, dressed in a tuxedo, holds a cigar and looks intently forward in a scene from the film Reversal of Fortune.

Jeremy Irons, dressed in a dark suit and tie, stands beside a tree in an outdoor scene from the film Damage, directed by Louis Malle.

Jeremy Irons as Beverly Mantle, Genevieve Bujold as Claire Niveau, and Jeremy Irons as Elliot Mantle sit at a round table in a restaurant booth in Dead Ringers (1988).

Quick Facts

Born:: September 19, 1948, Cowes, Isle of Wight, England (age 78)

Awards And Honors:: Academy Award (1991); Tony Awards (1984); Academy Award (1991): Actor in a Leading Role; Emmy Award (2014): Outstanding Narrator; Emmy Award (2006): Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie; Emmy Award (1997): Outstanding Voice-Over Performance; Golden Globe Award (2007): Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Limited Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television; Golden Globe Award (1991): Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama; Tony Award (1984): Best Actor in a Play

Married To:: Julie Hallam (1969–1969); Sinéad Cusack (1978–present)

Movies/Tv Shows (Acted In):: "Dead Ringers" (1988); "The Pink Panther 2" (2009); "M. Butterfly" (1993); "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (2011); "BBC2 Play of the Week" (1978); "Australia" (1989); "Their Finest" (2016); "The Pallisers" (1974); "The Words" (2012); "Red Sparrow" (2018); "Casanova" (2005); "Churchill's People" (1975); "Arena" (2010); "Dungeons & Dragons" (2000); "The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century" (1996); "The Time Machine" (2002); "Watchmen" (2019); "Callas Forever" (2002); "Inland Empire" (2006); "The House of the Spirits" (1993); "Die Hard with a Vengeance" (1995); "The Hollow Crown" (2012); "Eragon" (2006); "The Simpsons" (2012); "Birds Like Us" (2017); "Chinese Box" (1997); "Better Start Running" (2018); "The Wild Duck" (1984); "Kafka" (1991); "Nijinsky" (1980); "Assassin's Creed" (2016); "Love for Lydia" (1977); "Night Train to Lisbon" (2013); "Elizabeth I" (2005); "The French Lieutenant's Woman" (1981); "An Actor Prepares" (2018); "The Mission" (1986); "Zebrácká opera" (1991); "The Man Who Knew Infinity" (2015); "Reversal of Fortune" (1990); "The Civil War" (1990); "La corrispondenza" (2016); "Lolita" (1997); "High-Rise" (2015); "Un amour de Swann" (1984); "Faeries" (1999); "Beautiful Creatures" (2013); "Mathilde" (2004); "Margin Call" (2011); "Kingdom of Heaven" (2005); "And Now... Ladies and Gentlemen..." (2002); "The Sultan and the Saint" (2016); "Brideshead Revisited" (1981); "The Colour of Magic" (2008); "Damage" (1992); "Justice League" (2017); "Notorious Woman" (1974); "Stealing Beauty" (1996); "The Borgias" (2011–2013); "Race" (2016); "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" (2016); "The Lion King" (1994); "Being Julia" (2004); "Life on Fire: Wildlife on the Volcano's Edge" (2013); "BBC Play of the Month" (1979); "Appaloosa" (2008); "Freedom: A History of US" (2003); "A Chorus of Disapproval" (1989); "The Merchant of Venice" (2004); "Performance" (1992); "Waterland" (1992); "Moonlighting" (1982); "The Fourth Angel" (2001); "Betrayal" (1983); "The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes" (1971); "The Man in the Iron Mask" (1998)

On the Web:: NPR - Oscar-Winning Actor Jeremy Irons (Oct. 24, 2026)

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Jeremy Irons

British actor

Written and fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Oct. 24, 2026 •History

Jeremy Irons (born September 19, 1948, Cowes, Isle of Wight, England) is a British actor whose performances are noted for their sophistication and gravitas.

Irons made his London stage debut in Godspell (1973) and appeared on Broadway in The Real Thing (1984, Tony Award). After his screen debut in Nijinsky (1980), Irons won notice for his performance in The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1981) and became widely popular after appearing in the television series Brideshead Revisited (1981), which was based on the novel by Evelyn Waugh. Irons offered deliciously wicked turns in Dead Ringers (1988) and Reversal of Fortune (1990). In the latter film he starred as Claus von Bülow, a wealthy socialite convicted of the attempted murder of his wife. For his portrayal of the enigmatic von Bülow, Irons won an Academy Award.

Irons subsequently appeared in the sensual drama Damage (1992), the action movie Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995), and as Humbert Humbert in Lolita (1997), a controversial adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov’s novel. In the animated blockbuster The Lion King (1994), Irons provided the voice of a villainous lion.

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Empty movie theater and blank screen (theatre, motion pictures, cinema).

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Oscar-Worthy Movie Trivia

Irons’s film roles in the early 21st century included supporting characters in Being Julia (2004), Kingdom of Heaven (2005), Appaloosa (2008), Margin Call (2011), The Words (2012), Race (2016), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), and Justice League (2017); a different cut of the latter film was released in 2021 as Zach Snyder’s Justice League. He also costarred as mathematician G.H. Hardy in the Srinivasa Ramanujan biopic The Man Who Knew Infinity (2015); as the architect of a tower that becomes the site of a class war in High-Rise (2015), an adaptation of a J.G. Ballard novel; and as a villain in the fantasy adventure Assassin’s Creed (2016), based on a video game. Irons later appeared in the spy thriller Red Sparrow (2018). His credits from 2021 included Munich: The Edge of War, in which he portrayed Neville Chamberlain, and House of Gucci, a true-crime drama involving a family and its luxury fashion brand.

In addition, Irons acted in several made-for-television movies, notably Longitudes (2000) and The Colour of Magic (2008), and he won an Emmy Award for his performance as the earl of Leicester in the miniseries Elizabeth I (2005). In the Showtime series The Borgias (2011–13), he starred as another Renaissance-era historical figure, Pope Alexander VI. Irons returned to television in 2019, playing a former superhero in the HBO series Watchmen.

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

Jeremy Irons

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