Benedict Cumberbatch

Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch (born 19 July 1976) is an English actor. Known for his work on screen and stage, he has received various accolades, including a British Academy Television Award, a Primetime Emmy Award and a Laurence Olivier Award. He has also been nominated for two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards and four Golden Globe Awards. In 2014, ''Time'' magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world, and in 2015, he was appointed a CBE at Buckingham Palace for services to the performing arts and to charity.

Cumberbatch studied drama at the Victoria University of Manchester and obtained a Master of Arts in classical acting at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. He began acting in Shakespearean theatre productions before making his West End debut in Richard Eyre's revival of ''Hedda Gabler'' in 2005. Since then, he has starred in Royal National Theatre productions of '' After the Dance'' (2010) and ''Frankenstein'' (2011), winning the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for the latter. In 2015, he played the title role in ''Hamlet'' at the Barbican Theatre.

Cumberbatch's television work includes his performance as Stephen Hawking in the television film '' Hawking'' (2004). He gained greater recognition for playing Sherlock Holmes in the BBC series '' Sherlock'' from 2010 to 2017, for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie. For playing the title role in the miniseries '' Patrick Melrose'' (2018), he won the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor.

In films, Cumberbatch has played Khan in '' Star Trek Into Darkness'' (2013), and has appeared in the historical dramas ''Amazing Grace'' (2006), ''12 Years a Slave'' (2013), '' 1917'' (2019) and '' The Courier'' (2020). He received critical acclaim and nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performances as Alan Turing in ''The Imitation Game'' (2014) and as a volatile rancher in '' The Power of the Dog'' (2021). From 2012 to 2014, through voice and motion capture, Cumberbatch played Smaug and Sauron in ''The Hobbit'' film series. Since 2016, he has played Dr. Stephen Strange in six films set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe so far, starting with '' Doctor Strange'' (2016) and most recently appeared in '' Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness'' (2022).

Early life and education

Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch was born on 19 July 1976 at Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital in the London district of Hammersmith, to actors Timothy Carlton (born Timothy Carlton Congdon Cumberbatch) and Wanda Ventham. He grew up in the borough of Kensington and Chelsea. He has a half-sister, Tracy Peacock, from his mother's first marriage.

His grandfather, Henry Carlton Cumberbatch, was a submarine officer of both World Wars, and a prominent figure of London high society. His great-grandfather, Henry Alfred Cumberbatch, was a diplomat who served as consul in Turkey and Lebanon, and his great-great-grandfather, Robert William Cumberbatch, also was a British consul in Turkey and the Russian Empire. His great-great-great-grandfather, Abraham Parry Cumberbatch, was a wealthy slave owner in Barbados, West Indies. Cumberbatch is third cousin 16 times removed of King Richard III, whom he portrayed in '' The Hollow Crown''. He attended Richard III's 2015 reburial and read a poem.

Cumberbatch attended boarding schools from the age of eight; he was educated at Brambletye School in West Sussex and was an arts scholar at Harrow School. He was a member of the Rattigan Society, Harrow's principal club for the dramatic arts, which was named after Old Harrovian and playwright Sir Terence Rattigan. He was involved in numerous Shakespearean works at school and made his acting debut as Titania, Queen of the Fairies, in ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' when he was 12. His first leading role was as Eliza Doolittle in Bernard Shaw's ''Pygmalion'', in a production by the Head of Classics, James Morwood, who observed that Cumberbatch "acted everyone else off the stage". Cumberbatch's drama teacher, Martin Tyrell, called him "the best schoolboy actor" he had ever worked with. Despite his abilities, Cumberbatch's drama teacher at Harrow warned him against a career in acting, calling it a "tough business".

After leaving Harrow, Cumberbatch took a gap year to volunteer as an English teacher at a Tibetan monastery in Darjeeling, India. He then attended the Victoria University of Manchester, where he studied drama. He continued his training as an actor at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), graduating with an MA in classical acting. In January 2018, Cumberbatch succeeded Timothy West as president of LAMDA.

Career

Theatre

Since 2001, Cumberbatch has had major roles in a dozen classic plays at the Regent's Park Open Air, Almeida, Royal Court and Royal National Theatres. He was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role for his role as George Tesman in ''Hedda Gabler'', which he performed at the Almeida Theatre on 16 March 2005 and at the Duke of York's Theatre when it transferred to the West End on 19 May 2005. This transfer marked his first West End appearance.

In June 2010, Cumberbatch led the revival of Sir Terence Rattigan's '' After the Dance'' directed by Thea Sharrock at the Royal National Theatre. He played 1920s aristocrat David Scott-Fowler to commercial and critical success. The play won four Olivier Awards including Best Revival. He acted in Danny Boyle's '' The Children's Monologues'', a theatrical charity event at London's Old Vic Theatre on 14 November 2010 which was produced by Dramatic Need.

In February 2011, Cumberbatch began playing, on alternate nights, both Victor Frankenstein and his creature, opposite Jonny Lee Miller, in Boyle's stage production of Mary Shelley's ''Frankenstein'' at the Royal National Theatre. ''Frankenstein'' was broadcast to cinemas as a part of National Theatre Live in March 2011.

Cumberbatch achieved the "Triple Crown of London Theatre" in 2011 when he received the Olivier Award, Evening Standard Award and Critics' Circle Theatre Award for his performance in ''Frankenstein''.

Cumberbatch was a part of a cast featuring members of the Royal National Theatre Company in ''50 Years on Stage'', the Royal National Theatre's landmark event for its 50th anniversary on 2 November 2013. He played Rosencrantz in a selected scene from Sir Tom Stoppard's play ''Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead''. The show was directed by Sir Nicholas Hytner and was broadcast on BBC Two and in cinemas worldwide as a part of National Theatre Live.

Cumberbatch returned to theatre to play Shakespeare's Hamlet at London's Barbican Theatre. The production was directed by Lyndsey Turner and produced by Sonia Friedman, which started its 12-week run in August 2015. The performance, co-starring Sian Brooke, was broadcast by the National Theatre Company by satellite internationally as ''Hamlet in Rehearsal''. He earned his third Laurence Olivier Awards nomination for the role.

Television

Cumberbatch's early television roles include two separate guest roles in ''Heartbeat'' (2000, 2004), Freddy in '' Tipping the Velvet'' (2002), Edward Hand in '' Cambridge Spies'' (2003) and Rory in the ITV comedy drama series '' Fortysomething'' (2003). He also featured in '' Spooks'' and '' Silent Witness''. In 2004, he landed his first main part in television as Stephen Hawking in '' Hawking''. He was nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor and won the Golden Nymph for Television Films – Best Performance by an Actor. He later provided Hawking's voice in the first episode of the television series '' Curiosity''. He also appeared in the BBC miniseries ''Dunkirk

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