Kenneth Branagh Biography (1960-)

Surname is pronounced Bran-och; full name, Kenneth Charles Branagh; born December 10, 1960, in Belfast, Northern Ireland; son of William (a plumber and carpenter) and Frances (maiden name, Harper) Branagh; married Emma Thompson (anactress and writer), August 20, 1989 (divorced, 1995).

Nationality
British
Gender
Male
Occupation
Actor, director, producer, writer
Birth Details
December 10, 1960
Belfast, United Kingdom

Famous Works

  • CREDITS
  • Stage Appearances
  • Judd, Another Country, London, 1982
  • St. Francis of Assisi, St. Francis, London, 1984
  • King of Navarre, Love's Labour's Lost, Royal Shakespeare Company,Stratford-upon-Avon, England, then London, 1984-1985
  • Title role, Henry V, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-upon-Avon, then London, 1984-1985
  • Laertes, Hamlet, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-upon-Avon, then Barbican Theatre Center, London, 1985
  • Public Enemy, Renaissance Theatre Company, London, 1987
  • Title role, Hamlet, Tivoli Festival, Renaissance Theatre Company,Elsinore Castle, Denmark, 1988
  • Jimmy Porter, Look Back in Anger, Renaissance Theatre Company, London, 1989
  • Edgar, King Lear, Renaissance Theatre Company, Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles, 1990
  • Peter Quince, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Renaissance Theatre Company, Mark Taper Forum, 1990
  • Title role, Coriolanus, Renaissance Theatre Company, Chichester, England, 1992
  • Hamlet, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-upon-Avon, then London, 1992-1993
  • Appeared in Romeo and Juliet, Renaissance Theatre Company, Londonproduction; also appeared in The Golden Girls, the solo show The Madness, and Three Sisters.
  • Stage Appearances; Major Tours
  • Toured as Benedict, Much Ado about Nothing, and as Touchstone, As You Like It, both Renaissance Theatre Company, British cities; also toured as Laertes, Hamlet, British cities.
  • Stage Work
  • Director
  • Twelfth Night, Renaissance Theatre Company, 1989
  • King Lear, Renaissance Theatre Company, Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles, 1990
  • A Midsummer Night's Dream, Renaissance Theatre Company, Mark TaperForum, 1990
  • Also the director of The Life of Napoleon and the codirector of Uncle Vanya, both Renaissance Theatre Company.
  • Producer
  • (With David Parfitt) Hamlet, Renaissance Theatre Company, Tivoli Festival, Elsinore Castle, Denmark, 1988
  • Film Appearances
  • Charles Moon, A Month in the Country, Orion Classics, 1987
  • Rick Lamb, High Season, Hemdale, 1987
  • Title role, Henry V, Samuel Goldwyn Company, 1989
  • Mike Church and Roman Strauss, Dead Again, Paramount, 1991
  • Andrew Benson, Peter's Friends, Samuel Goldwyn Company, 1992
  • Performer of excerpts from Henry V, Symphony for the Spire(also known as His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales' Symphony for the Spire and A Spectacle of Music and Theatre in Aid of the Salisbury Cathedral Spire Appeal), 1992
  • Herr Knoff, Swing Kids, Hollywood Pictures, 1993
  • Seigneur Benedick, Much Ado about Nothing, Samuel Goldwyn Company,1993
  • Victor Frankenstein, Frankenstein (also known as Mary Shelley'sFrankenstein), TriStar, 1994
  • Iago, Othello, Columbia, 1995
  • Title role, Hamlet (also known as William Shakespeare's Hamlet), Columbia, 1996
  • Himself, Looking for Richard (documentary), Fox Searchlight Pictures, 1996
  • Himself, Making Hamlet, 1996
  • Colonel Evans, The Dance of Shiva, Epiphany Productions, 1998
  • Father Michael McKinnon, The Proposition, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, 1998
  • Lee Simon, Celebrity, Miramax, 1998
  • Richard, The Theory of Flight, Fine Line, 1998
  • Rick Magruder, The Gingerbread Man, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment,1998
  • Dr. Arliss Loveless, Wild Wild West, Warner Bros., 1999
  • Himself, The Book That Wrote Itself, RGH/Lions Share Pictures, 1999
  • Narrator, The Betty Schimmel Story (documentary), 1999
  • Narrator, Galapagos: The Enchanted Voyage (short documentary film), IMAX, 1999
  • Voice of periwig-maker, The Periwig-Maker (short animated film), Ideal Standard Film, 1999
  • Berowne, Love's Labour's Lost (also known as Peines d'amour perdues), Miramax, 2000
  • Peter McGowan, How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog, Millennium Films,2000
  • Voice of Miguel, The Road to El Dorado (animated), DreamWorks SKG,2000
  • Behind the Scenes: The Road to El Dorado (documentary), 2000
  • Steven Chesterman, Alien Love Triangle, Dimension Films, 2001
  • Rabbit-Proof Fence, Miramax, 2001
  • Film Work
  • Director and Producer
  • Henry V, Samuel Goldwyn Company, 1989
  • Peter's Friends, Samuel Goldwyn Company, 1992
  • Much Ado about Nothing, Samuel Goldwyn Company, 1993
  • Frankenstein (also known as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein), TriStar, 1994
  • Love's Labour's Lost (also known as Peines d'amour perdues), Miramax, 2000
  • Director
  • Dead Again, Paramount, 1991
  • Swan Song (short film), Renaissance Films, 1992
  • In the Bleak Midwinter (also known as A Midwinter's Tale),1995 Sony Pictures Classics, 1996
  • Hamlet (also known as William Shakespeare's Hamlet), Columbia, 1996
  • The Betty Schimmel Story (documentary), 1999
  • Television Appearances
  • Series
  • Multiple roles, Thompson, [Great Britain], 1990
  • Narrator, Great Composers, BBC, 1999
  • Miniseries
  • Jack Grant, Boy in the Bush, 1983 PBS, 1988
  • Guy Pringle, Fortunes of War, BBC, 1987 broadcast on Masterpiece Theatre, PBS, 1988
  • Narrator, Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood (documentary), PBS, 1996
  • Narrator, Cold War (documentary), Cable News Network, 1998
  • Sir Ernest Shackleton (title role), Shackleton, Arts and Entertainment, 2001
  • Movies
  • General Reinhard Heydrich, Conspiracy, HBO, 2001
  • Specials
  • Student, "Easter 2016," Play for Tomorrow, BBC, 1982
  • Too Late to Talk to Billy (also known as Play for Today: Too Late to Talk to Billy and The Billy Trilogy), BBC, 1982
  • Charles Tansley, To the Lighthouse, 1984
  • Thomas Mendip, The Lady's Not for Burning, Yorkshire Television, 1987
  • Gordon Evans as an adult, "Strange Interlude," American Playhouse,PBS, 1988
  • Jimmy Porter, Look Back in Anger, HBO, 1989
  • Himself and Hamlet, Discovering Hamlet (documentary), PBS, 1990
  • Narrator, Gielgud: Scenes from Nine Decades (documentary), [England], 1994
  • The True Story of Frankenstein, Arts and Entertainment, 1994
  • Narrator, Anne Frank Remembered (documentary), BBC and The DisneyChannel, 1995
  • Narrator, Universal Horror (documentary), TCM, 1998
  • Narrator, The Making of Walking with Dinosaurs, BBC, 1999
  • Narrator of British version, Walking with Dinosaurs (animated documentary), BBC, 1999
  • Narrator of British version, The Ballad of Big Al (also known as Allosaurus: A Walking with Dinosaurs Special), The Discovery Channel, 2000
  • Narrator of British version, Big Al Uncovered, BBC, 2000
  • Narrator, Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces, TCM, 2000
  • Narrator, Walking with Prehistoric Beasts, 2001
  • Episodic
  • Good Morning, America, ABC, 1991
  • Good Morning, America, ABC, 1992
  • Showbiz Today, Cable News Network, 1993
  • The Charlie Rose Show, PBS, 1994
  • Himself, Parkinson (multiple episodes), [Great Britain], 2000
  • Appeared in episodes of other series, including The Late Show with David Letterman, CBS; and Maybury, BBC-2.
  • Other Television Appearances
  • D. H. "Bert" Lawrence, Coming Through, 1985
  • Oswald, The Ghosts, 1986
  • The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, The Disney Channel,1990
  • The Last Show on Earth, Central Independent Television, 1992
  • Tales of Gold, BBC, 1992
  • Donal Davoren, Shadow of a Gunman, BBC, 1995
  • Radio Appearances
  • Title role, Hamlet, BBC, 1992
  • Romeo, Romeo and Juliet, BBC, 1993
  • Edmund, King Lear, BBC, 1994
  • As I Walked Out One Morning/A Moment of War, BBC, 1994
  • Cider with Rosie, BBC, 1994
  • Also performed in radio productions of Diaries of Samuel Pepys andFrankenstein.
  • RECORDINGS
  • Taped Readings
  • Cousin Phyllis, 1988
  • Cover to Cover, 1988
  • Last Enemy, ASV Records and Tapes, 1990
  • Title role, Hamlet, Bantam Doubleday Dell, 1992
  • Romeo, Romeo and Juliet, Bantam Doubleday Dell, 1993
  • Edmund, King Lear, Bantam Doubleday Dell, 1994
  • Audio Books
  • Anthem for Doomed Youth, Random House Audio Books, 1993
  • Longshot, Harper Audio, 1994
  • Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Simon & Schuster Audio, 1994
  • Captain and the Enemy, Chivers Audio Books, 1995
  • Pepys' Diary, Hodder Headline Audiobooks, 1995
  • WRITINGS
  • Stage Plays
  • Tell Me Honestly, Royal Shakespeare Company, 1985
  • Public Enemy, Renaissance Theatre Company, London, 1987 publishedby Faber (London), 1988
  • Screenplays
  • Henry V (adaptation of the play by William Shakespeare), Samuel Goldwyn Company, 1989 published by Chatto & Windus (London), 1989
  • Much Ado about Nothing (based on the play by Shakespeare), SamuelGoldwyn Company, 1993 published with introduction and notes, Chatto & Windus, 1993
  • In the Bleak Midwinter (also known as A Midwinter's Tale),1995 Sony Pictures Classics, 1996 published as In the Bleak Midwinter: TheShooting Script, Nick Hern Books (New York City), 1995 published as AMidwinter's Script, Newmarket Press (New York City), 1996
  • Hamlet (based on the play by Shakespeare; also known as WilliamShakespeare's Hamlet), Columbia, 1996 published in Hamlet: The Makingof the Movie, including the Screenplay, Norton, 1996
  • Love's Labour's Lost (based on the play by Shakespeare; also knownas Peines d'amour perdues), Miramax, 2000
  • Nonfiction
  • Beginning (autobiography), Chatto & Windus (London), 1989 Norton (New York City), 1990
  • The Making of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, 1994
  • Hamlet: The Making of the Movie, including the Screenplay, Norton,1996
  • Shakespeare on the Screen: Kenneth Branagh's Adaptations of Henry V, Much Ado about Nothing, and Hamlet, revised edition, Peter Lang (New YorkCity), 2000

Further Reference

OTHER SOURCES

    Books
    • Davies, Anthony, and Stanley Wells, editors, Shakespeare and the Moving Image, Cambridge University Press (New York City), 1994
    • International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, Volume 2: Directors, Volume 3: Actors and Actresses, St. James Press, 1996
    • Newsmakers: The People behind Today's Headlines, Gale, 1992
    • Parsons, Keith, and Pamela Mason, Shakespeare in Performance, Salamander Books, 1995
    • Shuttleworth, Ian, Ken & Em: A Biography of Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson, Headline (London), 1994
    Periodicals
    • Advocate, February 20, 1996, pp. 42-49
    • American Film, September/October, 1991
    • Cineaste, winter, 1998, pp. 34-41
    • Cinema Journal, summer, 1994
    • Commentary, October, 1993
    • Critical Quarterly, winter, 1991
    • Empire, Issue 66, 1994, pp. 98-109
    • Esquire, January, 1990 September, 1991 December, 1994
    • Film Comment, November/December, 1989 January/February, 1995
    • Harper's Bazaar, February, 1990
    • Hollywood Reporter, March 22, 1990
    • Interview, October, 1989 November, 1994
    • Literature/Film Quarterly, Volume 20, number 4, 1992 Volume 22, number 2, 1994
    • Los Angeles Times, November 9, 1989 May 2, 1993 June 3, 1995
    • Maclean's, August 26, 1991
    • Madison, December, 1998
    • Movieline, September, 1991
    • New Republic, December 4, 1989
    • Newsweek, February 19, 1990
    • New York, February 12, 1990 May 24, 1993
    • New Yorker, September 9, 1991
    • New York Review of Books, May 27, 1993
    • New York Times, January 8, 1989 November 5, 1989 November 8, 1989January 21, 1990 August 18, 1991 March 28, 1993 May 16, 1993 November 9, 1994
    • People Weekly, February 12, 1990 October 4, 1999, p. 115
    • Plays & Players, March, 1985 July, 1987
    • Premiere, September, 1991, pp. 74-78; February, 1993, December, 1995, December, 1996, p. 60; June, 1999, p. 102
    • Publishers Weekly, March 23, 1990
    • Rolling Stone, November 30, 1989 February 8, 1990
    • Shakespeare Quarterly, spring, 1991
    • Sight and Sound, September, 1993 November, 1994
    • Starlog, February, 1995
    • Sunday Times (London), October 1, 1989 October 8, 1989
    • Time, November 13, 1989 February 5, 1990
    • Times (London), August 17, 1985 July 18, 1987 August 15, 1993
    • Times Educational Supplement, April 24, 1992
    • Times Literary Supplement, October 20, 1989
    • Vanity Fair, March, 1988
    • Village Voice, May 25, 1993
    • Vogue, January, 1988