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Roots -

Jeremy Irons was born on September 19, 1948 in Cowes, Isle of Wight, England.

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Music -

Irons played drums and harmonica in a band called Four Pillars of Wisdom when he was a student at Sherborne School in Dorset.

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Actor -

He attended the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School where he trained as an actor and performed.

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Theater -

Irons then moved to London, where he pursued a career in theater. He had his first big break in the hit musical 'Godspell' in the early 1970s.

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Broadway debut -

The actor made his New York debut in 1984 with 'The Real Thing.' His performance opposite Glenn Close won him a Tony Award.

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Television -

The actor then started taking up roles in a number of British TV shows, including 'Notorious Woman,' 'Love for Lydia,' and 'Langrishe, Go Down.'

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TV success -

Irons did achieve some success in TV in the '70s, but in 1981 he raised his profile as an actor in 'Brideshead Revisited,' earning him a Golden Globe nomination for his performance.

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Iconic role -

Around the same time, Irons started delving into film. After his debut in 'Nijinsky' in 1980, he co-starred with Meryl Streep in the film 'The French Lieutenant's Woman.'

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1980s -

In the '80s, we saw Irons starring in movies such as Jerzy Skolimowski's 'Moonlighting' (1982), the Cannes Palme d'Or winner 'The Mission,' and in David Cronenberg's 'Dead Ringers.'

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1990s -

The 1990s were also a brilliant decade for Jeremy Irons. We could see him in movies such as 'Kafka,' 'Damage,' 'M. Butterfly,' 'The House of the Spirits,' and voicing Scar in 'The Lion King.'

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'L o l i t a' -

Irons also starred in the 1997 remake directed by Adrian Lyne.

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Tough guy -

Other successes included 'Die Hard with a Vengeance,' where he co-starred with Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson.

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'The Man in the Iron Mask' -

The actor played the musketeer Aramis in the star-studded 1998 film 'The Man in the Iron Mask.'

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Turn of the century -

The turn of the century saw Irons starring in a number of acclaimed movies, including 'Dungeons and Dragons' (2000), 'Longitude' (2000), 'The Time Machine' (2002), and 'The Merchant of Venice' (2004).

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2000s -

In 2005, he starred in Ridley Scott's 'Kingdom of Heaven.' He also co-starred with John Malkovich again (after 'The Man in the Iron Mask') in 2006's 'Eragon.'

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Recent works -

More recently, we saw the actor in movies such as 'The Man Who Knew Infinity' (2015), 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice' (2016), and 'Justice League' (2017). In 2018, the actor starred in 'Red Sparrow.'

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Wife -

Irons has been married to Irish actress Sinéad Cusack since 1978.

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AIDS red ribbon -

Jeremy Irons was the first celebrity to wear the red ribbon, at the 1991 Tony Awards in New York City.

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Oscar winner -

Jeremy Irons won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in the 1991 movie 'Reversal of Fortune.'

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He owns a 15th-century castle -

The actor owns Kilcoe Castle in Ireland. Irons initially faced some criticism from the locals for his choice of color. 

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Voice -

Irons is also known for his voice. He has read a number of audio books, narrated documentaries and animations, and even recorded an audio guide for Westminster Abbey in London.

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Perfect male voice -

A research on the formula for the “perfect voice” conducted by linguist Andrew Linn and sound engineer Shannon Harris found that a mix between Alan Rickman and Jeremy Irons’ voices would be perfect.

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Music -

Irons also likes to sing. He has in fact performed and recorded a few songs. 

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Dream dinner party guests -

Jeremy Irons once said that Jesus Christ and Marilyn Monroe would be among his guests in a dream dinner party.

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The person he admires the most -

When asked in an interview who he admires the most and why, the actor responded, “Tony Blair, for living so publicly with the knowledge that he's not perfect.”

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He’s a supporter of yoga for prisoners -

The actor has been a supporter of a health program for prisoners. Irons is a patron of The Prison Phoenix Trust, a charity that offers help to prisoners through meditation and yoga.

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Controversial views -

Irons is known to have been critical of the fox hunting ban in the UK. He has even attended pro-hunting demonstrations.

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Smoker -

The actor has also shared his discontent with smoking bans. He said: "I really think I should have the right to smoke in the street or in the park or at the beach."

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See also - British stars who have won Emmys

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