Ralph Fiennes

Biography

Born in Ipswich, Suffolk, Fiennes was trained at and graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1985. A Shakespeare interpreter, he excelled onstage at the Royal National Theatre before succeeding at the Royal Shakespeare Company. In 1995, Fiennes made his Broadway debut playing Prince Hamlet in the revival of the William Shakespeare play Hamlet, for which he won the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Play. He was later Tony-nominated for his role as a travelling faith healer in the Brian Friel play Faith Healer (2006). Fiennes made his film debut playing Heathcliff in Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights (1992). He has earned Academy Award nominations for his performances in the films Schindler's List (1993), The English Patient (1996), and Conclave (2024). Fiennes gained recognition for playing Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter film series (2005–2011) and Gareth Mallory / M in the James Bond films (2012–2021). He has voiced roles in the animated films The Prince of Egypt (1998), Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005), Kubo and the Two Strings (2016), and The Lego Batman Movie (2017). Fiennes directed and starred in the films Coriolanus (2011) and The Invisible Woman (2013). Born in Ipswich, England, on 22 December 1962, Fiennes is the eldest child of Mark Fiennes (1933–2004), a farmer and photographer, and Jennifer Lash (1938–1993), a writer. He is the grandson of Maurice Fiennes, great-grandson of Alberic Arthur Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, and great-great-grandson of Frederick Benjamin Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, 16th Baron Saye and Sele, who was born Frederick Benjamin Twisleton. Fiennes is the eldest of six children. His siblings are actor Joseph Fiennes; director Martha Fiennes (he played the title role in her film Onegin); composer Magnus Fiennes; filmmaker Sophie Fiennes; and conservationist Jacob Fiennes. His foster brother, Michael Emery, is an archaeologist. His nephew, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, played Tom Riddle (later known as Lord Voldemort) in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Fiennes attended Bishop Wordsworth's School in Salisbury from 1976 to 1981. He went on to study painting at Chelsea College of Arts before deciding that acting was his true passion. Fiennes trained at RADA (the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) in London between 1983 and 1985.