Ioan Gruffudd
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| Ioan Gruffudd | |
|---|---|
| Image:IoanGruffudd-20070504.jpg Gruffudd at Southland Shopping Centre in Melbourne, Australia, promoting Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer on 4 May 2007. | |
| Birth name | Ioan Gruffudd |
| Born | 6 October 1973 Cardiff, Wales, UK |
| Years active | 1986–present |
| Spouse(s) | Alice Evans (2007-present) |
Ioan Gruffudd (pronounced [ˈjoʊæn ˈgrɪfɪð], yoe'-an gri'-fidh) (born 6 October 1973) is a Welsh actor.
Educated at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he came to international attention as Fifth Officer Harold Lowe in the film Titanic (1997). However, he is probably best known for playing the role of Horatio Hornblower in Hornblower, the made-for-TV films (1998–2003) based on C.S. Forester's novels.
Gruffudd's recent notable film roles include Lancelot in King Arthur (2004), Reed Richards aka Mister Fantastic in Fantastic Four (2005) and the sequel Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), and British slavery abolitionist William Wilberforce in Amazing Grace (2006).
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life and family
Gruffudd was born on 6 October 1973 in the village of Llwydcoed near the town of Aberdare, in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taff, Mid Glamorgan, south Wales. His family later moved to Cardiff. The popular Welsh name "Ioan" is an equivalent of "John", and "Gruffudd" corresponds to the Anglicized "Griffith". He has been quoted as saying, "I'm determined not to lose my name. It's who I am. It has neither aided my progress nor hampered it. It's just who I am. My character... my make-up. My culture and heritage is a very rich one. So what if it's difficult for people to pronounce? We all learned how to say Schwarzenegger."[1]
Gruffudd's parents, Peter and Gillian Gruffudd, were teachers. He has two siblings — a brother, Alun, who is two years younger, and a sister, Siwan, who is seven years younger than he is.
[edit] Education
Gruffudd attended Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Aberdar (Ynyslwyd) (now situated in Cwmdare), Ysgol Gymraeg Melin Gruffydd, and Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf, where he sat his GCSEs and A-Levels. A natural musician, he was an accomplished oboist in his teens, attaining a Grade 8 level in the ABRSM music examinations,[citation needed] but gave it up once acting took up most of his time.[2] He also won prizes for his singing while at school. He has said, "As a Welshman, I grew up in a culture of singing and performing with music, and I think it was through this performing that I got my confidence as an actor."[3]
[edit] Career
Gruffudd started his acting career at the age of 12 in a Welsh television film called Austin (1986) and then later moved on to the Welsh soap opera Pobol y Cwm (People of the Valley) from 1987 to 1994. At the age of 18, he attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London. He won his first major English language role a few years later in the 1996 TV remake of Poldark.
After playing Oscar Wilde's lover John Gray in 1997's Wilde he took his first international role as Fifth Officer Harold Lowe in the blockbuster film Titanic. He later landed his best-known role as Horatio Hornblower in Hornblower, the Meridian production of the C.S. Forester novels (1998–2003), shown on ITV1 and A&E. Gruffudd has said: "It was quite something for an unknown actor to get the lead. So I will always be grateful to Hornblower. ... I would love to play this character through every stage of his life. I think it would be unique to have an actor playing him from the very early days as a midshipman, through till he's an Admiral. So, I would love to play this character till he perishes."[3] Since February 20, 2007, Gruffudd has been making plans to obtain rights to the Horatio Hornblower novels in order to produce a film for the big screen.[citation needed]
Gruffudd's TV work includes playing the character Pip in the BBC TV production of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations (1999) and architect Philip Bosinney in ITV's adaptation of The Forsyte Saga (2002). As regards films, he has starred in 102 Dalmatians (2000), Black Hawk Down (2001), King Arthur (2004), and Fantastic Four (2005). In 2007 he starred in the historical drama Amazing Grace as William Wilberforce, the British slavery abolitionist, receiving critical acclaim for the role. Gruffudd also reprised his role as Mister Fantastic for the sequel to Fantastic Four titled Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007).
Apart from television and film work, he also starred in the music video of Westlife's version of "Uptown Girl" (2001) alongside Claudia Schiffer, and on 7 July 2007 he was a presenter at the UK leg of Live Earth at Wembley Stadium, London.
Gruffudd is a native Welsh speaker. He was accepted into the Gorsedd Beirdd Ynys Prydain (the Bardic Order of Great Britain) at the highest rank in the National Eisteddfod at Meifod, Mid Wales, in 2003, with the bardic name "Ioan".
[edit] Personal life
Gruffudd lives with his wife, British actress Alice Evans, in Los Angeles, California. The couple met during the production of 102 Dalmatians. They married on September 14, 2007 in Mexico.[4]
Although Gruffudd is homesick for Wales and misses his friends in London, he enjoys being in Los Angeles because "it's the easiest place in the world to drive, and it's a real pleasure to do that in my black Jag XK8. I've gone all out."[citation needed] He also admires the physicality and confidence of Americans, and enjoys being around them because he feels these qualities rub off on to him.[5]
Gruffudd has said that he enjoys playing golf, reading and going to the movies: "I like to escape. I'll go to movies on my own and watch two in a row, sometimes. I like to go off in, sort of, dreamland."[citation needed]
In April 2007, Gruffudd removed funding from his largest fan-site, Ioanonline.com, due to comments made about Evans on the site, and elsewhere on the Internet, which angered her. In March 2007, Gruffudd posted a message on Ioanonline.com that started with "Dear All", and expressed disappointment about the "small minority" of fans that had behaved in a "despicable manner" by levelling "unpleasant and sometimes vitriolic comments" at his wife.[6] Despite the attempts of the site's owner to broker a solution, Gruffudd ceased funding, which resulted in the website's closure on 30 April 2007.[7]
[edit] Filmography
[edit] Notes
- ^ Parker, Eloise. "Ioan's a Celluloid Superhero!", icWales.co.uk, 2007-03-12.
- ^ Ioan Gruffudd at the Internet Movie Database.
- ^ a b Ioan Gruffudd : Trivia. Filmspot.com. Retrieved on 2007-06-12.
- ^ Margaret, Mary. "Fantastic Four Star Ioan Gruffudd Gets Married", People, 2007-09-15.
- ^ According to Gruffudd: "There's a physicality and confidence to Americans; they're very present. That's something I enjoy being around because it rubs off on you. Although an actor friend of mine visited recently and said, 'It's no wonder they write such terrible scripts these days, there's no pain! Everything's so nice you can't be bothered.'"[citation needed]
- ^ The text of the message of March 2007, as provided by Ted_gluck on 8 August 2007, was as follows: "Dear all, It is with a heavy heart that I write this letter. I was utterly aghast and in a state of shock when I discovered the unpleasant and sometimes vitriolic comments that were being leveled at my fiancée Alice when I recently observed the community forum on 'ioanonline'. I find it hard to believe that people who have supported me so ardently over the years would behave in such a despicable manner. I have never been happier since meeting and falling in love with Alice and I am overwhelmed with excitement about getting married to the woman of my dreams. I am aware that it is always a small minority that gives the majority a bad name. I wish to thank those of you who continually support everything I do in such a positive and passionate manner, and I implore the few of you that sullies the good name of the majority to put an end to this practice that has brought such heartache to me personally. Regards, Ioan". The message is no longer available online due to the closure of Ioanonline.com.
- ^ Baker, Marc. "Gruff Tough after Alice Blast", Wales on Sunday (reprinted on icWales.co.uk), 2007-05-06. See also http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0262521/board/thread/72495563?d=72566791&p=1#72566791.
[edit] External links
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Gruffudd, Ioan |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | British actor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 6 October 1973 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
da:Ioan Gruffudd de:Ioan Gruffudd es:Ioan Gruffudd fr:Ioan Gruffudd it:Ioan Gruffudd hu:Ioan Gruffudd nl:Ioan Gruffudd ja:ヨアン・グリフィズ no:Ioan Gruffudd pl:Ioan Gruffudd sk:Ioan Gruffudd sr:Јоан Грифид fi:Ioan Gruffudd sv:Ioan Gruffudd
Categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements since March 2007 | Articles with unsourced statements since April 2007 | Articles with unsourced statements since May 2007 | Welsh film actors | Welsh soap opera actors | Welsh television actors | Welsh voice actors | Bards of the Gorsedd | Actor-singers | People from Cardiff | People from Glamorgan | Welsh-speaking people | 1973 births | Living people
