Born in England on September 10, 1960, Colin Firth is the son of Shirley Jean nee Rolles, who was a lecturer at King Alfred’s College and David Norman, who was also a lecturer at King Alfred’s College. Firth’s parents encouraged him to pursue his passion of acting at a young age.
From his experiences provided to him by his parents, Firth knew at age 14 that he wanted to be an actor. When he turned 18 he moved to London and joined the National Youth Theater. The Theater helped him to land a job in the wardrobe department of the National Theatre in 1979. Working in the department encouraged him to go on to acting school at the London Drama Centre in order to improve his craft.
Firth began his professional acting career in 1984 in the film Another Country where he played Tommy Judd, Guy Bennett’s straight, Marxist school friend. After that Firth went on to act in a plethora of successful films throughout his career such as The English Patient (1996), Shakespeare in Love (1998), Relative Values (2000), The Importance of Being Earnest (2002), Conspiracy (2001), Girl With a Pearl Earring (2003), The Last Legion (2007) and Mamma Mia! (2008).
Throughout his prestigious career Firth has been recognized for his dedication towards his craft. At the 66th Annual Venice International Film Festival in 2009 Firth was awarded the Volpi Cup for Best Actor for his role in A Single Man. He won the Golden Globe for his performance in The King’s Speech in the category of Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture-Drama. The accolades continued as Firth won the Best Actor Award in 2011 at the BAFTA Awards and an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture for The King’s Speech also in 2011.
Firth’s latest release is Kingsman: The Golden Circle which was released on September 22, 2017. He will be appearing as William Weatherall Wilkins, President of the Fidelity Fiduciary Bank, in the 2018 film Mary Poppins Returns and will once again portray Harry Bright in the sequel to Mamma Mia!, Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again.
Firth is residing in England and is married to Livia Giuggioli with whom he has three sons.