Ralph Fiennes

Season 12, Episode 1207

Original Airdate: January 15, 2006

Ralph Nathaniel Fiennes was born in Suffolk, England to a photographer and a novelist. With a pedigree in the creative arts, it is no wonder Fiennes has become one of the most magnetic and talented actors of, not only the big screen, but the theatrical stage as well.

Having trained with the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he joined Britain's Royal National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. His experiences at these two reknown companies served him well as he is the only actor to have won a Tony Award for his Broadway portrayal of “Hamlet.”

In 1992, he made his film debut in Emily Brontë's “Wuthering Heights” but it was, in the following year, his portrayal of Nazi concentration camp commander Amon Göth, for which he earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, that catapulted him to the international stage. He was once again nominated for an Academy Award in 1996, but this time for Best Actor for his role in “The English Patient.”

While filming “The Constant Gardener,” Fiennes and the rest of the crew, so affected by the situation and plight of the people, set up the Constant Gardener Trust in order to provide basic education for the villages where the film was set. He continues to be a patron of the charity.

Fiennes was cast as “Lord Voldemort” for the box-office hit “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” and its sequels, thereby continuing to win a new generation of fans.