Kenneth Branagh

Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Known Credits

145

Gender

Male

Birthday

1960-12-10 (64 years old)

Place of Birth

Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK

Kenneth Branagh

Biography

Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh (born 10 December 1960) is a British actor and filmmaker. Born in Belfast and raised primarily in Reading, Berkshire, Branagh trained at RADA in London and served as its president from 2015 to 2024. His accolades include an Academy Award, four BAFTAs, two Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and an Olivier Award. He was appointed a Knight Bachelor in 2012 and was given Freedom of the City in his native Belfast in 2018. In 2020, he was ranked in 20th place on The Irish Times's list of Ireland's greatest film actors. Branagh has directed and starred in several film adaptations of William Shakespeare's plays, including Henry V (1989), Much Ado About Nothing (1993), Othello (1995), Hamlet (1996), and As You Like It (2006). He was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor and Best Director for Henry V and Best Adapted Screenplay for Hamlet. He directed Swan Song (1992), which earned a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film. He also directed Peter's Friends (1992), Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994), Thor (2011), and Cinderella (2015). For his semi-autobiographical film Belfast (2021), he was nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Director and won Best Original Screenplay. Branagh directed and starred as Hercule Poirot in the Hercule Poirot film series (2017–present). He has also acted in Celebrity (1998), Wild Wild West (1999), The Road to El Dorado (2000), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), and Valkyrie (2008). His portrayal of Laurence Olivier in My Week with Marilyn (2011) earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He played supporting roles in Christopher Nolan's films Dunkirk (2017), Tenet (2020), and Oppenheimer (2023). Branagh has starred in the BBC1 series Fortunes of War (1987), the Channel 4 series Shackleton (2002), the television film Warm Springs (2005), and the BBC One series Wallander (2008–2016). He received a Primetime Emmy Award and an International Emmy Award for Best Actor for portraying SS leader Reinhard Heydrich in the HBO film Conspiracy (2001).

Known For

  • The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

    The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

  • Late Night with Seth Meyers

    Late Night with Seth Meyers

  • The Kelly Clarkson Show

    The Kelly Clarkson Show

  • The Graham Norton Show

    The Graham Norton Show

  • The Graham Norton Show

    The Graham Norton Show

  • The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

    The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

  • El hormiguero

    El hormiguero

  • The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

    The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

  • Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

    Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

  • Real Time with Bill Maher

    Real Time with Bill Maher

  • Avengers: Infinity War

    Avengers: Infinity War

  • Oppenheimer

    Oppenheimer

  • Golden Globe Awards

    Golden Globe Awards

  • Leute heute

    Leute heute

  • Tony Awards

    Tony Awards

  • The View

    The View

  • Wogan

    Wogan

  • American Experience

    American Experience

  • Late Night with Conan O'Brien

    Late Night with Conan O'Brien

  • The Ellen DeGeneres Show

    The Ellen DeGeneres Show

  • Play for Today

    Play for Today

  • BLUE EYE SAMURAI

    BLUE EYE SAMURAI

  • The Oscars

    The Oscars

  • Tenet

    Tenet

  • Dunkirk

    Dunkirk

  • Parkinson

    Parkinson

  • Death on the Nile

    Death on the Nile

  • All Is True

    All Is True

  • Altman on His Own Terms

    Altman on His Own Terms

  • Peter O'Toole: Along the Sky Road to Aqaba

    Peter O'Toole: Along the Sky Road to Aqaba

  • The American Revolution

    The American Revolution

  • The American Revolution

    The American Revolution

  • Wallander

    Wallander

  • Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

    Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

  • Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

  • The King of Kings

    The King of Kings

  • The Road to El Dorado

    The Road to El Dorado

  • Performance

    Performance

  • Murder on the Orient Express

    Murder on the Orient Express

  • The Devil Wears Prada 2

    The Devil Wears Prada 2

  • Hamlet

    Hamlet

  • Henry V

    Henry V

  • Valkyrie

    Valkyrie

  • High Season

    High Season

  • A Night at the Movies: The Suspenseful World of Thrillers

    A Night at the Movies: The Suspenseful World of Thrillers

  • The Boat That Rocked

    The Boat That Rocked

  • Swing Kids

    Swing Kids

  • Wild Wild West

    Wild Wild West

  • Coming Through

    Coming Through

  • Much Ado About Nothing

    Much Ado About Nothing

  • Discovering Hamlet

    Discovering Hamlet

  • Mindhorn

    Mindhorn

  • Celebrity

    Celebrity

  • Dead Again

    Dead Again

  • A Haunting in Venice

    A Haunting in Venice

  • Strange Interlude

    Strange Interlude

  • Ghosts

    Ghosts

  • Othello

    Othello

  • The Proposition

    The Proposition

  • Five Children and It

    Five Children and It

  • Chariots of Fire

    Chariots of Fire

  • Lost Lives

    Lost Lives

  • Walking with Dinosaurs

    Walking with Dinosaurs

  • Sleuth

    Sleuth

  • Wild Wild West: Loveless's Ladies

    Wild Wild West: Loveless's Ladies

  • Marvel Studios: Assembling a Universe

    Marvel Studios: Assembling a Universe

  • My Week with Marilyn

    My Week with Marilyn

  • Fireheart

    Fireheart

  • Easter 2016

    Easter 2016

  • Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope

    Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope

  • Lorna

    Lorna

  • Rabbit-Proof Fence

    Rabbit-Proof Fence

  • London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony: Isles of Wonder

    London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony: Isles of Wonder

  • Love's Labour's Lost

    Love's Labour's Lost

  • The Gingerbread Man

    The Gingerbread Man

  • Prodigal

    Prodigal

  • The Thomas Crown Affair

    The Thomas Crown Affair

  • Conspiracy

    Conspiracy

  • This England

    This England

  • Peter's Friends

    Peter's Friends

  • Warm Springs

    Warm Springs

  • A Month in the Country

    A Month in the Country

  • Shackleton

    Shackleton

  • Anne Frank Remembered

    Anne Frank Remembered

  • Branagh Theatre Live: The Winter's Tale

    Branagh Theatre Live: The Winter's Tale

  • IMAX: Galapagos 3D

    IMAX: Galapagos 3D

  • Walking with Beasts

    Walking with Beasts

  • The Magic Touch of Harry Potter

    The Magic Touch of Harry Potter

  • 10 Days to War

    10 Days to War

  • Branagh Theatre Live: The Entertainer

    Branagh Theatre Live: The Entertainer

  • 1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year

    1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year

  • As You Like It

    As You Like It

  • Denzel Washington: A Model American

    Denzel Washington: A Model American

  • National Theatre Live: Macbeth

    National Theatre Live: Macbeth

  • Universal Horror

    Universal Horror

  • Looking for Richard

    Looking for Richard

  • Big Al

    Big Al

  • Fortunes of War

    Fortunes of War

  • Shadow of a Gunman

    Shadow of a Gunman

  • Thompson

    Thompson

  • To the Lighthouse

    To the Lighthouse

  • A Matter of Choice for Billy

    A Matter of Choice for Billy

  • Cold War

    Cold War

  • Theatre Night

    Theatre Night

  • The Theory of Flight

    The Theory of Flight

  • How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog

    How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog

  • Walking with Monsters

    Walking with Monsters

  • Look Back in Anger

    Look Back in Anger

  • Looking at the World in a New Way: The Making of ‘Tenet’

    Looking at the World in a New Way: The Making of ‘Tenet’

  • It's a Whole New West: The Making of 'Wild, Wild West'

    It's a Whole New West: The Making of 'Wild, Wild West'

  • Too Late to Talk to Billy

    Too Late to Talk to Billy

  • The Lady's Not For Burning

    The Lady's Not For Burning

  • With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story

    With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story

  • Stars In Shorts

    Stars In Shorts

  • Alien Love Triangle

    Alien Love Triangle

  • Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces

    Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces

  • Thor: From Asgard to Earth

    Thor: From Asgard to Earth

  • World War 1 in Colour

    World War 1 in Colour

  • Following the Rabbit-Proof Fence

    Following the Rabbit-Proof Fence

  • Discovering Hamlet

    Discovering Hamlet

  • Cecil B. DeMille: American Epic

    Cecil B. DeMille: American Epic

  • Stephen Fry: 50 Not Out

    Stephen Fry: 50 Not Out

  • The Goebbels Experiment

    The Goebbels Experiment

  • Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood

    Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood

  • Walking with Monsters

    Walking with Monsters

  • The Book That Wrote Itself

    The Book That Wrote Itself

  • Atonement

    Atonement

  • The Tramp and the Dictator

    The Tramp and the Dictator

  • The Boy in the Bush

    The Boy in the Bush

  • It's Alive: The True Story of Frankenstein

    It's Alive: The True Story of Frankenstein

  • Mayday

    Mayday

  • Marvel Studios: Building a Cinematic Universe

    Marvel Studios: Building a Cinematic Universe

  • A Night at the Movies: The Gigantic World of Epics

    A Night at the Movies: The Gigantic World of Epics

  • The Periwig-Maker

    The Periwig-Maker

  • The Beasts Within

    The Beasts Within

  • James Ellis: An Actor's Life

    James Ellis: An Actor's Life

  • A Coming to Terms for Billy

    A Coming to Terms for Billy

  • Symphony for the Spire

    Symphony for the Spire

  • Wild Wild West: Evil Devices

    Wild Wild West: Evil Devices

  • The Dance of Shiva

    The Dance of Shiva

  • Schneider's 2nd Stage

    Schneider's 2nd Stage

  • The Making of Walking with Dinosaurs

    The Making of Walking with Dinosaurs

  • Thames Wallah

    Thames Wallah

  • The Goblin

    The Goblin

  • Triumph of the Beasts

    Triumph of the Beasts