Cary Elwes

Infobox Actor


imagesize =
caption = a
birthdate = birth date and age|1962|10|26
birthplace = London, England
deathdate =
birthname = Ivan Simon Cary Elwes
othername = Cary Elwes
homepage =
spouse = Lisa Marie Kurbikoff (2000 - present) 1 child

Ivan Simon Cary Elwes (born October 26, 1962) is an English actor credited as Cary Elwes, known for his performances in "Another Country", "The Princess Bride", "", "Hot Shots!", "Glory", "Liar, Liar" and "Saw".

Biography

Early life

Elwes was born in London. His advertising agent father Dominic Elwes and grandfather Simon Elwes were very well-known British portrait painters. [ [http://www.filmreference.com/film/37/Cary-Elwes.html Cary Elwes Biography (1962-) ] ] His father had moved in the circles of high society (and been friends with Lord Lucan and Lady Annabel Goldsmith to whom he was also related) before he committed suicide in 1975. His mother, interior designer and shipping heiress Tessa Georgina Kennedy, is of Croatian and Anglo-Irish descent; [ [http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/b/a/t/Robert-A-Battle/BOOK-0001/0000-0001.html Family Tree Maker's Genealogy Site: User Home Page Book: Cary Elwes: Title Page ] ] she eloped with his father in 1958 at age nineteen to great scandal. Elwes's mother later re-married to Hollywood executive, Elliott Kastner, from whom he has a half-sister, Milica Kastner and half-brother Dillon Kastner.

Elwes descends from a devoutly Roman Catholic recusant family on his father's side (originally known as the "Cary-Elwes" family, but now many branches of the family are now simply known as "Elwes") which includes noted British monks and bishops, such as Abbott Columba Cary-Elwes, Archbishop Dudley Cary-Elwes and Father Luke Cary-Elwes. He himself was an altar boy at the Brompton Oratory. He is also said to be distantly related to Guilford Dudley, whom he played in the movie "Lady Jane".

Elwes attended West Acre House at Harrow School in England, and Sarah Lawrence College in Yonkers, New York, where he studied, among other acting-related subjects, German Expressionist Film.

*His brothers are Cassian (1959) & Damian (1960).

Career

Elwes made his acting debut in Mariek Kanievska's famous film "Another Country " (where he played James Harcourt, a young and sentimental gay boy from an Eton-esque traditional English boarding School), with Rupert Everett and Colin Firth. His first notable role was Guilford Dudley in the highly acclaimed British epic "Lady Jane" after being personally chosen by distinguished Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Trevor Nunn. After Elwes' success with this film, he turned down Trevor Nunn's offer to join the Royal Shakespeare Company in order to continue work in movies. His performance in "Lady Jane" led Director Rob Reiner to cast him in another leading role, this time as the stable boy turned hero Westley in the American comedy "The Princess Bride", which required Elwes to do all of his own swordfighting and acrobatics. Elwes' breakthrough performance in "The Princess Bride" gained international acclaim and was his first major attempt at comedy. Prior to this film, he had no comedic experience, having only studied and worked in drama.

Elwes continued working steadily, varying between dramatic roles, as in the Academy Award-winning "Glory", and comedic roles, as in "Hot Shots!". He starred as Robin Hood in Mel Brooks' ', parodying Errol Flynn and Kevin Costner in "The Adventures of Robin Hood" and ', respectively. ("Unlike "other" Robin Hoods," he quips in the film, taking aim directly at Costner and Flynn, "I" can speak with an English accent!"). Elwes continued to appear in such popular movies as "Bram Stoker's Dracula", "The Crush", "The Jungle Book", "Twister", "Liar Liar", "Cradle Will Rock", "The Cat's Meow" and "Kiss the Girls". He did not appear in another blockbuster until 2004 in the horror/thriller "Saw". The same year he appeared in the film "Ella Enchanted", portraying the villain rather than the hero. In 2007, he made another "bad guy" appearance in "Georgia Rule", portraying a man discovered to be molesting his stepdaughter.

Elwes has also appeared on television. In 1996, he played a bit part as "David Libner" on the hit show Seinfeld, opposite Debra Messing. In 1998, he played Astronaut Michael Collins in the Golden Globe Award-winning HBO miniseries "From the Earth To the Moon." In 1999, he guest starred as Dr. John York in the Ripper episode of the television series "The Outer Limits". He earned two Golden Satellite Award nominations for his performances in the television films "The Pentagon Wars" and "Uprising". He had a recurring role in the final season (2001-2002) of "The X-Files" as FBI Assistant Director Brad Follmer. Chris Carter, creator of the X-Files, wrote the character especially for him. In 2004, he received great praise with his portrayal of serial killer Ted Bundy in the A&E Network film "The Riverman", which was based on the book "The Riverman: Ted Bundy and I Hunt for the Green River Killer" written by Robert D. Keppel. "The Riverman" became one of the highest rated original movies in the network’s history and garnered a prestigious BANFF Rockie Award nomination. In 2005 he again received critical acclaim, internationally, with his portrayal of the young, pre-Pope John Paul II in the CBS made-for-TV movie epic "Pope John Paul II". This epic was highly successful not only in North America, but also in Europe, where it broke box office records in the late pope's native Poland and became the first film ever to break $1 million (GBP588,200) in three days. [cite news
title = Pope Picture Breaks Box Office Records
url = http://www.contactmusic.com/new/xmlfeed.nsf/mndwebpages/pope%20picture%20breaks%20box%20office%20records%20in%20poland_09_03_2006
publisher = contactmusic.com
date = 3 September2006 ]

His voice-over works include the narrator in James Patterson's audio book "The Jester" [cite news | title = The Jester | work = ISBN 1-58621-535-3 | publisher = Hachette Audio, Abridged edition | date = 1 March2003] as well as characters in film and television animations such as "Quest for Camelot", "Hercules", "Batman Beyond", and the English versions of the Japanese films "Porco Rosso", "Whisper of the Heart", and "The Cat Returns". For the 2004 video game "The Bard's Tale", he served as scriptwriter, improviser, and voice actor of the main character The Bard.

He has also performed in the Bob Balaban-directed off-Broadway dramatic stage play "The Exonerated" in New York during the March 18-23, 2003 week run.

In August 2005, he filed a lawsuit against his management firm and the producers of "Saw". He alleged that he was promised "a minimum of one percent of the producers' net profits" and did not receive the full amount as promised. [cite news
title = Saw lawsuit
url = http://www.theage.com.au/news/film/not-everyone-happy-with-their-cut-from-saw/2005/08/20/1124435169494.html
publisher = theage.com.au
date = 20 August2005]

Elwes has volunteered as an actor with the Young Storytellers Program.

He made an uncredited appearance as Lester Persky — the man who introduced Andy Warhol to Edie Sedgwick — in the 2006 film "Factory Girl". In 2007, he made a guest appearance on "".

Personal life

Elwes and Lisa Marie Kurbikoff met in 1991 at a Malibu chili cook-off. He became engaged to Kurbikoff in 1997 in Paris and they wed in 2000. Elwes has two brothers, Cassian and Damian, and a half-sister Milica, who are all involved in the entertainment industry. He has been active in fighting for the rights of Native Americans.

Lisa Marie Elwes gave birth to the couple's daughter, Dominique, born on April 24, 2007 at 10:41 p.m. at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. She weighed 7 lbs., 2 oz. [http://people.aol.com/people/article/0,26334,1549247,00.html]

Filmography

References

External links

*imdb name|id=0000144|name=Cary Elwes
*voice actor|id=2071|name=Cary Elwes
*Elwes's wife: imdb name|id=0475623|name=Lisa Marie Kurbikoff

Persondata
NAME= Elwes, Cary
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Elwes, Ivan Simon Cary
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Actor
DATE OF BIRTH= 1962-10-26
PLACE OF BIRTH= London, England
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=