British actor Jeremy Irons turns 78 on 19 September 2026. His career links classical theatre, television, independent film and popular productions.

Born in Cowes on the Isle of Wight, he trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. A London debut in Godspell (1973) was followed by stage work and, from 1980, cinema. Encyclopaedia Britannica notes the gravitas and control that have marked his performances.

The role of Charles Ryder in the 1981 series Brideshead Revisited brought international recognition. In 1984 he won a Tony for Tom Stoppard’s The Real Thing on Broadway. A distinctive voice and ambiguous characters became marks of his style.

He received the Academy Award for best actor in 1991 for playing Claus von Bülow in Reversal of Fortune (1990). His filmography includes The French Lieutenant’s Woman, Dead Ringers, The Mission, Damage and the voice of Scar in The Lion King.

He has also won Emmy awards, including for the miniseries Elizabeth I (2006). He is among the performers with an Oscar, an Emmy and a Tony — the so-called Triple Crown of acting. The honours do not summarise a long career; they do mark recognition in film, television and theatre.

Irons is living. The anniversary is a retrospective, not an obituary, and it does not claim a complete list of recent roles.

Image: Jeremy Irons, Berlinale 2011 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0. A festival photograph, not a film still. Cropped to 16:9.

Source consulted: Jeremy Irons | Encyclopaedia Britannica; 63rd Academy Awards | Oscars.org.