Colin Firth Biography

Colin Firth (born September 10, 1960) is a popular English actor.

Firth was born in Grayshott, Hampshire, England to David Firth (a history lecturer and the son of an Anglican minister) and Shirley (a comparative religion lecturer, whose own parents were Congregationalist ministers); he has a younger brother, Jonathan, who is now also an actor. Both of Firth's parents were born and raised in India, as their English-born parents were involved in missionary work.

Firth spent part of his childhood in Nigeria, where his father was teaching. He lived in St. Louis, Missouri when he was 11.

Firth starred in the award-winning 1981 London stage production of Another Country. He reprised this role for his first film appearance in 1984. In 1987, he appeared alongside Kenneth Branagh in the film version of J. L. Carr's novel, A Month in the Country. In 1989, he took the lead in the film Valmont.

Despite widespread admiration for his performances, it was only with the 1995 BBC television adaptation of Pride and Prejudice that Firth gained wider renown. The serial was a big success and Firth became known as a heart-throb because of his role. This performance also made him the object of affection for fictional newspaper columnist Bridget Jones (created by Helen Fielding), an interest which carried on into the two novels featuring the Jones character. In the second novel, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, the character even meets Firth in Rome. As something of an in-joke, when the novels were adapted for the cinema, Firth was cast as Jones's love interest Mark Darcy.

Consequently, he had a supporting role in The English Patient (1996) and since then has starred in films such as Fever Pitch (1997), Shakespeare in Love (1998), Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), The Importance of Being Earnest (2002), Love Actually (2003) and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004). He has also appeared in recent television productions, including Donovan Quick (an updated version of Don Quixote) (1999) and Conspiracy (2001).

Most critics consider him to be a talented and versatile actor, equally at home on stage or on screen.

In 1989, Firth entered into a romantic relationship with actress Meg Tilly, his co-star in Valmont. In 1990, she gave birth to a son, Will Firth.

In 1994, Firth was involved with actress Jennifer Ehle, his co-star in "Pride and Prejudice". In 1997, Firth married Livia Giuggioli. The couple has two sons, Luca Firth (born 2001) and Mateo Firth (born 2003).

Firth's favourite Christmas song is Fairytale Of New York; his favourite romantic film is Brief Encounter.