![Image of Jim Broadbent](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/jTyvGwwR1NFpvgDhcmuWZCM241w.jpg)
One of England's most versatile character actors, Jim Broadbent was born on May 24, 1949, in Lincolnshire, the youngest son of furniture maker Roy Broadbent and sculptress Dee Broadbent. Jim attended a Quaker boarding school in Reading before successfully applying for a place at an art school. His heart was in acting, though, and he would later transfer to the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). Following his 1972 graduation, he began his professional career on the stage, performing with the Royal National Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company, and as part of the National Theatre of Brent, a two-man troupe which he co-founded. In addition to his theatrical work, Broadbent did steady work on television, working for such directors as Mike Newell and Stephen Frears. Broadbent made his film debut in 1978 with a small part in Jerzy Skolimowski's The Shout (1978). He went on to work with Frears again in The Hit (1984) and with Terry Gilliam in Time Bandits (1981) and Brazil (1985), but it was through his collaboration with Mike Leigh that Broadbent first became known to an international film audience. In 1990 he starred in Leigh's Life Is Sweet (1990), a domestic comedy that cast him as a good-natured cook who dreams of running his own business. Broadbent gained further visibility the following year with substantial roles in Neil Jordan's The Crying Game (1992) and Mike Newell's Enchanted April (1992), and he could subsequently be seen in such diverse fare as Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway (1994), Widows' Peak (1994), Richard Loncraine's highly acclaimed adaptation of Shakespeare's Richard III (1995) and Little Voice (1998), the last of which cast him as a seedy nightclub owner. Appearing primarily as a character actor in these films, Broadbent took center stage for Leigh's Topsy-Turvy (1999), imbuing the mercurial W.S. Gilbert with emotional complexity and comic poignancy. Jim's breakthrough year was 2001, as he starred in three critically and commercially successful films. Many would consider him the definitive supporting actor of that year. First he starred as Bridget's dad (Colin Jones) in Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), which propelled Renée Zellweger to an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. Next came the multiple Oscar-nominated film (including Best Picture) Moulin Rouge! (2001), for which he won a Best Supporting Actor BAFTA award for his scene-stealing performance as Harold Zidler. Lastly, came the small biopic Iris (2001/I), for which he won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor as devoted husband John Bayley to Judi Dench's Iris Murdoch, the British novelist who suffered from Alzheimer's disease. The film hit home with Jim, since his own mother had passed away from Alzheimer's in 1995.
Movie | Jay Kelly | 2025 | |
Movie | Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy | Bridget’s Dad | 2025-02-13 |
Movie | Magik | Garret | 2025 |
Movie | Blackadder: A Cunning Story | Self – Contributor | 2023-06-16 |
Movie | Birds Like Us | Horozovich (voice) | 2022-06-30 |
Movie | A Boy Called Christmas | King | 2021-11-24 |
Movie | The Duke | Kempton Bunton | 2021-07-23 |
Movie | Six Minutes to Midnight | Charlie | 2020-10-15 |
Movie | Dolittle | Lord Thomas Badgley | 2020-01-02 |
Movie | Children In Need 2019: Got It Covered | Self | 2019-10-30 |
Movie | New Town Utopia | Lewis Silkin MP | 2018-05-04 |
Movie | Black '47 | Lord Kilmichael | 2018-09-05 |
Movie | King of Thieves | Terry Perkins | 2018-09-04 |
Movie | King Lear | Earl of Gloucester | 2018-05-28 |
Movie | The Sense of an Ending | Tony Webster | 2017-03-10 |
Movie | Paddington 2 | Samuel Gruber | 2017-11-09 |
Movie | Mary and The Witch's Flower | Unknown | 2017-07-08 |
Series | War and Peace | Prince Bolkonsky | 2016-01-03 |
Movie | Bridget Jones's Baby | Mr. Colin Jones | 2016-09-14 |
Movie | Eddie the Eagle | BBC Commentator | 2016-02-25 |
Movie | The Legend of Tarzan | Prime Minister | 2016-06-29 |
Movie | Ethel & Ernest | Ernest Briggs (voice) | 2016-10-15 |
Movie | The Go-Between | Old Leo | 2015-09-20 |
Movie | Big Game | Herbert | 2015-03-19 |
Movie | The Weather Inside | Britischer Botschafter | 2015-09-29 |
Movie | The Lady in the Van | Underwood | 2015-10-30 |
Series | London Spy | Scottie | 2015-11-09 |
Movie | Brooklyn | Father Flood | 2015-10-20 |
Movie | Postman Pat: The Movie | CEO (voice) | 2014-05-23 |
Movie | Paddington | Samuel Gruber | 2014-11-24 |
Movie | The One and Only Mike Leigh | Himself | 2014-11-24 |
Movie | Get Santa | Santa Claus | 2014-12-05 |
Movie | Closed Circuit | Attorney General | 2013-08-28 |
Movie | Filth | Dr Rossi | 2013-09-23 |
Movie | The Harry Hill Movie | Cleaner | 2013-12-20 |
Series | The Great Train Robbery | DCS Tommy Butler | 2013-12-18 |
Movie | The Phone Call | Stan (voice) | 2013-10-20 |
Movie | Le Week-End | Nick Burrows | 2013-10-04 |
Movie | Nina Conti: Her Master's Voice | Himself | 2012-03-11 |
Movie | Cloud Atlas | Captain Molyneux / Vyvyan Ayrs / Timothy Cavendish / Korean Musician / Prescient 2 | 2012-10-26 |
Series | Game of Thrones | Archmaester Ebrose | 2011-04-17 |
Movie | Arthur Christmas | Santa (voice) | 2011-11-10 |
Movie | The Iron Lady | Denis Thatcher | 2011-12-26 |
Movie | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 | Horace Slughorn | 2011-07-12 |
Series | Exile | 2011-05-01 | |
Series | Any Human Heart | Logan Mountstuart | 2010-11-21 |
Series | Downton Abbey | Jim Broadbent | 2010-09-26 |
Movie | Another Year | Tom | 2010-11-05 |
Movie | Perrier's Bounty | Jim McCrea | 2009-09-11 |
Movie | The Young Victoria | King William IV | 2009-03-04 |
Movie | The Damned United | Sam Longson | 2009-03-27 |
Movie | Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince | Horace Slughorn | 2009-07-15 |
Movie | Tales of the Riverbank | G.P. (voice) | 2008-02-07 |
Movie | Inkheart | Fenoglio | 2008-12-11 |
Movie | Lost and Found | Narrator (voice) | 2008-12-24 |
Movie | Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull | Charles Stanforth | 2008-05-21 |
Movie | Einstein and Eddington | Sir Oliver Lodge | 2008-11-29 |
Movie | Hot Fuzz | Inspector Frank Butterman | 2007-02-14 |
Movie | When Did You Last See Your Father? | Arthur Morrison | 2007-10-05 |
Series | The Street | Unknown | 2006-04-13 |
Movie | Art School Confidential | Jimmy | 2006-05-05 |
Movie | Free Jimmy | Stomowskij (voice) | 2006-04-21 |
Movie | Longford | Lord Longford | 2006-10-26 |
Movie | The Magic Roundabout | Brian (voice) | 2005-02-02 |
Movie | The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe | Professor Kirke | 2005-12-07 |
Movie | Valiant | Sergeant (voice) | 2005-03-25 |
Movie | Spider-Plant Man | Batman | 2005-03-11 |
Movie | Robots | Madame Gasket (voice) | 2005-03-10 |
Movie | Tooth | The Rabbit (voice) | 2004-02-13 |
Movie | Around the World in 80 Days | Lord Kelvin | 2004-06-16 |
Movie | Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason | Bridget's Dad | 2004-11-10 |
Movie | Pride | Eddie (voice) | 2004-06-21 |
Movie | Vanity Fair | Mr. Osborne | 2004-09-01 |
Movie | Vera Drake | Judge | 2004-10-22 |
Movie | Bright Young Things | The Drunken Major | 2003-10-03 |
Movie | The Young Visiters | Alfred Salteena | 2003-12-26 |
Movie | And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself | Harry Aitken | 2003-09-07 |
Movie | The Gathering Storm | Desmond Morton | 2002-04-22 |
Movie | Gangs of New York | Boss Tweed | 2002-12-14 |
Movie | Nicholas Nickleby | Mr. Wackford Squeers | 2002-12-27 |
Movie | The King's Beard | The Wizard (voice) | 2002-10-02 |
Movie | Bridget Jones's Diary | Bridget's Dad | 2001-04-13 |
Movie | The Night Club of Your Dreams: The Making of 'Moulin Rouge' | Self | 2001-05-01 |
Movie | Iris | John Bayley | 2001-12-14 |
Movie | Moulin Rouge! | Harold Zidler | 2001-05-24 |
Movie | Doctor Who: The Curse of Fatal Death | The Shy Doctor | 1999-03-26 |
Movie | Topsy-Turvy | W. S. Gilbert | 1999-12-15 |
Movie | The Avengers | Mother | 1998-08-13 |
Movie | Little Voice | Mr. Boo | 1998-11-05 |
Movie | The Borrowers | Pod Clock | 1997-12-05 |
Movie | Smilla's Sense of Snow | Dr. Lagermann | 1997-02-28 |
Series | The Peter Principle | Peter Duffley | 1997-06-02 |
Movie | The Secret Agent | Chief Inspector Heat | 1996-11-08 |
Series | Percy the Park Keeper | 1996-12-01 | |
Movie | Richard III | The Duke of Buckingham | 1995-12-29 |
Movie | Rough Magic | Doc Ansell | 1995-09-07 |
Movie | Princess Caraboo | Mr. Worrall | 1994-09-16 |
Movie | Widows' Peak | Con Clancy | 1994-05-13 |
Movie | Bullets Over Broadway | Warner Purcell | 1994-10-14 |
Movie | Wide-Eyed and Legless | Deric Longden | 1993-09-05 |
Movie | The Crying Game | Col | 1992-09-02 |
Movie | A Sense of History | 23rd Earl of Leete | 1992-09-12 |
Series | Gone to Seed | Monty Plant | 1992-11-13 |
Movie | Nona | Carmelo | 1991-10-19 |
Movie | Happy Feet | Grocer | 1991-01-01 |
Series | Murder Most Horrid | Unknown | 1991-11-14 |
Movie | Enchanted April | Frederick Arbuthnot | 1991-11-06 |
Series | Gone to the Dogs | Jim Morley | 1991-11-29 |
Movie | Life Is Sweet | Andy | 1990-11-15 |
Series | The Staggering Stories of Ferdinand de Bargos | 1989-11-16 | |
Series | Victoria Wood | 1989-11-16 | |
Movie | Erik the Viking | Ernest the Viking (a Rapist) | 1989-09-01 |
Movie | Vroom | Donald | 1988-11-11 |
Series | Inspector Morse | Unknown | 1987-01-06 |
Movie | Running Out of Luck | 1987-02-02 | |
Movie | Superman IV: The Quest for Peace | Jean Pierre Dubois | 1987-07-24 |
Movie | The Insurance Man | Gutling | 1986-02-22 |
Series | Victoria Wood As Seen On TV | Unknown | 1985-01-11 |
Movie | Brazil | Dr. Jaffe | 1985-02-20 |
Movie | Silas Marner | Jem Rodney | 1985-12-30 |
Movie | The Good Father | Roger Miles | 1985-11-01 |
Movie | The Hit | Barrister | 1984-09-07 |
Movie | Dead on Time | Priest | 1983-01-01 |
Series | Blackadder | Don Speekingleesh, an Interpreter | 1983-06-15 |
Movie | Walter and June | Orderly | 1983-04-30 |
Series | Dramarama | Unknown | 1983-09-12 |
Movie | Birth of a Nation | Geoff Figg | 1983-06-19 |
Series | Bird of Prey | 1982-04-22 | |
Movie | Uliisses | 1982-06-18 | |
Movie | Mike Leigh: Making Plays | (Archive Material) | 1982-09-04 |
Movie | Intensive Care | Mr Horsfall | 1982-11-09 |
Movie | Walter | Joseph - Orderly | 1982-11-02 |
Movie | Time Bandits | Compere | 1981-07-13 |
Movie | Breaking Glass | Station Porter | 1980-10-01 |
Movie | Long Distance Information | Mackaness | 1979-10-11 |
Series | Tales of the Unexpected | Unknown | 1979-03-24 |
Movie | The Passage | German Soldier | 1979-03-09 |
Movie | The Shout | Fielder in cowpat | 1978-06-16 |
Movie | The Go-Between | Spectator at Cricket Match (uncredited) | 1971-06-16 |
Series | Play for Today | Unknown | 1970-10-15 |
Series | The Oscars | Unknown | 1953-03-19 |