Kevin Daigneault

Ralph Nathaniel Fiennes is a British actor. Born in Ipswich in 1962, Fiennes' father, Mark Fiennes (1933-2004), was a photographer, and his mother, Jini Fiennes (1938-1993), was a writer and painter. The eldest of six children, Ralph Fiennes' siblings have also achieved success in various fields. Martha Fiennes is a director, Magnus Fiennes a musician, Sophia Fiennes a producer, Joseph Fiennes an actor, and Jacob Mark Fiennes an environmental campaigner. His foster brother, Michael Fiennes, is an archaeologist. The child of a prominent family, Fiennes moved with his family to Ireland when he was 11 years old. He later returned to England and studied art at Chelsea College of Art for a time, but then decided to pursue acting. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art for three years. After a successful theatre career, he made his film debut in the 1992 adaptation of *Wuthering Heights* as Heathcliff. He rose to fame in 1993 with his role as Amon Göth in Steven Spielberg's *Schindler's List*. Nominated for an Oscar, Fiennes won a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor. He further consolidated his fame with Kathryn Bigelow's 1995 film *Strange Days* and later with *The English Patient*. In 1995, his Broadway performance of *Hamlet* won him a Tony Award. His performance in another World War II drama, *Sunshine*, in 1999, earned him the European Film Award for Best Actor. In 2002, he starred in *Red Dragon* alongside Anthony Hopkins and Philip Seymour Hoffman. He played Lord Voldemort in *Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire*, starting in 2005, a role he continued until the end of the series. He worked with a star-studded cast in Wes Anderson's 2014 film *The Grand Budapest Hotel*. In subsequent years, he appeared in films such as *You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger*, *Spectre*, and *Hail, Caesar!*. After a long relationship with British actress Alex Kingston, Fiennes married in 1993, but divorced in 1997 due to a relationship with Francesca Annis, which lasted until 2006.