Cary Elwes

Ivan Simon Cary Elwes (pronounced El-wez; born 26 October 1962 in Westminster, London, England), known professionally as Cary Elwes, is a British actor, known for his performances in The Princess Bride; Robin Hood: Men in Tights; Hot Shots!; Glory; Liar, Liar; Saw; and Twister.

Biography and Personal Life

Elwes is the third and youngest son of English portrait-painter Dominick Elwes^[1] and interior designer Tessa Georgina Kennedy, who is of Croatian and Anglo-Irish descent. The two eloped to great scandal in 1958. He has two brothers, film producer Cassian Elwes, and artist Damian Elwes.^[2] His grandfather, Simon Elwes, was also a very well-known British portrait painter.

He attended Harrow School in London and Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York, where he studied, among other acting-related subjects, German Expressionist Film.

In 1991, Elwes met photographer Lisa Marie Kurbikoff. They became engaged in 1997 in Paris, France and wed in 2000. The couple has one daughter.

He has been active in fighting for the rights of indigenous peoples around the world and for the end of the genocide in Darfur.

Career

Film

Elwes made his acting debut in Mariek Kanievska's famous film Another Country (where he played James Harcourt, a young and sentimental homosexual student from an Eton-esque traditional English boarding school), with Rupert Everett and Colin Firth. The film, adapted from a play, was loosely based on the formative years of British spies Guy Burgess, Kim Philby and Donald Maclean.

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.

His performance in that film led director Rob Reiner to cast Elwes 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 this film gained him international acclaim.

He continued working steadily, varying between dramatic roles, as in the Academy Award-winning Glory (1989), and comedic roles, as in Hot Shots! (1991).

In 1993, he starred as Robin Hood in Mel Brooks' classic comedy, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, parodying Errol Flynn and Kevin Costner.

Elwes also appeared in such popular movies as Francis Coppola's adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula, The Crush, The Jungle Book, Twister, Liar Liar, Cradle Will Rock, The Cat's Meow and Kiss the Girls with Morgan Freeman.

In 2004 he starred in the horror/thriller Saw which, at a budget of a little over $1 million, grossed over $100 million worldwide.

The same year he appeared in the film Ella Enchanted, portraying the villain rather than the hero.

He made an uncredited appearance as Sam Green, the man who introduced Andy Warhol to Edie Sedgwick, in the 2006 film Factory Girl.

In 2007, he appeared in Garry Marshall's Georgia Rule with Jane Fonda.

Television

In 1996, Elwes made his first television appearance as "David Libner" on the hit show Seinfeld.

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 Elwes again received international critical acclaim with his portrayal of the young, Pope John Paul II in the CBS made-for-TV movie epic Pope John Paul II. The TV film 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.^[3]

In 2007, he made a guest appearance on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Voice Overs

His voice-over works include the narrator in James Patterson's audio book The Jester^[4] as well as characters in film and television animations such as Quest for Camelot, Pinky and The Brain, Batman Beyond, and the English versions of the highly popular Studio Ghibli 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.

Plays

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

Saw Settlement

In August 2005, he filed a lawsuit against his management firm and the producers of Saw. He alleged that he was promised a percentage of the profits and did not receive the full amount as promised.^[5] The producers eventually settled out of court.

Latest Work

More recently Elwes appeared in two motion capture 3-D films:

• Robert Zemeckis' adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol

• Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson's The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn.

Filmography

References

External links

• Cary Elwes at the Internet Movie Database