JARED HARRIS
Date of Birth: August 24, 1961
Despite being the son of esteemed actor Richard Harris, who played Professor Dumbledore in the first two Harry Potter films, London native Jared Harris began his acting career on the stage when he was cast in a production at North Carolina's Duke University, where he was studying drama and literature. After graduating in 1984, he returned to England and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company where he performed in productions like Hamlet, Romeo & Juliet, and A Clockwork Orange.
Junior Harris's big screen debut finally came in 1989, when he starred in The Rachel Papers alongside Jonathan Pryce and James Spader. The following year, he returned to his theater roots with his role of Hotspur in Henry IV Part 1 with the New York Shakespeare Festival, and again in 1992 when he appeared in the New York off-Broadway play Ecstasy. The latter role earned him an Obie Award. Harris spent the next few years starring in several independent films but it wasn't until 1996 that he really had people taking notice with his portrayal of iconic American pop artist Andy Warhol in the film I Shot Andy Warhol.
The actor has since gone on to star in several major blockbuster films, like Lost in Space (1998) with Heather Graham and Gary Oldman, Mr. Deeds (2002) alongside Adam Sandler and Winona Ryder, and Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004).
Harris has also starred in the popular television series
Mad Men and
Fringe. His latest project is
Guy Ritchie's
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows where he takes on the role of the evil Professor Moriarty. The film was released in theaters in December 2011 and topped the box office charts its debut weekend.