SEAN BEAN
Date of Birth: April 17, 1959
Born and raised in Yorkshire, England, Bean was accepted to the prestigious
Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, where he won the silver medal for his
graduation performance in Waiting for Godot. He went on to perform
onstage for the Royal Shakespeare Company playing the lead in Romeo and
Juliet, and continued to fill his resumé with performances in Fair Maid
of the West, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Deathwatch, and
Last Days of Mankind.
From stage he looked to launch his career onto the big screen. Achieving
the spotlight, however, was not so simple. Bean spent years working on
various projects, from the experimental Caravaggio (1986) to the
hauntingly moody Stormy Monday (1988). He also expanded his resumé to
television work, working on telefilms like Troubles, The Fifteen
Streets and Small Zones.
Bean first garnered critical praise with his performance in the film The
Field (1990). Soon after, moviegoers on this side of the pond also took a
second look at the English actor who played an IRA terrorist in the hit film
Patriot Games (1992).
Using the exposure of Games, doors began opening for Bean, especially
back in England on the BBC. Bean received the coveted role of Lieutenant Richard
Sharpe, and starred in many two-hour, made-for-TV films as that character.
The stories, which include 14 episodes, follow a British soldier in the
Peninsular War during the age of Napoleon. Other telefilms like Bravo Two
Zero, Lady Chatterley, Clarissa and Prince continued
his ascent into stardom.
His film roles also increased in both size and scope. In 1995 he played the
agent gone bad in GoldenEye, Sophie Marceau's love interest in Anna
Karenina (1997), the British weapons expert turned fraud in Ronin
(1998), the lead role in Essex Boys (2000), the kidnapper in Don't
Say a Word (2001), and the impatient human prince Boromir, in Jackson's
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) and The Return of the King (2003).
Bean has been married and divorced three times and has three daughters, two with
ex-wife/actress Melanie Hill, and one with ex-wife/actress Abigail Cruttenden.
Filmography:
Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010)
Come Like Shadows (2008)
A Woman of No Importance (2007)
Outlaw (2007)
True North (2007)
The Hitcher (2007)
Silent Hill (2006)
North Country (2005)
Flightplan (2005)
The Dark (2005)
The Island (2005)
National Treasure (2004)
Troy (2004)
Venetian Heat (2004)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
The Big Empty (2003)
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
Equilibrium (2001)
Tom & Thomas (2001)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Don't Say a Word (2001)
Essex Boys (2000)
Bravo Two Zero (1999)
The Canterbury Tales (1998) (voice)
Ronin (1998)
Airborne (1998)
Anna Karenina (1997)
When Saturday Comes (1996)
GoldenEye (1995)
Black Beauty (1994)
Shopping (1994)
Patriot Games (1992)
In the Border Country (1991)
Prince (1991)
The Field (1990)
Windprints (1990)
How to Get Ahead in Advertising (1989)
War Requiem (1989)
Stormy Monday (1988)
Caravaggio (1986)
Winter Flight (1984)