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 | Dirty Tricks | Richard Nixon | 2025 |
Movie | Magik | Garret | 2025 |
Movie | The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry | Harold Fry | 2023-04-27 |
Movie | Blackadder: A Cunning Story | Self – Contributor | 2023-06-16 |
Movie | Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts | Self (Archival Footage) | 2022-01-01 |
Movie | (K)nox: The Rob Knox Story | Self | 2021-04-09 |
Movie | A Boy Called Christmas | King | 2021-11-24 |
Movie | The Duke | Kempton Bunton | 2021-07-23 |
Movie | Dolittle | Lord Thomas Badgley | 2020-01-02 |
Movie | Six Minutes to Midnight | Charlie | 2020-10-15 |
Series | Black Narcissus | Father Roberts | 2020-11-23 |
Movie | Children In Need 2019: Got It Covered | Self | 2019-10-30 |
Movie | King Lear | Earl of Gloucester | 2018-05-28 |
Movie | Black '47 | Lord Kilmichael | 2018-09-05 |
Movie | New Town Utopia | Lewis Silkin MP | 2018-05-04 |
Movie | King of Thieves | Terry Perkins | 2018-09-04 |
Movie | Mary and The Witch's Flower | Doctor Dee (voice) | 2017-07-08 |
Movie | The Sense of an Ending | Tony Webster | 2017-03-10 |
Movie | Paddington 2 | Samuel Gruber | 2017-11-09 |
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 | Ethel & Ernest | Ernest Briggs (voice) | 2016-10-15 |
Movie | The Legend of Tarzan | Prime Minister | 2016-06-29 |
Movie | Big Game | Herbert | 2015-03-19 |
Movie | The Go-Between | Old Leo | 2015-09-20 |
Movie | The Weather Inside | Britischer Botschafter | 2015-09-29 |
Series | London Spy | Scottie | 2015-11-09 |
Movie | The Lady in the Van | Underwood | 2015-10-30 |
Movie | Brooklyn | Father Flood | 2015-10-20 |
Movie | Postman Pat: The Movie | CEO (voice) | 2014-05-23 |
Movie | Get Santa | Santa Claus | 2014-12-05 |
Movie | Asterix: The Mansions of the Gods | Julius Caesar (UK version / voice) | 2014-11-26 |
Movie | The One and Only Mike Leigh | Himself | 2014-11-24 |
Movie | Paddington | Samuel Gruber | 2014-11-24 |
Movie | Closed Circuit | Attorney General | 2013-08-28 |
Movie | Filth | Dr. Rossi | 2013-09-23 |
Movie | Chance Meeting | 2013-10-08 | |
Movie | The Phone Call | Stan (voice) | 2013-10-20 |
Movie | Le Week-End | Nick Burrows | 2013-10-04 |
Movie | The Harry Hill Movie | Cleaner | 2013-12-20 |
Series | The Great Train Robbery | DCS Tommy Butler | 2013-12-18 |
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 | Exile | 2011-05-01 | |
Movie | The Iron Lady | Denis Thatcher | 2011-12-26 |
Movie | Arthur Christmas | Santa (voice) | 2011-11-10 |
Movie | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 | Horace Slughorn | 2011-07-12 |
Movie | Another Year | Tom | 2010-11-05 |
Movie | Animals United | Winston | 2010-10-07 |
Series | Any Human Heart | Logan Mountstuart | 2010-11-21 |
Movie | Perrier's Bounty | Jim McCrea | 2009-09-11 |
Movie | The Young Victoria | King William IV | 2009-03-04 |
Movie | Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince | Horace Slughorn | 2009-07-15 |
Movie | The Damned United | Sam Longson | 2009-03-27 |
Movie | Tales of the Riverbank | G.P. (voice) | 2008-02-07 |
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 | Lost and Found | Narrator (voice) | 2008-12-24 |
Movie | Blackadder's Most Cunning Moments | Self | 2008-10-16 |
Movie | Inkheart | Fenoglio | 2008-12-11 |
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 | Robots | Madame Gasket (voice) | 2005-03-10 |
Movie | Valiant | Sergeant (voice) | 2005-03-25 |
Movie | Spider-Plant Man | Batman | 2005-03-11 |
Movie | Around the World in 80 Days | Lord Kelvin | 2004-06-16 |
Movie | Tooth | The Rabbit (voice) | 2004-02-13 |
Movie | Pride | Eddie (voice) | 2004-06-21 |
Movie | Vanity Fair | Mr. Osborne | 2004-09-01 |
Movie | Vera Drake | Judge | 2004-10-22 |
Movie | Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason | Bridget's Dad | 2004-11-10 |
Movie | And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself | Harry Aitken | 2003-09-07 |
Movie | The Young Visiters | Alfred Salteena | 2003-12-26 |
Movie | Bright Young Things | The Drunken Major | 2003-10-03 |
Movie | The Gathering Storm | Desmond Morton | 2002-04-22 |
Movie | Gangs of New York | William "Boss" Tweed | 2002-12-14 |
Movie | The King's Beard | The Wizard (voice) | 2002-10-02 |
Movie | Nicholas Nickleby | Mr. Wackford Squeers | 2002-12-27 |
Movie | Bridget Jones's Diary | Bridget's Dad | 2001-04-13 |
Movie | Iris | John Bayley | 2001-12-14 |
Movie | The Night Club of Your Dreams: The Making of 'Moulin Rouge' | Self | 2001-05-01 |
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 | Little Voice | Mr. Boo | 1998-11-05 |
Movie | The Avengers | Mother | 1998-08-13 |
Movie | Smilla's Sense of Snow | Dr. Lagermann | 1997-02-28 |
Movie | The Borrowers | Pod Clock | 1997-12-05 |
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 | Bullets Over Broadway | Warner Purcell | 1994-10-14 |
Movie | Widows' Peak | Con Clancy | 1994-05-13 |
Movie | Two Mikes Don't Make a Wright | The Earl of Leete | 1993-04-05 |
Movie | Wide-Eyed and Legless | Deric Longden | 1993-09-05 |
Series | Gone to Seed | Monty Plant | 1992-11-13 |
Movie | The Crying Game | Col | 1992-09-02 |
Movie | A Sense of History | 23rd Earl of Leete | 1992-09-12 |
Movie | Happy Feet | Grocer | 1991-01-01 |
Movie | Nona | Carmelo | 1991-10-19 |
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 |
Movie | Blackadder's Christmas Carol | Prince Albert | 1988-12-23 |
Movie | Running Out of Luck | 1987-02-02 | |
Movie | Superman IV: The Quest for Peace | Jean Pierre Dubois | 1987-07-24 |
Series | Inspector Morse | Unknown | 1987-01-06 |
Movie | The Insurance Man | Gutling | 1986-02-22 |
Movie | The Good Father | Roger Miles | 1985-11-01 |
Movie | Brazil | Dr. Jaffe | 1985-02-20 |
Movie | Silas Marner | Jem Rodney | 1985-12-30 |
Movie | The Hit | Barrister | 1984-09-07 |
Movie | Dead on Time | Priest | 1983-01-01 |
Movie | Walter and June | Orderly | 1983-04-30 |
Movie | Birth of a Nation | Geoff Figg | 1983-06-19 |
Series | Dramarama | Unknown | 1983-09-12 |
Series | Bird of Prey | 1982-04-22 | |
Movie | Walter | Joseph - Orderly | 1982-11-02 |
Movie | Uliisses | 1982-06-18 | |
Movie | Intensive Care | Mr Horsfall | 1982-11-09 |
Movie | Mike Leigh: Making Plays | (Archive Material) | 1982-09-04 |
Movie | Time Bandits | Compere | 1981-07-13 |
Movie | The Adventures of Frank: Seeds of Ice | Mr. Champing | 1980-11-11 |
Movie | Breaking Glass | Station Porter | 1980-10-01 |
Movie | The Passage | German Soldier | 1979-03-09 |
Movie | Phoelix | 1979-08-01 | |
Movie | Long Distance Information | Mackaness | 1979-10-11 |
Series | Tales of the Unexpected | Unknown | 1979-03-24 |
Movie | The Shout | Fielder in cowpat | 1978-06-16 |
Series | The Channel Four Show | Unknown | 1977-05-20 |
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 |