Gary Oldman knighted by Prince William
The Oscar-winning actor has become 'Sir Gary'
Oscar-winning actor Sir Gary Oldman has been knighted at Windsor Castle.
The London-born film star was recognised for his services to drama in the King’s Birthday Honours.
He is known for his versatile acting style, having portrayed a range of figures, from former Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill to Sex Pistols member Sid Vicious.
One of the 67-year-old's more recent and most recognisable roles is as veteran MI5 agent Jackson Lamb in Apple TV’s Slow Horses.
A long and illustrious career
In the early 1990s Oldman played Lee Harvey Oswald, alleged assassin of US President John F Kennedy, in 1991’s JFK and the titular vampire in Bram Stoker’s Dracula in 1992.
Other notable roles included Ludwig van Beethoven in Immortal Beloved (1994) and Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg in The Fifth Element (1997).
His directorial debut, a semi-autobiographical piece about his childhood titled Nil By Mouth, was released in 1997 and lauded as a brilliant but gut-wrenchingly emotional film.
The acclaimed film earned him Baftas for outstanding British film and best original screenplay in 1998.
Across the Noughties and into the 2010s he appeared in some of the Harry Potter films as Harry’s godfather, Sirius Black, and also starred as Gotham City Police lieutenant Jim Gordon in Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012).
He was lauded for his performance as George Smiley in 2011 film Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, which saw him earn Bafta and Oscar nods.
He was unable to secure the leading actor gongs, however, until his role in The Darkest Hour which saw him sweep the 2018 awards season, winning an Academy Award, Bafta and more.
Other honours awarded at Windsor today
Among the other personalities to be honoured on Tuesday are Bafta-winning actress Samantha Morton and 2022 Euro-winning Lioness Rachel Daly.
Morton, 48, known for her roles in Longford and The Serpent Queen, will be made an OBE for services to drama and to charity.
Harroghate-born Rachel Daly, one of the stars of the England women’s football team which won the European Championship on home soil in 2022, will be made an MBE for services to association football.