ACTOR
Jim Broadbent
- Known for
- Around the World in 80 Days (2004), Dolittle (2020), The Young Victoria (2009), The Avengers (1998)
27 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
Jim Broadbent is an actor best known for Around the World in 80 Days, Dolittle and The Young Victoria.
All facts (27)
- #001
Putting on his thick suit for Moulin Rouge took him two and a half hours every day. (2001).
- #002
He declined an O.B.E. (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in 2002 for services to drama.
- #003
His mother, who died in 1995, had Alzheimer's disease.
- #004
He played the husbands of Iris Murdoch and Margaret Thatcher, two prominent figures who, as depicted in each film, ultimately succumbed to Alzheimer's disease.
- #005
He was nominated for a 2004 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children for Winnie-the-Pooh.
- #006
His twin sister died at birth.
- #007
He has played Santa Claus in two different films: Arthur Christmas (2011) and Get Santa (2014).
- #008
He has appeared in four films nominated for Best Picture: The Crying Game (1992), Moulin Rouge! (2001), Gangs of New York (2002) and Brooklyn (2015).
- #009
He was offered the role of Del Boy in the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses (1981) but turned it down. He did, however, guest star in three episodes of the series as DCI Rory Slater.
- #010
He initially went to art school, but his father persuaded him to go to drama school.
- #011
He has two stepsons. One spends most of his time hiking in the Himalayas, while the other plants trees for a non-profit organisation.
- #012
He graduated from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in 1972.
- #013
In 2001 he appeared in Moulin Rouge! (2001) with Nicole Kidman, Bridget Jones's Diary (2001) with Renée Zellweger and Iris (2001) with Judi Dench. All three of these women were nominated for Best Actress for their roles.
- #014
He is the Honorary President of the Lindsey Rural Players.
- #015
He is one of only two actors to appear alongside Richard Griffiths in both a Harry Potter and a Superman film.
- #016
Jim Broadbent appeared in The Go-Between (1971) and also in the 2015 TV version of The Go-Between. In the latter he plays the lead, while in the former he has a small role that does not appear in the credits.
- #017
Broadbent won an Oscar for his role as John Bayley in Iris (2001), and as of the awards ceremony evening in 2015 he was one of 17 actors to have won an Oscar for portraying a real person who was still alive. The other sixteen actors and their performances are: Spencer Tracy as Father Edward Flanagan in Boys Town (1938), Gary Cooper as Alvin C. York in Sergeant York (1941), Patty Duke as Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker (1962), Jason Robards as Ben Bradlee in All the President's Men (1976), Robert De Niro as Jake La Motta in Raging Bull (1980), Sissy Spacek as Loretta Lynn in Coal Miner's Daughter (1980), Jeremy Irons as Claus Von Bullow in Reversal of Fortune (1990), Susan Sarandon as Sister Helen Prejean in Dead Man Walking (1995), Geoffrey Rush as David Helfgott in Shine (1996), Julia Roberts as Erin Brockovich in Erin Brockovich (2000), Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen (2006), Sandra Bullock as Leigh Anne Tuohy in The Blind Side (2009), Melissa Leo as Alice Eklund-Ward in The Fighter (2010), Christian Bale as Dickie Eklund in The Fighter (2010), Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady (2011), and Eddie Redmayne as Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything (2014).
- #018
The youngest of three siblings, Jim Broadbent went to the LAMDA drama school after completing his A levels, and then began as an ASM at the Regents Park open-air theatre.
- #019
Jim Broadbent was considered for the role of Wilbur Turnblad in the film Hairspray (2007).
- #020
Evacuated children feature as a central theme in both of his family films. In The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) he plays someone who takes in children leaving London during the Second World War. He later played a former evacuee child in Paddington (2014).
- #021
Jim Broadbent is the only Oscar-winning actor in the Superman films to have won just a single Oscar. Marlon Brando won for On the Waterfront (1954) and The Godfather (1972); Gene Hackman for The French Connection (1971) and Unforgiven (1992); and Kevin Spacey for The Usual Suspects (1995) and American Beauty (1999). Broadbent won only for Iris (2001).
- #022
On Monday, 28 January 2002, Jim Broadbent was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role at the Orange British Academy Film Awards for his role in Iris (2001).
- #023
Jim Broadbent married Annastasia Lewis in 1987 and became the stepfather of her 2 children.
- #024
Jim Broadbent works regularly with Mike Leigh.
- #025
Jim Broadbent was initially sought for the role of Del Boy in the series Only Fools and Horses but was turned down.
- #026
Jim Broadbent was considered for the roles of Dr. Armstrong, Roger Derebridge, Lamson, Kelly and Brash Guard in the film Lifeforce (1985).
- #027
Jim Broadbent took on two roles that Peter Ustinov had also played (Ustinov first). "Fix" from Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days: the mini-series Around the World in 80 Days (1989) and a 1992 BBC Radio adaptation. William IV: in Victoria & Albert (2001) and The Young Victoria (2009).
Continue through the archive
- Dolittleas Lord Thomas Badgley
- Around the World in 80 Daysas Lord Kelvin
- The Young Victoriaas King William
- Topsy-Turvyas William Schwenck Gilbert
- Nicholas Nicklebyas Mr. Wackford Squeers
- Superman IV: The Quest for Peaceas Jean Pierre Dubois
- The Avengersas Mother
- The Borrowersas Pod Clock
- The Shoutas Fielder in Cowpat
- The Hitas Barrister
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