Jeremy Irons is an English actor known for his diverse roles on stage and screen. Over his distinguished career he has received numerous accolades including an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Tony Award, as well as nominations for two BAFTA Awards, and Grammy Award. He received the Honorary César in 2002, and the Europe Theatre Prize in 2017.
He won the Academy Award for Best Actor and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama for his portrayal of Claus von Bülow in the crime drama Reversal of Fortune (1990). For his dual role of Charles Henry Smithson and Mike in the romantic drama The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981) he was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. He was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama for his role as a Jesuit priest in the period epic The Mission (1986).
On television, Irons's break-out role came playing Charles Ryder in the ITV series Brideshead Revisited (1981), receiving nominations for the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie, Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film for Best Actor. He received the Primetime Emmy Award for his portrayal of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester in the HBO miniseries Elizabeth I (2005) and was Emmy-nominated for playing Adrian Veidt / Ozymandias in HBO's Watchmen (2019).
On stage, he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performance of a man engaging in an affair in the Broadway production of the Tom Stoppard play The Real Thing (1985). The role also earned him a Drama Desk Award nomination.
Major associations Academy Awards Year Category Nominated work Result 1991 Best Actor Reversal of Fortune
BAFTA Awards Year Category Nominated work Result British Academy Film Awards1981 Best Actor in a Leading Role The French Lieutenant's Woman British Academy Television Awards 1982 Best Actor Brideshead Revisited
Emmy Awards Year Category Nominated work Result Primetime Emmy Awards 1982 Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or a Special Brideshead Revisited 1997 Outstanding Voice-Over Performance The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century: War Without End 2006 Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie Elizabeth I 2014 Outstanding Narrator Game of Lions 2020 Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie Watchmen
Golden Globe Awards Year Category Nominated work Result 1983 Best Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture – Television Brideshead Revisited 1987 Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama The Mission 1991 Reversal of Fortune 2007 Best Supporting Actor – Television Elizabeth I 2010 Best Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture – Television Georgia O'Keeffe 2012 Best Actor in a Television Series – Drama The Borgias
Grammy Awards Year Category Nominated work Result 1985 Best Spoken Word Album The Real Thing (with Glenn Close)
Screen Actors Guild Awards Year Category Nominated work Result 2007 Outstanding Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie Elizabeth I 2010 Georgia O'Keeffe 2014 The Hollow Crown 2022 Outstanding Cast in a Motion PictureHouse of Gucci
Tony Awards Year Category Nominated work Result 1984 Best Actor in a Play The Real Thing
Critics awards Organizations Year Category Work Result Boston Society of Film Critics 1990 Best Actor Reversal of Fortune Chicago Film Critics Association 1989 Best Actor Dead Ringers 1990 Reversal of Fortune Kansas City Film Critics Circle 1990 Best Actor Reversal of Fortune Los Angeles Film Critics Association 1990 Best Actor Reversal of Fortune National Society of Film Critics 1991 Best Actor Reversal of Fortune New York Film Critics' Circle 1989Best Actor Dead Ringers 1990 Reversal of Fortune Phoenix Film Critics Society 2011 Best Ensemble Acting Margin Call Central Ohio Film Critics Association 2011 Best Ensemble Margin Call Indiana Film Journalists Association 2016 Best Supporting Actor The Man Who Knew Infinity
Miscellaneous awards Organizations Year Category Work Result Annie Award 1994 Best Achievement in Voice Acting The Lion King Drama Desk Award 1984 Outstanding Actor in a PlayThe Real Thing Genie Award 1989 Best Actor in a Leading Role Dead Ringers Gotham Award 2011 Best Ensemble Margin Call Independent Spirit Award 2011 Robert Altman Award Margin Call Satellite Awards 1997 Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Drama Stealing Beauty 2005 Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Musical or Comedy Being Julia 2009 Best Actor in a Miniseries or Movie Georgia O'Keeffe Saturn Award 1990 Best Actor Dead Ringers
Honorary awards Organizations Year Notes Result Clarence Derwent Awards 1979 Statue San Sebastian International Film Festival 1997 Statue European Film Award 1998 Statue Honorary César 2002 Statue Europe Theatre Prize 2017 Statue
See also Jeremy Irons on stage and screen List of British actors List of Academy Award winners and nominees from Great Britain List of actors with Academy Award nominations List of Primetime Emmy Award winners List of Golden Globe winners References