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Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis (born 29 April , 1957 ) is an Academy Award -winning English / Irish actor. Although born in London , England , he took out Irish citizenship in 1993. After studying at the , 2006 . EARLY LIFE Day-Lewis is the son of the late British Poet Laureate Cecil Day-Lewis . His mother, who comes from a Jewish family, is actress Jill Balcon , daughter of Sir Michael Balcon , former head of Ealing Studios . Two years after his birth in London, the Day-Lewis family moved to Croom's Hill, Greenwich where Daniel grew up along with his older sister, Tamasin Day-Lewis , who later become a renowned documentary filmmaker and television chef. Cecil Day-Lewis was already 53 years old at the time of his son's birth, and seemed to take little interest in his children.Segal, David (2005) ''Washington Post Article/Interview on Daniel Day-Lewis''. Washington Post Following frequent health problems, he died when Daniel was 15. Daniel felt unsettled about his lack of emotion, and regretted not having been closer to his father. Living in Greenwich, Day-Lewis naturally found himself among some tough South London kids and being Jewish and "posh", he was often bullied. Very quickly, therefore, he mastered the local accent and mannerisms - which he believes to have been the first convincing performances he gave. Later in life, he was known to speak of himself as very much a disorderly character in his younger years, often in trouble for shoplifting and other petty illegalties.Jenkins, Garry (1995) Daniel Day-Lewis: The Fires Within. St. Martins Pr Wills, Dominic "[http://www.tiscali.co.uk/entertainment/film/biographies/daniel_day-lewis_biog.html Extensive Biography of Daniel Day-Lewis ". ''Tiscali UK''. Retrieved 25 February , 2006 . In 1968, Day-Lewis' parents, finding him to be "too wild", sent him to Sevenoaks boarding school in Kent. Though he detested the school, he was introduced to his two most prominent interests, Woodworking and Acting . He made his debut in '' Cry, The Beloved Country '' wearing extensive makeup for his role as an African-American boy. While his disdain for the school grew, he made his film debut at the age of 14 in '' Sunday Bloody Sunday '' in which he played a vandal in an uncredited role. He described the experience as "heaven", for getting paid £2 to vandalize expensive cars parked outside his local church.Segal, David {Link without Title} Washington Post Article/Interview on Daniel Day-Lewis. Washington Post After two years at Sevenoaks, Daniel was transferred to the Bedales School in Petersfield . Leaving Bedales in 1975, his unruly attitude had faded and he now had to make a career choice. Although he loved acting and had excelled onstage at the National Youth Theatre, he found something "seedy" about backstage life, and decided to become a cabinet-maker, applying for a five-year apprenticeship. However, because of a lack of experience, he was not accepted. He then applied (and was accepted) at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School , which he attended for three years, eventually performing at the Bristol Old Vic itself. (At one point he played understudy to Pete Postlethwaite , whom he would later play opposite in '' In The Name Of The Father ''). CAREER 1980s Eleven years after his film debut, Day-Lewis continued his film career with a small part in '' Gandhi '' (1982) as Colin, a street thug who bullies the title character, only to be immediately chastised by his high-strung mother. In 1984, he had a supporting role as a cowardly first mate in '' The Bounty '', after which he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company , performing as Romeo in '' Romeo And Juliet ''. (However, he later grew to detest the character, often referring to him as a "wanker"). cover featuring Daniel Day-Lewis in his Academy Award winning performance as Christy Brown in '' My Left Foot ''.]] The actor was next featured on stage as "The Count" in the stage-play of '' Dracula '' where he appeared with his hair dyed blond in a throwback to '' Nosferatu ''. He later let his hair grow out to give a frosted "punk look" when he played half of a gay bi-racial couple in '' My Beautiful Laundrette ''. Day-Lewis gained further public notice when the film was released simultaneously with a completely different character in '' A Room With A View '' (1986), in which he played the effete upper-class fiance of the main character (played by Helena Bonham-Carter). In 1987, Day-Lewis assumed leading man status by starring in , 2006 . Day-Lewis put his personal version of "method acting" into full use in 1989 with his performance as Christy Brown in Jim Sheridan 's '' My Left Foot '' which won him numerous awards, including the Academy Award for Best Actor. During filming, his eccentricities came to the fore, due to his refusal to break character. Playing a severely paralyzed character onscreen, offscreen Day-Lewis had to be wheeled around the set in his wheelchair, and crew members would curse at having to lift him over camera and lighting wires, all so that he might gain insight into all aspects of Christy Brown's life, including the embarrassments. Jenkins, Garry (1995) Daniel Day-Lewis: The Fires Within. St. Martins Pr He also broke two ribs during filming from assuming a hunched-over position in his wheelchair for so many weeks. {Link without Title} '''An Inspirational Journey: The Making of My Left Foot''' DVD. Miramax Films Daniel Day-Lewis returned to the stage to work with Richard Eyre , as '' Hamlet '' at the National Theatre , but collapsed in the middle of a scene where the ghost of Hamlet's father first appears to his son. He began sobbing uncontrollably and refused to go back on stage; his understudy finished what little was left of the production's run. One rumour following the incident was that Day-Lewis had seen the ghost of his own father, although the incident was officially attributed to exhaustion. He has not appeared on stage since. 1990s In 1992, three years after his Oscar win, '' The Last Of The Mohicans '' was released. Day-Lewis' character research for this film was well-publicized; he reportedly underwent rigorous weight training and learned to live off the land and forest where his character lived, camping, hunting and fishing. He even carried a musket at all times during filming in order to remain in character. While the film carried him to new heights of stardom, Day-Lewis preferred less "Hollywood" films such as '' The Age Of Innocence '' co-starring Michelle Pfeiffer and directed by Martin Scorsese . He ultimately returned to work with Jim Sheridan on '' In The Name Of The Father '', in which he played Gerry Conlon , one of the Guildford Four who were wrongfully convicted of a bombing carried out by the Provisional IRA . He lost a substantial amount of weight for the part, kept his Northern Irish accent on and off the set for the entire shooting schedule, and spent stretches of time in a prison cell. He also insisted that crew members throw cold water and verbal abuse at him. The film earned him his second Academy Award nomination, his third BAFTA nomination, and his second Golden Globe nomination. In 1996, Day-Lewis starred in a film version of '' The Crucible '' based on the play by Arthur Miller and co-starring Winona Ryder . He followed that with Jim Sheridan's '' The Boxer '' as a former boxer and IRA member recently released from prison. His preparation included training for six months with former boxing world champion Barry McGuigan . Following ''The Boxer'', Daniel Day-Lewis took a leave of absence from acting by putting himself into "semi-retirement" and returning to his old passion of woodworking. He moved to ''. Retrieved 27 February , 2006 . 2000s '' Gangs Of New York ''.]] After a three-year absence from filming, Day-Lewis was convinced to return to acting by Martin Scorsese (with whom he had worked on ''The Age of Innocence'') and 2006 . His performance in "Gangs of New York" earned him his third Academy Award nomination and won him the BAFTA Award for Best Actor. At the time, he swore that this film would be his last. '' The Ballad Of Jack And Rose '' opposite Catherine Keener (left).]] This was not to be the case, however, when Day-Lewis' own wife, director Rebecca Miller, offered him the lead role in her film ''The Ballad of Jack and Rose'', in which he played a dying man with regrets over how his life had evolved and over how he had raised his teenaged daughter. During filming he arranged to live separately from his wife in order to achieve the "isolation" needed to focus on his own character's reality. Segal, David {Link without Title} ''Washington Post Article/Interview on Daniel Day-Lewis''. Washington Post The film received mixed reviews, while Day-Lewis received almost universal praise for his performance. In 2006, it was reported in Variety that , 2006 . PERSONAL LIFE Because of his need for privacy, Day-Lewis rarely talks publicly about his personal life, although he had what he would later describe as "the most on-off relationship in the world" with French actress , 2006 . Gabriel-Kane Day-Lewis was born in 1995 in New York , months after the relationship between the two actors had ended. In 1996, while working on the film version of the stage-play ''The Crucible'', he visited the home of playwright ''. Retrieved 27 February , 2006 . and divide their time between their homes in the US and Ireland.Segal, David (2005) Washington Post Article/Interview on Daniel Day-Lewis. Washington Post SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY "[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000358/ Daniel Day-Lewis IMDB filmography ". ''Internet Movie Database''. Retrieved 27 February 2006 . ACADEMY AWARD AND NOMINATIONS
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