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Hugh has always been a miserable fighter, and I find that he's physically deteriorated in the last three years
Firth, Grant duke it out in 'Bridget 2' Dec 30, 2003
To be here with this gift on my hand it's the biggest honor of my life
Venice film fest honors Israeli war drama Sep 13, 2009
I knew that he existed, I knew about the abdication crisis, but I knew nothing about it; I hadn't even watched any of the dramas about it
Firth discusses royal role in 'Speech' Nov 28, 2010
My deepest thanks to the Academy (of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences,
'Speech' wins big at Oscars Feb 27, 2011
I remember being on the set of the second ('Bridget Jones') with Hugh one day and one of us asked the other, 'Do you remember saying yes to this?' 'No, never did!
Third 'Bridget Jones' film on its way Aug 12, 2011
Colin Andrew Firth, CBE (born 10 September 1960) is a British film, television, and theatre actor. Firth gained wide public attention in the 1990s for his portrayal of Mr. Darcy in the 1995 television adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. In 2011, Firth received an Academy Award for his portrayal of King George VI in The King's Speech, a performance that also earned him the Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor. The previous year, he received his first Academy Award nomination, for his leading role in A Single Man, a performance that won him a BAFTA Award. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2011.
Firth was born in England. His mother, Shirley Jean (née Rolles), was a comparative religion lecturer at King Alfred's College Winchester (now the University of Winchester), and his father, David Norman Lewis Firth, was a history lecturer (also at King Alfred's) and education officer for the Nigerian Government. Firth has a sister, Kate, and a younger brother, Jonathan, who is also an actor. Firth's parents were raised in India, because his maternal grandparents, Congregationalist ministers, and his paternal grandfather, an Anglican priest, performed missionary work abroad. Firth spent part of his childhood in Nigeria, where his father was teaching.
He lived in St. Louis, Missouri when he was 11. He later attended the Montgomery of Alamein Secondary School (now Kings' School), a state comprehensive school in Winchester, Hampshire, and then Barton Peveril College in Eastleigh, Hampshire. While in Kings' School, he wanted to play the guitar, but the school banned the guitar and saxophone, as they were "not serious instruments", and he was told to play the euphonium instead. His acting training took place at the Drama Centre London.