Kenneth Branagh cements status as Hollywood star
LOS ANGELES: Kenneth Branagh joined the galaxy of screen icons to leave their mark on Hollywood on Thursday as he plunged his hands and feet into cement at the TCL Chinese Theater.
The Northern Irishman was hailed as the new Laurence Olivier at the start of a 35-year career that has seen him move from Shakespearean stage actor to movie star and acclaimed director.
Considered one of the most talented British actors of his generation, he has five Oscar nominations — all in different categories — and a further five nods at the Golden Globes, although both prizes have eluded him. “It’s very, very touching,” the 56-year-old told AFP after planting his bare feet in the cement on Hollywood Boulevard.
Kenneth Charles Branagh was born on Dec. 10, 1960 to a Protestant family in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The family moved to Reading, west of London, when Branagh was nine to escape the sectarian unrest gripping the city.
He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and won acclaim for his early performances, including the Royal Shakespeare Company’s 1984 production of “Henry V.”
Branagh was married to Emma Thompson, his co-star in several films, from 1989 to 1995 and then had a relationship with British actress Helena Bonham Carter. He married film art director Lindsay Brunnock in 2003.