Daniel Day Lewis was born on April 29, 1957, in London, England. With a father who seemed less than attached to his son, school bullies that made his life difficult, and run-ins with the law for shoplifting and other petty crimes, Daniel’s childhood was rough. When his parents could no longer handle him, Daniel was sent to Sevenoaks, a boarding school in Kent. It was here that he would find his two greatest loves: acting and woodworking. His acting skills were honed at the prestigious Bristol Old Vic School and in 1971 he appeared on screen for the first time with a bit part in Sunday Bloody Sunday. The next decade would see Lewis performing on stage, taking on the roles of Romeo in Romeo and Juliet and The Count in Dracula. During this time, he also had some small parts in the movies Gandhi and Frost in May. He took on more substantial screen roles in the 1985 films My Beautiful Laundrette and A Room With a View, with Helena Bonham Carter; and the critics were impressed. The New York Film Critics named him Best Supporting Actor.

After officially being recognized as a major talent, Day Lewis finally got a starring role on screen in the 1988 film The Unbearable Lightness of Being, with Lena Olin and Juliette Binoche. His performance in My Left Foot earned him the much-coveted Academy Award for Best Actor. Academy nominations were received for his performances in the films In the Name of the Father, and Gangs of New York, also starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz . Although Daniel declared that this role would be his last performance, he later agreed to act in The Ballad of Jack and Rose, directed by his wife. He has a film slated for release in 2007.

Daniel Day, for all his talent, has not been an extremely prolific actor compared to his Hollywood peers. He chooses his roles carefully, and may wait months or even years before taking on another film, disappearing into relative obscurity while working as a woodworker or cobbler. His level of preparation for his roles is extreme, which is probably why his performances are so convincing. For his performance in Gangs of New York, for example, Daniel took lessons as a butcher, spoke in a New York accent even when he was off-set, and refused to wear a coat or seek medical treatment after being diagnosed with pneumonia because such things were not available in the time period depicted in the film.

Although Daniel keeps the details of his personal life closely-guarded, it is known that he enjoyed a troubled six year relationship with Isabelle Adjani, one of France’s best-known actresses who has received two Academy Award nominations. The relationship ended, but not before Adjani became pregnant. When she gave birth to son Gabriel Kane Day Lewis in 1995, the couple had been estranged for months. Day’s current marriage is to Rebecca Day Lewis, formerly Rebecca Miller, an American who co-wrote and directed Rose and the Snake which featured an appearance by Daniel. The pair met while Day-Lewis was shooting for Arthur Miller's The Crucible. They currently have two sons, Ronan, born in 1998, and Cashel, born in 2000. The couple divides their time between their homes in Ireland and the United States.

YUDDY