Name: Jeffrey Wright
Date of Birth: 7 December 1965 Studied Political Science at Amherst College in Massachusetts. Graduated from Amherst College in Massachusetts in 1987. Won Broadway's 1994 Tony Award as Best Actor (Featured Role - Play) for Tony Kushner's "Angels In America: Perestroika," a role he recreated in the television mini-series version, "Angels in America" (2003). In 2002, he was nominated for Tony's Best Actor (Play) Award for "Topdog/Underdog." Attended New York University on a theatre scholarship, but dropped out after only two months to act full time. ... He received an honorary degree from Amherst College in 2004. Although he alters aspects of his physical appearance for each role, his voice is often unrecognizable from one role to the next. The voices of Belize, with his intelligent, acerbic wit in "Angels in America" (2003), to Peoples Hernandez whose vicious macho confidence is conveyed through his Latino accent in Shaft (2000) to Al Melvin The Manchurian Candidate (2004), whose deep grumblings heartbreakingly represent the state of a destroyed man. His cousin, Brian Wright, was the boy who portrayed young 'Basquiat' at the beginning of that film. The production team needed a child to portray Basquiat who also looked like Jeffrey Wright. Because of this, Jeffrey asked his cousin to do the job. Graduated from prestigious St. Albans School for Boys in Washington, DC. Is friends with Adrian Pasdar. Has one son, Elijah. The only original cast member from the play Angels In America to appear in the film version "Angels in America" (2003). Father died when he was a year old and was raised by his mother, who was a lawyer before working at the U.S. Customs Department, and his aunt, a one-time nurse. In 2006, became the second African American to play Felix Leiter in an official James Bond film. Plays CIA Agent Felix Leiter in Casino Royale (2006) and Quantum of Solace (2008). This makes him only the second actor in the history of the Bond franchise to play the role more than once. David Hedison had previously played the role twice, in Live and Let Die (1973) and Licence to Kill (1989). Unlike Hedison, he played the role twice in a row, in two consecutive films. Hedison's two appearances were separated by 16 years, 8 films, and one other actor (John Terry). Has appeared in three films with Daniel Craig in three years, Casino Royale (2006), The Invasion (2007) and Quantum of Solace (2008). Read more Jeffrey Wright movies (actor)User Comments |
