| Caption | Cary Elwes in 2010 |
|---|
| Birth date | October 26, 1962 |
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| Birth place | Westminster, London, England |
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| Birth name | Ivan Simon Cary Elwes |
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| Occupation | Actor |
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| Years active | 1978–present |
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| Spouse | |
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Ivan Simon Cary Elwes (born 26 October 1962), known professionally as
Cary Elwes, is an English actor, known for his performances in films such as
Lady Jane,
The Princess Bride,
The Jungle Book (1994 film),
,
Hot Shots!,
Glory,
Liar Liar,
Saw,
Saw 3D,
Twister,
Pope John Paul II and
Kiss the Girls.
Personal life
Elwes was born in
Westminster, London, and is the third and youngest son of portrait-painter
Dominick Elwes and interior designer
Tessa Georgina Kennedy, who is of
Croatian and
Anglo-Irish descent. His paternal grandfather is painter
Simon Elwes, whose father was the diplomat and
tenor Gervase Elwes. His brothers are
Damian Elwes, an artist, and
Cassian Elwes, a producer and agent. He is the stepson of
Elliott Kastner, an American film producer. He was raised Roman Catholic. Elwes attended
Harrow School in London and
Sarah Lawrence College in
Bronxville, New York, where he studied, among other acting-related subjects,
German Expressionist Film. While living in New York, Elwes studied acting at both the
Actors' Studio and the
Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute.
In 1991, Elwes met photographer Lisa Marie Kurbikoff. They became engaged in 1997 and wed in 2000. The couple have one daughter.
One of his ancestors is John Elwes, who is believed to be the inspiration for Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol (1843). Elwes played the role of Dick Wilkins in the 2009 film adaptation of the novel.
Career
Film
Elwes made his acting debut in
Marek Kanievska's film
Another Country (where he played James Harcourt, a young and sentimental homosexual student from an English
boarding school), with
Rupert Everett and
Colin Firth. The film, adapted from a play, was loosely based on the formative years of British spy
Guy Burgess, one of the
Cambridge Five. He went on to play
Guilford Dudley in the British film
Lady Jane, costarring
Helena Bonham Carter. His performance in that film led director
Rob Reiner to cast Elwes in another leading role, this time as the stable boy turned swashbuckler Westley in the comedy
The Princess Bride.
premiere on October 27, 2010.]]
He continued working steadily, varying between dramatic roles, as in
The Bride (1985) with
Sting and
Jennifer Beals, to the
Academy Award-winning
Glory (1989), and comedic roles, as in
Hot Shots! (1991). In 1993, he starred as
Robin Hood in
Mel Brooks' comedy,
Elwes also appeared in such films as
Francis Coppola's adaptation of
Bram Stoker's Dracula,
The Crush,
Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book,
Twister,
Liar Liar,
Cradle Will Rock,
The Cat's Meow and
Kiss the Girls. In 2004, he starred in the
horror/
thriller Saw which, at a budget of a little over $1 million, grossed over $100 million worldwide. The same year he appeared in
Ella Enchanted, portraying the villain rather than the hero. He made an uncredited appearance as Sam Green, the man who introduced
Andy Warhol to
Edie Sedgwick, in the 2006 film
Factory Girl. In 2007, he appeared in
Garry Marshall's
Georgia Rule with
Jane Fonda. In 2009 Elwes worked on two
performance capture films,
Robert Zemeckis'
A Christmas Carol and
directed by
Steven Spielberg. He also starred in the
mystery thriller Shadows, directed by
John Penney. Elwes portrayed Dr. Clement in the psychological thriller
Psych 9, which was directed by
Andrew Shortell. Elwes returned to the
Saw franchise in
Saw 3D, the seventh film in the series, as
Dr. Lawrence Gordon. In January 2010, it was announced that Elwes had been chosen to portray
George Harrison in Robert Zemeckis' 3-D performance capture re-telling of
Yellow Submarine.
Television
In 1996, Elwes made his first television appearance as "David Lookner" on the sitcom
Seinfeld. In 1998, he played astronaut
Michael Collins in the
Golden Globe Award-winning
HBO miniseries From the Earth To the Moon. In 1999, he guest starred as Dr. John York in an episode of the television series
The Outer Limits. He earned two
Golden Satellite Award nominations for his performances in the television films
The Pentagon Wars and
Uprising. Elwes had a recurring role in the final season (2001–2002) of
The X-Files as
FBI Assistant Director Brad Follmer.
In 2004, he played serial killer Ted Bundy in the A&E; Network television film The Riverman, which was based on the book written by Robert D. Keppel. In 2005 Elwes played the young Pope John Paul II in the CBS telefilm Pope John Paul II.
In 2007, he made a guest appearance on the episode "" as a Mafia lawyer. In 2009, he played the role of Pierre Despereaux, an international art thief, in the 4th season premiere of Psych. In 2010, he returned to Psych, reprising his role in the second half of the 5th season.
In 2011, Cary Elwes was chosen as Henry Demeter or Henry Johns, CEO Themyscira Industries, founded by Diana Prince (Adrianne Palicki) in new seriesWonder Woman pilot.
Voiceovers
Elwes'
voice-over work includes the narrator in
James Patterson's audio book
The Jester as well as characters in film and television animations such as
Quest for Camelot,
Pinky and The Brain,
Batman Beyond, and the English versions of the highly popular
Studio Ghibli films
Porco Rosso,
Whisper of the Heart and
The Cat Returns. For the 2004 video game
The Bard's Tale, he served as scriptwriter, improviser, and
voice actor of the main character The Bard.
Theatre
Elwes performed in the
Bob Balaban-directed
Off-Broadway dramatic stage play
The Exonerated in New York during its March 18–23, 2003 week run.
Saw settlement
In August 2005, he filed a lawsuit against his management firm and the producers of
Saw. He alleged that he was promised a percentage of the profits and did not receive the full amount as promised. The producers eventually
settled out of court. Elwes later went on to reprise his role as Dr. Lawrence Gordon in
Saw 3D.
Filmography
{| class="wikitable sortable" summary="List of films and roles"
|+ Film
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| 1979
|
Yesterday's Hero
| Disco Dancer
|
|-
| 1984
|
Another Country
| James Harcourt
|
|-
| 1984
|
Oxford Blues
| Lionel
|
|-
| 1985
|
| Captain Josef Schoden
|
|-
| 1986
|
Lady Jane
|
Guilford Dudley
|
|-
| 1987
|
Maschenka
| Ganin
|
|-
| 1987
|
| Westley/The Dread Pirate Roberts
|
|-
| 1988
|
Never on Tuesday
| Tow Truck Driver
| Uncredited
|-
| 1989
|
Glory
| Major Cabot Forbes
|
|-
| 1990
|
Days of Thunder
| Russ Wheeler
|
|-
| 1991
|
Hot Shots!
| Lieutenant Kent Gregory
|
|-
| 1992
|
Bram Stoker's Dracula
| Lord
Arthur Holmwood
|
|-
| 1992
|
Kurenai no buta
| Curtis
| aka
Porco Rosso Voice English version
|-
| 1992
|
Leather Jackets
| Dobbs
|
|-
| 1993
|
|
Robin Hood
|
|-
| 1993
|
| Nick Eliot
|
|-
| 1994
|
| Captain William Boone
|
|-
| 1994
|
Felidae
| Francis
| Voice-over (English dub)
|-
| 1994
|
| Steve Horsegroovy
|
|-
|1995
|
Whisper of the heart
| Baron Humbert von Jikkingen
|
|-
|1996
|
Twister
| Dr. Jonas Miller
|
|-
| 1997
|
Kiss the Girls
| Detective Nick Ruskin/Casanova
| Nominated –
Blockbuster Enternainment Awards Best Supporting Actor
|-
| 1997
|
| Lieutenant David Ferris
|
|-
| 1997
|
Liar Liar
| Jerry
|
|-
|1998
|
Quest for Camelot
| Garrett
| Voice
|-
| 1999
|
Cradle Will Rock
|
John Houseman
|
|-
|2000
|
Shadow of the Vampire
| Fritz Arno "Firtzy" Wagner
|
|-
|2001
|
|
Thomas H. Ince
|
|-
| 2002
|
Wish You Were Dead
| Mac "Macbeth" Wilson
|
|-
| 2002
|
The Cat Returns
| Baron Humbert von Gikkingen
|
|-
| 2002
|
Comic Book Villains
| Carter
| Direct-to-video
|-
| 2004
|
Saw
|
Lawrence Gordon
| Nominated —
MTV Movie Award for Best Frightened Performance
|-
| 2004
|
Ella Enchanted
| Sir Edgar
|
|-
| 2004
|
American Crime
| Albert Bodine
| Direct-to-video
|-
| 2005
|
Edison
| Reigert
| aka
Edison Force
|-
| 2005
|
Neo Ned
| Dr. Magnuson
|
|-
| 2005
|
| The Baron
| Voice (English dub)
|-
| 2006
|
Whisper of the Heart
| The Baron
| Voice (English dub)
|-
| 2006
|
Pope John Paul II
| The Young
Karol Wojtyla
|
|-
| 2006
|
National Lampoon's Pucked
| Norman
| aka
National Lampoon's The Trouble with Frank
|-
| 2006
|
Factory Girl
| Sam Green
| Uncredited
|-
| 2007
|
Walk the Talk
| Erik
|
|-
| 2007
|
Georgia Rule
| Arnold
|
|-
| 2008
|
| Capt. Kenneth Shine
|
|-
| 2009
|
A Christmas Carol
| Portly Gentleman #1/Dick Wilkins/Mad Fiddler/Guest #2/Business Man #1
|
|-
| 2010
|
Psych 9
| Dr. Clement
|
awaiting release
|-
| 2010
|
Flying Lessons
| Steven Jennings
|
awaiting release
|-
| 2010
|
As Good as Dead
| Ethan Belfrage
|
|-
| 2010
|
Shadows
| Jeff Mathews
|
post-production
|-
| 2010
|
Little Murder
| Barry Fitzgerald
|
post-production
|-
| 2010
| ''
Saw 3D
|
Lawrence Gordon
|
|-
| 2011
|
No Strings Attached
| Dr. Metzner
|
|-
| 2011
|
| Pilot
|
post-production
|-
| 2012
|
Yellow Submarine
|
George Harrison
|
pre-production
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" summary="List of Television appearances and roles"
|+ Television
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| 1996
| Seinfeld
| David Lookner
| Episode: "The Wait Out"
|-
| 1998
|
|Lt. Col. James Burton
| HBO television film
|-
| 1998
| From the Earth to the Moon
| Michael Collins
| Episodes: "Can We Do This" "1968" "Mare Tranquilitatis"
|-
| 1998
| Pinky and the Brain
| Director / Hamlet
| Voice Episodes: "Brainie the Poo/Melancholy Brain" "Whatever Happened to Baby Brain/Just Say Narf"
|-
| 1998
| Hercules
| Paris of Troy
| Voice Episode: ""
|-
| 1999
|
| Dr. John York
| Episode: "Ripper"
|-
| 1999
| Batman Beyond
| Paxton Powers
| Episode: ""
|-
| 2000
| Race Against Time
| Burke
| Television film
|-
| 2001
| Night Visions
| Gerald
| Episode: "Quiet Please"
|-
| 2001
| Uprising
| Dr. Fritz Hippler
| Television film
|-
| 2001–2002
|
| FBI Assistant Director Brad Follmer
| Episodes: "Nothing Important Happened Today" "Nothing Important Happened Today II "4-D" "Provenance" "Providence" "Release"
|-
| 2004
|
| Ted Bundy
| Television film
|-
| 2005
| ''Pope John Paul II
| Young Karol Wojtyla
| TV mini-series
|-
| 2006
| Haskett's Chance
|
| Television film
|-
| 2007
|
| Sidney Truex
| Episode: ""
|-
| 2009–2010
| Psych
| Pierre Despereaux
| Episodes:""""
|-
|2011
|Wonder Woman
| Henry Johns
|Series regular
|}
References
External links
Category:1962 births
Category:English expatriates in the United States
Category:English film actors
Category:English television actors
Category:English voice actors
Category:People of Anglo-Irish descent
Category:English people of Croatian descent
Category:English Roman Catholics
Category:Living people
Category:Actors from London
Category:Old Harrovians
Category:People from Westminster
Category:Sarah Lawrence College alumni
