- published: 28 Apr 2015
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Ioan Gruffudd (Welsh pronunciation: [ˈjo.an ˈɡrɪfɪð] ( listen); born 6 October 1973) is a Welsh actor.
Having trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he started off in Welsh language film productions, then came to international attention as Fifth Officer Harold Lowe in the film Titanic (1997), and as Lt. John Beales in Black Hawk Down (2001). However, he is probably best known for playing the role of Horatio Hornblower in Hornblower, the British made-for-TV films (1998–2003) based on C. S. Forester's novels.
Gruffudd's other film roles include Lancelot in King Arthur (2004), Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards) in Fantastic Four (2005) and the sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), and British anti-slavery abolitionist William Wilberforce in Amazing Grace (2006). He played Tony Blair in W. (2008). He played the role of Andrew Martin in the US thriller television series, Ringer until the show's cancellation in 2012.
Gruffudd was born on 6 October 1973 in Llwydcoed, near Aberdare, Cynon Valley, in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Tâf, south Wales. Gruffudd's parents, Peter and Gillian (née James) Griffiths, were both teachers. His father was headmaster at two Welsh comprehensive schools in South Wales, first at Ysgol Gyfun Llanhari then later at Ysgol Gyfun Rhydfelen. He has two siblings; a brother, Alun, who is two years younger, and a sister, Siwan, who is seven years younger than he is. Gruffudd was raised in a Protestant non-conformist household.