Clive Owen

Clive Owen is an English actor born on 3 October 1964 in Keresley, Coventry. The fourth of five sons, he described his childhood as rough after his father left the family when Owen was three years old. After a period of searching for work, he chose to enter drama school in 1984, graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and subsequently performing at the Young Vic in several Shakespearean plays.

Owen began his career on UK television, starring in productions such as Precious Bane and Vroom in 1988 before gaining widespread recognition for his lead role in the ITV series Chancer (1990–1991). He earned critical acclaim for his performance in the film Close My Eyes (1991). Throughout the 1990s, he appeared in numerous projects, including Lorna Doone, Century, Sharman, his major Hollywood debut The Rich Man's Wife (1996), and Bent (1997). In 1998, he achieved international attention playing a struggling writer in Mike Hodges' film Croupier.

Following roles in television dramas such as Split Second, The Echo, and Second Sight, and the film Greenfingers, Owen gained prominent exposure in North America in 2001 by starring as "The Driver" in The Hire, a BMW-sponsored short film series. He followed this with roles in Gosford Park (2001), The Bourne Identity (2002), I'll Sleep When I'm Dead (2003), Beyond Borders (2003), and King Arthur (2004).

Having performed in the original stage production of Patrick Marber's play Closer, Owen starred as Larry in the 2004 film adaptation. His performance won him a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award, as well as an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He continued to take high-profile screen roles in Sin City (2005), Derailed (2005), Inside Man (2006), Children of Men (2006)—for which he also contributed uncredited work on the screenplay—Shoot 'Em Up (2007), Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007), and The International (2009).

Owen later expanded into television and stage revivals. He earned a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for starring in the 2012 HBO film Hemingway & Gellhorn, and went on to play Dr. John W. Thackery in the Cinemax series The Knick, receiving a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor – Television Series Drama. He also appeared in films such as Shadow Dancer (2012), Intruders (2011), Blood Ties (2013), and The Song of Names (2019).

In theater, Owen made his Broadway debut in a 2015 revival of Harold Pinter's Old Times, followed by Broadway's M. Butterfly in 2017 and a 2019 West End production of The Night of the Iguana. His more recent television projects include portraying President Bill Clinton in American Crime Story (2021), starring in Lisey's Story (2021), and taking roles in A Murder at the End of the World (2023) and Monsieur Spade (2024).