Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins CBE is a Welsh actor, director, and producer. He is known for his performances on the screen and stage and is one of Britain’s most recognisable and prolific actors. Throughout his career, Hopkins has received numerous honours, including two Academy Awards, three British Academy Film Awards, a British Academy Television Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Laurence Olivier Award. He has also received an honorary Golden Globe Award and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts’ BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1993 for his contributions to the arts, and he was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2003 for his contributions to the film industry.
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Early Life
Philip Anthony Hopkins was born on December 31, 1937, in Port Talbot, Glamorgan, Wales. According to the actor, he was a poor student throughout his childhood and adolescence, preferring to pursue his interests in the arts, particularly painting and drawing. At age 15, Hopkins met famed Welsh actor Richard Burton and grew up in the same neighbourhood as the famous Burton. Inspired by Burton’s career, he enrolled at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, where he graduated in 1957. Almost two decades later, Burton would play Hopkins’ replacement in a stage production of the play Equus.
Personal Life
Hopkins currently resides in Malibu, California. He had previously moved to the United States in the late 1970s to pursue a film career but returned to London in the late 1980s. Following his success in the 1990s, he decided to return to the United States. Hopkins kept his British citizenship and became a naturalised American citizen on April 12, 2000, stating, “I have dual citizenship; it just so happens I live in America”
Hopkins has had three marriages. From 1966 to 1972, he was married to actress Petronella Barker; from 1973 to 2002, he was married to Jennifer Lyton; and since 2003, Anthony Hopkins has been married to Stella Arroyave who has remained his spouse. He has one daughter from his first marriage, Abigail Hopkins, who is also an actress and singer, but the two have been estranged for quite some time, and Anthony claimed in a 2018 interview that he didn’t know or care if he had grandchildren or not. Mr Hopkins was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for “services to the arts.” in 1993, shortly after achieving worldwide fame as Hannibal Lecter.
Hopkins previously struggled with alcoholism; he has been sober since shortly after Christmas 1975. He stated, “I made that quantum leap when I asked for help. I just found something and a woman talked to me and she said, just trust in God. And I said, well, why not?” When asked, “Did you literally pray?” Hopkins replied: “No, I didn’t. I think because I asked for help, which is a form of prayer.”
Age
Anthony Hopkins who was born on 31st December 1937 is 86 years old.
Career
Music
Hopkins has stated that music was his first love before acting, and he has dabbled in the music industry throughout his career. The single “Distant Star,” was released in 1986, and his composition The Masque of Time premiered with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra more than 20 years later. In 2012, he released Composer, an entire album of classical music that included many of his own compositions.
Movies
Hopkins is widely regarded as one of the best actors of all time. He made his acting debut as the scheming Richard the Lionheart in the 1968 drama The Lion in Winter. Hopkins won Emmys for his outstanding TV movie performances in The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case (NBC, 1976), as accused kidnapper Bruno Hauptmann, and The Bunker (CBS, 1981), as Adolf Hitler, following his auspicious big screen debut. But the restless thespian rose to stardom with his Oscar-winning performance as Dr Hannibal ‘The Cannibal’ Lecter in 1991’s The Silence of the Lambs, a role he’s reprised several times and is arguably still best known for today.
Following Silence, Hopkins went on to deliver exquisite performances in films such as Howards End and Bram Stoker’s Dracula (both in 1992), The Remains of the Day (1993), Legends of the Fall (1994), Nixon (1995), Amistad (1997), Titus (1999), and The Mask of Zorro (2000). (1998). In addition to reprising his iconic role as Hannibal Lecter in the less well-received Hannibal (2001) and Red Dragon (2002), he also played Odin in Alexander (2004), All the King’s Men (2006), Beowulf (2007), and Thor (2011) and related films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He has been a regular on HBO’s Westworld since 2016. Anthony Hopkins is also featured in the Father and 360.
As an actor, Hopkins is known for his entertaining scenery-chewing, but many in the industry admire him for his meticulous preparation. His fellow actors and filmmakers have praised him for his ability to memorise pages of dialogue, which he attributes to his dedication to going over the lines hundreds of times rather than any innate talent on his part. He’s also known for his ability to adopt a wide range of accents and dialects for the various roles he’s played throughout his career.
Director
He’s also done some directing, beginning with Dylan Thomas: Return Journey in 1990 and directing a variety of other projects (as well as writing screenplays) in the years since. In addition, in 1990, he was tasked with re-recording some of famed actor Laurence Olivier’s dialogue for a new restoration of the 1960 film Spartacus, landing the job thanks in part to the recommendation of Olivier’s widow Joan Piowright.
Net Worth
Anthony Hopkins is a Welsh film, stage, and television actor and composer with a net worth of $160 million. Anthony Hopkins, who began his career on stage, has won two Oscars, two Emmy Awards, three BAFTA Awards, and the Golden Globes’ Cecille B. DeMille Award for Lifetime Achievement. He is best known for his roles in Silence of the Lambs, The Remains of the Day, Nixon, and the HBO original series Westworld.
Salary
Hopkins was one of the highest-paid actors in the late 1990s and early 2000s, earning $15 million to reprise his role as Hannibal Lecter in the 2001 sequel Hannibal and $20 million for the subsequent follow-up Red Dragon in 2002. Other notable paydays include $5 million for Mission: Impossible II (in a minor supporting role) and $15 million for 2010’s horror remake The Wolfman.
Real Estate Investment
Anthony’s primary residence is a large $7 million home in Los Angeles’ Pacific Palisades neighbourhood. He spent a whopping $13 million on neighbouring properties in three months in 2019. He also owns two other properties in the Palisades and a mansion in Malibu. Anthony owns at least $30 million in real estate in the Los Angeles area alone. Anthony paid $3.8 million for his Malibu estate in 2001. He listed this property for sale in February 2020 for $11.5 million.
Awards and Honours
Hopkins was awarded the CBE in 1987 and knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1993 for “services to the arts” He received an honorary D.Litt. degree in 1988 and an honorary fellowship from the University of Wales, Lampeter in 1992. In 1996, he was made a freeman in his hometown of Port Talbot.
Hopkins has also received numerous lifetime achievement awards for his work in film and television. Gwyneth Paltrow presented him with the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille award in 2006. In 2008, Richard Attenborough presented Hopkins with the British Academy of Film and Television Arts BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement. In 2003, Hopkins was also honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Hopkins won the Oscar for Best Actor for The Father in 2021. He became the award’s oldest nominee and winner.