Early life

Day-Lewis was born in Kensington, London, the son of poet Cecil Day-Lewis and English actress Jill Balcon. His father, who was born in Ballintubbert, County Laois, Ireland, was of Protestant Anglo-Irish and English background, lived in England from the age of two, and later became the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom. Daniel's mother was Jewish, and his maternal grandparents' families had emigrated to England from Latvia and Poland. His maternal grandfather, Michael Balcon, an important figure in the history of British cinema, was the head of Ealing Studios. Two years after his birth, the family moved to Croom's Hill, Greenwich, south-east London, where Day-Lewis grew up along with his older sister, Tamasin, who became a documentary filmmaker and television chef.

Living in Greenwich, Day-Lewis found himself among tough South London children, and, being partially Jewish and "posh", he was often bullied. He mastered the local accent and mannerisms and credits that as being his first convincing performance. Later in life, he has been known to speak of himself as very much a disorderly character in his younger years, often in trouble for shoplifting and other petty crimes.

In 1968, Day-Lewis' parents, finding his behaviour to be too wild, sent him to the independent Sevenoaks School in Kent as a boarder. At the school, he was introduced to his three most prominent interests: woodworking, acting, and fishing. His disdain for the school grew, and after two years at Sevenoaks, he was transferred to another independent school, Bedales in Petersfield, Hampshire, which his sister attended, and which had a more relaxed and creative ethos. The transfer led to his film debut at the age of 14 in Sunday Bloody Sunday in which he played a vandal in an uncredited role. He described the experience as "heaven", for getting paid £2 to vandalise expensive cars parked outside his local church.

For a few weeks in 1972, he and his parents and sister lived at Lemmons, the north London home of Kingsley Amis and Elizabeth Jane Howard. Cecil Day-Lewis had cancer and Howard invited the family to Lemmons as a place they could use to rest and recuperate. Cecil died there in May that year.

Leaving Bedales in 1975, Day-Lewis's unruly attitude had diminished and he needed to make a career choice. Although he had excelled on stage at the National Youth Theatre in London, he applied for a five-year apprenticeship as a cabinet-maker, but was rejected due to lack of experience. He was then accepted at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which he attended for three years, eventually performing at the Bristol Old Vic itself. At one point he played understudy to Pete Postlethwaite, with whom he would later co-star in the film In the Name of the Father. John Hartoch, Day-Lewis's acting teacher at Bristol Old Vic, recalls, "There was something about him even then. He was quiet and polite, but he was clearly focused on his acting - he had a burning quality. He seemed to have something burning beneath the surface. There was a lot going on beneath that quiet appearance. There was one performance in particular, when the students put on a play called Class Energy, when he really seemed to shine - and it became obvious to us, the staff, that we had someone rather special on our hands."

Career

1980s

During the early 1980s, Day-Lewis worked in theatre and television including Frost in May (where he played an impotent man-child) and How Many Miles to Babylon? (as a World War I officer torn between allegiances to Britain and Ireland) for the BBC. Eleven years after his film debut, Day-Lewis continued his film career with a small part in Gandhi (1982) as Colin, a South African street thug who racially bullies the title character, only to be immediately chastised by his high-strung mother. In late 1982 he had his big theatre break when he took over the lead in Another Country. The following year, he had a supporting role as the conflicted, but ultimately loyal first mate in The Bounty, after which he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, playing Romeo in Romeo and Juliet and Flute in A Midsummer Night's Dream.

In 1985, Day-Lewis played a gay man in an interracial relationship in the film My Beautiful Laundrette, set in 1980s London during the period when Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister. Day-Lewis gained further public notice with A Room with a View (1985). Set in the Edwardian period of turn-of-the-twentieth-century England, he portrayed an entirely different character: Cecil Vyse, the proper upper class fiancé of the main character. In 1987, Day-Lewis assumed leading man status by starring in Philip Kaufman's adaptation of Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being, where he portrayed a Czech surgeon whose hyperactive sex life is thrown into disarray when he allows himself to become emotionally involved with a woman. During the eight-month shoot he learned Czech and first began to refuse to break character on or off the set for the entire shooting schedule. During this period, Day-Lewis and other young British actors of the time such as Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tim Roth, and Bruce Payne, were dubbed the "Brit Pack", a nickname based on the American Brat Pack.

Day-Lewis threw his personal version of method acting into full throttle in 1989 with his performance as Christy Brown in Jim Sheridan's My Left Foot, which garnered him numerous awards, including the Academy Award for Best Actor. He prepared for his role by frequent visits to Sandymount School Clinic in Dublin, where he formed friendships with several people with disabilities, some of whom had no speech. During filming, he refused to break character. Playing a severely paralysed character on screen, off screen Day-Lewis had to be moved around the set in his wheelchair, and crew members would curse at having to lift him over camera and lighting wires, all so that he might gain insight into all aspects of Brown's life, including the embarrassments. It was rumoured that he had broken two ribs during filming from assuming a hunched-over position in his wheelchair for so many weeks, something he denied years later at the 2013 Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

Day-Lewis returned to the stage in 1989 to work with Richard Eyre, in Hamlet at the National Theatre, London, but collapsed during the scene where the ghost of Hamlet's father appears before him. He began sobbing uncontrollably and refused to go back on stage; he was replaced by Jeremy Northam who finished the performance word-and-action-perfect and received a standing ovation. Ian Charleson then formally replaced Day-Lewis for the rest of the run, except that ill-health forced Northam to stand in again many times. Although the incident was officially attributed to exhaustion, Day-Lewis later claimed to have seen the ghost of his own father. He has not appeared on stage since. The media attention following his breakdown on-stage contributed to his decision to eventually move from England to Ireland in the mid-1990s to regain a sense of privacy amidst his increasing fame.

1990s

In 1992, three years after his Oscar win, The Last of the Mohicans was released. Day-Lewis's character research for this film was well-publicized; he reportedly underwent rigorous weight training and learned to live off the land and forest where his character lived, camping, hunting and fishing. Day-Lewis also added to his wood-working skills and learned how to make canoes. He even carried a long rifle at all times during filming to remain in character and learned how to skin animals.

He returned to work with Jim Sheridan on In the Name of the Father, in which he played Gerry Conlon, one of the Guildford Four who were wrongfully convicted of a bombing carried out by the Provisional IRA. He lost a substantial amount of weight for the part, kept his Northern Irish accent on and off the set for the entire shooting schedule, and spent stretches of time in a prison cell. He also insisted that crew members throw cold water at him and verbally abuse him. The film earned him his second Academy Award nomination, his third BAFTA nomination, and his second Golden Globe nomination.

Day-Lewis returned in 1993, playing Newland Archer in Martin Scorsese's adaptation of the Edith Wharton novel The Age of Innocence. To prepare for the film, set in America's Gilded Age, he wore 1870s-period aristocratic clothing around New York City for two months, including top hat, cane and cape.

In 1996, Day-Lewis starred in The Crucible, a film version of the play by Arthur Miller. During the shoot he met his future wife, Rebecca Miller, the author's daughter. He followed that with Jim Sheridan's The Boxer as a former boxer and IRA member recently released from prison. His preparation included training with former boxing world champion Barry McGuigan, and attending professional boxing matches such as the Nigel Benn vs. Gerald McClellan world title fight at London Arena.

Following The Boxer, Day-Lewis took a leave of absence from acting by going into "semi-retirement" and returning to his old passion of woodworking. He moved to Florence, Italy, where he became intrigued by the craft of shoemaking, eventually apprenticing as a shoemaker with Stefano Bemer. For a time his exact whereabouts and actions were not made publicly known.

2000s

After a five-year absence from filming, Day-Lewis returned to act in the multiple Academy Award-nominated film Gangs of New York (2002), directed by Scorsese and produced by Harvey Weinstein. In his role as the villain gang leader William "Bill the Butcher" Cutting, he starred alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, who played Bill's young protégé. He began his lengthy, self-disciplined process by taking lessons as an apprentice butcher, and while filming, he was never out of character between takes (including keeping his character's New York accent). At one point during filming, having been diagnosed with pneumonia, he refused to wear a warmer coat or to take treatment because it was not in keeping with the period; however, he was eventually persuaded to seek medical treatment. His performance in Gangs of New York earned him his third Academy Award nomination and won him the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role.

After Gangs of New York, Day-Lewis's wife, director Rebecca Miller offered him the lead role in her film The Ballad of Jack and Rose, in which he played a dying man with regrets over how his life had evolved and over how he had brought up his teenage daughter. During filming he arranged to live separately from his wife to achieve the "isolation" needed to focus on his own character's reality. The film received mixed reviews.

In 2007, Day-Lewis starred in director Paul Thomas Anderson's loose adaptation of the Upton Sinclair novel Oil!, titled There Will Be Blood. Day-Lewis received the Academy Award for Best Actor, BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama, Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role (which he dedicated to Heath Ledger, saying that he was inspired by Ledger's acting and calling the actor's performance in Brokeback Mountain "unique, perfect"), and a variety of film critics' circle awards for the role. In winning the Best Actor Oscar, Day-Lewis joined Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson as the only Best Actor winners awarded an Oscar in two non-consecutive decades.

In 2009, Day-Lewis starred in Rob Marshall's musical adaptation Nine as film director Guido Contini. Day-Lewis was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and the Satellite Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his role, as well as sharing nominations for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture and the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast and the Satellite Award for Best Cast - Motion Picture with the rest of the cast members.

2010s

Day-Lewis played Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg's film Lincoln. Based on the book Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, the film began shooting in Richmond, Virginia in October 2011. The film was released in selected US cities on 9 November 2012, and then was nationally released on 16 November 2012. Day-Lewis spent a year in preparation for the role, a time he had requested from Spielberg. Day-Lewis read over 100 books on Lincoln, and long worked with the makeup artist to achieve a physical likeness to Lincoln. Lincoln received widespread critical acclaim, much of it directed to Day-Lewis' performance. It also became a commercial success, grossing over $275 million worldwide. In November 2012, Day-Lewis received the BAFTA Britannia Award for Excellence in Film. At the 70th Golden Globe Awards on 14 January 2013, Day-Lewis won his second Golden Globe Award for Best Actor, and at the 66th British Academy Film Awards on 10 February, he won his fourth BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. At the 85th Academy Awards, Day-Lewis became the first three-time recipient of the Best Actor Oscar for his role in Lincoln.

John Hartoch, Day-Lewis's acting teacher at Bristol Old Vic theatre school, lauded his achievement, "Although we have quite an impressive alumni - everyone from Jeremy Irons to Patrick Stewart - I suppose he is now probably the best known, and we're very proud of all he's achieved. i certainly hold him up to current students of an example, particularly as an example of how to manage your career with great integrity. He's never courted fame, and as a result he's never had his private life impeached upon by the press. He's clearly not interested in celebrity as such - he's just interested in his acting. He is still a great craftsman." Shortly after winning the Oscar, Day-Lewis announced he would be taking a break from acting, feeling it would be difficult to top his performance in Lincoln.

Personal life

Day-Lewis rarely discusses his personal life. He had a relationship with French actress Isabelle Adjani, which lasted six years and eventually ended after a split and reconciliation. Their son Gabriel-Kane Day-Lewis was born in 1995 in New York City, several months after the relationship ended.

In 1996, while working on the film version of the stage play The Crucible, he visited the home of playwright Arthur Miller where he was introduced to the writer's daughter, Rebecca Miller. They married later that year. The couple have two sons, Ronan Cal Day-Lewis (born 1998) and Cashel Blake Day-Lewis (born 2002) and divide their time between their homes in New York City and Ireland.

Day-Lewis became an Irish citizen in 1993 and currently holds British and Irish dual citizenship. He has lived in Annamoe, County Wicklow since 1997. He stated "I do have dual citizenship, but I think of England as my country. I miss London very much but I couldn't live there because there came a time when I needed to be private and was forced to be public by the press. I couldn't deal with it". He is a supporter of South-East London football club Millwall.

On 15 July 2010, Day-Lewis received an honorary doctorate in letters from the University of Bristol, in part because of his attendance of the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in his youth. Day-Lewis has stated that he had "no real religious education" and that he "suppose" he is "a die-hard agnostic". In October 2012, he donated to Oxford University papers belonging to his father, the poet Cecil Day-Lewis, including early drafts of the poet's work and letters from actor John Gielgud and literary figures such as W. H. Auden, Robert Graves, and Philip Larkin. In July 2015, he became the Honorary President of the Poetry Archive. A registered UK charity, the Poetry Archive is a free website containing a growing collection of recordings of English-language poets reading their work. Upon accepting, Day-Lewis commented "I so admire what you’re doing with the Poetry Archive and I’m very happy that you’ve invited me to be involved with it."

In June 2014, Day-Lewis was made a Knight Bachelor in the 2014 Birthday Honours for services to drama. When, in 2008, he received the Academy Award for Best Actor from Helen Mirren (who was on presenting duty having won the previous year's Best Actress Oscar for playing Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen) Day-Lewis knelt before her and she tapped him on each shoulder with the Oscar statuette, to which he quipped; "That's the closest I'll come to ever getting a knighthood". In November 2014, Day-Lewis was formally knighted by Prince William, Duke of Cambridge at Buckingham Palace.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Director	Notes
1971	Sunday Bloody Sunday	Child Vandal	John Schlesinger	Uncredited
1982	Gandhi	Colin	Richard Attenborough
1984	Bounty, TheThe Bounty	John Fryer	Roger Donaldson
1985	My Beautiful Laundrette	Johnny	Stephen Frears
	Room with a View, AA Room with a View	Cecil Vyse	James Ivory
1986	Nanou	Maxo	Conny Templeman
1988	Unbearable Lightness of Being, TheThe Unbearable Lightness of Being	Tomas	Philip Kaufman
	Stars and Bars	Henderson Dores	Pat O'Connor
1989	Eversmile, New Jersey	Dr. Fergus O'Connell	Carlos Sorín
	My Left Foot	Christy Brown	Jim Sheridan
1992	Last of the Mohicans, TheThe Last of the Mohicans	Hawkeye (Nathaniel Poe)	Michael Mann
1993	Age of Innocence, TheThe Age of Innocence	Newland Archer	Martin Scorsese
	In the Name of the Father	Gerry Conlon	Jim Sheridan
1996	Crucible, TheThe Crucible	John Proctor	Nicholas Hytner
1997	Boxer, TheThe Boxer	Danny Flynn	Jim Sheridan
2002	Gangs of New York	William "Bill the Butcher" Cutting	Martin Scorsese
2005	Ballad of Jack and Rose, TheThe Ballad of Jack and Rose	Jack Slavin	Rebecca Miller
2007	There Will Be Blood	Daniel Plainview	Paul Thomas Anderson
2009	Nine	Guido Contini	Rob Marshall
2012	Lincoln	Abraham Lincoln	Steven Spielberg

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1980	Shoestring	DJ	Episode: "The Farmer Had a Wife"
1981	Thank You, P. G. Wodehouse	Psmith	Television film
	Artemis 81	Library Student	Television film
1982	How Many Miles to Babylon?	Alec	Television film
	Frost in May	Archie Hughes-Forret	Episode: "Beyond the Glass"
1983	Play of the Month	Gordon Whitehouse	Episode: "Dangerous Corner"
1985	My Brother Jonathan	Jonathan Dakers	Television film
1986	The Insurance Man	Dr. Kafka	Television film
1987	Especial Oscars 86	Cecil Vyse	Television film
2005	Chain Reactions	Himself	TV Mini-Series documentary
	Cinema mil	Himself
2007	Here's Looking at You, Boy	Johnny	Documentary
2008	Shownieuws	Himself
	Strictly Courtroom	Gerry Conlon	TV Movie documentary
	Ceremonia de inauguración - 56º Festival internacional de cine de San Sebastián	Daniel Plainview	TV Movie
2012	Banda sonora	Newland Archer	Episode #8.7
2012-2013	Welcome to the Basement	Abraham Lincoln / Daniel Plainview
2013	60 Minutes	Himself	Actor (segment "Lincoln")

Music

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2005	The Ballad of Jack and Rose	Original score producer
2009	Nine	Performer on "Guido's Song", "I Can't Make This Movie"

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Director	Theatre
1979	The Recruiting Officer	Townsperson/Soldier	Adrian Noble	Theatre Royal, Bristol
	Troilus and Cressida	Deiphobus	Richard Cottrell	Theatre Royal, Bristol
	Funny Peculiar	Stanley Baldry	Pete Postlethwaite	Little Theatre, Bristol
1979-80	Old King Cole	The Amazing Faz	Bob Crowley	Old Vic Theatre, Bristol
1980	Class Enemy	Iron	David Rome	Old Vic Theatre, Bristol
	Edward II	Leicester	Richard Cottrell	Old Vic Theatre, Bristol
	Oh, What a Lovely War!		David Tucker	Theatre Royal, Bristol
	A Midsummer Night's Dream	Philostrate	Richard Cottrell	Theatre Royal, Bristol
1981	Look Back in Anger	Jimmy Porter	George Costigan	Little Theatre, Bristol
	Dracula	Count Dracula	George Costigan	Little Theatre, Bristol
1982-83	Another Country	Guy Bennett	Stuart Burge	Queen's Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue
1983-84	A Midsummer Night's Dream & Romeo and Juliet	Puck & Flute respectively	Sheila Hancock & John Caird	On a Royal Shakespeare Company Regional Tour
1984	Dracula	Count Dracula	Christopher Bond	Half Moon Theatre, London
1986	Futurists	Volodya Mayakovsky	Richard Eyre	Royal National Theatre, London
1989	Hamlet	Hamlet	Richard Eyre	Royal National Theatre, London

[ Source: Wikipedia ]