You choose your friends by their character and your socks by their color

Gary Oldman

"You choose your friends by their character and your socks by their color"

Biography:
Gary Leonard Oldman (born 21 March 1958) is an English actor, filmmaker, musician and author. Renowned for his "big" acting style, Oldman is one of the most celebrated thespians of his generation, with a diverse career encompassing theatre, film and television.

Oldman began acting on stage in 1979, and gained his first starring film role in Meantime (1983). He continued to lead an acclaimed theatre career, during which he performed at London's Royal Court and was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, with credits including The Massacre at Paris (1980), Entertaining Mr Sloane (1983), Saved (1983), Women Beware Women (1986), The Country Wife (1987) and Hamlet (1987). Oldman's portrayals of Sid Vicious and Joe Orton, in the biographical films Sid and Nancy (1986) and Prick Up Your Ears (1987) respectively, prompted critic Roger Ebert to declare him "the best young British actor around"; the latter brought Oldman a BAFTA Award nomination. Roles as a football firm leader in The Firm (1989) and the titular Rosencrantz in Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990) further increased his renown within British film.

Oldman went on to achieve international recognition as an Irish American gangster in State of Grace (1990), Lee Harvey Oswald in JFK (1991), and Count Dracula in Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), which earned him the Saturn Award for Best Actor. Emerging as a popular portrayer of villains, Oldman starred as corrupt DEA agent Norman Stansfield in Léon: The Professional (1994), as well as the antagonists of films such as True Romance (1993), The Fifth Element (1997), Air Force One (1997), and The Contender (2000), for which he garnered a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination; Oldman meanwhile played Ludwig van Beethoven in Immortal Beloved (1994). In the 21st century, he is known for his roles as Sirius Black in the Harry Potter series; James Gordon in The Dark Knight Trilogy; George Smiley in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), which brought Academy and BAFTA Award nominations for Best Actor; and a human leader in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014). Oldman also voiced the villain Lord Shen in Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011).


As of 2016, motion pictures in which Oldman has starred have grossed over $10.6 billion. Outside of acting in film, he wrote and directed the double BAFTA Award-winning, Palme d'Or-nominated Nil by Mouth (1997); made an Emmy Award-nominated guest appearance in the Friends two-part episode "The One with Monica and Chandler's Wedding" (2001); featured in music videos by artists including David Bowie, Guns N' Roses and Annie Lennox; and provided the voice of Viktor Reznov in the Call of Duty video game series.

From: Wikipedia