Ray Winstone: biography and filmography

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Ray Winston is a British film, stage and television actor, producer and boxer. He became famous in the UK in the eighties thanks to his work on television. He became known to viewers around the world after his roles in the blockbusters "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" and "Beowulf", as well as thanks to his work in Martin Scorsese's Oscar-winning crime drama "The Departed".

Childhood and youth

Ray Winston was born on February 19, 1957 in London. Full name is Andrew Raymond Winston. Since childhood, he was fond of cinema, he constantly visited the local cinema with his parents. At the age of twelve, he took up boxing and joined the Rapton Boxing Club. Over the next ten years, he fought 88 fights, of which he won 80. He won the London School Championship three times, was part of the national team.

Ray attended the prestigious acting school Corona, where he stood out among his we althy classmates and often came into conflict with them. Moreover, he did not finda common language with the parents of other students who considered the working-class man to be bad company for their children. This resulted in Ray Winston being expelled from school after a year of study after he blew the tires on the principal's car.

Career start

After being expelled from the acting school, Winston decided, as a joke, to sneak into an audition for the well-known British play "Misfits", where almost all of his classmates went. The young actor impressed director Alan Clarke and landed the lead role, even though it was originally written for a Glaswegian.

The prison drama was filmed in the style of a teleplay, but due to the acts of violence depicted on the screen, the channels refused to show the footage for a long time. In 1983, the play was re-shot with the same actors as a feature-length film and became popular in Britain. Ray Winstone began to receive many offers, mainly - the roles of criminals, but also tried himself in comedies and melodramas.

From 1984 to 1986 the actor played one of the main roles in the series "Robin of Sherwood", which was popular outside the United Kingdom. In the eighties and early nineties, Ray Winstone acted in theater and television series.

Most notable roles

In 1997, Winston landed the lead role in the directorial debut of famed actor Gary Oldman, Don't Swallow. This work was in many ways a breakthrough film for Ray Winstone - he received a BAFTA award nomination andbecame famous in the United States.

In the next ten years, the actor became much more likely to appear in Hollywood projects, playing prominent roles in such films as "Sexy Beast", "Cold Mountain", "King Arthur", "The Departed", "The Proposal", " Beowulf" and "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull". In 2006, the famous film critic Roger Ebert called Winston one of the best actors of our time.

Recent work

In recent years, the actor has become less likely to appear in big-budget projects. His most notable roles in recent years are the thriller "Retribution", the western "Pathfinder", the police drama "The Flying Squad of Scotland Yard" and the remake of the film "Point Break".

Ray Winston has returned to active work in television, starring in the mini-series "Moonfleet", "The Trial of Jimmy Rose" and "Kings and Prophets". The actor also founded his own film production company and produced several feature films.

Private life

Ray Winston has been married to a woman named Elaine since 1979 and has three daughters, two of whom also became actresses.

The actor is a devoted fan of the West Ham football club. He got into scandals several times, declared himself bankrupt twice, and in 2015, while appearing on a TV show, he unsuccessfully joked about the Scots, after which the photo of RayWinston appeared on the front pages of Scottish newspapers, and viewers began to complain about the actor's statements to the television control authorities.