Cary_Elwes

Cary Elwes

Cary Elwes

British actor (born 1962)


Ivan Simon Cary Elwes (/ˈɛlwɪs/; born 26 October 1962)[1][2] is an English actor. He is known for his leading film roles as Westley in The Princess Bride (1987), Robin Hood in Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993), and Dr. Lawrence Gordon in the Saw film series.

Quick Facts Born, Alma mater ...

Elwes' other performances in films include Glory (1989), Hot Shots! (1991), Days of Thunder (1990), Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), Twister (1996), Kiss the Girls (1997), Liar Liar (1997), Shadow of the Vampire (2000), The Cat's Meow (2001), Ella Enchanted (2004), Pope John Paul II (2005), No Strings Attached (2011),[3] BlackBerry (2023), and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023).

He has appeared on television in a number of series including The X-Files, Seinfeld, From the Earth to the Moon, Psych, and Life in Pieces. In 2019, he appeared in the Netflix drama series Stranger Things and the Amazon Prime comedy series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.[4][5] Elwes has written a memoir of his time working on The Princess Bride called As You Wish, which was published in 2014.

Early life and education

The arms of the Elwes family[6]

Ivan Simon Cary Elwes was born on 26 October 1962 in Westminster, London. He is the youngest of three sons of portrait painter Dominic Elwes[7] and Tessa Kennedy, an interior designer and socialite. Cary is the brother of artist Damian Elwes[8] and film producers Cassian Elwes and Milica Kastner. Cary's stepfather, Elliott Kastner, was an American film producer and the first American to set up independent film production in the United Kingdom.[7] Cary's paternal grandfather was the portrait painter Simon Elwes,[8] whose own father was the diplomat and tenor Gervase Elwes (1866–1921).[9] One of Cary's great-grandfathers was the 1st Baron Rennell, while one of his great-great-grandfathers was the 8th Earl of Denbigh. Cary has English, Irish, Scottish, Croatian-Jewish, and Serbian ancestry,[10] the latter two from his maternal grandmother, Daška McLean, whose second husband, Billy McLean, was an operative for the Special Operations Executive during the Second World War.[11][12]

One of Cary Elwes' relatives is John Elwes, a British miser who was the inspiration for Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol (1843), having been referenced by Charles Dickens himself in chapter six of his last completed novel, Our Mutual Friend.[13][14] Elwes himself played five roles in the 2009 film adaptation of A Christmas Carol. Through his maternal grandfather, Elwes is also related to Sir Alexander William "Blackie" Kennedy, one of the first photographers to document the archaeological site of Petra following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.[15]

Elwes was brought up as a Catholic and was an altar boy at Westminster Cathedral.[16] His paternal relatives include such clerics as Dudley Charles Cary-Elwes (1868–1932), the Bishop of Northampton, and Abbot Columba Cary-Elwes (Ampleforth Abbey, Saint Louis Abbey). He discussed this in an interview while he was filming the 2005 CBS television film Pope John Paul II, in which he played the young priest Karol Wojtyła.[citation needed]

Elwes's parents divorced when he was four years old. In 1975, when Elwes was 13, his father died by suicide.[17] He was educated at Harrow School,[8] and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.[18] In 1981, he moved to the United States to study acting at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York.[19] While living there, Elwes studied acting at both the Actors Studio[19] and the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute under the tutelage of Al Pacino's mentor, Charlie Laughton (not to be confused with English actor Charles Laughton).[18] As a teenager, he also worked as a production assistant on the films Absolution, Octopussy, and Superman, where he was assigned to Marlon Brando. When Elwes introduced himself to the actor, Brando insisted on calling him "Rocky" after Rocky Marciano.[20]

Career

1984–1999

Props from the film The Princess Bride (1987)

Elwes made his acting debut in 1984 with Marek Kanievska's film Another Country, which was loosely based on the English boarding school exploits of British spies Burgess, Philby and MacLean. He played James Harcourt, a gay student.[8] He then played Guilford Dudley in the British historical drama film Lady Jane, opposite Helena Bonham Carter. He was cast as stable-boy-turned-swashbuckler Westley in Rob Reiner's fantasy-comedy The Princess Bride (1987), which was based on the novel of the same name by William Goldman. It was a modest box office success,[21] but received critical acclaim. As a result of years of reviews, it earned a score of 97% on the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes.[22] Since being released on home video and television, the film has become a cult classic.[21]

Initially the studio didn't know how to market it. Was it an adventure? A fantasy? A comedy? A romance? A kids' movie? In the end they sold it as a kids' movie and it largely had to rely on word of mouth ... people tell me they still have their VHS copy that has been passed down from one generation to the next.

Interview from the film's DVD release in 2001[23]

Elwes continued to work steadily, varying between dramatic roles, such as in the Oscar-winning Glory (1989) and comedic roles, as in Hot Shots! (1991). He played a rival driver to Tom Cruise in Days of Thunder (1990). In 1993, he starred as Robin Hood in Mel Brooks's comedy Robin Hood: Men in Tights. Elwes then appeared in supporting roles in such films as Francis Ford Coppola's adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), The Crush (1993), The Jungle Book (1994), Twister (1996), Liar Liar (1997), and Kiss the Girls. In 1999, he portrayed famed theatre and film producer John Houseman for Tim Robbins in his ensemble film based on Orson Welles's musical, Cradle Will Rock. Following that, he travelled to Luxembourg to work with John Malkovich and Willem Dafoe in Shadow of the Vampire.

Elwes made his first television appearance in 1996 as David Lookner on Seinfeld. Two years later he played astronaut Michael Collins in the Golden Globe Award-winning HBO miniseries From the Earth To the Moon. The following year Elwes was nominated for a Golden Satellite Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television for his portrayal of Colonel James Burton in The Pentagon Wars directed by Richard Benjamin. In 1999, he guest starred as Dr. John York in an episode of the television series The Outer Limits.

2000–2009

Elwes in 2010

In 2001, he co-starred in Peter Bogdanovich's ensemble film The Cat's Meow portraying film mogul Thomas Ince, who died mysteriously while vacationing with William Randolph Hearst on his yacht. Shortly afterward he received another Golden Satellite Award nomination for his work on the ensemble NBC Television film Uprising opposite Jon Voight directed by Jon Avnet. Elwes had a recurring role in the final season (from 2001 to 2002) of Chris Carter's hit series The X-Files as FBI Assistant Director Brad Follmer. In 2003 Elwes portrayed Kerry Max Cook in the off-Broadway play The Exonerated in New York, directed by Bob Balaban (18–23 March 2003).[24]

In 2004, Elwes starred in the horrorthriller Saw which, at a budget of a little over $1 million, grossed over $100 million worldwide.[25] The same year he appeared in Ella Enchanted, this time as the villain, not the hero. Also in 2004, he portrayed serial killer Ted Bundy in the A&E Network film The Riverman, which became one of the highest rated original films in the network's history and garnered a prestigious BANFF Rockie Award nomination. The following year, Elwes played the young Karol Wojtyła in the CBS television film Pope John Paul II. The TV film was highly successful not only in North America but also in Europe, where it broke box office records in the late Pope's native Poland and became the first film ever to break $1 million in three days.[26] He made an uncredited appearance as Sam Green, the man who introduced Andy Warhol to Edie Sedgwick, in the 2006 film Factory Girl. In 2007, he appeared in Garry Marshall's Georgia Rule opposite Jane Fonda.

In 2007, he made a guest appearance on the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Dependent" as a Mafia lawyer. In 2009, he played the role of Pierre Despereaux, an international art thief, in the fourth-season premiere of Psych.[27] Also in 2009 Elwes joined the cast of Robert Zemeckis's motion capture adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol portraying five roles. That same year he was chosen by Steven Spielberg to appear in his motion capture adaptation of Belgian artist Hergé's popular comic strip The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn.[28] Elwes's voice-over work includes the narrator in James Patterson's audiobook The Jester,[29] as well as characters in film and television animations such as Quest for Camelot, Pinky and The Brain, Batman Beyond, and the English versions of the Studio Ghibli films, Porco Rosso, Whisper of the Heart and The Cat Returns. For the 2004 video game The Bard's Tale, he served as screenwriter, improviser, and voice actor of the main character The Bard. In 2009, Elwes reunited with Jason Alexander for the Indian film, Delhi Safari.[30] The following year Elwes portrayed the part of Gremlin Gus in Disney's video game, Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two. In 2014, he appeared in Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey as the voice of scientists Edmond Halley and Robert Hooke.

2010–present

Elwes at Comic-Con in 2013

In 2010, he returned to the Saw franchise in Saw 3D (2010), the seventh film in the series, as Dr. Lawrence Gordon.[31] In 2010, he returned to Psych, reprising his role in the second half of the fifth season, again in the show's sixth season, and again in the show's eighth season premiere.[32] In 2014, Elwes played Hugh Ashmeade, Director of the CIA, in the second season of the BYUtv series Granite Flats. In 2011, he was selected by Ivan Reitman to star alongside Natalie Portman in No Strings Attached. That same year, Elwes and Garry Marshall teamed up again in the ensemble romantic comedy New Year's Eve opposite Robert de Niro and Halle Berry.

In 2012, Elwes starred in the independent drama The Citizen.[33] and the following year Elwes joined Selena Gomez for the comedy ensemble, Behaving Badly directed by Tim Garrick. In 2015, he completed Sugar Mountain directed by Richard Gray; the drama We Don't Belong Here, opposite Anton Yelchin and Catherine Keener directed by Peer Pedersen, and Being Charlie which reunited Elwes with director Rob Reiner after 28 years and premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. In 2016, Elwes starred opposite Penelope Cruz in Fernando Trueba's Spanish-language period pic The Queen of Spain, a sequel to Trueba's 1998 drama The Girl of Your Dreams. This also re-united Elwes with his Princess Bride co-star, Mandy Patinkin.[34]

Elwes at the Phoenix Comicon in 2014

In October 2014 Touchstone (Simon & Schuster) published Elwes's memoir of the making of The Princess Bride, entitled As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride, which he co-wrote with Joe Layden. The book featured never-before-told stories, exclusive behind-the-scenes photographs, and interviews with co-stars Robin Wright, Wallace Shawn, Billy Crystal, Christopher Guest, Fred Savage and Mandy Patinkin, as well as screenwriter William Goldman, producer Norman Lear, and director Rob Reiner. The book debuted on The New York Times Best Seller list.[35][36]

In 2014, Elwes co-wrote the screenplay for a film entitled Elvis & Nixon, about the pair's famous meeting at the White House in 1970.[37] The film starred Michael Shannon and Kevin Spacey; it was bought by Amazon as their first theatrical feature and released on 22 April 2016.[38] In May 2015, Elwes was cast as Arthur Davenport, a shrewd and eccentric world-class collector of illegal art and antiquities in Crackle's first streaming network series drama, The Art of More, which explored the cutthroat world of premium auction houses. The series debuted on 19 November and was picked up for a second season.[39]

In April 2018 Elwes portrayed Larry Kline, mayor of Hawkins, for the third season of the Netflix series Stranger Things, which premiered in July 2019.[40] He was nominated along with the cast for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. In May 2019, he joined the third season of the Amazon series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel as Gavin Hawk.[41]

Personal life

Elwes met photographer Lisa Marie Kurbikoff in 1991 at a chili cook-off in Malibu, California; they were engaged in 1997.[42] They married in 2000 and have one daughter.[43]

In March 2021, Elwes posted on his social media accounts that his younger half-sister Milica had died after battling Stage 4 cancer for more than a year.[44]

Elwes is known for his feud with Republican Texas Senator and Princess Bride fan Ted Cruz.[45][46] According to the Hollywood Reporter, Elwes initiated the 2020 fundraiser that re-united many Princess Bride cast members to support Joe Biden in the battleground state of Wisconsin.[47][48] The Princess Bride Reunion raised more than $4 million for Wisconsin Democrats.[49]

Lawsuit

In August 2005, Elwes filed a lawsuit against Evolution Entertainment, his management firm and producer of Saw. Elwes said he was promised a minimum of one per cent of the producers' net profits of the film and did not receive the full amount.[50] The case was settled out of court. Elwes returned to the series in 2010 reprising his role in Saw 3D.[51]

Filmography

Key
Denotes projects that have not yet been released

Film

More information Year, Title ...

Television

More information Year, Title ...

Video games

More information Year, Title ...

Awards and nominations

More information Year, Association ...

Bibliography

  • Elwes, Cary; Layden, Joe (2014). As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride. New York: Touchstone. ISBN 9781476764023. OCLC 878812649.

References

  1. "The Almanac". UPI. 26 October 2008. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  2. "World Almanac". Kent County Daily Times. 26 October 2010. Today's Birthdays: Cary Elwes
  3. Tallerico, Brian (2 July 2019). "'Stranger Things': Cary Elwes Lives It Up As a Shady Mayor". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 1 January 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  4. Otterson, Joe (30 May 2019). "'Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' Season 3 Adds Cary Elwes, Stephanie Hsu (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  5. Burke, John; Burke, Sir Bernard (1844). A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Extinct and Dormant Baronetcies of England, Ireland, and Scotland. John Russell Smith. p. 182. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  6. Cerio, Gregory (6 February 1995). "A Hero to the Hilt". People. 43 (5). Archived from the original on 30 March 2011. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  7. Kim, Jae-Ha (12 January 1990). "British actor takes turn as American in 'Glory'". Chicago Sun-Times. p. 25.
  8. 90265 Malibu Life & Style Magazine Issue No. 2; Fall 2013
  9. McLean, Billy (4 March 2013). "Billy McLean – S.O.E. Trails". S.O.E. Trails.
  10. Moncur, Michael. "Charles Dickens: Our Mutual Friend". The Literature Page.
  11. Guthrie, Marisa (4 December 2005). "The spirit moved him". Daily News. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 13 September 2010. Elwes, who grew up a Catholic...
  12. Roger Wilkes (9 September 2000). "Inside story: Stewart's Grove". The Telegraph.
  13. "Dr Gordon is back in Saw – Cary Elwes's character from the first Saw film is back by popular demand". The Straits Times. 5 January 2011.
  14. Tam Jr, Henry (13 August 1993). "The 'Robin' Who Has Sherwood Forest Chuckling". San Francisco Chronicle: C6.
  15. "Mark & Brian w/Cary Elwes on Marlon Brando". 8 May 2008. Retrieved 23 June 2013 via YouTube.
  16. Gray Streeter, Leslie (9 December 2007). "'The Princess Bride' Turns 20". The Palm Beach Post: 6J. [w]as a modest hit. But it became a raging cult classic after being released on video and shown on cable.
  17. Westbrook, Bruce (6 September 2001). "'Bride' basks in glow of video". Houston Chronicle.
  18. Hernandez, Ernio (18 March 2003). "Cary Elwes and Brooke Shields Join Off-Broadway's Exonerated, 18–23 March". Playbill.com. Archived from the original on 29 June 2010. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
  19. "Saw (2004)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  20. "Pope Picture Breaks Box Office Records". contactmusic.com. 3 September 2006.
  21. "First Two Teaser Clips Psych: 9". DreadCentral. CraveOnline. 2 January 2010. Archived from the original on 2 November 2012. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  22. Paterson, James; Gross, Andrew (1 March 2003). The Jester (Abridged ed.). Hachette Audio. ISBN 1-58621-535-3.
  23. "Delhi Safari to feature voice over by Vanessa Williams and Jason Alexander". Bollywood Hungama. 30 May 2011. Archived from the original on 4 September 2011. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  24. "Cary Elwes Confirmed for 'Saw 3D', Full Synopsis and Cast". Bloody Disgusting. 25 April 2010. Archived from the original on 26 April 2010. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
  25. Slezak, Michael (21 July 2011). "Psych First Look: The Season 6 Scene Everyone Will Be Talking About! Plus, Musical Update!". TVLine. Archived from the original on 23 September 2011. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
  26. Sneider, Jeff (13 July 2011). "4 thesps apply for 'The Citizen'". Variety. Archived from the original on 20 August 2011. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  27. Dave McNary (4 March 2016). "Cary Elwes Starring in Penelope Cruz's 'Queen of Spain' (EXCLUSIVE)". variety.com. Variety. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  28. "Cary Elwes wrote book about the making of the film, The Princess Bride". geekwithcurves.com. June 2014. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  29. Reilly, Travis (16 January 2015). "Colin Hanks, Johnny Knoxville, Alex Pettyfer Added to 'Elvis & Nixon'". TheWrap. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  30. Fitzpatrick, Kevin (31 May 2019). "Cary Elwes and His Smoldering Eyes Are Joining Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season 3". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  31. "Celebrities – DeGeneres 'Bedding' Talk-Show Guests". Watertown Daily Times. 3 May 2007. p. D2. Elwes and Lisa Marie (née Kurbikoff) met in 1991 at a Malibu chili cook-off. They were engaged in 1997 and tied the knot three years later.
  32. Silverman, Stephen M.; Jordan, Julie (27 April 2007). "Cary Elwes, Wife Welcome a Girl". People. Archived from the original on 7 November 2011. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  33. Elwes, Cary [@caryelwes] (15 March 2021). "My dear sweet Milica. I dislike having to write this about you as it puts the finality on something I have been dreading to accept, which is that you are gone. What can I share about my extraordinary sister in this short space? First and foremost, she had an enormous capacity to care for others over herself. A rare quality of inclusion which makes this loss even more insurmountable. Even whilst suffering she would not want to talk about her day, but about yours. And that conversation would usually end with a few good laughs. In fact, having a good laugh was really important to Mil and that laugh was totally infectious. She was able to laugh as much at death as she was at life. Truly a force to contend with. A candle that burned ever so brightly. I would watch people who met her for the first time and stand back trying to not to smile as I watched them realize this woman was completely without pretense. No filter at all. But in a good way. Looking for the good in people and then making sure to make friends with them. I have met many of the Angels who have surrounded her from the start of their friendship and never left her at the end. To all of you, too many to mention here, I thank you from my completely shattered heart. And to all of you who have shared your outpouring of support to me and my family at this difficult time, we are truly grateful. My North Star will forever twinkle tears in memory of you, Milica. God speed, sweet angel 💔😥🙏" via Instagram.
  34. "Ted Cruz and actor Cary Elwes Twitter feud over 'Princess Bride'". ABC13 Houston. 4 February 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  35. Strauss, Jackie (17 September 2020). "How Wisconsin Democrats Used Hollywood Reunions to Make a "Critical Difference" in the 2020 Election". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 15 September 2020. Retrieved 15 September 2020. Elwes organized the Princess Bride reunion event with the original cast of the 1987 classic film in mid-September that went on to raise $4.25 million dollars.
  36. Goldman, David (6 September 2020). "'The Princess Bride' cast is reuniting and Ted Cruz is livid about why". CNN. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  37. Spicuzza, Mary (17 September 2020). "'A fundraiser of unusual size': Princess Bride reunion raises $4.25 million for Wisconsin Democrats". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Archived from the original on 24 October 2020. Retrieved 18 September 2020. Elwes also played a key role in organizing the fundraiser.
  38. Mitchell, Peter (20 August 2005). "Not everyone happy with their cut from Saw". The Age. AAP. Archived from the original on 7 November 2012. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  39. Gingold, Michael (25 April 2010). ""Saw VII" Synopsis and Cast Revealed – Including Cary Elwes!". Fangoria. Archived from the original on 14 June 2012. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  40. "Cary Elwes (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 24 September 2023. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its opening and/or closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information.
  41. Lang, Brent (11 October 2022). "Briarcliff Entertainment Buys Sweetwater, Drama About Pioneering African American NBA Player (Exclusive)". Variety. Archived from the original on 30 December 2022. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  42. Fuster, Jeremy (11 March 2021). "'Mission: Impossible' Director Teases New Cast Additions, Including Cary Elwes and Indira Varma". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  43. InXile Entertainment. The Bard's Tale. InXile Entertainment. Scene: Ending credits, 2:10:09 in, Voice Talent.

Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Cary_Elwes, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.