Celebrated as a 'wunderkind' of the British stage and one of his country's leading film figures, Kenneth Branagh has often been referred to (not always complimentarily) as his generation's Laurence Olivier or Orson Welles. Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, he moved to England with his family at ten and began his love affair with Shakespeare, reading 25-cent paperback volumes of the Bard as an escape from the schoolyard bullies who taunted him for his Irish accent. A standout at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where he won the Bancroft Gold Medal for his "Hamlet", Branagh became a familiar face on British TV as star of the acclaimed 1984 BBC trilogy "Too Late to Talk to Billy", "A Matter of Choice for Billy" and "A Coming to Terms for Billy". After making a name for himself on stage in his West End debut, "Another Country" (1982), he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company at age 23, opening its 1984 season at Stratford as the youngest "Henry V" in the troupe's history. He also wrote and directed his first play, "Tell Me Honestly" (1985), presented as part of the inaugural season of

;Not the RSC".

Deeming the RSC too large and impersonal, Branagh co-founded the Renaissance Theatre Company with David Parfitt (with Prince Charles as a royal patron). Though it disbanded in 1994, Branagh successfully played "Hamlet", staged his original play "Public Enemy" (which nearly bankrupted the company before it began) and mounted an acclaimed interpretation of "King Lear" under its banner all before the age of 30. He continued acting in high quality British TV ventures such as the 1986 small screen version of Henrik Ibsen's "Ghosts" and the BBC's acclaimed seven-part drama "Fortunes of War" (1987), which teamed him for the first time with frequent co-star and future wife Emma Thompson. Finding time for two features, he played a bungling British agent posing as one-half of the archetypal English tourist couple in the weak-scripted "High Season" but fared far better in his first leading role as a homosexual tormented by his World War I experiences in the plush period drama "A Month in the Country" (both 1987).

Branagh gained international recognition and dual Oscar nods as the director and star of the 1989 screen adaptation of "Henry V". Strikingly dark and atmospheric, this pared down film contrasted sharply with the lavishness and optimism of Laurence Olivier's 1945 version, which reflected England's enthusiasm for the war effort. He traveled to the USA to helm his next feature, a contemporary would-be Hitchcockian thriller, "Dead Again" (1991), in which he played a dual role opposite Thompson. Dismissed by many reviewers for its overly complex story and a general emphasis on style over substance, the film was a commercial success, but Branagh did not fall in love with Hollywood on his initial exposure, returning home to make "Peter's Friends" (1992), a fey and overbearing British variation on "The Big Chill" that managed to make the intelligent Thompson appear shrill. That same year, Branagh also directed "Swan Song", an Oscar-nominated short based on a Chekhov short story, starring John Gielgud.

In his autobiography, written at age 28 in part to raise funds for his theater company, Branagh described himself as a "short-assed, fat-faced Irishman." Lacking the matinee idol looks of

and star of the 1989 screen adaptation of "Henry V". Strikingly dark and atmospheric, this pared down film contrasted sharply with the lavishness and optimism of Laurence Olivier's 1945 version, which reflected England's enthusiasm for the war effort. He traveled to the USA to helm his next feature, a contemporary would-be Hitchcockian thriller, "Dead Again" (1991), in which he played a dual role opposite Thompson. Dismissed by many reviewers for its overly complex story and a general emphasis on style over substance, the film was a commercial success, but Branagh did not fall in love with Hollywood on his initial exposure, returning home to make "Peter's Friends" (1992), a fey and overbearing British variation on "The Big Chill" that managed to make the intelligent Thompson appear shrill. That same year, Branagh also directed "Swan Song", an Oscar-nominated short based on a Chekhov short story, starring John Gielgud.

In his autobiography, written at age 28 in part to raise funds for his theater company, Branagh described himself as a "short-assed, fat-faced Irishman." Lacking the matinee idol looks of the young Olivier, his somewhat plebeian features (pug nose, weak chin, and slightly jowly countenance) brought an earthy reality to his roles which did not always enhance the films. For instance, the 1940s segment of "Dead Again" would have benefited from more old-fashioned glamour and star power. In contrast, Branagh vividly recreated "Henry V" for modern audiences. His theater and TV work (i.e., his Jimmy Porter in a telecast of John Osborne's play "Look Back in Anger" airing on Bravo in 1993) has consistently demonstrated that he is just as comfortable with modern types as with classic characters.

Branagh went back to his first love adapting "Much Ado About Nothing" (1993) as a big-screen, all-star romp through Tuscany with Thompson, Denzel Washington and Keanu Reeves. As he had for "Henry V", he largely dispensed with the traditional declamatory style in favor of more naturalistic line readings, and the art-house hit enhanced his reputation as a canny popularizer of Shakespeare for modern movie audiences, paving the way for such things as Baz Luhrmann's version of "Romeo and Juliet" in 1996 and "Shakespeare in Love" (1998). He then took on a big budget, special effects, a name producer (Francis Ford Coppola) and a major star (Robert De Niro) in hopes of snaring a potentially wider audience with his "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein" (1994), even transforming himself into a long-haired, muscled hunk for his portrayal of Dr. Victor Frankenstein. Critical and popular responses were less than enthusiastic for this somewhat indulgent take on the classic novel.

Returning to Shakespeare, Branagh won critical acclaim for his turn as Iago to Laurence Fishburne's "Othello" (1995) and also won praise for writing and directing "A Midwinter's Tale" (also 1995). Filmed in black and white, the latter followed the travails of a troupe of actors attempting to mount a production of "Hamlet" with generally comic results. Branagh appeared in Al Pacino's documentary drama "Looking for Richard" (1996), about acting Shakespeare, and followed with his own big screen version of "Hamlet" (1996), setting it in the 19th Century and playing the tortured, (and in his interpretation) over-the-top Dane amidst an all-star cast