Alfred Molina extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License

Alfred Molina
At the San Diego Comic-Con in 2003
Born	Alfredo Molina May 24, 1953 (1953-05-24) (age 56) Paddington, London, England, UK
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1978–present
Spouse(s)	Jill Gascoine (1986–present)

Alfred Molina (born May 24, 1953) is an English actor with dual British and American citizenship. He first came to public attention in the UK for his joint lead role with Gary Oldman in the 1987 film Prick Up Your Ears. Throughout the world he is well known for his roles in Raiders of the Lost Ark, Spider-Man 2, Species, Not Without My Daughter, Chocolat, Frida, Steamboy, The Hoax, The Da Vinci Code, Little Traitor, and An Education.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Personal life 4 Filmography 5 References 6 External links

Early life

Molina was born Alfredo Molina in Paddington, London. His father, Esteban, was a Spaniard from Madrid who worked as a waiter and chauffeur, while his mother, Giovanna, was an Italian housekeeper who cleaned rooms in a hotel and worked as a cook.¹²³ Molina grew up in a "working class neighbourhood" in Notting Hill⁴ that was inhabited by many other immigrant families.⁵ He decided to become an actor after seeing Spartacus at the age of nine, and attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.⁶

Career

In 1978, Molina starred with Leonard Rossiter in the sitcom The Losers.⁷ Molina made his film debut with a minor role in the 1981 movie Raiders of the Lost Ark as Indiana Jones' ill-fated guide during its iconic opening sequence. However, his big break came with Letter to Brezhnev in 1985, which he followed up with a starring role in Prick Up Your Ears in 1987, playing Joe Orton's lover Kenneth Halliwell. He was cast in a lead role in the Red Dwarf TV series, but was replaced by another actor.

Molina starred in the first two series of El C.I.D. but left to concentrate on his film work. Subsequent films included Species, Dudley Do-Right, Chocolat, Not Without My Daughter, and Enchanted April. With a flawless mid-western American accent, Molina starred alongside Betty White in the US television series "Ladies Man", which ran from 1999–2001.

He has worked twice with Paul Thomas Anderson, first in Boogie Nights and then Magnolia. In 2002, Molina gained wide recognition for his portrayal of Mexican muralist Diego Rivera alongside Salma Hayek in the biopic Frida, a role which garnered him BAFTA and SAG award nominations. In 2003, he played himself alongside Steve Coogan in Coffee and Cigarettes. In 2004, Molina gained further commercial recognition when he was cast as the villain Doctor Octopus in Spider-Man 2, which went on to become one of the highest-grossing films of that year. He later reprised his role of Doctor Octopus in the video game adaption of Spider-Man 2 and archive footage of Molina as Doctor Octopus is seen in the opening of Spider-Man 3. In 2006, Molina portrayed Touchstone in Kenneth Branagh's film version of Shakespeare's As You Like It and appeared in Ron Howard's adaptation of The Da Vinci Code. On 26 June 2008, it was announced that Molina will provide the voice of the villain Ares in the upcoming animated Wonder Woman film.⁸

Molina's stage work has included two major Royal National Theatre productions, Tennessee Williams' The Night of the Iguana (as Shannon) and David Mamet's Speed the Plow (as Fox). In his Broadway debut, Molina performed in Yasmina Reza's Tony Award-winning play 'Art', for which he received a Tony nomination in 1998. In 2004, Molina returned to the stage, starring as Tevye in the Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof. For his performance he once again received a Tony Award nomination, this time for Best Actor in a Musical. In 2010 he will star in Red, a new play by John Logan.⁹

In 2007, Molina narrated a 17-part original audiobook for Audible.com called The Chopin Manuscript. This serialized novel was written by a team of 15 best-selling thriller writers, including Jeffery Deaver, Lee Child, Joseph Finder and Lisa Scottoline.

In 2010 he will star opposite Dawn French in the six-part BBC sitcom Roger and Val Have Just Got In.¹⁰

Personal life

Molina resides in Los Angeles and has become a U.S. citizen.¹¹ He is fluent in Spanish.

He married actress Jill Gascoine in 1986 in Tower Hamlets, London.¹² He has a daughter, Rachel (born 1980), from a previous relationship, and two stepsons (Adam and Sean), from Gascoine's first marriage. He is also a grandfather to Alfie (born November 2003) and Layla (born May 2006).

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	Raiders of the Lost Ark	Satipo
1984	Meantime	John
1985	Letter to Brezhnev	Sergei
	Ladyhawke	Cezar
1987	Prick Up Your Ears	Kenneth Halliwell
1989	Virtuoso	John Ogdon	TV role
	The Accountant	Lionel Ellerman	TV role Nominated - BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor
1991	Hancock	Tony Hancock	TV role
	Not Without My Daughter	Moody
	American Friends	Oliver Syme
1992	Enchanted April	Mellersh Wilkins
1993	A Year in Provence	Tony Havers
	The Trial	Titorelli
1994	Maverick	Angel
1995	Species	Dr. Stephen Arden
	The Perez Family	Juan Raúl Perez
	Dead Man	Trading Post Missionary
	Hideaway	Dr. Jonas Nyebern
	Nervous Energy	Ira Moss
1996	Before and After	Panos Demeris
1997	Anna Karenina	Levin
	Boogie Nights	Rahad Jackson
	The Man Who Knew Too Little	Boris 'The Butcher' Blavasky
1998	The Impostors	Sir Jeremy Burtom
1999	Dudley Do-Right	Snidely K. 'Whip' Whiplash
	Magnolia	Solomon Solomon
	Ladies Man	Jimmy Stiles	CBS television role 1999 to 2001, nominated three times for Best Young Artist Award/Young Star Award
2000	Chocolat	Comte De Reynaud
2001	Murder on the Orient Express	Hercule Poirot
	Texas Rangers	King Fisher
2002	Frida	Diego Rivera	Nominated - BAFTA Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role - Motion Picture Nominated - CFCA Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated - BFCA Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated - Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor
2003	My Life Without Me	Ann's Father
	Identity	Dr. Malick
	Coffee and Cigarettes	Himself
	Luther	Johann Tetzel
2004	Crónicas	Victor Hugo Puente
	Spider-Man 2	Doctor Otto Octavius/Doc Ock
	Steamboy	James Edward Steam
	Undertaking Betty	Boris Plots
2006	The Da Vinci Code	Bishop Manuel Aringarosa
	As You Like It	Touchstone
2007	The Hoax	Dick Suskind
	The Company	Harvey 'The Sorcerer' Torriti	TV miniseries
	Silk	Baldabiou
	The Ten Commandments	Ramesses, the Pharaoh (voice)
	The Moon and the Stars	Davide Rieti
	The Little Traitor	Sergeant Dunlop
2008	Nothing Like the Holidays	Edy Rodriguez
2009	An Education	Jack	Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture Nominated — Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated — Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association for Best Supporting Actor Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
	The Pink Panther 2	Chief Inspector Randall Pepperidge
	The Lodger	Chandler Manning
	Wonder Woman	Ares (voice)
2010	The Tempest	Stephano	post-production
	Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time	Sheik Amar	post-production
	The Sorcerer's Apprentice	Horvath	post-production

References

External links

• Alfred Molina at the Internet Movie Database
• Alfred Molina at the Internet Broadway Database
• Alfred Molina at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Alfred Molina interviewed on Downstage Center XM Radio at American Theatre Wing, November 2004
• Working in the Theatre: Performance video seminar at American Theatre Wing, April 1998
• Q&A: Alfred Molina