Kenneth Branagh

Sir Kenneth Branagh (born 10 December, 1960) is an Emmy Award-winning and Academy Award-nominated Northern Irish actor and film director. He portrayed Gilderoy Lockhart in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Branagh is well known for his Shakespeare adaptations, a number of which he co-starred in with Emma Thompson, to whom he was married from 1989 to 1995. Thompson portrays Sybill Trelawney in the Harry Potter films. Branagh was later involved with Helena Bonham Carter, who portrays Bellatrix Lestrange in the films.

In 2001, Branagh won an Emmy Award for the TV movie Conspiracy. His remake of Sleuth, with Michael Caine and Jude Law, was released in 2007.

Outside his Shakespeare work, Branagh has also delved into SF and fantasy, playing Dr. Frankenstein in a popular mid-90s version of the Frankenstein story, and as Dr. Loveless in a film version of the TV series The Wild Wild West. In 2011, he directed a film adaptation of the comic book superhero Thor, and appeared in My Week with Marilyn with Emma Watson, Geraldine Somerville, Toby Jones, and Zoë Wanamaker.

In 2012, he was knighted at the for his services to drama and to the community in Northern Ireland.