Benedict Cumberbatch

Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch (born 19 July 1976) is an English film, television, theatre and voice actor.

His most acclaimed roles include Stephen Hawking in the BBC drama Hawking (2004), Victor Frankenstein and his creature in Danny Boyle's stage adaptation of Frankenstein (2011) at the Royal National Theatre, Sherlock Holmes in the BBC/PBS series Sherlock, Peter Guillam in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), Christopher Tietjens in the BBC/HBO miniseries Parade's End (2013), Khan Noonien Singh in Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) and Smaug the dragon through voice and motion capture in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit trilogy. Cumberbatch stars in the upcoming historical drama film, The Imitation Game (2014) as wartime cryptographer Alan Turing. In December 2013, he confirmed his return to theatre to play Shakespeare's Hamlet at London's West End in the autumn of 2014.

Cumberbatch is also set to play Amazon explorer Percy Fawcett for the film adaptation of the best-selling book The Lost City of Z to be directed by James Gray.

He has earned an Olivier Award, four BAFTA nominations, two Emmy Award nominations and a Golden Globe nomination, among several others. In November 2013, he was honoured by BAFTA Los Angeles with a Britannia Award for British Artist of the Year for his "masterful performances in television, film and theatre."

Early Years
Cumberbatch was born on 19 July 1976 at Queen Charlotte's Hospital in Hammersmith, London. He grew up in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea with his parents, actors Timothy Carlton (born Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch) and Wanda Ventham. His great-grandfather, Henry Arnold Cumberbatch CMG, was the consul general of Queen Victoria in Turkey. His grandfather, Henry Carlton Cumberbatch, was a decorated submarine officer of both World Wars and a prominent figure of London high society.

Cumberbatch started attending boarding schools when he was eight. He was educated at Brambletye School in West Sussex and was an arts scholar at Harrow School. He was a member of The Rattigan Society, Harrow's principal club for the dramatic arts which was named after Old Harrovian and playwright Sir Terence Rattigan. He was involved in numerous Shakespearean works in school and made his acting debut as Titania Queen of the Fairies in A Midsummer Night's Dream when he was 12. Cumberbatch's drama teacher, Martin Tyrell, called him "the best schoolboy actor" he has ever worked with. He was also part of the rugby team, and painted oil canvasses while at Harrow. After school, he took a gap year to teach English in a Tibetan monastery. He then attended the University of Manchester, where he studied drama. After graduating, Cumberbatch continued his training as an actor at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

Personal Life
In 1999, Cumberbatch began dating actress Olivia Poulet, whom he met at university. The couple amicably broke up after 12 years together. After Poulet, Cumberbatch had a relationship with London-based artist Anna James but has since remained unattached. It was reiterated in a December 2013 cover story by British GQ that Cumberbatch is still single.

While in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, in 2005, Cumberbatch and two of his friends were abducted overnight and held at gunpoint by a group of locals. He was yanked out of the car, his limbs were tied, and he was thrown into the boot. In the end, their abductors drove them into the middle of nowhere and set them free without any explanation. Cumberbatch said of the incident: "It taught me that you come into this world as you leave it, on your own. It's made me want to live a life less ordinary." Cumberbatch considers himself a Buddhist, "at least philosophically." He is fond of extreme sports like skydiving, scuba diving, and high-speed motorcycling.