Born: Rosamund Mary Elizabeth Pike
Date of Birth: 27 January 1979
Birth Place: Hammersmith, London, England, UK
Height: 5′ 8½” (1,74 m)
Born on January 27, 1979 in London, England, actress Rosamund Mary Elizabeth Pike is the only child of a classical violinist mother, Caroline (Friend), and an opera singer father, Julian Pike. Due to her parents’ work, she spent her early childhood traveling around Europe. Pike attended Badminton School in Bristol, England and began acting at the National Youth Theatre.
While appearing in a National Youth Theatre production of “Romeo and Juliet”, she was first spotted and signed by an agent, although she continued her education at Wadham College, Oxford, where she read English Literature, eventually graduating with an upper second class honors degree.
Rosamund Pike has quickly emerged as a contemporary multifaceted actress, having earned international acclaim for both her stage and film roles. Pike recently starred in Barney’s Version, opposite Paul Giamatti and Dustin Hoffman. The film, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival and went on to receive rave reviews at the Toronto International Film Festival, is a love story that spans over 30 years and poignantly captures the life of the politically incorrect, irascible and fearlessly blunt Barney Panofsky (Paul Giamatti) and the women he loved in his life. Pike’s work in the film earned her a 2011 London Critics’ Circle Award for British Actress of the Year.
Currently, Pike is filming Wrath of the Titans, the sequel to last year’s blockbuster Clash of the Titans, opposite Liam Neeson and Sam Worthington. Warner Bros. will release the action-thriller in 2012. She also completed production on David Frankel’s comedy The Big Year, in which she stars alongside Owen Wilson, Jack Black and Steve Martin. Fox 2000 has set the release date for October 14, 2011. Earlier this year, Pike filmed the BBC movie Women in Love.
In 2010, Pike starred in the dramatic film Made in Dagenham, opposite Sally Hawkins, Miranda Richardson and Bob Hoskins, based on the 1968 strike at the Ford Dagenham car plant. She was later nominated for a 2011 London Critics’ Circle Award for British Actress in a Supporting Role for her role in the film. Pike also starred in Lone Scherfig’s Academy Award®-nominated film An Education, opposite Peter Sarsgaard and Carey Mulligan. The film was well received at the Sundance Film Festival in 2009 and continued to garner critical acclaim with Academy Award®, Golden Globe, BAFTA and film critics nominations, and won the Best Foreign Film Award at the Film Independent Spirit Awards.
In 2004, Pike starred in Laurence Dunmore’s film version of The Libertine, playing the wife of the Earl of Rochester (Johnny Depp). Pike was recognized for her extraordinary performance, receiving the 2005 British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actress. The film also starred John Malkovich and Samantha Morton.
Pike was next seen alongside Keira Knightley, Brenda Blethyn and Dame Judi Dench in the film adaptation of the classic Jane Austen novel “Pride and Prejudice,” directed by Joe Wright. She earned critical acclaim and received a 2006 London Film Critics Award for her portrayal of Jane Bennett.
In 2007, Pike played opposite Ryan Gosling and Anthony Hopkins in New Line Cinema’s legal thriller Fracture, directed by Gregory Hoblit. She also starred in Jeremy Podeswa’s independent film Fugitive Pieces, which opened the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival. Pike starred in the Disney film Surrogates, opposite Bruce Willis, and then segued to the independent film Burning Palms, written and directed by Christopher B. Landon. The film depicts five darkly comic and controversial tales of life in Los Angeles. Cast in her first major film as an iconic Bond girl at the age of 21, Pike starred opposite Halle Berry and Pierce Brosnan in Die Another Day.
Pike continues to return to her roots in theatre on the London stage even though she has had great success in cinema throughout her career. She starred in Patrick Hamilton’s Victorian thriller Gaslight, at the Old Vic Theatre; in The Wyndham’s Theatre’s production of Madame de Sade, opposite Judi Dench; and in The Royal Court Theatre’s production of Hitchcock Blonde, directed by Terry Johnson. With its enormous success, the play was moved to the Lyric Theatre in London’s West End. Pike also began the year 2010 by starring as the title role the U.K. touring production of Hedda Gabler, a performance for which she received rave reviews.
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