Colin Firth Biography

Colin Firth was born on 10 September 1960 in Grayshott, Hampshire. The first four years of his life were spent in Nigeria with parents Shirley and David – both children of Methodist missionaries who were working as teachers at the time. Arriving back to the cold English climes age four, with a younger sister, Kate, in tow (brother Jonathan was born in 1967), the Firths didn't stay put for long, moving around in Essex before packing up for St Louis when Colin was 12. The family spent a year in America, where Shirley had grown up, before heading back to England to settle in Winchester. Firth was somewhat of a outsider amongst his classmates thanks to his parent's strong Christian beliefs. They hadn't approved of television and when Firth tried to fit the 'cool' mode in taking up the guitar, he discovered that his lessons would learning involve biblical songs rather than trendy pop tunes. So, he instead turned to acting classes as a creative outlet. Thank goodness for that.

As a troubled teen, not helped by both his parents being teachers (not an approved career for any teenage offspring), Firth became typically rebellious against his middle class, sensible upbringing and channelled this energy by being typically cocky and dressing as a hippy: long hair and orange flares all the way. Academia wasn't Firth's bag and he had decided by age 14 that he wanted to become an actor. At 18, he left college and headed to London to join the National Youth Theatre. Sadly, his acting roles while there didn't extend past being an un-named extra, but he was super keen and stayed on after the runs had ended to work in the office answering phones. It wasn't long before he had blagged a tea-boy job in the wardrobe department at The National Theatre, which inspired him to focus harder on his acting technique and enrol at the London Drama Centre, a notoriously tough learning environment for wannabe actors.