HARRY POTTER THE SAGA!!: DANIEL RADCLIFFE BIOGRAPHY

Date of Birth

23 July 1989, Fulham, London, England, UK

Birth Name

Daniel Jacob Radcliffe

Nickname

Dan

Height

5' 6" (1.68 m)

Mini Biography

Daniel Jacob Radcliffe was born on July 23rd, 1989 to Alan Radcliffe and Marcia Gresham. He began performing in small school productions as a young boy. Soon enough, he landed a role in David Copperfield (1999) (TV), as the young David Copperfield. A couple of years later, he landed a role as Mark Pendel in The Tailor of Panama (2001), the son of Harry and Louisa Pendel (Geoffrey Rush and Jamie Lee Curtis). Lee Curtis had indeed pointed out to Daniel's mother that he could be Harry Potter himself. Soon afterwards, Daniel was cast as Harry Potter by director, Chris Columbus in the film that hit theatres in November 16, 2001, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001). He was recognized worldwide after this film was released. Pleasing audiences and critics everywhere, filming on its sequel, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), commenced shortly afterwards. He appeared again as Harry in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) directed by Alfonso Cuarón, and then appeared in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) directed by Mike Newell. Shortly afterwards, he finished filming December Boys (2007) in Adelaide, Australia, Kangaroo Island, and Geelong, Australia which began on the 14th of November, 2005 and ended sometime in December. On January 27th, 2006, he attended the South Bank Awards Show to present the award for "Breakthrough Artist of the Year" to Billie Piper. Dan reprised his famous character once again for the next installment of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007). In February 2007 he took on his first stage role in the West End play Equus to worldwide praise from fans and critics alike. He has finished filming the TV movie My Boy Jack (2007) (TV), which will air on 11 November 2007 in the UK.

Now being one of the world's most recognizable people, Daniel leads a somewhat normal life. He has made friends working on the Harry Potter films, which include his co-stars Rupert Grint and Emma Watson.

Trivia

Likes to play pranks. He took co-star Robbie Coltrane's cellular phone and changed it so all the messages were in Turkish.

Has two border terriers named Binka and Nugget.

Tried reading the first Harry Potter book when he was 8 years old, but was unable to finish it. Finally read the entire book when he was cast in the lead role of the film

Has never actually seen the film The Tailor of Panama (2001) in which he appeared.

His favorite book from the Harry Potter series so far is number three, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

In February 2002, he was nominated for, and won "Best Newcomer" at the Variety Club Award ceremonies.

Received the Sir James Carreras Award For Outstanding New Talent for his role in Harry Potter at The Variety Club Showbusiness Awards 2002.

Voted Person of the Year 2002 by Time Kids.

Has stated that 12 Angry Men (1957) is the first black & white film he ever saw and is also his favorite film.

He named Jane's Addiction, The Libertines, Rage Against the Machine and The Darkness among his favorite bands.

David Heyman, the producer for the Harry Potter films happened to be at a play that both Dan and Dan's father, Alan Radcliffe, were at. After Heyman spotted Radcliffe, since both men knew each other, he was introduced to his son and when Heyman saw Daniel he thought he looked perfect for the part. In fact, that night at the play, Heyman couldn't help just staring at Dan because he though he was perfect to play Harry. Daniel auditioned for, and got the part that he is now most recognized for, Harry Potter.

He enjoys listening to the music of Blur, Muse, The Music, Zwan and Brendan Benson.

A February 23, 2004 article in British newspaper 'The Sun' listed him as Britain's third richest teenager behind only Prince Harry Windsor and Charlotte Church. He is said to be worth 5 million pounds.

Has earned 6 million pounds so far portraying Harry Potter, making him the second richest teenage in Britain behind Prince Harry Windsor's 14 million pounds. [2004]

Can rotate his arm 360 degrees.

Is a big fan of Gary Oldman, his co-star in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004).

Is a supporter of Fulham Football Club although he doesn't enjoy playing football himself.

He is a fan of Red Hot Chili Peppers and attended their London concert in June 2004.

Some of his favorite music groups are Stratovarius (Finland), Huey Lewis and The News (USA), and Tom Robinson (England).

Favorite actors include Aishwarya Rai, Christina Ricci, Cameron Diaz, Scarlett Johansson and Ben Stiller.

He originally disliked the "Harry Potter" books when he first read them.

Especially like the music group The Sex Pistols. He also plays the bass guitar.

He is a fan of indie rock. Some of his favorite bands include: The Zutons, Razorlight, The Libertines, Bloc Party, Hope of the States, The Futureheads and Kaiser Chiefs.

Delays between filming the second and third Harry Potter movies were caused because his parents wanted him to be able to attend normal school for a while.

Says he doesn't read any articles or reviews about himself or his movies.

He supports Demelza House Children's Hospice, which is a charity that cares for terminally-ill children in the Kent, East Sussex and South London areas of Britain. Dan always asks his fans to donate to the charity every Christmas and on his birthday instead of sending him gifts. In the book, 'Harry Potter and the Half- Blood Prince', the author J.K. Rowling named the character Demelza Robins after the charity.

He likes the music of The Strokes, The Clash and Pixies.

[May/June 2006] He sat his AS Levels in English Literature, History, and Religion and Philosophy for his AS levels (First year college exams).

Named Britain's richest teenager with an astounding 23 million pound fortune, after he signed on a 8 million pound deal to make the fifth movie of the Harry Potter series.

Dan scared the make-up department crew when he came on set with bloodied sticking plasters on his face claiming that he had been fighting the previous day (just for a laugh).

His parents are Alan Radcliffe, a literary agent, and Marcia Gresham, a casting director.

Is also a big fan of The Killers.

Before working with Brendan Gleeson in the Harry Potter series, he worked with him in The Tailor of Panama (2001).

23 July 2007 - Appeared on BBC Radio's Test Match Special, from Lords, London, on the final day of the England v. India test match. It was his 18th birthday and he was a guest on "View from the Boundary" hosted by Jonathan Agnew, the BBC's cricket correspondent. He talked about his career to date and love of cricket.

Is very close to actor Gary Oldman.

His agent Sue Latimer is the mother (and agent) to his friend and fellow actor Freddie Highmore.

He is a huge fan of John Wayne.

Was ranked #6 on Forbes List of The 20 Top-Earning Young Superstars.(2007).

Named #23 on Empire Magazine's 100 Sexiest Movie Stars. (2007).

Was ranked #10 on Yahoo! List of 10 Most Popular Stars of 2007 on Yahoo! Movies. (2007).

Was ranked #79 on Forbes List of The Celebrity 100. (2007).

In 2007, Forbes Magazine estimated his earnings for the year at $15 million.

Was ranked #29 on Entertainment Weekly's '30 Under 30' the actors list.(2008).

Was ranked #3 on TV Guide Top 10 Teen Star Countdown (2008).

Was ranked #8 on Moviefone's 'The 25 Hottest Actors Under 25'(2008).

Named as one of London's 1000 most influential people of 2008.

Ranked #11 on MSN's top searched for stars under age 25 in 2008.

Ranked #1 on MSN's top searched for male in 2007.

In the 2003 Comic Relief fundraiser, a lock of Dan's hair sold at auction for 751 British pounds, the highest amount raised.

In 2008, Dan and the cast of Equus raised $203,746 for the charity, BroadwayCares/EquityFightsAids 20th Gypsy of the Year competition, setting a record for the most ever raised by a Broadway play. They not only beat the amount raised by other Broadway musicals but also came runner up for the best presentation, again beating out every other musical with their own song and dance. (The winning presentation was the Lion King's). Dan wrote and sang the song. http://www.broadwaycares.org/events/gypsy.cfm.

Considers himself as an atheist and respects the work of Richard Dawkins.

The Guardian (UK) reported that Radcliffe has published some poetry under the pen name "Jacob Gershon." Jacob is his middle name, and Gershon is the original Yiddish name from which his mother's maiden name, Gresham, was derived.

In August 2009, The Trevor Project announced that Daniel Radcliffe had made a "major" donation to them and joined their "Circle of Hope," a group of their high-donating supporters. The Trevor Project operates a national (US) crisis and suicide prevention helpline for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth (who are four times more likely to attempt suicide than heterosexual children and teens). The Trevor Project was inspired by the short film Trevor (1994), about a gay boy who attempts suicide; the organization was started by the film's creators in 1998.

Personal Quotes

After being cast as Harry Potter: "I think I'm a tiny bit like Harry 'cos I'd like to have an owl. Yeah, that's the tiny bit, actually."

I don't know. People tell me I look mournful. They say, "Cheer up, Dan, it's not that bad!" Sometimes I just look into space, which freaks people out. If I was ever required to do anything other than look haunted, I could. I'm a happy person. Though I don't, like, dot my "I's" with hearts or anything - that would be too happy.

I'm not much of a cake person.

But I don't think it's going to happen. I don't think I'll do all of them - I'll probably get too spotty or too tall or I'll shrink or something.

"Absolutely. 100 percent." [on believing in magic]

I was in the bath at the time, and my dad came running in and said, 'Guess who they want to play Harry Potter!?' and I started to cry. It was probably the best moment of my life.

I'm not clumsy, I'm just accident prone.

Upon seeing the movie: "I'm a bit nervous about whether people will like it, but I've seen it, and I'm sure they will. It's really good - it's quite scary, it's quite emotional. Even I cried and I don't cry easily! I cried at the end credits when my name came up, and I was, like, Oh my God! I can't believe that's my name! I've met so many people since we started filming and it's been wonderful. I've progressed so far and changed so much since the beginning. It's been like a real journey."

On considering himself as a heartthrob: "Personally I can't see it, but if other people can, fine. Cool!"

I would consider doing any part as long as the script is good and the film has an interesting director.

"I like them, but it's hard to concentrate when the bats fly about, and they pee while they fly." [about the bats on the set]

I've never been one of the cool people at school, but then again, I don't get the people who are cool. It's not that I don't like them, it's just that they don't interest me.

"Too many little numbers on one page!" - about math

Stage is much more intimidating than going before the cameras, because you can really screw up, and can't do a retake.

When I go back to school everyone asks a lot of questions. Then, after about a week, when I've answered everything, we get back to normal.

It's too far down the road to decide about a fifth movie. I'm still the same age Harry is, and I haven't actually grown that much.

Fans are really important for me. And if they take pains to write me, it's the minimum that I answer myself.

I think I'm highly normal. I'm attending school after acting, I'm going out with friends, going to the cinema - I'm just doing everything a normal teenager does. People think I can't leave the house without being in a crowd of fans - but that's not true. I'm able to do more things than people might think.

I'm thrilled of the acceptance I get abroad. The people are so hearty, warm and grateful and I feel privileged having seen so many countries and some of the greatest monuments.

When I get into trouble at school I'd like to take an invisibility cloak, drape it over me and sneak out the door. Or I'd like to have a 3-headed-dog because then no one would argue with me.

I played a trick on the make-up department where I put a fake blood capsule in my mouth, pretended to trip on the stairs and let the blood come out of my mouth. They really fell for it, then they chased after me with a water pistol.

Everyone on the set has a mobile phone, and I found by pushing a few buttons, they could be programmed into different languages. I fixed Robbie's (Coltrane) to speak in Turkish.

I don't understand girls, but I'm slowly learning.

[on saying that he'll do all of the Harry Potter movies] "Ultimately it comes down to whether we're still enjoying it. If we are then I think we would be sort of stupid not to do them. As long as I'm doing other stuff around the same time, I think it'll be fine. Also, I sort of try to read the books when they come out impartially and not make up my mind, but the fact is when I was reading the sixth, Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince, there were bits in there where I was going, 'God, I would love to do that because it's so good.'"

(on whether he is religious) "I'm not a religious person. My mom was of Jewish blood and my dad was Protestant... I'm very interested in religion as something to study, but I'm not a religious person in the slightest."

I didn't look at the nudity and go, oh great. But it's the same as doing a role with an accent or a particular affectation. You look at the character first. Lots of the actors that I've admired have at one stage or another taken their kit off. It's a rite of passage. That iconic scene is the physical and emotional climax of the play. So if I do that with pants on, it would be crap.

I feel OK about my body. Not totally, of course, no one my age does ... but I've gone to the gym to make sure. And many of the actors I admire, like Gary Oldman, have gone naked.

People will always remember Harry, but I think if I work hard enough other characters will stick in their minds as well.

[About the "Equus" paparazzi]: They were outside the theatre every single night, but we came up with a cunning ruse. I would wear the same outfit every time - a different T-shirt underneath, but I'd wear the same jacket and zip it up so they couldn't see what I was wearing underneath, and the same hat. So they could take pictures for six months, but it would look like the same day, so they (photos) became unpublishable. Which was hilarious, because there's nothing better than seeing paparazzi getting really frustrated.

What everybody would love to see is me having ditched school and then just going wild. That's what I'm determined not to give them.

It's not so much that they don't want me to grow up. It's that they're annoyed that I'm growing up adjusted. They'd much rather I was growing up and going wild and crashing cars.

I'm lucky enough to have a job that I love, and a relatively down-to-earth life.

(On being bullied in school) Some people did get very aggressive. People say it was just jealousy, but I don't think it is jealousy. I think it's just 'We can have a crack at the kid who plays Harry Potter.' As Eddie Izzard says, these people always hang about in fives, because people these have a fifth of a personality each.

I hate celebrity culture but I'm unavoidably part of it. These people are celebrities as a by-product of what they do. People read every little thing about Peter Andre and Jordan and I couldn't care less. They don't want to work, have no interests, no passions, nothing and yet they seem to be held up on pedestals. I don't think they should be trying to push themselves onto us. It does annoy me of course, but I'm part of it.

Salary

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)	$14,000,000
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)	$11,000,000
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)	$3,000,000
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)	£ 250,000