Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh is a British actor and filmmaker. Born in Belfast and raised primarily in Reading, Berkshire, Branagh trained at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and served as its president from 2015 to 2024. His accolades include an Academy Award, four BAFTAs, two Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and an Olivier Award. He was appointed a Knight Bachelor in the 2012 Birthday Honours, and was given Freedom of the City in his native Belfast in 2018. In 2020, he was ranked in 20th place on The Irish Times' list of Ireland's greatest film actors.
Branagh at diff 2015
Branagh has adapted numerous works of William Shakespeare for the stage and screen
Branagh starred in numerous films and stage plays with Emma Thompson
Branagh starred as and directed the film Hamlet (1996)
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, commonly abbreviated to RADA, is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central London, close to the Senate House complex of the University of London, and is a founding member of the Federation of Drama Schools.
Main entrance on Gower Street, London
The sculpture above the entrance to RADA features masks which depict Tragedy (pictured) and Comedy (which appears opposite). A symbol of theatre, they are also known as Sock and Buskin.
RADA entrance sign
The RADA building on Chenies Street, London