Alfred Molina

Alfred Molina was given birth on 24 May 1953 to an immigrant family in Paddington, London. He was born to an Italian mother and a Spanish father. He did not belong to an affluent family as his mother was merely a cleaner-cum-cook and his father, a chauffeur-cum-waiter.

However, he has revealed in an interview that he decided upon choosing to act as a career for himself at the tender age of nine after watching ‘Spartacus’ (a drama film revolving around opposition to slavery). He then went ahead and completed his schooling from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London.

He also got through the auditions to become a member of the National Youth Theater in 1969, a registered charity of London aiming towards the social and personal development of one by using arts as a medium.

He was also a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and performed in some of its notable productions like ‘Troilus and Cressida’ and ‘King Lear’. He has also worked for Broadway’s productions like Yasmina Reza's "Art" and has also been nominated for the Tony Award for it. His stage work is not just limited to this, but he has also been a part of two of the Royal National Theater’s plays titled ‘The Night of the Iguana’ and ‘Speed-the-Plow’.

Molina first appearance on the small screen was in 1978 as Nigel in ‘ The Losers Click to look into! >> Read More... ’, a six-episode-long drama around wrestling. His film debut was in 1981 in ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ in which he played the not-so-major role of Satipo.

His first firm as a co-lead was in ‘Letters to Brezhnev’ in 1985 based on the lives of working class individuals of Liverpool and their love lives. Further, another film titled ‘Prick Up Your Ears’ in 1987 brought him the much-needed fame.

Alfred has won himself a good number of nominations and awards for films such as ‘Frida’, a biopic on the life of Frida Kahlo; ‘An Education’, a young girl’s love story that goes terribly wrong and the infamous ‘Spider Man-2’.

In 2014, Alfred was nominated for his first Primetime Emmy Award for his performance in Ryan Murphy’s telefilm titled ‘The Normal Heart’ based on the horrific HIV-AIDS disease that hit New York City between 1981 and 1984.

Alfred is a humanitarian at heart and is an ardent advocate of AIDS and makes frequent donations and participates in events organized towards the cause. He currently lives in L.A., California with his wife Jill Gascoine, daughter Rachel (from a former relationship) and two step-sons Adam and Sean.