Benedict Cumberbatch has enjoyed a glittering career, from his early days in theatre shows to his current roles in Hollywood blockbuster films.
The educated actor speaks six languages and has won numerous accolades for his performances in theatre, television and cinema including BAFTA and Golden Globe awards.
The star also has a complex family history as his great-great-great grandfather was a wealthy slave owner in Barbados, Jamaica and his lineage dates back to King Richard III as his third cousin 16 times removed.
The 45-year-old even attended his royal ancestor’s reburial in 2015 and read a poem in his honour.
To celebrate the release of Doctor Strange, Daily Star has looked into his life.
Award-winning roles
Benedict is highly recognised for his incredible roles on-screen – some of which have even earned him award-winning performances.
In November 2021, he played the role of Phil Burbank in Netflix's award-winning Power of the Dog.
The jaw-dropping portrayal earned him incredible awards for his performance, including an AACTA International Award, New York Film Critics Circle Award, and Satellite Award – all for best actor.
His other award-winning performances include Sherlock, The Imitation Game, Hamlet, and Frankenstein, just to name a few.
However, he is best recognised by Marvel fans for playing fan favourite Doctor Strange.
The second instalment of the franchise, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, reached cinemas on Thursday and has raked in several reviews.
IMDB rated the film 7.6/10 and Rotten Tomatoes scored the film similarly at 77%.
Benedict's role as the infamous wizard doesn't stop at the Doctor Strange films, the character has also starred in Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), and Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021).
Victim of cyberstalking
Back in 2013, news of Benedict’s cyberstalker spread after their unnerving social media account was unearthed.
The actor was left shocked after he saw that his daily movements and activities were being closely monitored by someone on Twitter.
He was reportedly very close to involving the police when the culprit made themselves known, but his secret admirer was a little too close to home after it was revealed that a neighbour had been running the account.
In an attempt at reconciliation she made a cake for the star, but Benedict politely declined and told Event magazine it was due to the fact he was “watching his Sherlock jawline”.
Singing career
Benedict’s career began in theatre back in 2001, most notably he won an Olivier Award for Best Supporting Role as George Tesman in Hedda Gabler.
During a Los Angeles Times interview, he recalled a time when he put his singing voice to good use outside of stage and screen during a Pink Floyd set.
He said it was the closest he’d “ever come to having a heart attack”: “I stepped [onstage] at the very end of a Pink Floyd gig. David Gilmour persuaded me to come on and do the Roger Waters part in Comfortably Numb, which is hardly singing.”
Benedict then joked that he “wondered where the crash team was” as he “thought he was going to die”.
Family man
Benedict Cumberbatch is married to theatre director and playwright Sophie Hunter.
Away from the camera, the actor enjoys a quiet family life with his wife and three sons – whom the couple share together.
The pair became engaged in 2014 and were married on the Isle of Wight a year later.
Benedict has previously admitted that he would like to take on more “child friendly” roles so that his children, Hal, Christopher and Finn, can watch their father as his current catalogue means that “they’ll all be a lot older by the time they get to see them”.
The actor has previously spoken about his children’s influence on his life: “Suddenly, I understood my parents much more profoundly than I ever had before.”
He continued: “You understand much more about being a son [after] becoming a father.”
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