Jim Broadbent

Broadbent was born in Holton cum Beckering, in Lincolnshire, the second son of Doreen "Dee" Broadbent (née Findlay), a sculptor, and Roy Laverick Broadbent, an artist, sculptor, interior designer and furniture maker. Broadbent's parents were both amateur actors who co-founded the Holton Players acting troupe at Holton. The two have been described by the BBC as conscientious objectors who "worked the land" rather than participate in World War II. In Wickenby, a former Methodist Chapel was purchased in 1970 by Holton Players, who converted it into a 100-seat theatre, named Broadbent Theatre in memory of Roy Broadbent, who designed the conversion.

Broadbent was educated at Leighton Park School, a Quaker school in Reading, and briefly attended art college before transferring to the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. He graduated in 1972. His early stage work included appearances as Patrick Barlow's assistant in the mock National Theatre of Brent.

Broadbent also appeared in 1983 & 1991 as DCI Roy Slater, an associate character in the enormously popular sitcom Only Fools and Horses. The character appeared in three episodes over an eight-year period. He had originally been offered the lead role of Del Boy in the series, but he turned it down due to other commitments. He has also played a role in the Inspector Morse series. Other comic roles include the lead role in the sitcom The Peter Principle and occasional guest appearances in Not The Nine O'Clock News and Victoria Wood As Seen on TV. He portrayed Don Speekingleesh in "The Queen of Spain's Beard" in the first series of The Black Adder in 1983. He also played the role of Prince Albert in Blackadder's Christmas Carol, first broadcast in 1988. He joined Rowan Atkinson in his Spider-Man spoof Spider-Plant Man, as a disgruntled Batman, envious of Spider-Plant Man's success.

He appeared in the original radio production of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, playing the character Vroomfondel. Forty years later, he took the role of Marvin in the Hexagonal Phase radio series. He was also a regular in Stephen Fry's radio comedy show Saturday Night Fry, which aired on BBC Radio 4 in 1988. In 2008, he starred as pro-Newtonian physicist Sir Oliver Lodge in the fact-based single drama Einstein and Eddington for the BBC.

He had worked with Stephen Frears in The Hit (1984) and Terry Gilliam in Time Bandits (1981) and Brazil (1985) before establishing himself in Mike Leigh's Life Is Sweet (1990). He proved his ability as a character actor in films including The Crying Game (1992), Enchanted April (1992), Bullets over Broadway (1994), The Borrowers (1997), and Little Voice (1998) before taking a leading role in another Mike Leigh film, Topsy-Turvy (1999), playing dramatist Sir William S. Gilbert. He played "The Shy Doctor" in the 1999 Comic Relief parody Doctor Who sketch, Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death.

In 2001, Broadbent starred in three of the year's most successful films: Richard Curtis' Bridget Jones's Diary, Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge!, and Richard Eyre's Iris, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance. In 2002, he appeared in Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York and in the film adaptation of Dickens' Nicholas Nickleby.

Broadbent was offered an OBE in 2002, but he declined it, stating that there were more deserving recipients than actors and that the British Empire was not something he wanted to "celebrate".

Broadbent voiced Madame Gasket in the 2005 film Robots. In the same year he played Brian the snail in the remake of The Magic Roundabout.

Broadbent portrayed the title role in the Channel 4 drama Longford in October 2006, earning a BAFTA TV Award, a Golden Globe, and a 2007 Emmy nomination for his performance as Frank Pakenham (1905–2001), Earl of Longford, which was centred on Longford's ultimately unsuccessful campaign for the parole of Myra Hindley from her life imprisonment for the Moors Murders.

Broadbent appeared as Inspector Frank Butterman in Hot Fuzz in 2007.

In 2009, he portrayed Sam Longson, chairman of Derby County football club in the 1960s and 1970s, in the film The Damned United; the starring character in the film was football manager Brian Clough, played by Michael Sheen. In 2010, he provided the voice for the character Major Mouse in a series of radio advertisements and one produced for television for an energy company, E.ON, for their eonenergyfit.com website campaign. He also starred as the older Logan Mountstuart in the TV adaptation of William Boyd's novel Any Human Heart. He had a lead role in Exile, a BBC One drama, starring John Simm and written by Danny Brocklehurst.

In 2010, Broadbent reunited with director Mike Leigh, in Another Year with Ruth Sheen, and Lesley Manville. The film premiered at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival in competition for the Palme d'Or. According to review aggregation website, Rotten Tomatoes, 93% of critics have given the film a positive review, with the critical consensus reading, "Characterized by strong performances and the director's trademark feel for the nuances of everyday life, Another Year marks another solid entry in Mike Leigh's career of kitchen-sink English drama."

In 2012, he played Denis Thatcher opposite Meryl Streep as the former Prime Minister in The Iron Lady. Broadbent nominated her four BAFTA Award for her performance. That same year he also starred in Cloud Atlas.

In 2014, he starred in Roger Mitchell's critically acclaimed drama film, Le Week-End alongside Lindsay Duncan. Film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 89% of critics gave the film a positive review based on 148 reviews, with an average score of 7.4/10. The website's critical consensus states: "Topped with bittersweet humor but possessing surprisingly thorny depths, Le Week-End offers a sophisticated, well-acted portrait of late-life struggles and long-term marriage."

In 2015, Broadbent starred in the Oscar nominated film Brooklyn alongside Saoirse Ronan, Domhnaal Gleeson, and Julie Walters. On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 97% based on 256 reviews, with an average rating of 8.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Brooklyn buttresses outstanding performances from Saoirse Ronan and Emory Cohen with a rich period drama that tugs at the heartstrings as deftly as it satisfies the mind." The film was nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Picture. In 2015, Broadbent along with Daniel Rigby, Antonia Thomas, Fearne Cotton and Jane Horrocks are revealed to be the new cast with Broadbent as a Voice Trumpet in the reboot of classic British children's television series Teletubbies.

In 2016, he was cast in the seventh season of the HBO series Game of Thrones.

Since 2016, Broadbent narrates Kevin the Carrot Christmas adverts for the UK branch of Aldi. In the 2020 advert, Broadbent portrayed Santa Claus, who was revealed to be the narrator.

On 28 May 2018, he played Gloucester in the BBC Two production of King Lear.

In 2018, he played Hans Christian Andersen in the premiere of Martin McDonagh's play A Very Very Very Dark Matter at the Bridge Theatre in London.

In 2018, Broadbent's first graphic novel Dull Margaret was published by Fantagraphics Books.