Benedict Cumberbatch
Born: 1976-07-19 in Hammersmith, London, England, UK
Known For: Acting
Biography
Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch (born July 19, 1976) is an English actor. Known for his roles on the screen and stage, he has received various accolades throughout his career, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a British Academy Television Award, and a Laurence Olivier Award. Cumberbatch won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Play for Frankenstein and a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie for Sherlock. His performances in the dramas The Imitation Game (2014) and The Power of the Dog (2021) earned him nominations for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Golden Globe Award, all for Best Actor in a Leading Role. For playing the title role in five-part drama miniseries Patrick Melrose, he won a BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. In 2014 Time magazine included him in its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, and in 2015 he was appointed a CBE by Queen Elizabeth II in the 2015 Birthday Honours for services to the performing arts and to charity. A graduate of the Victoria University of Manchester, Cumberbatch continued his training at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, obtaining a Master of Arts in Classical Acting. He first performed at the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park in Shakespearean productions and made his West End debut in Richard Eyre's revival of Hedda Gabler in 2005. Since then, he has starred in the Royal National Theatre productions After the Dance (2010) and Frankenstein (2011). In 2015, he played the title role in Hamlet at the Barbican Theatre. Cumberbatch's television work includes his performance as Stephen Hawking in the television film Hawking in 2004. He gained worldwide recognition for his performance as Sherlock Holmes in the BBC series Sherlock from 2010 to 2017. He has also headlined Tom Stoppard's adaptation of Parade's End (2012), The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses (2016), Patrick Melrose (2018), and Brexit: The Uncivil War (2019). In films, Cumberbatch has starred in Amazing Grace (2006) as William Pitt the Younger, Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) as Khan, 12 Years a Slave (2013) as William Prince Ford, The Fifth Estate (2013) as Julian Assange, and The Imitation Game (2014) as Alan Turing. He also acted in the historical dramas The Current War (2017), 1917 (2019) and The Courier (2020), and received critical acclaim for his performance in Jane Campion's Western drama The Power of the Dog (2021). From 2012 to 2014, through voice and motion capture, he played the characters of Smaug and Sauron in The Hobbit film series. Cumberbatch portrays Dr. Stephen Strange in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films, beginning with Doctor Strange (2016), and also voiced the character in the animated series What If...? (2021).
Filmography
2025
- The Roses as Theo Rose
- The Phoenician Scheme as Uncle Nubar
- The Thing with Feathers as Dad
2024
- We Live in Time ... (Executive Producer)
- The Book of Clarence as Benjamin
- Eric as Vincent
- The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More as Henry Sugar / Max Engelman / Harry (archive footage)
- Placebo: This Search for Meaning as Self
2023
- Poison as Harry Pope
- The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar as Henry Sugar / Make-Up Artist
- The End We Start From as AB
- Mog's Christmas as Mr. Thomas (voice)
- James Blunt: One Brit Wonder as Self (archive footage)
- Arctic: Our Frozen Planet as Narrator
2022
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness as Doctor Stephen Strange
- Minions & More Volume 1 as The Grinch (voice)
- The Tiger Who Came to Tea as Daddy (voice)
- Running Wild with Bear Grylls: The Challenge as Self
- Marvel Studios Assembled: The Making of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness as Self - Doctor Stephen Strange
- Behind the Scenes With Jane Campion as Self (archive footage)
- Super/Natural as Self - Narrator (voice)
- Reframing the West: Behind the Scenes of Jane Campion's The Power of the Dog
2021
- Spider-Man: No Way Home as Doctor Strange
- What If...? as Doctor Strange (voice)
- Marvel Studios Legends as Stephen Strange / Doctor Strange (archive footage) (uncredited)
- The Mauritanian as Lt. Stuart Couch
- The Power of the Dog as Phil Burbank
- The Electrical Life of Louis Wain as Louis Wain
- Marvel Studios' 2021 Disney+ Day Special as Stephen Strange / Doctor Strange (voice) (archive footage)
- Letters Live from the Archive: Union Chapel as Self
- Letters Live from the Archive: Freemasons’ Hall
2020
- The Courier as Greville Wynne
- Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King as Self
- Antarctica as Self - Narrator
2019
- The Kelly Clarkson Show as Self
- Avengers: Endgame as Doctor Strange
- 1917 as Colonel MacKenzie
- Good Omens as Satan (voice)
- Between Two Ferns: The Movie as Benedict Cumberbatch
- Brexit: The Uncivil War as Dominic Cummings
- The Dog Days of Winter as The Grinch (voice)
- Cindy-Lou's Yule Log as The Grinch
2018
- The Grinch as Grinch (voice)
- Avengers: Infinity War as Doctor Strange
- Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle as Shere Khan (voice)
- The Grinch Mini-Movies as Grinch (voice)
- Patrick Melrose as Patrick Melrose
- The Current War as Thomas Edison
- The Child in Time as Stephen Lewis
2017
- Thor: Ragnarok as Doctor Strange
- Walk with Me as Narrator (voice)
2016
- Doctor Strange as Dr. Stephen Strange
- Naples '44 as Norman Lewis (voice)
- Zoolander 2 as All
- Sherlock: The Abominable Bride as Sherlock Holmes
- Shakespeare Live! From the RSC as Self - Performer
- Mark Gatiss: A Study in Sherlock as Himself
2015
- The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as Self - Guest
- Black Mass as Billy Bulger
- National Theatre Live: Hamlet as Hamlet
2014
- The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon as Self
- Late Night with Seth Meyers as Self
- The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies as Smaug / Sauron (voice)
- The Imitation Game as Alan Turing
- Penguins of Madagascar as Classified (voice)
- Variety Studio: Actors on Actors as Self
- Unlocking Sherlock as Himself / Sherlock Holmes
- Cristiano Ronaldo: World at His Feet as Narrator
- Walking with Dinosaurs: Prehistoric Planet 3D as Narrator (Voice)
- The Penguins of Madagascar: Operation Search and Rescue as Agent Classified (voice)
- How to Be Sherlock Holmes: The Many Faces of a Master Detective as Self
2013
- The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug as Smaug / Sauron
- 12 Years a Slave as William Ford
- Little Favour as Wallace
- Star Trek Into Darkness as John Harrison / Khan
- The Fifth Estate as Julian Assange
- Solar Superstorms as Narrator
- August: Osage County as Little Charles Aiken
- National Theatre Live: 50 Years on Stage as Rosencrantz
- Sherlock: Many Happy Returns as Sherlock Holmes
- Jerusalem as Narrator (voice)
2012
- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey as Necromancer
- The Hollow Crown as Richard
- Why did you come to Japan? as Self
- Parade's End as Christopher Tietjens
- Frankenstein: A Modern Myth as Self / Frankenstein / The Monster
- Girlfriend in a Coma as Dante (voice)
- Stephen Hawking's Grand Design as Narrator (voice)
- WWI's Tunnels of Death The Big Dig as Narrator (Voice)
- The Dreams of William Golding as Reader
- Sherlock: Uncovered as Sherlock, Self
2011
- The Jonathan Ross Show as Self
- War Horse as Maj. Jamie Stewart
- Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy as Peter Guillam
- Wreckers as David
- National Theatre Live: Frankenstein as The Creature / Victor Frankenstein
- The Rattigan Enigma by Benedict Cumberbatch
2010
- Sherlock as Sherlock Holmes
- Third Star as James
- Burlesque Fairytales as Henry Clark
- The Whistleblower as Nick Kaufman
- Van Gogh: Painted with Words as Vincent Van Gogh
- Four Lions as Negotiator
- Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking as Stephen Hawking
- Unlocking Sherlock as Himself
2009
- Creation as Joseph Dalton Hooker
- Small Island as Bernard
- The Turning Point as Guy Burgess
- South Pacific as Self - Narrator (voice)
2008
- The Other Boleyn Girl as William Carey
- The Last Enemy as Stephen Ezard
2007
- The Graham Norton Show as Self
- Atonement as Paul Marshall
- Inseparable as Joe / Charlie
- Stuart: A Life Backwards as Alexander Masters
2006
- The One Show as Self - Guest
- Amazing Grace as William Pitt
- Starter for 10 as Patrick Watts
2005
- Nathan Barley as Robin
- To the Ends of the Earth as Edmund Talbot
- Broken News as Will Parker
- The Man Who Predicted 9/11 as Narrator (voice)
2004
- Agatha Christie's Marple as Luke Fitzwilliam
- Hawking as Stephen Hawking
- Dunkirk as Lt Jimmy Langley
2003
- Jimmy Kimmel Live! as Self
- To Kill a King as Royalist
- Cambridge Spies as Edward Hand
- Fortysomething as Rory Slippery
2002
- Top Gear as Self
- Spooks as Jim North
- Timeshift as self
- Tipping the Velvet as Freddy
- Fields of Gold as Jeremy
- Hills Like White Elephants as The Man
1997
- Leute heute as Self
- The View as Self
1996
- The Daily Show as Self
- Silent Witness as Warren Reid
1993
- GMTV as Self
1992
- Heartbeat as Toby Fisher
1990
- Have I Got News for You as Self - Host
1989
- The Simpsons as Severus Snape / Prime Minister (voice)
1988
- LIVE with Kelly and Mark as Self
1975
- Saturday Night Live as Self - Host
1953
- The Oscars as Self