Lon Chaney, Jr.

He achieved immortality by appearing on one of a series of United States postage stamps portraying movie monsters, as the Wolf Man, in 1977. Daniel Day-Lewis attended the same theatre school, the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, with fellow British thespian Miranda Richardson. He maintained a strong career in horror movies, playing all four of the classic horror roles -- the Wolf Man, Frankenstein's monster in The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942), The Mummy in The Mummy's Tomb (1942) and (the son of) Dracula in Son of Dracula (1943). Day-Lewis has also a son from a former relationship with French actress Isabelle Adjani. In 1941 he starred in the title role of The Wolf Man, the characterization which would be his stereotypical role for the rest of his life. They live in Ireland and have two sons. He did not achieve stardom until the 1939 feature film version of Of Mice and Men, in which he played Lennie Small. Daniel Day-Lewis is married to actress and director Rebecca Miller, daughter of Arthur Miller (author of The Crucible).

His first movie was an uncredited role in the 1932 film Girl Crazy. Other film roles have included The Age of Innocence co-starring Michelle Pfeiffer, In the Name of the Father, The Crucible with Winona Ryder, Last of the Mohicans, and Gangs of New York with Leonardo DiCaprio. He did not take any movie roles until after his father's death. He returned to the stage to work again with Richard Eyre, as Hamlet at the National Theater, but was forced to leave the production close to the end of its run suffering from exhaustion, and has not appeared on stage since. But he also studied makeup under his father. His performance as Christy Brown in Jim Sheridan's My Left Foot (1989) won him numerous awards, including the Academy Award for best actor. He worked menial jobs in order to make his own way. In 1987 he assumed leading man status in Philip Kaufman's The Unbearable Lightness of Being co-starring Juliette Binoche.

Chaney worked hard to avoid his father's shadow. The latter two films opened in New York City on the same day. Chaney was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and died in San Clemente, California. This role was followed by a completely different character in A Room with a View in 1986, where he played a snobbish, clumsy upper-class-dandy. He was born Creighton Tull Chaney, and was first credited as "Lon Chaney, Jr." in 1935, as a studio marketing ploy. In 1984 he had a supporting role in The Bounty, but came to public notice as half of a gay biracial couple in My Beautiful Laundrette. Lon Chaney, Jr. (February 10, 1906 - July 12, 1973) was an American character actor, well-known mainly for his roles in monster movies and as the son of his better-known father, Lon Chaney. He then went back to the stage in both Bristol and London, and did not return to movies until appearing in a bit part in Gandhi in 1982.

He was trained on the stage, in Bristol, but he made his film debut in Sunday Bloody Sunday in 1971. Daniel Day-Lewis is one of the gifted actors of his generation, known for his total devotion to the role he plays. His mother is Jill Balcon, actress daughter of Sir Michael Balcon, head of Ealing Studios. Although born in London he holds an Irish passport as his father was the Anglo-Irish poet Cecil Day-Lewis, Poet Laureate of England.

Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis (born April 29, 1957) is a British actor. 1990 - Won - Best Actor in a Leading Role - My Left Foot. 1994 - Nominated - Best Actor in a Leading Role - In the Name of the Father. 2002 - Nominated - Best Actor in a Leading Role - Gangs of New York.