Detailed Biography

Ivan Simon Cary Elwes , known professionally as Cary Elwes, is an English actor, known for his performances in Lady Jane, The Princess Bride, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Hot Shots!, Glory, Liar, Liar, Saw and Twister.

Personal life

Elwes was born in Westminster, London, England, and is the third and youngest son of English portrait-painter Dominick Elwes and interior designer Tessa Georgina Kennedy, who is of Croatian and Anglo-Irish descent. He attended Harrow School in London and Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York, where he studied, among other acting-related subjects, German Expressionist Film. While living in New York Elwes studied acting at both the Actors Studio and the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute.

In 1991, Elwes met photographer Lisa Marie Kurbikoff. They became engaged in 1997 and wed in 2000. The couple has one daughter. He is active in fighting for the rights of indigenous peoples around the world and for the end of the genocide in Darfur.

One of his ancestors is John Elwes, a politician and miser, believed to be the inspiration for Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol . Elwes played the role of Dick Wilkins in the 2009 film adaptation of the novel.

Film

Elwes made his acting debut in Marek Kanievska's famous film Another Country , with Rupert Everett and Colin Firth. The film, adapted from a play, was loosely based on the formative years of British spies Guy Burgess, Kim Philby and Donald Duart Maclean. His first notable role was Guilford Dudley in the highly acclaimed British epic Lady Jane after being personally chosen by distinguished Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Trevor Nunn. His performance in that film led director Rob Reiner to cast Elwes in another leading role, this time as the stable boy turned hero Westley in the American comedy The Princess Bride, which required Elwes to do all of his own swordfighting and acrobatics. Elwes' breakthrough performance in this film gained him international acclaim. He continued working steadily, varying between dramatic roles, as in the Academy Award-winning Glory , and comedic roles, as in Hot Shots! . In 1993, he starred as Robin Hood in Mel Brooks' classic comedy, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, parodying Errol Flynn and Kevin Costner. Elwes also appeared in such popular movies as Francis Coppola's adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula, The Crush, Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, Twister, Liar Liar, Cradle Will Rock, The Cat's Meow and Kiss the Girls with Morgan Freeman. In 2004, he starred in the horror/thriller Saw which, at a budget of a little over $1 million, grossed over $100 million worldwide. The same year he appeared in the film Ella Enchanted, portraying the villain rather than the hero. He made an uncredited appearance as Sam Green, the man who introduced Andy Warhol to Edie Sedgwick, in the 2006 film Factory Girl. In 2007, he appeared in Garry Marshall's Georgia Rule with Jane Fonda. In 2009 Elwes worked on two performance capture films, Robert Zemeckis's A Christmas Carol and The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn directed by Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson. He also stars in the Mystery thriller Shadows under the direction from John Penney.

Television

In 1996, Elwes made his first television appearance as "David Lookner" on the hit show Seinfeld. In 1998, he played Astronaut Michael Collins in the Golden Globe Award-winning HBO miniseries From the Earth To the Moon. In 1999, he guest starred as Dr. John York in the Ripper episode of the television series The Outer Limits. He earned two Golden Satellite Award nominations for his performances in the television films The Pentagon Wars and Uprising. Elwes had a recurring role in the final season of The X-Files as FBI Assistant Director Brad Follmer. Chris Carter, creator of The X-Files, wrote the character especially for him.

In 2004, he received great praise with his portrayal of serial killer Ted Bundy in the A&E Network film The Riverman, which was based on the book The Riverman: Ted Bundy and I Hunt for the Green River Killer written by Robert D. Keppel. The Riverman became one of the highest rated original movies in the network’s history and garnered a prestigious BANFF Rockie Award nomination. In 2005 Elwes again received international critical acclaim with his portrayal of the young Pope John Paul II in the CBS made-for-TV movie epic Pope John Paul II. The TV film was highly successful not only in North America, but also in Europe, where it broke box office records in the late pope's native Poland and became the first film ever to break $1 million in three days.

In 2007, he made a guest appearance on the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Dependant" as a Mafia lawyer. In 2009, he played the role of Pierre Despereaux, an international art thief, in the 4th season premiere of Psych. Most recently, Ewles starred in a national Enterprise Rental Car commercial, beginning in July of 2009.

Voiceovers

His voice-over works include the narrator in James Patterson's audio book The Jester as well as characters in film and television animations such as Quest for Camelot, Pinky and The Brain, Batman Beyond, and the English versions of the highly popular Studio Ghibli films Porco Rosso, Whisper of the Heart, and The Cat Returns. For the 2004 video game The Bard's Tale, he served as scriptwriter, improviser, and voice actor of the main character The Bard.

Plays

Elwes performed in the Bob Balaban-directed off-Broadway dramatic stage play The Exonerated in New York during its March 18-23, 2003 week run.

Saw settlement

In August 2005, he filed a lawsuit against his management firm and the producers of Saw. He alleged that he was promised a percentage of the profits and did not receive the full amount as promised. The producers eventually settled out of court. He has denied reports linking him with a return to the Saw franchise.