A Celebration of Daniel Craig (James Bond) on his 50th birthday

By: Anders Frejdh

Published:
2018-03-02

A celebration of Daniel Craig - hailed as one of the finest actors of his generation now known worldwide as the sixth person to portray James Bond on film - on his 50th birthday. In our eyes, Daniel Craig is the best actor to portray James Bond after Sean Connery.

With this page, From Sweden with Love would like to celebrate the brilliant and wonderful English actor and congratulate him on his birthday.

"Happy birthday Daniel and all the best, we love you as James Bond, keep up the great work. Hope to see you back in Sweden soon."

“Daniel plays Bond as a gentleman. But he’s also trashy and sexy and scary. And that’s an attractive combination. Previous Bonds were cerebral, Craig is physical.” – Eva Green

About Daniel Craig:
Daniel Craig was born in Chester and brought up in Liverpool, leaving there to join the National Youth Theatre in London at the age of seventeen. He continued his training at the prestigious London Guildhall School of Music and Drama, graduating in 1991.

Craig made his film debut in 1992 in the South African boxing drama The Power of One but came to the attention of critics and casting directors in the much lauded 1996 television drama serial Our Friends in the North, playing the role of Geordie Peacock.

In 1998 he played the role of George Dyer, painter Francis Bacon’s working class boyfriend in John Maybury’s powerful biopic Love Is the Devil. In 2000 he was recognised as one of European Films’ “Shooting Stars”. This was followed by roles in The Trench (the "new" Q, Ben Whishaw, also appears in that film) written and directed by acclaimed author William Boyd (who wrote the James Bond novel Solo published in 2013), the ensemble black comedy Hotel Splendide (2000) (with Helen McCrory who portrays "Clair Dowar" in Skyfall), and then the Hollywood blockbuster Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) in which he played Lara Croft’s boyfriend.

In 2002, Craig starred in The Road to Perdition directed by Sam Mendes (the director of Skyfall and SPECTRE), receiving critical acclaim for his portrayal of Connor Rooney, the troubled son of crime boss John Rooney, played by Paul Newman. The following year he starred in The Mother, a powerful drama directed by Roger Michell in which he played a young man who has an affair with a sixty year-old woman. This was followed by the role of Ted Hughes, starring opposite Gwyneth Paltrow in Sylvia about the lives of poets Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath.

In 2004, Craig took leading roles in Enduring Love (again with Ben Whishaw & Helen McCrory, and also stuntmen Bill Weston and Nick Wilkinson of James Bond fame), directed by Roger Michell, adapted from Ian McEwan’s novel, and Layer Cake (a FSWL favourite), Matthew Vaughn’s successful directorial debut about the contemporary criminal drug scene.

A role in John Maybury’s thriller The Jacket (2005), starring alongside Adrien Brody and Keira Knightley, was followed by the lead in the television adaptation of Robert Harris’ bestselling novel Arcangel (2005), and a leading role in Steven Spielberg’s Oscar nominated Munich (2005) in which two villains from the James Bond series appears, Michael Lonsdale and Mathieu Amalric.

In 2006, Craig played Perry Smith in Infamous opposite Toby Jones as Truman Capote (writer of the best-selling novel “In Cold Blood”) based on the murders committed by Smith and Dick Hickock. He then starred opposite Nicole Kidman and Jeffery Wright (Felix Leiter in Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace) in The Invasion (2007), a horror thriller directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel.

After Casino Royale (2006), Daniel Craig teamed again with Kidman to star in The Golden Compass (2007) (Eva Green, Christopher Lee and Edward de Souza also appears in the film), based on the first novel in the Philip Pullman trilogy. Followed by Flashbacks of a Fool (2008), written and directed by Baillie Walsh, and then Defiance (2008) directed by Edward Zwick.

In 2008, he returned as James Bond for the second time in Quantum of Solace and this year he is back as Ian Fleming's secret agent in Skyfall.

Alongside his film work, Craig is acknowledged as a highly accomplished stage actor. His credits include leading roles in Hurlyburly, with the Peter Hall Company at the Old Vic, Angels in America at the National Theatre, and in 2002 he was nominated for a London Evening Standard Award for Best Actor for his performance in A Number, playing three roles opposite Michael Gambon. In 2009, he starred in A Steady Rain on Broadway alongside Hugh Jackman.

In June 2011, Daniel Craig married British actress Rachel Weisz who he had known for several years.

Films with Daniel Craig:
2015: SPECTRE (James Bond) - Director: Sam Mendes
2012: Skyfall (2012) (James Bond) - Director: Sam Mendes
2011: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Mikael Blomkvist) - Director: David Fincher
2011: The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (Red Rackham) - Director: Steven Spielberg
2011: Dream House (Will Atenton) - Director: Jim Sheridan
2011: Cowboys & Aliens (Jake Lonergan) - Director: Jon Favreau
2008: Defiance (Tuvia Bielski) - Director: Edward Zwick
2008: Quantum of Solace (James Bond) - Director: Marc Forster
2008: Flashbacks of a Fool (Adult Joe Scot) - Director: Baillie Walsh
2007: The Golden Compass (Lord Asriel) - Director: Chris Weitz
2007: The Invasion (Ben Driscoll) - Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel
2006: Casino Royale (James Bond) - Director: Martin Campbell
2006: Infamous (Perry Smith) - Director: Douglas McGrath
2005: Munich (Steve) - Director: Steven Spielberg
2005: Archangel (Prof. Fluke Kelso) - Director: Jon Jones
2005: Sorstalanság (US Army Sergeant) - Director: Lajos Koltai
2005: The Jacket (Rudy Mackenzie) - Director: John Maybury
2004: Layer Cake (XXXX) - Director: Matthew Vaughn
2004: Enduring Love (Joe) - Director: Roger Michell
2003: Sylvia (Ted Hughes) - Director: Christine Jeffs
2003: The Mother (Darren) - Director: Roger Michell
2002: Copenhagen (Werner Heisenberg) - Director: Howard Davies
2002: Ten Minutes Older: The Cello (Cecil) - Director: Michael Radford
2002: Road to Perdition (Connor Rooney) - Director: Sam Mendes
2001: Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (Alex West) - Director: Simon West
2001: Sword of Honour (Guy Crouchback) - Director: Bill Anderson (written by William Boyd)
2000: Hotel Splendide (Ronald Blanche) - Director: Terence Gross
2000: Some Voices (Ray) - Director: Simon Cellan Jones
2000: I Dreamed of Africa (Declan Fielding) - Director: Hugh Hudson
2000: Love & Rage (James Lynchehaun) - Director: Cathal Black
1999: Shockers: The Visitor (Richard) - Director: Audrey Cooke
1999: The Trench (Sgt. Telford Winter) - Director: William Boyd
1998: Love Is the Devil (George Dyer) - Director: John Maybury
1998: Elizabeth (John Ballard) - Director: Shekhar Kapur
1997: Obsession (John MacHale) - Director: Peter Sehr
1997: The Ice House (D.S. Andy McLoughlin) - Director: Tim Fywell
1996: Saint-Ex (Guillaumet) - Director: Anand Tucker
1996: Kiss and Tell (Matt Kearney) - Director: David Richards
1996: The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders (James Seagrave) - Director: David Attwood
1995: A Kid in King Arthur's Court (Master Kane) - Director: Michael Gottlieb
1993: Sharpe's Eagle (Berry) - Director: Tom Clegg
1992: The Power of One (Sgt. Botha) - Director: John G. Avildsen

Birthdays for other James Bond film actors on From Sweden With Love:
>Barry Nelson (April 16)
>Bob Holness (November 12)
>George Lazenby (September 5)
>Pierce Brosnan (May 16)
>Roger Moore (October 14)
>Sean Connery (August 25)
>Timothy Dalton (March 21)

Photo above:
Daniel Craig after the press call for SPECTRE at Pinewood Studios in December 2014.

Visited the best (unofficial) website entirely dedicated to Daniel Craig:

www.dedicatedtodaniel.com

Tags:

#birthdays

#daniel_craig

#daniel_craig_james_bond_films

#james_bond

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A Celebration of Daniel Craig (James Bond) on his 50th birthday

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