Idris Elba
- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
An only child, Idrissa Akuna Elba was born and raised in London, England. His father, Winston, is from Sierra Leone and worked at Ford Dagenham; his mother, Eve, is from Ghana and had a clerical duty. Idris attended school in Canning Town, where he first became involved in acting, before he dropped out. He gained a place in the National Youth Music Theatre - thanks to a £1,500 Prince's Trust grant. To support himself between acting roles, he worked in jobs such as tyre-fitting, cold call advertising sales, and working night shifts at Ford Dagenham. He worked in nightclubs under the nickname DJ Big Driis at age 19, but began auditioning for television roles in his early-twenties.
His first acting roles were on the soap operaFamily Affairs (1997),the television serialUltraviolet (1998),and the medical dramaDangerfield (1995).His best known roles are as drug baron Russell "Stringer" Bell on the HBO seriesThe Wire (2002),as DCI John Luther on the BBC One seriesLuther (2010),and as Heimdall in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He later starred in the filmsDaddy's Little Girls (2007),Prom Night (2008),RocknRolla (2008),The Unborn (2009)andObsessed (2009).He also appeared in the filmsAmerican Gangster (2007),Takers (2010),Thor (2011),Prometheus (2012),Pacific Rim (2013),Thor: The Dark World (2013),Beasts of No Nation (2015)andStar Trek Beyond (2016).He voiced Chief Bogo inZootopia (2016),Shere Khan inThe Jungle Book (2016),and Fluke inFinding Dory (2016).
Idris Elba was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth II at the 2016 New Years Honours for his services to drama.
His first acting roles were on the soap operaFamily Affairs (1997),the television serialUltraviolet (1998),and the medical dramaDangerfield (1995).His best known roles are as drug baron Russell "Stringer" Bell on the HBO seriesThe Wire (2002),as DCI John Luther on the BBC One seriesLuther (2010),and as Heimdall in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He later starred in the filmsDaddy's Little Girls (2007),Prom Night (2008),RocknRolla (2008),The Unborn (2009)andObsessed (2009).He also appeared in the filmsAmerican Gangster (2007),Takers (2010),Thor (2011),Prometheus (2012),Pacific Rim (2013),Thor: The Dark World (2013),Beasts of No Nation (2015)andStar Trek Beyond (2016).He voiced Chief Bogo inZootopia (2016),Shere Khan inThe Jungle Book (2016),and Fluke inFinding Dory (2016).
Idris Elba was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth II at the 2016 New Years Honours for his services to drama.
