Benedict Cumberbatch

Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch CBE (born 19 July 1976) is an English actor who has performed in film, television, theatre and radio. He is the son of actors Timothy Carlton and Wanda Ventham. Cumberbatch graduated from the University of Manchester and 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 portraying George Tesman 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 William Shakespeare's Hamlet at the Barbican Theatre. Cumberbatch's television work includes appearances in Silent Witness (2002) and Fortysomething (2003) before playing Stephen Hawking in the television film Hawking in 2004. He has starred as Sherlock Holmes in the series Sherlock since 2010. He has also headlined Tom Stoppard's adaptation of Parade's End (2012) and The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses (2016). In film, he 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 Turin