The daughter of famed British character actor Richard Beckinsale (Porridge and Rising Damp), Beckinsale found her metier at an early age with a major television debut in One Against The Wind, a World War II drama in which she played Judy Davis' daughter. The same year, Beckinsale went up to Oxford University to study French and Russian literature.
In 1993, while still at Oxford, Beckinsale was cast in Kenneth Branagh's Much Ado About Nothing; her supporting role as Hero was a memorable one and won her recognition at an international level. In 1995 she starred as Flora Poste in John Schlesinger's adaptation of Stella Gibbons' satirical novel Cold Comfort Farm, initially made for BBC television. This was followed in 1997 by a starring role in Stefan Schwartz's hit comedy Shooting Fish, which was Britain's third highest grossing movie of the year. The same year Beckinsale further increased her portfolio with the title role in a prestigious BBC adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma.
In 1998 Beckinsale achieved greater international recognition in Whit Stillman's The Last Days Of Disco, in which she assumed an American accent for the role of Charlotte, and for which she was awarded the London Critics Circle Award for best British supporting actress. In the following year Beckinsale starred opposite Claire Danes in Brokedown Palace, in a startling portrayal of an American girl who, while on vacation in Thailand, is arrested for possession of heroin and sentenced to 33 years in prison.
As well as the release of The Golden Bowl, the year 2000 will also see the completion of Michael Bay's war epic Pearl Harbour, in which Beckinsale stars opposite Ben Affleck, Alec Baldwin and Gene Hackman.
Kate Beckinsale - Details
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- 26th July 1973 - Birth