Tilda Swinton

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Tilda Swinton

Birth name Katherine Mathilda Swinton
Born November 5, 1960
Spouse(s) John Byrne (? - present)
Notable roles White Witch, The Chronicles of Narnia,

Gabriel, Constantine

Katherine Mathilda Swinton (born November 5, 1960), better known as Tilda Swinton, is a British actress known for both arthouse and mainstream films.

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Swinton was born in London to Judith (an Australian) and Sir John Swinton (a Scottish major-general in the Scots Guards). She also has relatives in the town of Monkseaton and Newcastle. The Swinton family is an aged Anglo-Scots family.

She attended West Heath Girls' School (the same school as Diana, Princess of Wales), and also Fettes College for a brief period. In 1983, she graduated from New Hall at Cambridge University with a degree in the social and political sciences.

Carving out an international reputation as a risk taker, she has always eschewed conventional leading lady roles. She worked with the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh, and the Royal Shakespeare Company before embarking on a career in film in the mid-1980s.

Her early film work included several film roles for director Derek Jarman, and also the title role in Orlando, Sally Potter's film version of the novel by Virginia Woolf.

Swinton became notorious for a brief period in 1995 when she appeared as a live exhibit in the Serpentine Gallery, London. She was on display to the public for a week, asleep or apparently so, in a glass case, as a piece of performance art by Cornelia Parker. The following year, the performance, entitled The Maybe, was repeated at a gallery in Rome. She appeared in the music video for Orbital's "The Box."

Recent years have seen her move towards more mainstream projects, including the leading role in the well-reviewed American film The Deep End (2001), for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award. She appeared as the scheming archangel Gabriel in Constantine with Keanu Reeves, as a supporting character in films such as Vanilla Sky with Tom Cruise, and The Beach, featuring Leonardo DiCaprio. Swinton has also appeared in British films: The Statement (2003) and Young Adam (2004), and sat on the jury of the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.

In 2005, her performance as the sinister, seductive villainess, the White Witch Jadis, in the film version of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe garnered critical praise as did her portrayal of Audrey Cobb in the Mike Mills film adaptation of the novel Thumbsucker.

  • She lives in Nairn in the north of Scotland with her husband John Byrne, an artist.
  • Has two children, Xavier Byrne and Honor Byrne.
  • Tilda is 5' 11" (1.80 m).

Year Title Role Notes
1986 Egomania - Insel ohne Hoffnung Sally
"Zastrozzi: A Romance" Julia Mini TV series
Caravaggio Lena
1987 Aria Young Girl (segment "Depuis le jour")
Friendship's Death Friendship
1988 The Last of England
Das Andere Ende der Welt
Degrees of Blindness
L' Ispirazione
1990 "Your Cheatin' Heart" Cissie Crouch TV series
The Garden Madonna
1989 Play Me Something Hairdresser TV
War Requiem Nurse
1991 Edward II Isabella
The Party: Nature Morte Queenie
1992 "Shakespeare: The Animated Tales" Ophelia Mini TV series; voice
Orlando Orlando
Man to Man Ella/Max Gericke
1993 Blue Voice
Das Offene Universum Carla TV
Wittgenstein Lady Ottoline Morrell
1994 Remembrance of Things Fast: True Stories Visual Lies
Visions of Heaven and Hell Narrator TV
1996 Female Perversions Eve Stephens
1997 Conceiving Ada Ada Augusta Byron King, Countess of Lovelace
1998 Love is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon Muriel Belcher
1999 The War Zone Mum
2000 Possible Worlds Joyce
The Beach Sal
2001 Vanilla Sky Rebecca Dearborn
The Deep End Margaret Hall
2002 Adaptation. Valerie Thomas
Teknolust Rosetta/Ruby/Marinne/Olive
2003 The Statement Annemarie Livi
Young Adam Ella Gault
2005 The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Jadis, the White Witch
Broken Flowers Penny
Constantine Angel Gabriel
Thumbsucker Audrey Cobb
2006 Michael Clayton Karen Hauer Post-production
Stephanie Daley Lydie Crane
2007 The Man from London Pre-production
Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll Filming
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
2008 Come Like Shadows Lady Macbeth Pre-production


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