Kenneth Branagh's Real Name: Kenneth Charles Branagh

Quick answer: Kenneth Branagh's full name is Kenneth Charles Branagh. He was born on December 10, 1960, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He is an actor, director, and writer best known for his Shakespeare films, beginning with Henry V (1989). He won the Academy Award for original screenplay for Belfast (2021) and was knighted in 2012 (Library of Congress; Britannica).

Real name and early life

The Library of Congress name authority files him as "Branagh, Kenneth." One citation reads "Kenneth Charles Branagh; b. Belfast Dec. 10, 1960; family moved to Reading, England." Britannica also lists Kenneth Charles Branagh among his names. Charles is his middle name.

Britannica says he moved from Northern Ireland to England with his family at age nine. He acted in school plays, graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1981, and made his professional stage debut six weeks later. In 1984 he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company and won praise for Hamlet and Henry V. In 1987 he co-founded the Renaissance Theatre Company. His autobiography, Beginning, came out in 1989.

Career highlights

His film of Henry V (1989) earned him Oscar nominations for best director and best actor. It co-starred Emma Thompson, whom he married that year; they divorced in 1995. He then directed Dead Again (1991), Much Ado About Nothing (1993), Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994), Hamlet (1996), which brought an adapted-screenplay nomination, and Love's Labour's Lost (2000). He played Iago in Othello (1995).

On television he starred in Fortunes of War (1987), Shackleton (2002), and Warm Springs (2005) as Franklin D. Roosevelt. He played the title role in Wallander (2008–16). He appeared in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), and his portrayal of Laurence Olivier in My Week with Marilyn (2011) earned a supporting-actor nomination. He directed Thor (2011), Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014), and Cinderella (2015). He also played Hercule Poirot in his own Murder on the Orient Express (2017) and Death on the Nile (2022).

Belfast (2021), inspired by his childhood during the early Troubles, received many Oscar nominations. Britannica says he became the first person nominated in seven different categories, and he won for the screenplay. He played Boris Johnson in This England (2022) and Niels Bohr in Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer (2023). He also appeared in Nolan's Dunkirk and Tenet.

Name notes for searchers

Branagh is his family surname, and he has no stage name. He is often searched as "Sir Kenneth Branagh" since his 2012 knighthood. LOC notes his family's move to Reading, England, which explains why he is described as both Northern Irish-born and English.