Anthony Hopkins – 83

Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins CBE is a Welsh actor, director, and film producer known for his works in films such as The Lion in Winter, The Elephant Man, Legends of the Fall, and most notably, The Silence of the Lambs in which he plays the psychopathic serial killer Hannibal Lecter. Before gaining fame as an actor, Hopkins joined Laurence Olivier’s National Theatre company in 1965, understudying Olivier in a number of shows before gaining critical acclaim for his roles as Edgar in August Strindberg’s The Dance of Death and Andrey Prozorov in Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters.

At the age of 18, he joined a YMCA theatrical group and began performing. He was awarded a scholarship at the Cardiff College of Music and Drama, and following graduation, he traveled with the Arts Council as a stage manager and actor. He then served in the Royal Artillery for two years. He began his acting career after demobilization, making his professional debut in 1960.