Born July 19, 1976 in London, England, Benedict Cumberbatch is the son of actors Wanda Ventham and Timothy Carlton (born Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch). He is a grandson of submarine commander Henry Carlton Cumberbatch who fought in both World Wars and a great-grandson of diplomat Henry Arnold Cumberbatch, Queen Victoria’s Council General in Turkey and Lebanon.

Cumberbatch began acting while attending prestigious Harrow on an arts scholarship, taking a year off to teach English at a Tibetan monastery in Darjeeling, India. An acclaimed star of stage, screen, and TV, it was his BAFTA nominated portrayal of Stephen Hawking in the 2004 TV film, Hawking, that first brought him worldwide attention. His first significant screen role was in 2006’s Amazing Grace for which he was nominated for a breakthrough award from the London Critics Circle.

A firm believer in the adage that there is no such thing as a small part for an actor, Cumberbatch has alternated between starring and supporting roles ever since. In supporting roles in 2007’s Atonement and 2008’s The Other Boleyn Girl, he achieved his greatest success to date as a modern Sherlock Holmes in the 2010 TV series Sherlock which completed four seasons over an eight-year period, ending in 2017. In-between, he had had major supporting roles in two 2011 Oscar-nominated films, The War Horse and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, the 2012 Oscar winner 12 Years a Slave and 2013 film August: Osage County for which both Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts were nominated for Oscars.

Between seasons of Sherlock, Cumberbatch also starred in the acclaimed TV mini-series, Parade’s End and gained more fans as Khan in the 2013 film, Star Trek Into Darkness. That was followed by his first Oscar nominated performance as Alan Turing in 2014’s The Imitation Game. In 2015, he married theatre and opera director Sophie Hunter after a 17-year relationship. They now have three children, all boys.

In 2016, Cumberbatch entered the Marvel Comic Universe with his portrayal of Doctor Strange. That same year, he gave an acclaimed performance as Richard III, his own distant cousin, in a British TV miniseries. The 2018 TV miniseries Patrick Melrose brought further awards recognition.

The actor had his busiest year yet in 2021 beginning with the February release of The Mauritanian which was Oscar eligible for 2020 due to the rule bending constrains of the Covid 19 epidemic. Then in early December, Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog, the year’s most acclaimed film, was released on the Netflix streaming service. In mid-December, Spider-Man: No Way Home, the year’s biggest box-office hit in which he reprises his role of Doctor Strange, was released.

Cumberbatch continues to reprise his role of Doctor Strange, most recently in 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, while expanding his craft in other directions. He is currently filming a TV miniseries based on The 39 Steps. His career is in full bloom at 46.

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH AND OSCAR

• The Imitation Game (2014) – nominated – Best Actor
• The Power of the Dog (2021) – nominated – Best Actor

ESSENTIAL FILMS

AMAZING GRACE (2006), directed by Michael Apted

Cumberbatch was nominated by the London Critics Circle for Best British Breakthrough Acting in this award-winning film for his portrayal of future British Prime Minister William Pitt who encourages idealistic MP (Member of Parliament) William Wilberforce (Ioan Gruffudd) in his twenty year crusade to end the British transatlantic slave trade. Cumberbatch was third billed in the film behind Gruffudd and Romal Garai and ahead of such major players as Albert Finney, Michael Gambon, Rufus Sewell, Ciaran Hinds, Toby Jones, Nicholas Farrell and Stephen Campbell Moore.

SHERLOCK (2010-2017), created by Mark Gatiss, Steven Moffat

This acclaimed series about a modern Sherlock Holmes received 39 Emmy nominations and 19 wins during the course of its eventual eight-year run. Cumberbatch was himself nominated four times, though he never won. The series also made household names of Martin Freeman as Dr. Watson, Rupert Graves as Inspector Lestrade, Andrew Scott as Moriarty, and co-creator Mark Gatiss as Sherlock’s brother Mycroft. Una Stubbs who played Holmes and Watson’s landlady, Mrs. Hudson, was a lifelong friend of Cumberbatch’s mother. His actor parents were also featured in the cast as Sherlock’s parents.

THE IMITATION GAME (1968), directed by Morten Tyldum

Nominated for 8 Oscars including Best Picture, Director, Actor (Cumberbatch), Supporting Actress (Keira Knightley), Film Editing, Production, and Score, it won for Best Adapted Screenplay by Graham Moore. Cumberbatch plays legendary cryptologist Alan Turing who leads a brilliant team of code-breakers at Britain’s top-secret Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley during World War II. The “Turing’ machines” later became today’s computers while Turing himself died mysteriously after being exposed as a homosexual in 1952. Matthew Goode, Roy Kinnear, Allen Leach, Matthew Beard, Charles Dance, and Mark Strong co-star.

THE POWER OF THE DOG, directed by Jane campion (2021)

Nominated for 12 Oscars including Best Picture, Actor (Cumberbatch), Supporting Actors (Kodi Smith-McPhee, Jesse Plemons), Supporting Actress (Kirsten Dunst), Adapted Screenplay (Campion), Cinematography, Film Editing, Production Design, Score, and Sound, it won only for Best Director, a major shock after having won most the year’s precursors for Best Picture. Set in 1925 Montana, Cumberbatch plays a tough rancher who takes please in bullying his soft-spoken brother (Plemons), Plemons’ new wife (Dunst) and her quiet son (McPhee) from her first marriage. The tables turn in a surprising way in this totally absorbing literate drama.

SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME (2021), directed by Jon Watts

With Spider-Man’s identity now revealed, Tom Holland as Peter asks Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange to cast a spell that will make the world forgot who he is. The spell goes wrong and dangerous foes from other worlds start appearing. The highlight of the film is the appearance of both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield who played earlier incarnations of Spider-Man on the big screen. They help the current Spidey stave off the boy guys played by the likes of Jamie Foxx, Willem Dafoe, and Alfred Molina reprising their villainous roles from the previous films. Zendaya as MJ, Benedict Wong as Wong, and Maria Tomei as Aunt May are also on board.