Mark Strong
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Mark Strong (born Marco Giuseppe Salussolia, August 1963, in London, UK) is a British actor of Italian / Austrian parentage, although he was born and brought up in London and is a naturalised British citizen. His English name is not a stage name, but one chosen by his Austrian mother when she decided to change his name by deed poll when he was a child, hoping that it would help him to fit in better with his peers.
His original ambition was to become a lawyer, but after studying for a year at University in Munich, Germany he decided to change his direction in life and returned home to London. There he enrolled in a joint English & Drama degree at Royal Holloway, and later attended Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.
He is a familiar face on British television screens and has appeared in a variety of high-profile dramas, including two of the Prime Suspect serials for ITV, as Inspector (later Detective Chief Superintendent) Larry Hall in Prime Suspect 3 (1993) and Prime Suspect 6 (2003). He has also had starring roles in two major BBC TWO drama serials, Our Friends in the North (1996) and The Long Firm (2004).
In film, Strong's most prominent role was as Steve in the 1997 adaptation of Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch, co-starring opposite Colin Firth. He has enjoyed a highly successful theatre career, in 2003 being nominated for a prestigious Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role for his role in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night at the Donmar Warehouse in 2002.
External links
- Internet Movie Database entry (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0835016/)