BWW Profile: Eddie Redmayne Oscar-Nominated Star of Stage and Screen

Eddie Redmayne is having a very good year. The 33-year old actor is nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for playing physicist Stephen Hawking in THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING. In the film, Redmayne has been singled out for his sensitive portrayal of Hawking that goes from his younger days through the onslaught of the progressive motor neuron disease that binds him to a wheelchair.

Highly favored in the Oscar race for best actor, Redmayne was already awarded the Golden Globe for the role. The British actor also took home a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role. And in his native country, Redmayne won the Best Leading Actor award for the British entertainment award, the BAFTA.

Other film roles for which Redmayne has garnered acclaim include Colin Clark, the weeklong companion for a troubled film legend in MY WEEK WITH MARILYN in 2011, and his sensitive and sweetly sung Marius in the hit film adaptation of LES MISERABLES.

Like many of this brother and sister actors from the United Kingdom, Redmayne is also a stage veteran, having originated roles in contemporary works and taken on iconic roles in classical theatre. American audiences first got a taste of his command of the stage when he costarred with Alfred Molina in the award-winning John Logan play RED for which he took home a Tony Award for Featured Actor in a Play in 2010. Redmayne had originated the role of a young art student at the Donmar Warehouse in London where he won the coveted Olivier Award for best supporting actor. Following his triumph in RED, Redmayne tried his hand at Shakespeare, appearing as in the title role of RICHARD II on the London Stage.

Other stages appearances include his debut as a youngster in the Sam Mendes directed revival of OLIVER!. In 2002, he was a memorable Viola in an all-male TWELFTH NIGHT at The Globe Theatre. Two years later, his performance in Edward Albee's THE GOAT OR WHO IS SYLVIA? earned Redmayne the Evening Standard Outstanding Newcomer Award.

Certainly, Redmayne will continue to delight audiences with roles on the stage and the big screen. Born with a proverbial silver spoon in his mouth, Edward John David Redmayne was born January 6, 1982 in London. His parents are Patricia (Burke) and Richard Redmayne, the chair of the prestigious financial house Cantor Fitzgerald Europe. His family lineage goes back many years when fortunes were made selling linens and draperies in London.

Redmayne was educated at Eton College where he was was a classmate of Prince William. The Duke of Cambridge and the actor played on the same rugby team. Another Etonian of the same class: actor Tom Hiddleston.

Just as the Oscar buzz for THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING began, Redmayne also became a married man, taking publicist Hannah Bagshawe as his bride.

Will you be rooting for Eddie on Oscar night on February 22? Let me know your thoughts on Redmayne's nomination and the Oscars in general in the comments below, or on Twitter @jeffwalker66 and #BWWOscars.

The 87th Academy Awards telecast will air live coast-to-coast on Sunday, February 22, 2015 (8:30 p.m.ET/5:30 p.m.PT) on ABC from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. And be sure to visit BWW TV for live coverage of the 2015 Oscar telecast.