Kevin Spacey, Eddie Redmayne, and Michael Ball Added to Queen's Birthday Honours List

Kevin Spacey, Eddie Redmayne, and Michael Ball have been added the long list of Hollywood and Broadway stars to be honored by the Queen of England.

Receiving a knighthood for his services to British theatre and international culture said the news made the American feel like "an adopted son" of Britain. The actor will soon step down from his 10-year post as artistic director of the historic British theatre, the Old Vic. "I am honoured and humbled by such recognition from the Queen. I must thank the British public for being so supportive of my efforts on behalf of the Old Vic."

Broadway and West End actor Ball, a self-proclaimed "proper royalist," described his reaction to his OBE honor as "chuffed to bits."

Tony and Academy Award-winner Redmayne was also appointed OBE for services to drama.

Kevin Spacey is an American actor, film director, writer, producer, and comedian. He began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, before being cast in supporting roles in film and television. He gained critical acclaim in the early 1990s, culminating in his first Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the neo-noir crime thriller The Usual Suspects (1995), followed by an Academy Award for Best Actor for midlife crisis-themed drama American Beauty (1999).

During a career which has earned Spacey several Emmy and Golden Globe nominations, his other starring roles include the psychological thriller Seven (1995), the neo-noir crime film L.A. Confidential (1997), the drama Pay It Forward (2000), the science fiction-mystery film K-PAX (2001), and the role of Lex Luthor in the superhero film Superman Returns (2006). He has been artistic director of the Old Vic theatre in London since 2004, and is stepping down mid-2015. Since 2013, Spacey has played Frank Underwood in the Netflix political drama series House of Cards. For his portrayal of Underwood, he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Television Series Drama.

Michael Ball is an English actor, singer and broadcaster, who is known for his work in musical theatre. He made his West End debut in 1985 playing Marius in the original London production of LES MISERABLES, and went on star in 1987 as Raoul in The Phantom of the Opera. In 1989, he reached number two in the UK singles chart with "Love Changes Everything", a song taken from the musical Aspects of Love, where he played Alex. He played the role in London and on Broadway.

In 1992, Ball represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest, finishing second with the song "One Step Out of Time". In 1995, he reprised the role of Marius in LES MISERABLES: The Dream Cast in Concert. His other West End roles include Georgio in Passion (1997) and Caractacus Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (2002). He has twice won the Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical. He won in 2008 for his role as Edna Turnblad in Hairspray, and then in 2013 for the title role in the revival of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

Eddie Redmayne is an English actor, singer and model. He started his professional career as an actor in both theatre and television roles in the early 2000s and then made his film debut, Like Minds, in 2006. He has since appeared in films such as The Good Shepherd (2006), Savage Grace (2007), Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007), My Week with Marilyn (2011), LES MISERABLES (2012), The Theory of Everything (2014) and Jupiter Ascending (2015).

Redmayne received universal critical acclaim for his performance as Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, the Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award and the BAFTA Award. He has continued to perform in theatre, most notably in the play Red (2010), on Broadway, for which he won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play. Redmayne was appointed an Officer of Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II for services to Drama in the 2015 Birthday Honours.

Source: BBC News