Biography for
Mark Rylance More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

18 January 1960, Ashford, Kent, England, UK

Birth Name

David Mark Rylance Waters

Height

5' 8" (1.73 m)

Spouse

Claire van Kampen

(1990 - present)

Trivia

University School of Milwaukee (Wisconsin), Class of 1978.

He was awarded the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in 1994 (1993 season) for Best Actor for his performance in Much Ado About Nothing.

He was nominated for a 2003 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Actor of 2002 for his performance in Twelfth Night performed at the Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.

He was awarded the 2002 London Critics Circle Theatre Award for Best Shakespearian Performance for his role in Twelfth Night performed at the Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.

He was awarded the 2002 London Evening Standard Theatre Award for Special Award for the 2002 Globe Season of Cupid and Psyche.

Became an Associate Member of the RSC.

Graduated from RADA.

In 1989, played both Hamlet and Romeo in repertoire for the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Rylance is his paternal grandfather's middle name.

His family moved to the US in 1962, when his father was hired to teach at the Choate School, in Connecticut. They moved to Milwaukee in 1969, where his father was in charge of upper-level English at the University School.

Won a Tony Award in 2008 for Best Performance by an Actor in a Play for "Boeing-Boeing".

Won the 2011 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Play for "Jerusalem".

When he won his Tonys in 2008 and 2011, he didn't give standard acceptance speeches or thank people. Instead, both times he gave Zen-like, [i]non sequitur[/i] recitations of works by poet Louis Jenkins. In 2008, he recited "Backcountry". In 2011, he recited "Walking Through a Wall".

In July 2011, Mark gave the Tony Award he had earned in "Jerusalem" to Mickey Lay, a 71-year-old builder and resident of Pewsey, a small village west of London. Lay had inspired and helped him to create the Gypsy character he played in his acclaimed Broadway role.

Where Are They Now

(August 2004) May-September 2004: Shakespeare's Globe, London: playing Duke Vincentio in "Measure for Measure"

(October 2004) Announced he will be leaving his position as artistic director of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London at the end of 2005. He has served as the theatre's artistic director for 10 years and is the only one who has filled the position so far.

(February 2008) He is currently playing the title role in "Peer Gynt" at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

(May 2008) Stars as "Robert" in the New York production of "Boeing, Boeing"

(February 2007) Stars as "Robert" in the London revival of "Boeing, Boeing"

(September 2010) Just finished a limited engagement of "La Bete" in London's West End, along with David Hyde Pierce and Joanna Lumley. The play is about to open on Broadway in New York for an 18-week run starting September 23, 2010.