This extraordinary British actor was selected by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people of 2011 for being the quintessential Englishman: decent, self-disciplined and a non-conformist.

Professional stability was essential to Colin Firth’s parents. Therefore he greatly disappointed them when, at age 18, he announced that he was dropping out of college to be a musician. “I left my hair long. I wanted to be a blues guitarist or something like that.”

In the 1980s he played an apple in a commercial for a popular underwear brand. He then worked with Sir Laurence Olivier in a TV mini-series, but it was in 1995 that he played the role that catapulted his career: that of Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice.

When he played the role of King George VI in The King’s Speech, for which he won an Oscar, he suffered from temporary vocal paralysis. “Even when I talk about it now I’m in danger of losing my ability (to speak).”

In 1990, Firth and actress Meg Tilly welcomed William, Firth’s first child, into the world. She wanted their child to live a normal life, so the couple moved to a wood house on an nearly 5,000-acre plot of land in the country.

After separating from Tilly, Firth returned to England. In 1997 he married movie producer Livia Giuggioli, who he learned to speak Italian for and with whom he has two sons. “She’s the one who supports me when I want to cry and I feel bad. When that happens, she gives me a kiss and a cup of tea, and all is well again.”