Born on September 6, , in London, England, actor Idris Elba starred in British productions before making his way to the United States, earning attention for playing a crime boss in The Wire. He landed a number of British television roles and worked with his father in a car factory before eventually making his way to America. Other parts followed, though Elba later lamented that he was continuing to get lots of offers for gangster roles during this time. The statuesque Elba transitioned to a big-screen career as well, landing film roles in a variety of genres. The actor has received multiple Emmy Award nominations and won a Golden Globe Award for his lead role on the BBC America series Luther , portraying a driven yet tortured detective whose conduct brings up ethical issues.
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Who Is Idris Elba?
Elba was born to immigrant working-class parents his father was from Sierra Leone , and his mother was born in Ghana. Beginning in his late teens, he worked as a disc jockey under the name DJ Big Driis later Big Driis the Londoner while auditioning for acting roles. From the mids he appeared often on British TV, his roles including recurring characters on Insiders , Family Affairs , and Dangerfield He branched out into comedy on the American version of the sitcom The Office and into romance on the comedy-drama The Big C.
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He made his directorial debut in with an adaptation of the novel Yardie by Victor Headley. He credits The Stage with giving him his first big break, having seen an advertisement for a play in it; he auditioned and met his first agent while performing in the role. In , he landed his first significant role on a series called Bramwell , a medical drama set in s England. He played a central character in an episode of Season 1, an African petty thief named Charlie Carter, who lost his white wife to childbirth and had to figure out how to support his newborn daughter. His first named role arrived earlier in , when he was cast as a gigolo on the "Sex" episode of Absolutely Fabulous. He joined the cast of the soap opera Family Affairs [12] and went on to appear on the television serial Ultraviolet and later on Dangerfield. From to , Elba portrayed Russell "Stringer" Bell in the series, perhaps his best-known role in the United States.
