1960
Kenneth Charles Branagh is born on the 10th of December, in Belfast, Northern Ireland the second of three children in a working-class Protestan family. His parents are William and Frances. Siblings: William Jr (Ken's elder by 5 years), Joyce [Harper] (younger by 10).

1969
They moved to Reading, England when he was 9 to escape the Troubles brewing at home. He had a bit of an identity conflict in England, which led to him adopting an English accent at school while "remaining Irish at home." As a young lad he was into sports, captaining his school's rugby and soccer team, and journalism, writing children's book reviews for the local paper.

1975
When at 15 he sees Derek Jacobi play Hamlet he decides he wants to become an actor.

1978
At eighteen he joined the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London thanks to a grant.

1981
Straight out of drama school he played the second lead in the West End production of "Another Country", a performance for which he won heaps of awards, acclaim, and accolades. But it was his role as Henry V for the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) a couple of years later at age 23 that secured his position as one of the hottest new talents of the British stage.

1987
The impersonal, bureaucratic aspects of the RSC machine finally became too much for Ken, however, and he declined a second contract with the prestigious company. Instead, he and his "Another Country" buddy David Parfitt started to make plans to create a new company, which was named Renaissance and was launched in 1987 with a rather inauspicious debut, actually: the Renaissance Theatre Company's premiere production "Public Enemy"--starring, written and directed by Ken himself--opened to mostly negative reviews and charges of megalomania on the part of our young auteur. Luckily, RTC's productions of "Twelfth Night" (directed by Ken), "Much Ado About Nothing" (starring Ken), and--to a lesser degree--"Hamlet" (also starring Ken) were met with critical acclaim. Our boy was duly labeled "the next Olivier", and along with it came the prerequisite over-hype and backlash.

During the hectic period of forming Renaissance, Ken continued to work in televison and film projects, one of them being the BBC mini-series "The Fortunes of War." His leading lady was Emma Thompson, and the two fell in love while shooting.

1989
The couple gets married and after catapulting into successful film careers became known internationally as "Ken and Em", the "Royal couple of British film". Ken adapts, stars and directs "Henry V". That movie became an international success, and was oscar-nominated.

1991
His next film was his first foray into big-time Hollywood studio filmmaking, Paramount Pictures' Dead Again.

1992
He directs"Swan Song", Oscar nominated. He also directs and stars (with other great actors and actresses) "Peter's friends"

1993
Shakespeare again. Ken adapts, stars and directs "Much ado about nothing", a lovely, fun and romantic film. At stage he stars "Hamlet". Emma wins an Oscar with "Howard's End".

1994
He stars and directs Mary Shelley's Frankenstein with a big budget: $44 million. The critics skewered the movie and plucky Ken weathered the most severe case of Branagh-bashing, however, and bravely continued to plug the film around the world. It eventually turned a profit and raked in a decent $106 million worldwide.

1995
Ken self-financed his next film, a quirky, funny, personal little black-and-white comedy called In the Bleak Midwinter, that turned out to be a touching homage to actors and acting. He played Iago in Oliver Parker's film version of Othello shortly after. Around this time he left long-time agent Clifford Stevens at the little Paradigm Agency for the big-shot ranks of the powerful Creative Artists Agency (CAA), where he continues to be represented by Rick Nicita (who also reps Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer). On September 30, the Branagh-Thompson marriage announced their separation. Their busy work schedules resulted in their spending a lot of time away from each other however, leading to their "growing apart".

1996
He fulfilled a lifelong dream by filming Hamlet for the big screen. Uncut, four hours long and graced with an all-star cast, it was one of the "event" pictures of 1996 and was largely hailed by critics as a masterpiece. It was Oscar nominated but Hamlet went home empty-handed. I have to say it's a shame as this film is the reason why I'm here.

1998
He stars the Theory of Flight altogether with Helena Bonham-Carter, his girlfriend at that time. Also, "The Gingerbread man" by Robert Altman, "Celebrity", by Woody Allen, and "The Proposition" playing a charming priest.

1999
He co-stars "The Wild, Wild West", with Kevin Kline and Will Smith. He's the voice of Miguel in the animated film "El Dorado", again with Kevin Kline.

2000
He adapts, directs and stars (singing and dancing) "Love's Labour's Lost", another Shakespeare in which he plays Berowne, transforming the play into a Thirties musical set against the backdrop of the Second World War. Once again, he makes The Bard's work accesible to everyone.
The film is not as succesful as expected and by the moment we don't know whether'll be more Shakespeares, even we hope so.
Despite Helena's being there, the couple were no longer together. Some gossiping about Ken and Alicia Silverstone taking up, but he denies it.
As an actor, he stars "How to Kill your Neigbour's Dog", with excellent critics. Also, "Rabbit Proof Fence", an independent australian film based on a true story about three aboriginal girls.

2001
Ken directs a comedy for the stage"The Play that I Wrote", with a great success.
He also stars for Channel Four "Shackleton", for which he won an Emmy in the US and a Golden Globe nomination. He meets his new girlfriend on the set, the art director Lindsay Brunnock, and they attend "Gosford's Park" premiere in London.
He stars "Conspiracy" for the BBC.

2002
Ken's back to stage as an actor, after ten years. He comes back, as it couldn't be another way, with Shakespeare: Richard III. The play is a great success. For the big screen he plays Gilderoy Lockhart for the second Harry Potter. The film's success brings him back to the limelight. But, in his private life, another dissapointment: his relationship with Lindsay doesn't work.

Awards:
Bancroft Gold Medal, Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Society of West End Theaters' Award for Most Promising Newcomer of 1982
Plays and Players Award for Best Newcomer of 1982
National Board of Review, Best Director (Henry V)
Evening Standard Award for Best Film of 1989 (Henry V)
BAFTA Award for Best Achievement in Direction (Henry V)
1990 European Award for Best Young Film of the Year (Henry V)
European Actor of the Year (Henry V)
Academy Award nominee, Best Actor (Henry V)
Academy Award nominee, Best Director (Henry V)
Academy Award nominee, Best Short Film (Swan Song)
D.W. Griffith Award for Best Director, (Henry V)
N.Y. Critics Circle Award, Best Director (Henry V)
Irish Poet Award
Honorary doctorate of Literature at Queens University, Belfast, 1990
Will Award (Smithsonian Institute)
Grammy nominee, Audio Recording (Hamlet)
Evening Standard Peter Sellers Award for Comedy, (Peter's Friends)
British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Michael Bacon Award for Outstanding Contribution to Cinema 1993
Official Order of the Arts (government of France)
Member of the Board of Governors of the British Film Institute
"Osella d'Oro", Venice Film Festival, l995 (In the Bleak Midwinter)
Film Excellence Award, 11th Annual Boston Film Festival, 1995
Screen Actors Guild nomination for Best Supporting Actor, (Othello)
San Diego Film Critics Society, Best Actor (Hamlet)
Academy Award nominee, Best Adapted Screenplay (Hamlet)
Producer's Guild Oscar nomination: Best Picture (Hamlet)
Evening Standard Special Jury Prize (Hamlet)
Shakespeare Guild's Golden Quill - Sir John Gielgud Award for Excellence in the Dramatic Arts, 2000
Empire Film Awards Inspiration Award, 2000