Daniel Radcliffe

Radcliffe was born in July 23, 1989 at Queen Charlotte's Hospital, Hammersmith, West London, England, the only child of Alan George Radcliffe, a literary agent, and Marcia Jeannine Gresham (née Marcia Gresham Jacobson), a casting agent who was involved in several films for the BBC, including The Inspector Lynley Mysteries and, most recently, Walk Away And I Stumble. Radcliffe's mother is Jewish and a native of Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex (her family's surname was anglicised from "Gershon"); his father, originally from Northern Ireland, is Protestant.

Radcliffe first expressed a desire to act at the age of five. In December 1999, aged ten, he realised his ambition and made his acting debut in the BBC's televised two-part adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel David Copperfield, portraying the title character as a young boy.

Radcliffe was educated at two independent schools for boys: Sussex House School, a day school in Cadogan Square in Chelsea in London. He achieved A grades in the three AS-levels he sat in 2006, but then decided to take a break from education, and did not go to college or university.

Monday, 16 May 2011

Radcliffe has stated that he is an atheist, and also "very proud of being Jewish." He is a fan of punk rock music and admires a diverse lineup of bands, from Sex Pistols and The Libertines to Arctic Monkeys and more recently Jack Peñate and Kate Nash. His favourite band is The Hold Steady. In November 2007, Radcliffe published several poems under the pen name Jacob Gershon.

He is reported to have earned £1 million for the first Potter film, around £5.6 million for the fourth film, and more than £8 million for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. In 2010, Radcliffe was reported to have personal assets of £28.5 million, making him richer than Princes William and Harry. Despite his wealth, Radcliffe has said he does not have expensive tastes. His main expense is buying books: "I read a lot."Radcliffe appeared on the Sunday Times Rich List in 2006, which estimated his personal fortune to be GB£14 million, making him one of the richest young people in the United Kingdom. By April 2009, The Daily Telegraph measured his net worth at £30m, making him the 12th richest young person in the UK. According to the publication, Radcliffe is expected to have amassed £70m by the time the series of films concludes.

Radcliffe has been a supporter of various charities, including Demelza House Children's Hospice in Sittingbourne, Kent, to which he has requested fans make donations in lieu of birthday presents. In February 2005, Radcliffe put a "Hogwarts Crew" T-shirt which he autographed up for auction to help raise money for the Tsunami victims in 2005. His T-shirt was part of the Tsunami Clothes Auction that raised money for the Rebuilding Sri Lanka Organization. He wore the T-shirt during the making of the film, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. These T-shirts were only issued to members of the cast and crew. His shirt raised £520. Radcliff has also supported Get Connected UK, a London-based charity for young people

In a 2009 issue of Attitude, Radcliffe announced his support for the Liberal Democrats. Radcliffe also positions himself as a gay rights activist by speaking out against homophobia and filmed a public service announcement for The Trevor Project promoting awareness of gay teen suicide prevention. He has also contributed financially to The Trevor Project. In 2011, Radcliffe was a recipient of the Trevor Project's "Hero Award" for assisting the Project in gay teen suicide prevention.

He has become a keen follower of cricket and attended the first England v India test match on his 18th birthday. He queued up for the autographs of Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar and English opening batsman Andrew Strauss at the end of the final day's play.Regarding this, he stated:

I was telling people in a recent interview that I had a dream that Andrew Strauss was chasing me with a cricket bat. It was during the West Indies series when Andrew wasn’t doing too well and an Australian who was listening in piped up and said, "I wouldn’t worry about Strauss, if he had a swing at you at the moment he’d probably miss."

Radcliffe has stated that he suffers from a mild form of the neurological disorder dyspraxia.