Daniel Jacob Radcliffe (born 23 July 1989)[http://www.danradcliffe.com/biography.html DanRadcliffe.com: Daniel Radcliffe Biography ] is an English actor, best known for playing Harry Potter in the feature film series based on the popular book series. Radcliffe has also made appearances in stage productions and a number of TV shows and films, including the ITV film My Boy Jack and the stage show Equus, for which he is nominated for a Drama Desk Award. He is worth roughly £20 million, mainly earned from the Harry Potter franchise.

Early life

Radcliffe was born in Queen Charlotte's Hospital, 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 anglicized from "Gershon"); ; can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRbVy-p5_NQ his father is Protestant and originally from Northern Ireland. ; can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp7IIvZuGdU

Radcliffe first expressed a desire to act at the age of five. In December 1999, he 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.

Career

Radcliffe was asked to audition for the role of Harry Potter in 2000 by producer David Heyman, while in attendance at a play named Stones in His Pockets in London. In August of that year, after several auditions, he was selected to play the role in the big-budget adaptation of the award-winning book series by J.K. Rowling. Rowling herself also approved of this selection: "Having seen Dan Radcliffe's screen test I don't think Chris Columbus could have found a better Harry". Radcliffe made his film debut in 2001 with a supporting role alongside Pierce Brosnan in The Tailor of Panama, and the first Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was released later that year.

Radcliffe has also starred in the four subsequent Harry Potter film adaptations: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007). He has signed on for the sixth, seventh, and eighth films (year seven is being made in two parts); Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which began filming in September 2007 and was originally set for release on 21 November 2008 though delayed until 17 July 2009, and is now scheduled to release on 15 July 2009, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I and II, expected in 2010 and 2011. The films continue to produce high box office results worldwide.