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Orlando Bloom

Date of Birth: 13 January 1977

Location: Canterbury, Kent, England

Orlando Jonathan Blanchard Bloom (born 13 January 1977) is an English actor. He had his break-through role in the early 2000s as the elf-prince Legolas in The Lord of the Rings and blacksmith Will Turner in the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy of films, and subsequently established himself as a lead in Hollywood films, including Troy, Elizabethtown, and Kingdom of Heaven. Bloom most recently appeared in the sequels Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, and is scheduled to appear in a stage play during the summer of 2007.

Bloom was born in Canterbury, Kent, England. His mother, Sonia Constance Josephine Copeland, was born in Calcutta, India, the daughter of Betty Constance Josephine Walker and Francis John Copeland, a physician and surgeon. Bloom's maternal grandmother's family has lived in Tasmania, Australia and India, and are of English descent, some of them having originally come from Kent. Bloom had thought that his father was South African-born Jewish anti-Apartheid novelist Harry Saul Bloom, but when he was thirteen (nine years after Harry's death), Bloom's mother revealed to him that his biological father was actually Colin Stone, his mother's partner and family friend, and the principal of the Concorde International language school. Stone was made Orlando Bloom's legal guardian after Harry Bloom's death.[4] Bloom, who is named after the 17th century composer Orlando Gibbons, has one sister, Samantha Bloom, who was born in 1975.

Bloom was not academic or athletic as a child, and managed to struggle through St Edmund's School in Canterbury despite his dyslexia. He was encouraged by his mother to take art and drama classes. In 1993, he moved to London and joined the National Youth Theatre, spending two seasons there and earning a scholarship to train at the British American Drama Academy. Bloom began acting professionally with television roles in episodes of Casualty and Midsomer Murders, and subsequently made his film debut in Wilde (1997), opposite Stephen Fry, before entering the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where he studied acting, sculpture and photography. In 1998, he fell three stories while trying to reach the roof of terrace of a friend's house, and was told he would not regain the ability to walk. However, he made a recovery and was able to walk out of the hospital on crutches within twelve days. Bloom had steel plates inserted into his backbone to support it, which have since been removed, except for a single screw. He regularly practices yoga and Pilates to strengthen his back.

Bloom's first appearance on the screen was a small role as a rent boy in the 1997 film Wilde. Two days after graduating from Guildhall in 1999, he was cast in his first major role, playing Legolas in The Lord of the Rings (2001v2003). He had originally tried out for the part of Faramir, who doesn't appear until the 2nd movie but the director, Peter Jackson, cast him as Legolas instead. While shooting a scene, he broke a rib after falling off a horse, but eventually recovered and continued shooting. The success of the trilogy transformed Bloom from an unknown actor into one of world's best-known celebrities. In 2002, he was chosen as one of the Teen People "25 Hottest Stars Under 25" and was named People's hottest Hollywood bachelor in the magazine's 2004 list. All members of the cast of the Rings films were nominated for Best Ensemble Acting at the Screen Actors Guild Awards for three years in a row, finally winning in 2003 for the third film, The Return of the King. Bloom has also won other awards, including European Film Awards, Hollywood Festival Award, Empire Awards and Teen Choice Awards, and has been nominated for many others. Most of Bloom's box office successes have been as part of an ensemble cast, with his leading roles not having performed as well.

Bloom next starred opposite Keira Knightley and Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, which was a blockbuster hit during the summer of 2003. He subsequently played the lead roles in Kingdom of Heaven and Elizabethtown (both 2005). In 2006, Bloom starred in sequel Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, the independently made Haven, and was one of the guest stars in the sitcom Extras, in which he portrayed an arrogant, narcissistic version of himself who had a great loathing for Johnny Depp (his co-star in Pirates of the Caribbean). Also in 2006, Bloom was the most searched for male on Google News. As of May 2007, Bloom's films had grossed a combined $2.4 billion at the United States box office, and he has appeared in four of the top 15 highest grossing films of all time.

Bloom's most recent film role is in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, released on May 25, 2007. Bloom, who had intended to become a stage actor after graduating from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, has stated that he would like leave films for a time and instead appear in stage roles, and is "avidly looking for the right sort of material that he can do something with" and go "back to basics". In June 2007, he is scheduled to begin rehearsing for In Celebration, a West End stage play by David Storey, due to begin previews on July 5 and open on July 12; his character is one of three brothers returning home for their parents' 40th wedding anniversary.

Bloom has said that he tries "not to exclude [himself] from real life as much as possible". He is a Manchester United fan and lives in London. During filming in Morocco for Kingdom of Heaven, Bloom rescued and adopted a dog, Sidi (a black Saluki mix with a white mark on his chest). Bloom is a practising Buddhist; In 2004, he became a full member of Soka Gakkai International, a lay Buddhist association affiliated with the teachings of Nichiren. Bloom has also been a part of Global Green, an environmental company, since the early 2000s. As part of his environmental involvement, he has renovated his London home to use solar panels, incorporate recycled materials, and utilize energy sufficient lightbulbs. Bloom has been approached by UNICEF to act as an international ambassador.

Bloom met American actress Kate Bosworth outside a coffee shop in 2002, where he was introduced to her by a mutual friend, soon after he met her again at the premiere of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers later in that year. The two had an "on-and-off relationship" from 2002 until splitting up in September of 2006. Bloom has also been linked to model Miranda Kerr, and actresses Uma Thurman, Kirsten Dunst, Sienna Miller, Jessica Biel and PenTlope Cruz.

Bloom has a tattoo of the Elvish word for "nine" on his right wrist, a reference to his involvement in the Lord of the Rings and the fact that his character was one of the nine members of the Fellowship of the Ring. The other actors of "The Fellowship" (Sean Astin, Sean Bean, Billy Boyd, Ian McKellen, Dominic Monaghan, Viggo Mortensen, and Elijah Wood) got the same tattoo with the exception of John Rhys-Davies who sent his stunt double to get the tattoo.

Bloom has sustained several injuries: he broke his left arm and cracked his skull while falling out of a tree, broke his nose while playing rugby, broke his right leg skiing in Switzerland, broke his left leg in a motorbike crash, broke his right wrist while snowboarding. He also broke his back when he slipped trying to reach a roof terrace of a friend's house and fell three floors.