Damian Lewis

Damian Watcyn Lewis (born 11 February 1971) is a British actor, musician and producer. He is best known for portraying U.S. Army Major Richard Winters in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers. He won a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award for his portrayal of U.S. Marine Gunnery Sergeant Nicholas Brody in the Showtime series Homeland, and nominations for both for his performance as Henry VIII of England in Wolf Hall. He portrayed Bobby Axelrod in the Showtime series Billions in six out of seven seasons, and appeared in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) as actor Steve McQueen. Early life and education Lewis was born on 11 February 1971 in St John's Wood, London, the eldest son of Charlotte Mary (née Bowater) and John Watcyn Lewis, a City insurance broker with Lloyd's. His paternal grandparents were Welsh, and he says he considers himself "London Welsh". His maternal grandfather was Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Ian Bowater, Lord Mayor of London, and his maternal grandmother's ancestors include Bertrand, Viscount Dawson of Penn (a doctor to the Royal Family) and the eminent naval shipbuilder and philanthropist Sir Alfred Yarrow, 1st Baronet (see Yarrow Shipbuilders), who was of partial Sephardic Jewish descent. Lewis has said that he "went to English boarding schools and grew up around people very much like [his character] Soames and in a milieu very much like the Forsytes. As a child, Lewis made several visits to the US to visit relatives during summer breaks. He first decided to become an actor at the age of 16. He was educated at the independent Ashdown House School in Forest Row, East Sussex, and at Eton College, and graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1993.