Benedict Cumberbatch
Acting • Born 1976-07-19
Biography
Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch (born July 19, 1976) is an English actor. Known for his roles on the screen and stage, he has received various accolades throughout his career, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a British Academy Television Award, and a Laurence Olivier Award. Cumberbatch won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Play for Frankenstein and a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie for Sherlock. His performances in the dramas The Imitation Game (2014) and The Power of the Dog (2021) earned him nominations for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Golden Globe Award, all for Best Actor in a Leading Role. For playing the title role in five-part drama miniseries Patrick Melrose, he won a BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. In 2014 Time magazine included him in its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, and in 2015 he was appointed a CBE by Queen Elizabeth II in the 2015 Birthday Honours for services to the performing arts and to charity. A graduate of the Victoria University of Manchester, Cumberbatch continued his training at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, obtaining a Master of Arts in Classical Acting. He first performed at the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park in Shakespearean productions and made his West End debut in Richard Eyre's revival of Hedda Gabler in 2005. Since then, he has starred in the Royal National Theatre productions After the Dance (2010) and Frankenstein (2011). In 2015, he played the title role in Hamlet at the Barbican Theatre. Cumberbatch's television work includes his performance as Stephen Hawking in the television film Hawking in 2004. He gained worldwide recognition for his performance as Sherlock Holmes in the BBC series Sherlock from 2010 to 2017. He has also headlined Tom Stoppard's adaptation of Parade's End (2012), The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses (2016), Patrick Melrose (2018), and Brexit: The Uncivil War (2019). In films, Cumberbatch has starred in Amazing Grace (2006) as William Pitt the Younger, Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) as Khan, 12 Years a Slave (2013) as William Prince Ford, The Fifth Estate (2013) as Julian Assange, and The Imitation Game (2014) as Alan Turing. He also acted in the historical dramas The Current War (2017), 1917 (2019) and The Courier (2020), and received critical acclaim for his performance in Jane Campion's Western drama The Power of the Dog (2021). From 2012 to 2014, through voice and motion capture, he played the characters of Smaug and Sauron in The Hobbit film series. Cumberbatch portrays Dr. Stephen Strange in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films, beginning with Doctor Strange (2016), and also voiced the character in the animated series What If...? (2021).
Filmography
158 credits
The Man Who Predicted 9/11
Movie • 2005
Narrator (voice)
Atonement
Movie • 2007
Paul Marshall
Creation
Movie • 2009
Joseph Dalton Hooker
The Other Boleyn Girl
Movie • 2008
William Carey
Marvel Studios' 2021 Disney+ Day Special
Movie • 2021
Stephen Strange / Doctor Strange (voice) (archive footage)
Hawking
Movie • 2004
Stephen Hawking
Starter for 10
Movie • 2006
Patrick Watts
Amazing Grace
Movie • 2006
William Pitt
Four Lions
Movie • 2010
Negotiator
Reframing the West: Behind the Scenes of Jane Campion's The Power of the Dog
Movie • 2022
Sherlock: Many Happy Returns
Movie • 2013
Sherlock Holmes
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Movie • 2012
Necromancer
The Whistleblower
Movie • 2010
Nick Kaufman
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
Movie • 2023
Henry Sugar / Make-Up Artist
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Movie • 2011
Peter Guillam
Stuart: A Life Backwards
Movie • 2007
Alexander Masters
The Thing with Feathers
Movie • 2025
Dad
Behind the Scenes With Jane Campion
Movie • 2022
Self (archive footage)
Star Trek Into Darkness
Movie • 2013
John Harrison / Khan
Third Star
Movie • 2010
James
Mog's Christmas
Movie • 2023
Mr. Thomas (voice)
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Movie • 2013
Smaug / Sauron
War Horse
Movie • 2011
Maj. Jamie Stewart
12 Years a Slave
Movie • 2013
William Ford
Wreckers
Movie • 2011
David
Burlesque Fairytales
Movie • 2010
Henry Clark
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Movie • 2014
Smaug / Sauron (voice)
Inseparable
Movie • 2007
Joe / Charlie
August: Osage County
Movie • 2013
Little Charles Aiken
Minions & More Volume 1
Movie • 2022
The Grinch (voice)
The Fifth Estate
Movie • 2013
Julian Assange
The Imitation Game
Movie • 2014
Alan Turing
National Theatre Live: Frankenstein
Movie • 2011
The Creature / Victor Frankenstein
Girlfriend in a Coma
Movie • 2012
Dante (voice)
Poison
Movie • 2023
Harry Pope
Cristiano Ronaldo: World at His Feet
Movie • 2014
Narrator
Marvel Studios Assembled: The Making of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Movie • 2022
Self - Doctor Stephen Strange
Little Favour
Movie • 2013
Wallace
Unlocking Sherlock
Movie • 2014
Himself / Sherlock Holmes
Jerusalem
Movie • 2013
Narrator (voice)
Walking with Dinosaurs: Prehistoric Planet 3D
Movie • 2014
Narrator (Voice)
Van Gogh: Painted with Words
Movie • 2010
Vincent Van Gogh
Penguins of Madagascar
Movie • 2014
Classified (voice)
Black Mass
Movie • 2015
Billy Bulger
The End We Start From
Movie • 2023
AB
Arctic: Our Frozen Planet
Movie • 2023
Narrator
Cindy-Lou's Yule Log
Movie • 2019
The Grinch
The Dog Days of Winter
Movie • 2019
The Grinch (voice)
Sherlock: Uncovered
Movie • 2012
Sherlock, Self
The Book of Clarence
Movie • 2024
Benjamin
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More
Movie • 2024
Henry Sugar / Max Engelman / Harry (archive footage)
The Roses
Movie • 2025
Theo Rose
Zoolander 2
Movie • 2016
All
Sherlock: The Abominable Bride
Movie • 2016
Sherlock Holmes
The Grinch
Movie • 2018
Grinch (voice)
Fields of Gold
Movie • 2002
Jeremy
The Phoenician Scheme
Movie • 2025
Uncle Nubar
Shakespeare Live! From the RSC
Movie • 2016
Self - Performer
National Theatre Live: Hamlet
Movie • 2015
Hamlet
Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle
Movie • 2018
Shere Khan (voice)
Thor: Ragnarok
Movie • 2017
Doctor Strange
The Current War
Movie • 2018
Thomas Edison
Naples '44
Movie • 2016
Norman Lewis (voice)
The Turning Point
Movie • 2009
Guy Burgess
National Theatre Live: 50 Years on Stage
Movie • 2013
Rosencrantz
Walk with Me
Movie • 2017
Narrator (voice)
The Child in Time
Movie • 2018
Stephen Lewis
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Movie • 2022
Doctor Stephen Strange
Avengers: Infinity War
Movie • 2018
Doctor Strange
To Kill a King
Movie • 2003
Royalist
Mark Gatiss: A Study in Sherlock
Movie • 2016
Himself
The Courier
Movie • 2020
Greville Wynne
Brexit: The Uncivil War
Movie • 2019
Dominic Cummings
1917
Movie • 2019
Colonel MacKenzie
The Power of the Dog
Movie • 2021
Phil Burbank
The Electrical Life of Louis Wain
Movie • 2021
Louis Wain
Between Two Ferns: The Movie
Movie • 2019
Benedict Cumberbatch
The Tiger Who Came to Tea
Movie • 2022
Daddy (voice)
The Mauritanian
Movie • 2021
Lt. Stuart Couch
Doctor Strange
Movie • 2016
Dr. Stephen Strange
Avengers: Endgame
Movie • 2019
Doctor Strange
Frankenstein: A Modern Myth
Movie • 2012
Self / Frankenstein / The Monster
Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King
Movie • 2020
Self
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Movie • 2021
Doctor Strange
Hills Like White Elephants
Movie • 2002
The Man
Letters Live from the Archive: Freemasons’ Hall
Movie • 2021
Letters Live from the Archive: Union Chapel
Movie • 2021
Self
Antarctica
Movie • 2020
Self - Narrator
The Penguins of Madagascar: Operation Search and Rescue
Movie • 2014
Agent Classified (voice)
Unlocking Sherlock
Movie • 2010
Himself
Wife & Dog
Movie • 2026
James Blunt: One Brit Wonder
Movie • 2023
Self (archive footage)
Blood on Snow
Movie
The Fisherman
How to Be Sherlock Holmes: The Many Faces of a Master Detective
Movie • 2014
Self
The Rattigan Enigma by Benedict Cumberbatch
Movie • 2011
Morning
Movie
Frank
The Dreams of William Golding
Movie • 2012
Reader
Placebo: This Search for Meaning
Movie • 2024
Self
Together for Palestine
Movie • 2025
Self
Last Flight
Movie
Kirk Wallace Johnson
9 Kisses
Movie • 2014
Man at Costume Party
The One Show
TV • 2006
Self - Guest
Silent Witness
TV • 1996
Warren Reid
Broken News
TV • 2005
Will Parker
Heartbeat
TV • 1992
Toby Fisher
Spooks
TV • 2002
Jim North
Agatha Christie's Marple
TV • 2004
Luke Fitzwilliam
The Last Enemy
TV • 2008
Stephen Ezard
The Jonathan Ross Show
TV • 2011
Self
Sherlock
TV • 2010
Sherlock Holmes
Fortysomething
TV • 2003
Rory Slippery
GMTV
TV • 1993
Self
Stephen Hawking's Grand Design
TV • 2012
Narrator (voice)
Small Island
TV • 2009
Bernard
To the Ends of the Earth
TV • 2005
Edmund Talbot
Parade's End
TV • 2012
Christopher Tietjens
What If...?
TV • 2021
Doctor Strange (voice)
The Simpsons
TV • 1989
Severus Snape / Prime Minister (voice)
The Daily Show
TV • 1996
Self
What If...?
TV • 2021
Doctor Strange / Strange Supreme (voice)
Marvel Studios Legends
TV • 2021
Stephen Strange / Doctor Strange (archive footage) (uncredited)
Running Wild with Bear Grylls: The Challenge
TV • 2022
Self
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
TV • 1988
Self
Late Night with Seth Meyers
TV • 2014
Self
Nathan Barley
TV • 2005
Robin
Dunkirk
TV • 2004
Lt Jimmy Langley
Super/Natural
TV • 2022
Self - Narrator (voice)
Patrick Melrose
TV • 2018
Patrick Melrose
The Oscars
TV • 1953
Self
Saturday Night Live
TV • 1975
Self - Host
Cambridge Spies
TV • 2003
Edward Hand
South Pacific
TV • 2009
Self - Narrator (voice)
WWI's Tunnels of Death: The Big Dig
TV • 2012
Narrator (Voice)
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
TV • 2014
Self - Guest
The Kelly Clarkson Show
TV • 2019
Self
Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking
TV • 2010
Stephen Hawking
Leute heute
TV • 1997
Self
Variety Studio: Actors on Actors
TV • 2014
Self
The Graham Norton Show
TV • 2007
Self
Tipping the Velvet
TV • 2002
Freddy
What If...?
TV • 2021
Doctor Strange / Strange-Supreme (voice)
Heartbeat
TV • 1992
Charles
What If...?
TV • 2021
Strange Supreme / Demon Strange (voice)
The Graham Norton Show
TV • 2007
Self - Guest
The Hollow Crown
TV • 2012
Richard
The Hollow Crown
TV • 2012
Richard III
Have I Got a Bit More News for You
TV
Self - Presenter
Good Omens
TV • 2019
Satan (voice)
Saturday Night Live
TV • 1975
Self - Cameo (uncredited)
The View
TV • 1997
Self
Eric
TV • 2024
Vincent
The Simpsons
TV • 1989
Quilloughby (voice)
Why did you come to Japan?
TV • 2012
Self
Timeshift
TV • 2002
self
Top Gear
TV • 2002
Self
Have I Got News for You
TV • 1990
Self - Host
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
TV • 2015
Self - Guest
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
TV • 2003
Self - Guest