Bryan Cranston's Biography

Bryan Cranston's Early Life

Bryan Cranston was born on 7 March 1956 in Canoga Park, in Los Angeles’s San Fernando Valley.

His parents Joe and Peggy, had met in an acting class, but when Bryan was 12, they split and he and his elder brother, Kyle lived with their grandparents.

Cranston looked set for a career in the police, when he decided to take an elective in acting as part of his course.

He then married an actress named Mickey Middleton, and studied acting.

Initially, Bryan Cranston got low grade parts in television and earned his money mainly from acting in commercials, but he then started to get roles in the likes of Matlock and Murder She Wrote. He met his second wife Robin Dearden working on the TV show Airwolf.

Malcolm in the Middle and Breaking Bad

Crucially, in 1998, he was cast in an episode of The X Files, and thereby caught the attention of the writer Vince Gilligan. This would later lead to him being cast in the lead role in Gilligan's Breaking Bad.

In between he was cast in the significant role of Hal in Malcolm in the Middle, which ran from 2000 to 2006.

However, it was in 2007, when he started to play Walter White in Breaking Bad that he truly made his name. As well as acting in the critically acclaimed and popular show, he also directed some of the episodes and was a producer from season four.

He won several Emmys and a Golden Globe for his work on Breaking Bad.

Bryan Cranston also starred as Vince in the TV series Sneaky Pete, which he also co-created.

Movies and Television including Trumbo

His movie credits have included Argo, Drive and Godzilla, and in 2016, he was nominated for an Oscar for best actor for his role as Dalton Trumbo in Trumbo.

In 2016, Cranston was nominated for an Emmy for outstanding lead actor in a limited series or movie for his role as Lyndon B Johnson in All The Way.

In 2017, he was cast in Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams.

In 2018, he starred in the film Last Flag Flying.

Memoir

In October 2016, Bryan Cranston published his memoir A Life in Parts.

Stage

In January 2017, it was announced that Byran Cranston was to make his UK stage debut playing Howard Beale in an adaptation of the film Network.

In Augsust 2018 it was announced that Cranston had been nominated for the Joe Allen Best West End Debut award for his role in Network.

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