Stephen Fry

Fry first came to the attention of American audiences in A Fish Called Wanda (1988), then with his portrayal of the butler Jeeves in the popular British television series Jeeves and Wooster (1990–93). He appeared with his Cambridge University friends Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson in Peter's Friends (1992), and with Walter Matthau, Tim Robbins, and Meg Ryan in I.Q. (1994). But it was his sympathetic portrayal of Oscar Wilde in the film Wilde (1997, released in the U.S. in 1998) that truly strikes a chord. Apart from his physical resemblance to the 19th century playwright, Fry shares Wilde's love of literature, acerbic wit, intellectual acumen, and ability to bridge comedy and drama (not to mention his brush with the law or his sexual orientation). Fry has also written several novels, including The Liar (1991), The Hippopotamus (1994), and his autobiography Moab is My Washpot (1997).