Happy Birthday to Jim Broadbent

May 24, 2017

Posted by: Kim McChesney

Actor Birthdays, Birthdays, Broadbent, Film Awards, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, HP Cast, Movies, News, Television Programmes

Today we celebrate the 68th birthday of the talented British actor James “Jim” Broadbent, best known to the Potter fandom as Potions Professor Horace Slughorn. Whether this head of Slytherin was loathed, adored or something in between, the actor brought J.K. Rowling’s character to life in all of his humanness, (when he wasn’t a chair). Many a wizard were fond of Professor Slughorn, from Lily Potter to Albus Dumbledore. He enjoyed entertaining the Slug Club, delivered a heartfelt eulogy for Aragog and fought fearlessly during the Battle of Hogwarts, yet his most memorable act may be the arming of Tom Riddle with the knowledge of Horcruxes in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

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This award-winning actor has appeared in over 130 films and television programs over the past 40 years. Some of his most acclaimed performances were for roles prior to his time in the Potterverse; the 1999 British musical drama Topsy Turvey co-starring Potter alum Timothy Spall (Peter Pettigrew) and the Oscar-nominated 2001 musical romance Moulin Rouge. In the same year, Broadbent took home an Academy Award  for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the biographical drama Iris.

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Most recently Broadbent received favorable reviews for his performance in the British-American drama The Sense of an Ending as covered here earlier this spring by Leaky. He has three other movies in post-production due to be released in 2017; the animated fantasy Magik starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Black 47, a western-style thriller set during the Irish famine, and Paddington 2, which resembles a Harry Potter reunion, starring Brendan Gleeson, Mad-Eye Moody, Julie Walters who played Molly Weasley and Imelda Staunton a.k.a. the deplorable Dolores Umbridge, all alongside Broadbent.  He can also be seen beginning July 16 in the role of the Archmaester Marwyn in season seven of the wildly popular HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones. Though information on Broadbent’s character has been kept under wraps, he had this to say in a recent Vanity Fair article,

“I’m a maester, an archmaester. I’m an old professor character.[   ] I did five episodes. I did sort of one major scene in each episode.”

It appears that Broadbent’s part is significant as there are only seven episodes planned in the upcoming season.

This versatile actor can even be heard as one of the earth dwelling Voice Trumpets on the rebooted BBC children’s show The Teletubbies!

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Harry Potter fans should be sure to catch Broadbent with Potter alum Michael Gambon a.k.a. Albus Dumbledore, in the as yet untitled true story of the 2015 Hatton Garden jewelry heist. Broadbent and Gambon play two of  four seasoned criminals who manage to drill down to an underground safety facility to steal $200 million in jewelry and cash…without wands!

Cheers to Jim Broadbent on this happiest of birthdays and watch for him this summer in Game of Thrones!

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The Leaky Cauldron is not associated with J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros., or any of the individuals or companies associated with producing and publishing Harry Potter books and films.