Irons Progressed From Student to Star

JEREMY IRONS began his career as a student at the Bristol Old Vic School in England, joining the Bristol Old Vic Company two years later. After appearing in repertory productions ranging from Shakespeare to Joe Orton, he moved to London and worked as a house cleaner, a street entertainer, and a gardener before landing a West End role as John the Baptist in ``Godspell,'' which he played for two years. Many stage and television roles followed. He won his first international acclaim in the TV miniseries ``Brideshead Revisited'' in 1979, and made his movie debut as choreographer Mikhail Fokine in ``Nijinsky,'' following this with ``The French Lieutenant's Woman,'' opposite Meryl Streep. His other films include ``Betrayal,'' written by Harold Pinter; the dark comedy ``Moonlighting,'' directed by Jerzy Skolimowski; and the Marcel Proust adaptation ``Swann in Love,'' directed by Volker Schl"ondorff. He made his Broadway debut six years ago in ``The Real Thing,'' opposite Glenn Close.

Irons lives near London with his wife, actress Sinead Cusack, and their two sons. His next project is a drama called ``Kafka,'' now in production in Prague under Steven Soderbergh's direction.