Portrait of Matthew Rhys

Birthday profile

Matthew Rhys

Matthew Rhys, Welsh actor

Born
November 8, 1974
Age in 2026
52
Zodiac sign
Scorpio
Birth year
1974

About Matthew Rhys

Matthew Rhys ( REESS; born 8 November 1974) is a Welsh actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he has received various accolades including a Primetime Emmy Award as well as nominations for two Actor Awards, three BAFTA Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards. Rhys gained recognition for playing Kevin Walker in the family drama series Brothers & Sisters (2006–2011) and Philip Jennings in the spy drama series The Americans (2013–2018), the latter of which earned him the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2018. He was further Emmy-nominated for his roles in the HBO comedy series Girls (2017), the HBO mystery series Perry Mason (2020–2023), the Netflix crime thriller miniseries The Beast in Me (2025) and the Apple TV+ comedy-horror series Widow's Bay (2026). In film, Rhys appeared as Demetrius in Titus (1999), Doc Fairweather in Deathwatch (2002), Dylan Thomas in The Edge of Love (2008), Daniel Ellsberg in The Post (2017), and Lloyd Vogel in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019). He has also voiced several characters in animated series, including Aloysius in Infinity Train (2019), Emperor Belos in The Owl House (2020–2023), Riley Greene in Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai (2023), and Gammon Felda / the Florid Sword in The Wingfeather Saga (2024–present). For his performance in The Americans, he won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2018 and the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series in 2019. In 1993, he was awarded the Patricia Rothermere Scholarship. He returned to Cardiff to act in his own language in the Welsh film Bydd yn Wrol (Be Brave), for which he won Best Actor at the BAFTA Cymru (Welsh BAFTAs). He was also nominated for Primetime Emmy Awards for his guest role in Girls (2017) and for playing the title role in the period series Perry Mason (2020–2023).

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Matthew Rhys timeline

  1. In 1993, he was awarded the Patricia Rothermere Scholarship.
  2. He was also nominated for Primetime Emmy Awards for his guest role in Girls (2017) and for playing the title role in the period series Perry Mason (2020–2023).
  3. For his performance in The Americans, he won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2018 and the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series in 2019.

The world when Matthew Rhys was born

Matthew Rhys was born in 1974. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1974

  • #1 song"The Way We Were" – Barbra Streisand
  • Top movieThe Godfather Part II
  • Top TV showAll in the Family
  • Best-selling bookJaws – Peter Benchley

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentHank Aaron breaks Babe Ruth's all-time home run record (715)
  • Top headlinePresident Nixon resigns from office
  • Technology milestoneUniversal Product Code (UPC barcode) scanned for the first time
  • Defining fadStreaking
  • Notable inventionPost-it Note bookmark prototype
  • World population4.01 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderRichard Nixon / Gerald Ford
  • Sports championOakland Athletics (World Series)
  • Also wonBoston Celtics (NBA)
  • U.S. population213.9M

1974 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Matthew Rhys's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19742026
Gas$0.53$3.45/gal
Average home$25,200$435,000
Average income$14,200$67,500
Minimum wage$2.00$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$1.87$11.95
Postage stamp$0.10$0.73
Population213.9M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, IMDb. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.