Portrait of Ben Whishaw

Birthday profile

Ben Whishaw

Ben Whishaw, English actor

Born
October 14, 1980
Age in 2026
46
Zodiac sign
Libra
Birth year
1980

About Ben Whishaw

Benjamin John Whishaw (born 14 October 1980) is an English actor. He has received various accolades, including three British Academy Television Awards, two Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe. Beginning his career in the 2000s, he played the title role in a 2004 production of the play Hamlet. This was followed by television roles in Nathan Barley (2005), Criminal Justice (2008) and The Hour (2011–12); and film roles in Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006), I'm Not There (2007), Brideshead Revisited (2008) and Bright Star (2009). In 2012, Whishaw played the title role in a BBC Two adaptation of Richard II, for which he won the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor. The same year, he appeared as Q in the James Bond film Skyfall (2012), going on to reprise the role in Spectre (2015) and No Time to Die (2021). He has voiced Paddington Bear in several projects since Paddington (2014). His other film roles in the 2010s include Cloud Atlas (2012), The Lobster (2015), Suffragette (2015), The Danish Girl (2015) and Mary Poppins Returns (2018). Whishaw had a leading role in London Spy (2015), and for his portrayal of Norman Scott in the miniseries A Very English Scandal (2018) he won a BAFTA, a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actor. In 2020, he had a leading role in the fourth season of the black comedy drama Fargo. He has since starred in the BBC medical drama series This Is Going to Hurt (2022), the short film Good Boy (2023) and the Netflix spy thriller series Black Doves (2024).

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

Ben Whishaw timeline

  1. In 2012, Whishaw played the title role in a BBC Two adaptation of Richard II, for which he won the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor.
  2. Whishaw had a leading role in London Spy (2015), and for his portrayal of Norman Scott in the miniseries A Very English Scandal (2018) he won a BAFTA, a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

The world when Ben Whishaw was born

Ben Whishaw was born in 1980. 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 1980

  • #1 song"Call Me" – Blondie
  • Top movieOrdinary People
  • Top TV showDallas
  • Best-selling bookThe Name of the Rose – Umberto Eco

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentMiracle on Ice — US hockey team beats the Soviets at Lake Placid
  • Top headlineJohn Lennon assassinated outside his New York apartment
  • Technology milestoneCNN launches as first 24-hour news channel
  • Defining fadRubik's Cube
  • Notable inventionPost-it Notes (officially released)
  • World population4.44 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderJimmy Carter
  • Sports championPhiladelphia Phillies (World Series)
  • Also wonLos Angeles Lakers (NBA)
  • U.S. population227.2M

1980 versus 2026

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

Measure19802026
Gas$1.19$3.45/gal
Average home$68,700$435,000
Average income$21,023$67,500
Minimum wage$3.10$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$2.69$11.95
Postage stamp$0.15$0.73
Population227.2M341 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.