Colin Firth

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the actor Colin Firth.
He created an iconic moment in British television history when, as Jane Austen's hero Mr Darcy, he emerged wet-shirted from his stately lake. To his surprise, he became a sex symbol, was dubbed the 'male Ursula Andress' and was voted Britain's Most Popular Actor in a BBC poll. He went on to send up the role on the big screen - as the ironically-named Mark Darcy, the brooding boyfriend of Bridget Jones.

He always knew he wanted to act - from the moment when, as a five year old boy, he took on the role of Jack Frost at a school panto. He studied at the Drama Centre in London's Chalk Farm - where one of his teachers, Christopher Fettes, said he was by nature a poet and compared his acting to that of Paul Schofield. Married to an Italian woman and with two young sons, he now divides his time between life in London and in Italy.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Choices

1.

Curtis Mayfield

We People Who are Darker Than Blue

Others who chose this artist

2.

Fela Kuti

Odoo

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3.

Tom Waits

Heart Attack and Vine

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4.

Castaway's favourite

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Mass No. 18 in C minor 'Great' - Kyrie

Choir: Monteverdi Choir with English Baroque soloists Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

Others who chose this artist

5.

Beck

Lost Cause

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6.

Free

The Stealer

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7.

Little Feat

Willin'

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8.

Gustav Mahler

Symphony No. 3 in D minor - 4th movement

Soloist: Maureen Forrester Orchestra: The Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra Conductor: Zubin Mehta

Others who chose this artist

Book

Stories by Woody Allen

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Luxury item

His guitar

Others who chose a similar luxury