Gary Oldman wins best actor at Oscars 2018

Gary Oldman has won the best actor for his role in Darkest Hour at the 90th Academy Awards. This is his second Academy Award nomination and first Oscar win. 

The English actor and filmmaker was born on March 21, 1958 in New Cross, London. 

Oldman began acting on stage in 1979, and gained his first starring film role in Meantime (1983). He continued to lead a successful theatre career, during which he performed at London's Royal Court and was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, with credits including The Massacre at Paris (1980), Entertaining Mr Sloane (1983), Saved (1983), The Country Wife (1987) and Hamlet (1987).

Oldman's portrayals of Sid Vicious and Joe Orton, in the films Sid and Nancy (1986) and Prick Up Your Ears (1987), respectively, prompted critic Roger Ebert to describe him as "the best young British actor around". 

His other prominent roles include True Romance (1993), The Fifth Element (1997), Air Force One (1997) and The Contender (2000); corrupt DEA agent Norman Stansfield, whom Oldman portrayed in Léon: The Professional (1994), has been ranked as one of cinema's greatest villains. 

In the 21st century, Oldman is known for his roles as Sirius Black in the Harry Potter series, James Gordon in The Dark Knight Trilogy, Lord Shen in Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011), George Smiley in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), human leader Dreyfus in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) and Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour (2017). Films in which he has starred have grossed over $10.9 billion.

In Darkest Hour, Oldman portrays Winston Churchill, the new British prime minister torn between rallying his nation to fight a ferocious enemy and bowing to pressure to appease Hitler during the early days of World War II. With the fall of France imminent and the possibility of a German invasion of Britain looming, Churchill knows his decision will affect the entire free world.

Oldman has appeared in over 90 movies and TV series and has received 73 nominations and 55 awards in total. 

Several prominent celebrities congratulated the actor for the win.