Accolades galore, knighthood, but ever so private…

Actor Sir Daniel Day-Lewis, hailed as one of his generation’s finest actors, made his breakthrough in My Beautiful Laundrette.

He is the only artist to win three Best Actor Academy Awards – for playing Christy Brown in My Left Foot (1989), Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood (2007) and Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln (2012).

Sir Daniel’s father was former poet laureate Cecil Day-Lewis (1904-72), who has a Blue Plaque at their former home at the bottom of Crooms Hill, with a view of Greenwich Park.

Sir Daniel’s maternal grandfather, Sir Michael Balcon, as head of Ealing Studios, helped develop the new British film industry.

The BAFTA for Outstanding Contribution to British Cinema is presented every year in honour of Mr Balcon’s memory.

The young Daniel went to Invicta Primary School, in Invicta Road, Deptford; and Sherington Primary School, Wyndcliffe Road, Blackheath Standard.

There he had to deal with tough children who bullied him for being Jewish and “posh”.

He mastered the local accent and mannerisms – and credits that as being his first convincing performance.

Later in life, he spoke about being an unruly character in his younger years, often in trouble for shoplifting and petty crime.

Daniel spent his teenage years in New Cross, Deptford and Lewisham.

The 64-year-old has been awarded an honorary degree by Goldsmiths University in New Cross and London South Bank University in Elephant & Castle.

The actor, who holds British and Irish citizenship, had excelled at the National Youth Theatre, before being accepted at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which he attended for three years.

He had shifted between theatre and film for most of the early 1980s, joining the Royal Shakespeare Company and playing Romeo in Romeo and Juliet and Flute in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, before appearing in the 1984 film The Bounty.

But My Beautiful Laundrette made him a star – he channelled a thug who turned into a washing entrepreneur while changing his views about race.

His awkward depiction of marginal character Cecil Vyse in A Room with a View demonstrated his range.

But then he became a leading man in The Unbearable Lightness of Being.

And his first Best Actor Oscar, for My Left Foot, showed he would rely less on his looks than his talent in his career.

He was also nominated in this category for In the Name of the Father – about the Guildford Four – Gangs of New York and Phantom Thread.

He has also won four BAFTA Awards for Best Actor, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards.

In November 2012, Time magazine named Sir Daniel the “World’s Greatest Actor”.

Despite his classical theatre training, Sir Daniel is considered a method actor, known for his constant devotion to and research of his roles. He would often remain completely in character throughout the shooting schedules of his films, even to the point of adversely affecting his health.

He was also one of the most selective actors in the film industry, having starred in only six films since 1998, with as many as five years between roles.

In June 2014, he received a knighthood for services to drama.

Sir Daniel announced his retirement in 2017, following the completion of his last movie, Phantom Thread – a haunting portrayal of a co-dependent relationship.

Sir Daniel is also known to be fiercely protective of his private life – he rarely gives interviews, and makes very few public appearances.