Gerard Butler

Gerard James Butler (born November 13, 1969) is a Scottish actor perhaps best known for his portrayal of King Leonidas in 300 and The Phantom in the 2004 film version of The Phantom of the Opera. Butler was born in Glasgow, the son of Margaret and Edward Butler. His great-grandparents were from Ireland. Butler was raised in a Catholic working-class family. For the first two years of his life, he lived in Montreal, Quebec. When his parents divorce, his mother took him and his siblings back to Scotland, to her hometown of Paisley. He had no further contact with his father until he was sixteen years old. Butler's father died of cancer when Gerard was 22. Butler graduated from Glasgow University Law School before embarking on his early career in stage plays. His first roles were in Coriolanus and in the stage version of Trainspotting. Butler landed his first film role as Archie Brown in 1997's Mrs. Brown alongside Judi Dench and Billy Connolly. That same year, he appeared in a minor...