MarkFord
Anthony Hopkins is one of the world’s greatest living actors.
He’s probably best known for his portrayal of Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs (for which he won an Academy Award), its sequel Hannibal, and its prequel Red Dragon. Of his dozens of great film performances, my favorite may be in The Remains of the Day. He’s also acted in many theatrical productions and on television. (He starred in the critically acclaimed HBO series Westworld.)
Besides his Oscar, Hopkins has won three BAFTA Awards (including one for lifetime achievement), two Emmys, and the Cecil B. DeMille Award.
I sort of knew all that. But what I didn’t know was this…
Sir Anthony is a talented composer.
It turns out that he’s been a student of music as long as he’s been acting.
I bumped into this fact accidently. I was searching for a piece of music – I can’t remember what it was – when I stumbled on something I liked very much. It was called “The Waltz Goes On,” performed by André Rieu and his Johann Strauss Orchestra. I noticed it was attributed to “Anthony Hopkins.”
“It can’t be THE Anthony Hopkins,” I thought.
I was wrong.
Here is the LINK: “André Rieu – Under the Stars. Live in Maastricht 5”
This isn’t the only music that Hopkins has composed. He also wrote a concert piece titled “The Masque of Time.” And in 1986, he released “Distant Star,” a single that peaked at No. 75 in the UK.
Anthony Hopkins is serious about music. In fact, I read that in 2007 he retired temporarily from acting to do a musical tour.
In a 2012 interview, he said, “If I’d been clever enough at school I would like to have gone to Music College. As it was I had to settle for being an actor.”
Trivia Question: Can you name another famous actor that had a talent for music and composed a beautiful and memorable song in Spanish?
Hint: He was a silent film star. THE silent film star.