Born July 23rd, 1989 to Alan Radcliffe and Marcia Gresham, Daniel Radcliffe's biography is necessarily short, but having played the leading role in several of the biggest films of recent years he, like Harry, is one of the most famous teenagers in the world. He began performing in small school productions as a young boy. Soon enough, he landed a role in David Copperfield (1999) (TV), as the young David Copperfield. A couple of years later, Daniel Radcliffe landed a role as Mark Pendel in The Tailor of Panama (2001), the son of Harry and Louisa Pendel (Geoffrey Rush and Jamie Lee Curtis). Curtis had indeed pointed out to Daniel's mother that he could be Harry Potter himself.
Soon afterwards, Daniel Radcliffe was cast as Harry Potter by director, Chris Columbus in the film that hit theatres in November 16, 2001, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. He was recognized worldwide after this film was released pleasing audiences and critics everywhere. Filming on its sequel, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) commenced shortly afterwards. He appeared again as Harry in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) directed by Alfonso Cuarón, and will also be in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005).
Daniel Radcliffe tried reading the first Harry Potter book when he was 8 years old, but was unable to finish it. He finally read the entire book when he was cast in the lead role of the film. His favorite book from the Harry Potter series so far is number two, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. He has stated that 12 Angry Men (1957) is the first black & white film he ever saw and is also his favorite film.
Daniel Radcliffe likes to play pranks. During the filming of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, he took co-star Robbie Coltrane's cellular phone and changed it so all the messages were in Turkish. Although Danny loves to play Playstation, listen to music (some of his faves are Stereophonics, REM and U2), and write, he's also very active and energetic. He loves to run and enjoys football (soccer) and other sports.
In 2004, Daniel Radcliffe was reported to be the second richest teenager in England (Prince Harry being the first). Even with his hectic movie schedule, he had some time to do some acting on a West End stage in the production of The Play What I Wrote. For his birthday in 2005, he has made a big effort for his fans to give gifts and donations to one of the charities he supports - Demelza House (instead of sending the gifts to him)
