Damian Lewis was born on February 11, 1971, in St. John's Wood, London, England. He was raised by his parents, Watcyn and Charlotte Lewis, on Abbey Road in London until the age of 8 with his siblings Gareth, William and Amanda. In 1979, he was sent to Ashdown House boarding school, then was educated at Eton College. At the age of 16 he formed his own theatre company, then worked in South London, then traveled around Africa. From 1990-1993 he studied at Guildhall School of Music and Drama alongside Daniel Craig and Joseph Fiennes. Among his teachers was Colin McCormack, then actor of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Lewis graduated in 1993, and served as a stage actor for the Royal Shakespeare Company. There he was seen by director Steven Spielberg, who subsequently cast him as Richard Winters in the HBO/BBC mini-series 'Band of Brothers' (2001), for which he won the Golden Globe Award and had other nominations. Lewis continued his career in a number of films and TV productions.


His castmates in "Band of Brothers" (2001) were initially sceptical of how well he could handle playing an American. It turned out that he was so convincing (as an American) that some cast and crew didn't believe he was British! Before his recent big screen appearances, Lewis was a stage actor for the Royal Shakespeare Company. Plays the guitar and the piano/keyboard. Attended the "School of Kings", Eton, Berkshire and was 2 years behind The Wire's Dominic West. Father of Manon McCrory-Lewis, born on September 8, 2006, at 4:20 PM GMT. Mother is Helen McCrory. Son, Gulliver Lewis, born 2 November 2007. Director Gareth Lewis is his brother. Gareth directed Damian in The Baker (2007).