Idris Elba

Idrissa Akuna Idris Elba, OBE is an English actor, musician, voice actor, and DJ. He is best known for his portrayal of drug baron Russell Stringer Bell in the HBO series The Wire, Detective John Luther in the BBC One series Luther, and Nelson Mandela in the 2013 biographical film Mandela Long Walk to Freedom. He has been nominated five times for a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film, winning one, and was nominated four times for a Primetime Emmy Award.

Elba was born in London, England. His father, Winston, was a Sierra Leonean who worked in the Ford motor factory at Dagenham, and his mother, Eve, was a Ghanaian who had a clerical job. Elbas parents married in Sierra Leone and moved to London. Elba was raised in East Ham and shortened his first name from Idrissa to Idris at school in Canning Town, where he first became involved in acting. He credits The Stage with giving him his first big break having seen an advertisement for a play in the newspaper, Elba auditioned and met his first agent while performing in the role. In 1986, he began helping an uncle with his wedding DJ business within a year, he had started his own DJ company with some of his friends.

Source: Wikipedia