Biography
After a stroke of fate that led him past 16,000 hopefuls to win the role of a lifetime, actor Daniel Radcliffe was propelled into international stardom as the titular boy magician in "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" (2001). Thanks in part to Radcliffe, legions of readers and moviegoers worldwide helped make "Harry Potter" one of the most successful franchises in film history. Radcliffe's dead-on portrayal of J.K. Rowling's bespectacled young wizard made him one of the most recognizable and highest-paid actors of his generation. The award-winning actor appeared in all eight "Harry Potter" installments, all of which were transatlantic blockbusters. Easily one of the most famous child actors to emerge from near obscurity, Radcliffe was at the peak of the Potter-mania considered to be one of Britain's richest teenagers. In fear of forever being typecast, however, he attempted to leave his boy wonder image behind with a controversial performance in the London stage revival of "Equus" (2007), in which where he played a disturbed young stable hand who blinds horses. Radcliffe's emotionally charged performance drew audiences and established him as a serious actor, while "Harry Potter" cemented his place in cinema history.
