Editing Cary Elwes (section)

== Early life and education ==
[[File:Arms_of_Elwes.svg|thumb|164x164px|The arms of the Elwes family<ref name="Burke">{{cite book |last1=Burke |first1=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LKIKAAAAYAAJ&q=elwes&pg=PA182 |title=A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Extinct and Dormant Baronetcies of England, Ireland, and Scotland |last2=Burke |first2=Sir Bernard |date=1844 |publisher=John Russell Smith |page=182 |accessdate=17 October 2018}}</ref>]]
Elwes was born on 26 October 1962 in [[Westminster|Westminster, London]]. He is the youngest of three sons of portrait painter [[Dominick Elwes]]<ref name="People1995">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20105004,00.html |title=A Hero to the Hilt |last=Cerio |first=Gregory |volume=43 |magazine=[[People (magazine)|People]] |date=6 February 1995 |access-date=26 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110330190839/http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20105004,00.html |archive-date=30 March 2011 |url-status=live |issue=5 }}</ref> and [[Tessa Kennedy]], an interior designer and socialite. Cary is the brother of artist [[Damian Elwes]]<ref name="Chicago1990"/> and film producers [[Cassian Elwes]] and Milica Kastner. Cary's stepfather, [[Elliott Kastner]], was an American film producer and the first American to set up independent film production in the United Kingdom.<ref name="People1995"/> Cary's paternal grandfather was the portrait painter [[Simon Elwes]],<ref name="Chicago1990">{{cite news|first=Jae-Ha|last=Kim|title=British actor takes turn as American in 'Glory'|page=25|newspaper=[[Chicago Sun-Times]]|date=12 January 1990}}</ref> whose own father was the diplomat and tenor [[Gervase Elwes]] (1866–1921).<ref>{{cite book|title=Loose Canon: A Portrait of Brian Brindley|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=At3vy0eh2LUC&q=Gervase+Elwes+Simon&pg=PA134|last=Thompson|first=Damian|author-link=Damian Thompson|page=134|publisher=[[Continuum International Publishing Group|Continuum]]|isbn=0-8264-7418-7|date=22 June 2004}}</ref>

One of Cary Elwes' relatives is [[John Elwes (politician)|John Elwes]], a [[British people|British]] miser who was the inspiration for [[Ebenezer Scrooge]] in ''[[A Christmas Carol]]'' (1843), having been referenced by [[Charles Dickens]] himself in chapter six of his last completed novel, ''[[Our Mutual Friend]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.literaturepage.com/read/dickens-our-mutual-friend-577.html|first=Michael| last=Moncur|publisher=The Literature Page|title=Charles Dickens: Our Mutual Friend}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/only-in-britain/man-who-inspired-ebenezer-scrooge/|title=John Elwes: scrimper who inspired Ebenezer Scrooge|first=Norman|last=Miller|date=20 September 2016|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]}}</ref> Elwes himself played five roles in the [[A Christmas Carol (2009 film)|2009 film adaptation]] of ''A Christmas Carol''. Through his maternal grandfather, Elwes is also related to [[Alexander Kennedy|Sir Alexander William "Blackie" Kennedy]], one of the first photographers to document the archaeological site of [[Petra]] following the collapse of the [[Ottoman Empire]].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/kennedy/658/|title=Sir Alexander Blackie William| publisher= Genealogy.com}}</ref> 

Elwes was brought up as a [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] and was an [[altar boy]] at [[Westminster Cathedral]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Guthrie |first=Marisa |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/entertainment/2005/12/04/2005-12-04_the_spirit_moved_him.html |title=The spirit moved him |newspaper=[[New York Daily News]] |quote=Elwes, who grew up a Catholic... |date=4 December 2005 |access-date=13 September 2010 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240525122450/https://www.webcitation.org/61zzNYuVF?url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-12-04/entertainment/18305424_1_vatican-residence-pope-john-paul-ii-papal |archive-date=25 May 2024 |url-status=live }}</ref> His paternal relatives include such [[clerics]] as [[Dudley Charles Cary-Elwes]] (1868–1932), the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Northampton|Bishop of Northampton]], and Abbot [[Columba Cary-Elwes]] ([[Ampleforth Abbey]], [[Saint Louis Abbey]]). He discussed this in an interview while he was filming the 2005 [[CBS]] television film ''[[Pope John Paul II (miniseries)|Pope John Paul II]]'', in which he played the young priest [[Karol Wojtyła]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Stanley |first=Alessandra |date=1 December 2005 |title=A Monumental Man of God: Two Takes on the Life of John Paul II |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/01/arts/television/a-monumental-man-of-god-two-takes-on-the-life-of-john-paul-ii.html |access-date=11 June 2024 |newspaper=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

There are two Pubs carrying the Elwes Arms name in England. One is at Billing village near Northampton and the other is in Nottingham England. The original Family Elwes estates were separated between the Protestant side of the Elwes family at Colesbourne in Gloucestershire England (Henry Elwes Lord Lt of Gloucestershire) and Roxby and Elsham estates in Lincolnshire (Inherited by Gervase and Robert Elwes from Capt Elwes Vice Lord Lt of Humberside). Carey Elwes played in A Castle for Christmas alongside Brook Shields a film released in 2021: it was his chance to act in the shoes (and kilt) of his ancestors being in fact a real English gentleman from a noble family. His English relative Robert Elwes Esq commented "Carey Elwes father, Dominick Elwes, was also an entertainer and his mother Tessa Kennedy is a truly charming American lady so their son is not just an actor but naturally an English Gentleman of noble birth".   

Elwes's parents divorced when he was four years old. In 1975, when Elwes was 13, his father died by suicide.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/property/4810656/Inside-story-Stewarts-Grove.html|title=Inside story: Stewart's Grove|first=Roger|last=Wilkes|date=9 September 2000|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph}}</ref> He was educated at [[Harrow School]],<ref name="Chicago1990"/> and the [[London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art]].<ref name="StraitsTimes">{{cite journal|title=Dr Gordon is back in Saw – Cary Elwes's character from the first Saw film is back by popular demand|journal=[[The Straits Times]]|date=5 January 2011}}</ref> In 1981, he moved to the United States to study acting at [[Sarah Lawrence College]] in [[Bronxville, New York]].<ref name="Chronicle1993">{{cite journal|title=The 'Robin' Who Has Sherwood Forest Chuckling|last=Tam Jr|first=Henry|journal=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]|page=C6|date=13 August 1993}}</ref> While living there, Elwes studied acting at both the [[Actors Studio]]<ref name="Chronicle1993"/> and the [[Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute]] under the tutelage of [[Al Pacino]]'s mentor, Charlie Laughton (not to be confused with English actor [[Charles Laughton]]).<ref name="StraitsTimes"/> As a teenager, he also worked as a production assistant on the films ''[[Absolution (1978 film)|Absolution]]'', ''[[Octopussy]]'', and ''[[Superman (1978 film)|Superman]]'', where he was assigned to [[Marlon Brando]]. When Elwes introduced himself to the actor, Brando insisted on calling him "Rocky" after [[Rocky Marciano]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2yqE_QYanU|title=Mark & Brian w/Cary Elwes on Marlon Brando|via=[[YouTube]]|date=8 May 2008|access-date=23 June 2013}}</ref>