Editing Colin Firth (section)

== Early life and education ==
Firth was born in the village of [[Grayshott|Grayshott, Hampshire]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV7L-3YWD|title=Person Details for Colin A Firth, "England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837-2008" — FamilySearch.org|website=[[FamilySearch]]}}</ref> to parents who were academics and teachers. His mother, Shirley Jean (''née'' Rolles), was a [[comparative religion]] lecturer at King Alfred's College (now the [[University of Winchester]]); and his father, David Norman Lewis Firth, was a history lecturer at King Alfred's and education officer for the [[Nigerian government]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.firthessence.net/family.htm |title=Actor Colin Firth is perhaps bes |publisher=Firthessence.net |access-date=3 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090420040653/http://www.firthessence.net/family.htm |archive-date=20 April 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.firthessence.net/firthfile.html |title=Colin Firth's Lineage |publisher=Firthessence.net |access-date=3 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090420065544/http://www.firthessence.net/firthfile.html |archive-date=20 April 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/33/Colin-Firth.html |title=Colin Firth Biography (1960–) |publisher=Filmreference.com |access-date=3 May 2010}}</ref> Firth is the eldest of three children; his sister [[Kate Firth|Kate]] is an actress and voice coach, and his brother [[Jonathan Firth|Jonathan]] is also an actor.<ref>{{cite web|first=Gabrielle |last=Donnelly|url=http://www.firth.com/articles/02realmag_816.html |work=Real Magazine |date= 13 August 2002 |title=Colin Firth |via=Firth.com |access-date=3 May 2010}}</ref> His maternal grandparents were [[Congregationalist]] ministers and his paternal grandfather was an [[Anglican]] priest. They did overseas [[missionary]] work, and both of his parents were born and spent part of their childhoods in [[India]].<ref>{{cite web |author=lmw |url=http://hem.passagen.se/lmw/freshair01.html |title=Colin Firth – Fresh Air interview 2001 |publisher=Hem.passagen.se |date=7 May 2001 |access-date=3 May 2010 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110304171007/http://hem.passagen.se/lmw/freshair01.html |archive-date=4 March 2011  }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Fresh Air from WHYY |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1506175 |title=British Actor Colin Firth | website=NPR.org |publisher=NPR |access-date=3 May 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Karen |url=http://www.firth.com/articles/globeandmail51802.html |title=Globe and Mail – The Other Face of Colin Firth (May&nbsp;18, 2002) |publisher=Firth.com |date=18 May 2002 |access-date=3 May 2010 |archive-date=11 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711004823/http://www.firth.com/articles/globeandmail51802.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

As a child, Firth frequently travelled due to his parents' work, spending some years in [[Nigeria]].<ref>Stated in interview on ''[[Inside the Actors Studio]]'', 2011</ref> He also lived in [[St. Louis]], [[Missouri]], when he was 11, which he has described as "a difficult time".<ref name="4 December 2005 DIDs">{{cite web|title= Press Releases Colin Firth Desert Island DiscsCategory: Radio 4 |date= 4 December 2005 |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2005/12_december/04/did_firth.shtml|work=BBC Press Office releases |publisher= BBC |access-date= 25 January 2013 }}</ref> On returning to England, he attended the Montgomery of Alamein Secondary School (now [[Kings' School, Winchester]]), which at the time was a state [[comprehensive school]] in [[Winchester, Hampshire]]. He was still an outsider and the target of [[bullying]]. To counter this, he adopted the local working-class Hampshire accent and copied his schoolmates' lack of interest in schoolwork.<ref name="Colin Firth">{{cite web|url=http://www.biography.com/people/colin-firth-9295522?page=2,|title=Colin Firth|website=Biography|access-date=6 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151121043819/http://www.biography.com/people/colin-firth-9295522?page=2,|archive-date=21 November 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Firth began attending drama workshops at age 10, and by 14 had decided to be a professional actor. Until [[further education]], he was not academically inclined, later saying in an interview, "I didn't like school. I just thought it was boring and mediocre and nothing they taught me seemed to be of any interest at all."<ref name="4 December 2005 DIDs"/> However, at [[Barton Peveril Sixth Form College]] in [[Eastleigh]], he was imbued with a love of [[English literature]] by an enthusiastic teacher, Penny Edwards, and has said that his two years there were among the happiest of his life.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.fenews.co.uk/fe-news/college-saved-me-reveals-actor-colin-firth |title= College 'saved me', reveals actor Colin Firth |author= Jason Rainbow |date= 15 June 2010 |work= FE News |access-date= 26 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120501234857/http://www.fenews.co.uk/fe-news/college-saved-me-reveals-actor-colin-firth |archive-date= 1 May 2012 |df= dmy-all }}</ref>

After his [[sixth form]] years, Firth moved to London and joined the [[National Youth Theatre]], where he made many contacts and got a job in the [[Wardrobe supervisor|wardrobe department]] at the [[TreeHouse School|National Theatre]].<ref name="Colin Firth" /> He subsequently studied at [[Drama Centre London]].<ref name=People>{{cite web|title=Colin Firth|url=http://www.people.com/people/colin_firth/0,,,00.html|work=[[People (magazine)|People]]|publisher=[[Time Inc.]]|access-date=25 January 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130313174039/http://www.people.com/people/colin_firth/0,,,00.html|archive-date=13 March 2013}}</ref>