Age, Biography, and Wiki
Idris Elba was born on September 6, 1972, in Hackney, London, England. His early life was influenced by his parents' cultural backgrounds; his father was from Sierra Leone, and his mother was from Ghana. Elba's journey into the entertainment industry began in the late 1990s with television roles in the UK, including appearances in soap operas and medical dramas.
| Occupation | Martial Artist |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 6 September 1972 |
| Age | 52 Years |
| Birth Place | Hackney, London, England |
| Horoscope | Virgo |
| Country | England |
Height, Weight & Measurements
Idris Elba stands at a height of 6 feet 3 inches (191 cm) and is known for his athletic build, weighing approximately 95 kg (209 lbs). His physical presence often adds to his commanding roles in films and series.
| Height | 6 feet 3 inches |
| Weight | 209 lbs |
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Dating & Relationship Status
Idris Elba is married to Sabrina Dhowre Elba, whom he met at a jazz bar in 2017. They got engaged in 2018 during a screening of his directorial debut, Yardie, and married in a lavish ceremony in Marrakesh, Morocco, on April 26, 2019.
His parents were married in Sierra Leone and later moved to London. Elba was raised in Hackney and East Ham and shortened his first name to "Idris" while at school in Canning Town, where he first became involved in acting.
Elba's first acting role was in Crimewatch murder reconstructions, and in 1994, he appeared in a BBC children's drama called The Boot Street Band. In 1995, he landed his first significant role on a series called Bramwell, a medical drama set in 1890s England. In an episode of series 1, he played a central character, an African petty thief named Charlie Carter, who lost his wife to childbirth and had to figure out how to support his newborn daughter. His first named role arrived earlier in 1995 when he was cast as a gigolo on the "Sex" episode of Absolutely Fabulous. Many supporting roles on British television followed, including series such as The Bill and The Ruth Rendell Mysteries. He joined the cast of the soap opera Family Affairs and went on to appear on the television serial Ultraviolet and later on Dangerfield. He decided to move to New York City soon afterward. He returned to England occasionally for a television role, such as a part in one of the Inspector Lynley Mysteries. In 2001, Elba played Achilles in a stage production of Troilus and Cressida in New York City. In 1997, he starred in the first two episodes of the second series "Blood, Sweat and Tears" in Silent Witness. After a supporting turn on a 2001 episode of Law & Order, Elba landed a starring role on the HBO drama series The Wire. From 2002 to 2004, Elba portrayed Stringer Bell in the series, perhaps his best-known role in the United States. Elba is also known for playing the character Aaron Smith in the 2003 Jamaican film, One Love.
In 2007, Elba signed on to play the lead role of the film Daddy's Little Girls, playing Monty, a blue-collar mechanic who falls in love with an attorney helping him gain custody of his kids, and finds the relationship and his custody hopes threatened by the return of his former wife. He appeared in 28 Weeks Later (2007) and This Christmas (2007), which brought in nearly $50 million (~$ in ) at the box office in 2007. In 2008, he starred in the horror film Prom Night and the Guy Ritchie London gangster film RocknRolla. In 2009, he starred in the horror film The Unborn and in Obsessed, a thriller that had him cast opposite Beyoncé. The latter was a box office success, taking $29 million in its opening weekend. Elba's next film was Legacy (2010), in which he portrayed a black ops soldier who returns to Brooklyn after a failed mission in Eastern Europe, where he has undertaken a journey looking for retribution. He starred in Dark Castle's adaptation of DC/Vertigo's The Losers, under the direction of Sylvain White, in the role of Roque, the second-in-command of a black-ops team out for revenge against a government that did them wrong. Filming took place in Puerto Rico, and the movie was released in April 2010. Elba appeared in the thriller Takers (2010). He played Heimdall in Kenneth Branagh's film Thor (2011), based on the Marvel Comics superhero of the same name.
Elba signed a deal with Apple to produce original content through his Green Door Pictures production company. In February 2021, it was reported that the companies of Elba and his wife, Sabrina Dhowre, would be developing an Afrofuturist adult animated sci-fi series, tentatively titled Dantai, for Crunchyroll, which would be about a time when biotech has "created an ever-widening gap between the haves and have-nots." In an April 2021 interview with Den of Geek, he said the series is "mainly the brainchild" of his wife, whom he described as a "super geek when it comes to anime". In June 2024, Elba launched a new production company called 22Summers with former Pulse & BBC exec Diene Petterle. In August 2024, Elba received approval from the Tanzanian government to establish a film studio in Zanzibar. In September 2024, Elba joined Things Fall Apart as an actor and executive producer.
Elba was married to Danish stylist Hanne "Kim" Nørgaard from 1999 until their divorce in 2003. He was then married to American real estate lawyer Sonya Nicole Hamlin for four months in 2006. He has a daughter with Nørgaard and a son with English makeup artist Naiyana Garth. He began a relationship with Canadian model and businesswoman Sabrina Dhowre in early 2017. They became engaged on 10 February 2018, during a screening of his film Yardie at an East London cinema, and were married on 26 April 2019 in Marrakesh.
Elba attended the UK government's inaugural knife crime summit in 2024, alongside Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper. Elba emphasized the importance of action over mere discussion, advocating for a wide range of perspectives, including those of parents, youth workers, and law enforcement to address the issue. The summit aimed to unite various community groups, tech companies, sports organizations, and public services in an effort to halve knife crime over the next decade. Elba's Elba Hope Foundation was part of this coalition, which was also focusing on restricting online knife sales and tightening regulations on dangerous weapons. In 2025, he suggested banning "ninja swords" and removing the points from kitchen knives as possible solutions.
| Parents | |
| Husband | Hanne Nørgaard (m. 1999-2003) Sonya Nicole Hamlin (m. 2006-2006) Sabrina Dhowre Elba (m. 2019) |
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Net Worth and Salary
As of 2025, Idris Elba's net worth is estimated to be around $40 million to $50 million, depending on the source. His salary for major films can reach into the seven-figure range. He also earns from lucrative endorsement deals and business ventures.
Career, Business, and Investments
Career Highlights:
- Breakthrough Role: Elba gained international recognition for his portrayal of Stringer Bell in HBO's The Wire (2002-2004).
- Lead Roles: He starred as DCI John Luther in the BBC series Luther (2010-2019), earning a Golden Globe and multiple Emmy nominations.
- Film Appearances: Notable roles include Thor (2011) and Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013).
- Recent Work: Elba starred in the Apple TV+ series Hijack in 2023.
Elba credits The Stage with giving him his first big break. After seeing an advertisement for a play, he auditioned and subsequently 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.
Elba briefly attended Barking and Dagenham College, leaving school in 1988 and winning a place in the National Youth Music Theatre after a £1,500 Prince's Trust grant. To support himself between roles in his early career, he worked in odd jobs including tyre-fitting, cold-calling and night shifts at Ford Dagenham. He worked in nightclubs under the DJ nickname "Big Driis" during his adolescence, but began auditioning for television roles in his early twenties.
In January 2016, Elba addressed the UK parliament regarding the concern of the lack of diversity on screen. He said: "Change is coming but it's taking its sweet time". He spoke about the lack of diversity regarding race, gender and sexuality. The Prince's Trust, a UK youth charity founded by Prince Charles in 1976, which Elba credits with helping begin his career, appointed him as their anti-crime ambassador in April 2009. He served on the Board of Governors of the British Film Institute between 2018 and 2022. He voiced support for a vote to remain in the European Union for the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum. He is a campaigner against knife crime.
Social Network
Idris Elba is active on social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter, where he engages with fans and promotes his projects. He has a significant following and uses these platforms to share aspects of his personal and professional life.
In 2005, he portrayed Captain Augustin Muganza in Sometimes in April, an HBO film about the Rwandan genocide. Elba appeared on the 2007 BET special Black Men: The Truth. He appeared as Charlie Gotso on The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, filmed in Botswana. The series premiered on 23 March 2008, Easter Sunday, on BBC One, receiving a high 6.3 million viewers and 27% of the audience share. In January 2009, Variety reported that Elba would portray Charles Miner, a new rival to Dunder Mifflin regional manager Michael Scott (Steve Carell) for NBC's The Office. Elba appeared in a six-episode story arc later in the 2009 season, as well as the season finale. In September 2009, he signed a deal to star as the lead role on the six-part BBC television series Luther, which aired in May 2010. He appeared on Showtime's The Big C in 2010. At the 69th Golden Globe Awards telecast on 15 January 2012, Elba won Best Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film for his role on the BBC crime thriller series Luther.
In 2011, he performed on the intro to Pharoahe Monch's album W.A.R.. In the following year, he co-directed and performed in the Mumford & Sons music video for "Lover of the Light". In 2014, he produced K. Michelle's "The Rebellious Soul Musical" which debuted on VH1 on 19 August 2014. In May, Elba featured on Mr Hudson's single "Step Into the Shadows". Mr Hudson also produced his album Idris Elba Presents Mi Mandela, released in November 2014. He also featured on the remix of the Ghanaian music group, VVIP's single "Selfie" together with Nigerian rapper Phyno released on 12 September 2014, and the video was released on YouTube on 11 April 2015.
Elba performed a rap for the second album by Noel Fielding and Sergio Pizzorno's band, the Loose Tapestries. Elba also rapped in a remix of Skepta's "Shutdown" which was uploaded on 1 June 2015 to SoundCloud. On 17 August, a song was released on which Elba appeared on Nigerian singer D'banj's single "Confidential", featuring Sierra Leonean rapper Shadow Boxer with the video uploaded to YouTube on 20 August. In November 2015, Elba opened for Madonna during her Rebel Heart Tour in Berlin, Germany. Elba is also featured on the Macklemore & Ryan Lewis album This Unruly Mess I've Made (2016). He had the idea to develop the music from his album Idris Elba Presents Mi Mandela into a show, which eventually resulted in a play called Tree that premiered at the Manchester International Festival in 2019. However, authorship of the piece was disputed. On 2 July 2019, The Guardian published a story describing how writers Tori Allen-Martin and Sarah Henley said they had been removed from the production under what they described as questionable circumstances. The two writers had worked on the project for four years, following an approach from Elba asking them to develop his idea for a musical based on the album, on which Allen-Martin had also collaborated. Kwame Kwei-Armah joined the project in May 2018, and rewrote part of their material. At the time of its premiere, Tree was billed as "created by Idris Elba and Kwame Kwei-Armah". Allen-Martin and Henley described their creative input as having included research and script-writing, as well as coming up with the play's title, and that after being removed, they were threatened with legal action if they went public with the story. Elba and Kwei-Armah both published rebuttals of what happened on Twitter.
Education
Elba attended the Trinity Comprehensive School in Canning Town, London. He later enrolled in the National Youth Theatre and began his career in the entertainment industry through DJing and acting roles.
Elba has appeared in music videos for Fat Joe (2002), Angie Stone (2004) and rapper Giggs (2010). In 2006, he recorded the four-song EP Big Man for Hevlar Records. He co-produced and performed on the intro to Jay-Z's album American Gangster (2007). He DJed at the 2007 NBA All-Star parties at The Venetian and Ice House Lounge in Las Vegas. In July 2009, Elba was the DJ for BET's current series Rising Icons. He announced the release of his first single "Please Be True". In the August 2009 issue of Essence, he announced the title of his six-song EP as Kings Among Kings. He released his EP High Class Problems Vol. 1 in the United Kingdom in February 2010, for which he has won many prizes, including a Billboard Music Awards nomination.
In 2015, as part of his Discovery Channel miniseries Idris Elba: No Limits, Elba broke the land speed record for the Pendine Sands "Flying Mile" course. He hosted The Best FIFA Football Awards at the London Palladium on 23 October 2017, during which he took a selfie of "the best team in the world" which included Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Neymar.
Summary
Idris Elba's success stems from his versatility as an actor, producer, and musician. His net worth reflects his impact in the entertainment industry, with a combination of high-profile roles, endorsement deals, and entrepreneurial ventures contributing to his financial success.
