Mark Strong (born Marco Giuseppe Salussolia; 5 August 1963) is an English actor. He is known for his roles in films such as Stardust, RocknRolla, Body of Lies, Sherlock Holmes, Kick-Ass, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Zero Dark Thirty, The Imitation Game, Kingsman: The Secret Service and its sequel Kingsman: The Golden Circle.\n', '

Strong was born Marco Giuseppe Salussolia on 5 August 1963 in Islington, London, the son of an Austrian mother and an Italian father. His father left the family soon after his birth, and Strong was brought up by his mother, who worked as an au pair. Strong said in an interview, "The home I grew up in was a flat in Myddelton Square in London\'s Islington, a beautiful Georgian square with a huge church in the middle. We moved around a lot when I was a kid. I remember flats in Walthamstow, Clapton, Stoke Newington, and Edmonton." As a child he wanted to become an actor because of French actor Alain Delon, later saying, "I remember watching him in films and though I couldn\'t understand a word he was saying I remember thinking he looked great. Failing that, an astronaut, after watching the moon landing on a tiny, portable, black-and-white TV at my gran\'s house."\n', '

His English name is not a stage name; when he was a child, his mother changed his name by deed poll to help him fit in with his peers. He was baptised a Catholic. He attended Wymondham College, where he sang in the punk bands the Electric Hoax and Private Party (the name of the latter was based on the idea that the band\'s shows would not be attended, due to prospective audiences thinking that the event was a "private party"). His original ambition was to become a lawyer, but after studying German law at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich for one year, he returned home to London and studied English and Drama at Royal Holloway, and later attended the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.\n', '

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