Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch (born 19 July 1976) is an English actor. His most acclaimed roles include Stephen Hawking in the BBC drama Hawking (2004)William Pitt in the historical film Amazing Grace (2006)protagonist Stephen Ezard in the miniseries thriller The Last Enemy (2008)Paul Marshall in Atonement (2007)Bernard in Small Island (2009)and Sherlock Holmes in the modern BBC adaptation series Sherlock.