Mark Strong is a British actor born in London, United Kingdom, to an Austrian mother and an Italian father. His father left shortly after his birth, and he was raised by his mother, who worked as an au pair.

As a child, Strong was influenced by films starring Alain Delon, though he later clarified that he did not seriously consider acting as a career until adulthood. His mother legally changed his name when he was young to help him integrate more easily with his English peers.

He attended Wymondham College in Norfolk, where he performed in two punk bands, the Electric Hoax and Private Party. Initially intending to become a lawyer, he studied German law at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich for a year before returning to the UK. He went on to study English and drama at Royal Holloway, University of London, and later trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.

Strong is married to television producer Liza Marshall, with whom he has two sons: Gabriel and Roman.

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