FILM and West End star Jeremy Iron's glittering career is a far cry from his fairly sheltered childhood on the Isle of Wight.

As a boy, living in St Helen's Harbour near Bembridge, he visited the mainland little more than once a year.

Today he has a string of hit movies and TV shows to his name including Eragon, Elizabeth I, Kingdom of Heaven, The Merchant of Venice and The French Lieutenant's Woman and is considered one of Britain's top actors.

Born on the Island on September 19, 1948, Irons liven there until his early teens, when he went to be educated at a private school in Sherborne, Dorset.

However, he still has friends on the Island and visits regularly - although recent trips have changed his perception of his old home.

"I went back to visit and I decided to take my new speedboat across from Southampton," he told the Echo.

"I went down Southampton Water trying not to break the speed limit and crossed the Solent in about five minutes. I remember thinking: I'm sure it didn't used to be this close.' "When I was a child we used to come to the mainland maybe once a year and I suddenly realised it's not that far away. It seemed isolated before and that trip changed my perception."

As a child Iron's foremost ambition was to be a vet, inspired by a family friend. His lack of scientific ability soon put paid to that idea however.

Unsure of what he wanted to do with his life, Irons was busking on the streets of London's West End when a growing interest music combined with an interest in theatrical biographies led to him thinking about following a career in the arts.

He got a job helping out at a theatre, fell in love with the life and managed to secure a place at drama school.

Irons' career got underway in the early 70s but it was in 1981, when he starred in the TV mini-series Brideshead Revisited and movie The French Lieutenant's Woman opposite Meryl Streep, that his career really took off.

He has been married to actress Sinead Cusack for 28 years and the couple have two grown-up sons.

Name: Jeremy Irons Occupation: actor Date of birth: September 19, 1948 Local link: Was born and brought up in St Helen's Harbour on the Isle of Wight