Irish filmmaker Kenneth Branagh, whose wide-ranging talents include acting, directing, writing and producing, narrates CNN's COLD WAR. His extensive career in theater includes performances with the Royal Shakespeare Company and his own Renaissance Theatre Company. He also has made many British television appearances, written two plays and an autobiography, contributed material to 10 books and recorded 12 audiobooks.

Among his film accomplishments are: the lead role in John Grisham's thriller "The Gingerbread Man," directed by Robert Altman; directing and adapting the first uncut screen version of Hamlet, which was nominated for four Academy Awards; playing the villain Iago opposite Laurence Fishburne's title role in "Othello;" producing, directing and starring in TriStar Pictures and American Zoetrope's production of "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein," also starring Robert De Niro; directing and appearing in the Renaissance film "Peter's Friends," which won the Evening Standard Peter Sellers Award for Comedy; and directing and starring in "Dead Again" for Paramount Pictures, playing two leading roles.

Branagh launched his professional career in 1982 by winning both the Society of West End Theatre's Award for the Most Promising Newcomer and the Plays and Players' Award for the Best Newcomer. He was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1981.