Triple Oscar-winner Daniel Day-Lewis has shocked the world of acting by announcing his retirement.
His final film will be Phantom Thread, a drama set in London's fashion world in the 1950s, which is due for release in December.
Day-Lewis, 60, is the son of Irish poet Cecil Day-Lewis and English actress Jill Balcon. He first appeared on the big screen in 1971 as ‘child vandal’ in John Schlesinger’s Sunday Bloody Sunday but his career began in earnest with a small part in Richard Attenborough’s 1992 hit Gandhi.
His major breakthrough came in 1985 with a widely-praised turn as conflicted racist Johnny in My Beautiful Laundrette.
While never exactly prolific, Day-Lewis contributed to a steady stream of thought-provoking dramas over the ensuing years, including The Unbearable Lightness of Being, My Left Foot, In the Name of the Father, Gangs of New York, There Will Be Blood and most recently presidential biopic Lincoln in 2012.
Mr Day-Lewis’s representative, Leslee Dart, said in a statement: "Daniel Day-Lewis will no longer be working as an actor.
"This is a private decision and neither he nor his representatives will make any further comment on this subject."
