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Steven Berkoff was born in Stepney, East London in 1937 as Leslie Steven Berks. He had an older sister, Beryl. His Jewish Russian family name was originally Berkowitz and his grandparents arrived in England in the 1890s. During World War Two, Berkoff, his sister, and his mother were evacuated to Luton in Bedfordshire. In 1947, the family emigrated to New York but they returned just a few months later as Berkoff’s father struggled to find employment. As a teenager, Berkoff was sentenced to three months in Borstal (a youth detention center) for stealing a bicycle.

Berkoff has been married two times, both ending in divorce. He also has two daughters from previous relationships. Berkoff lives in London with his partner, Clara Fischer, a German pianist.

Key Dates & Events

• 1947 - Berkoff’s family migrated to America, but returned to England a few months later.
• 1968 - Berkoff forms the London Theatre Group.
• 1975 - Berkoff’s play East spearheads the “in yer faceâ€� era of British theatre.
• 1986 - Berkoff’s play Sink the Belgrano! satirizes Margaret Thatcher’s decisions during the Falklands War.
• 1988 - Berkoff directs an experimental production of Oscar Wilde’s Salome at Dublin’s Gate Theatre.
• 1998 - Berkoff’s one-man show Shakespeare’s Villains wins the LA Weekly Theater Award for Solo Performance.
• 2014 - Berkoff publishes his memoir Bad Guy! Journal of a Hollywood Turkey.