The London-born film star, 67, was recognised for his services to drama in the King's Birthday Honours.
He is known for his versatile acting style, having portrayed a range of figures from former prime minister Winston Churchill to Sex Pistols member Sid Vicious.
One of his more recent and most recognisable roles is as veteran MI5 agent Jackson Lamb in Apple TV's Slow Horses, based on the Slough House book series by British writer Mick Herron.
In the early 1990s he played Lee Harvey Oswald, alleged assassin of US President John F Kennedy, in 1991's JFK and the titular vampire in Bram Stoker's Dracula in 1992.
Other notable roles included Ludwig van Beethoven in Immortal Beloved (1994) and Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg in The Fifth Element (1997).
His directorial debut, a semi-autobiographical piece about his childhood titled Nil By Mouth, was released in 1997 and lauded as a brilliant but gut-wrenchingly emotional film.
The film earned him BAFTAs for outstanding British film and best original screenplay in 1998.
Across the 2000s and into the 2010s he appeared in some of the Harry Potter films as Harry's godfather, Sirius Black, and also starred as Gotham City Police lieutenant Jim Gordon in Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012).
He was lauded for his performance as George Smiley in 2011 film Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, which saw him earn BAFTA and Oscar nods.
He was unable to secure the leading actor gongs until his role in The Darkest Hour which saw him sweep the 2018 awards season, winning an Academy Award, BAFTA and more.
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