Mark Strong believes his "Dickensian" childhood was a "blessing".
The 61-year-old actor has never met his birth father and was sent to live at Reedham Orphanage in Surrey when he was six years old, with the boarder children in charge of their own laundry and bed making, before being taken to local primary schools by bus every day, and the 'Cruella' actor had no choice but to develop confidence and resilience.
He told The Sunday Times newspaper's Culture magazine: ““It was essentially a home for single-parent children from London. I think it was called the Asylum for Fatherless Children in those days.
“We were in the Surrey stockbroker belt so everyone else was impeccably turned out, and we were the Reedham kids who turned up in a Transit van. So in that environment you have to stake your claim somehow...
"I hear myself talking about it, and it sounds Dickensian, but it was fine, and I was lucky to have the opportunity to go somewhere like that.
“The education was enough to get me to pass my 11-plus, and go on to grammar school....
“I’ve spoken to friends who say: ‘Oh, that teacher got me into drama…’ And I didn’t have anybody like that, and I didn’t miss having anybody like that.
“I had a childhood that relied on me working it out for myself. And there was an empowerment in that. There wasn’t a father telling me what to do, there wasn’t anyone to emulate.
“I literally had to make it up. And I’m sure that was a blessing.”
Mark believes his biological father is still alive but has no contact with him.
He said: “He doesn’t want to meet me.”
Asked if his mother is in contact with him, he said: “No, no. It’s such a long time ago. It’s almost another lifetime."
