Orlando Bloom has played an Elf, a seafarer, a Muskateer, and many more characters, the majority of which are human. He’s had roles with English and American accents and this has sometimes had audience members confused as to where he is from. Is Orlando Bloom English?
Orlando Jonathan Blanchard Copeland Bloom was born in Canterbury, Kent, England – and is, therefore English. Orland was named after 17th-century British composer Orlando Gibbons.
Orlando’s mother was born in India and has also lived in Australia and Japan. Bloom wasn’t as worldly at such a young age, growing up in Kent and moving to London when he was 16 years old, to attend Fine Arts School in Hampstead.
Unknown Background
When Bloom was younger he believed that his mother’s husband Harry Saul Bloom, a Jewish Anti-Apartheid South African was his biological father. The elder Bloom passed away when the younger Bloom was four years old and family friend Colin Stone gained legal guardianship of the lad.
When he was 13 years old he found out that Colin Stone was actually his biological father, from an affair his mother had with her husband’s student. Orlando has accepted Colin to be his Dad and refers to his mother’s late husband by his first name. Bloom’s older sister, Samantha is Stone’s child as well.
Growing up believing that Harry Bloom was his father, so thinking he himself was half South African, left Orlando feeling close to South Africa. Harry was well-known in the country and was a friend of Nelson Mandela’s. Orlando recalls having a book that talked about Harry and his contributions to the anti-apartheid movement.
Canterbury
Canterbury is in the shire region of Kent, in the South East portion of England. The area has been inhabited since prehistoric times, and this is one of the reasons that it remains such a tourist destination for so many.
The Romans rebuilt the city and named it Durovernum Cantiacorum, after capturing it in the 1st century A.D. from the Celtic tribe the Cantiaci. After the Romans left the area was left pretty much abandoned for 100 years.
After about a hundred years it became a religious area after Augustine was sent in 597 to convert the area to Christianity. In 1348 70% of the town was killed from pestilence. It would take several centuries for the population to grow again, and many of them were French.
These days Canterbury is a bustling little town with a population of over 55,000, and many famous sons and daughters. The population does grow during tourist season but the area maintains that smalltown feel.
Carrying On Harry’s Legacy
Harry Bloom may not be Orlando’s biological father, but the actor holds the same beliefs his mother’s husband had. He is very vocal about people being treated equally, no matter their race, religion, preference, or background. He’s a self-proclaimed feminist and fights for women’s rights as well.
He has been an advocate of the environmental company Global Green since the early 2000s. Bloom has also been a part of UNICEF since 2007, and in 2009 was named one of their UN Goodwill Ambassadors.
His role as a Goodwill Ambassador has taken him to many countries throughout the world where he supports sanitation and education programs. He’s also visited Australia to help with the wildfires there in 2009. And in 2016 he visited Ukraine to speak of the crisis with children amongst the conflict with Russia.
We’re pretty sure that both Harry and Colin are proud of the man, and father that Orlando himself has become. Currently, Orlando is a father to a 9-year-old son with ex-wife Miranda Kerr and impending father to a daughter that Katy Perry is due to deliver some time during the summer of 2020.