Natural inside Lincoln, Lincolnshire, the boy of the cabinetmaker & the sculptress (his twin sister died at birth), he was educated at the Quaker school in Reading and briefly attended art college before transferring to the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. He graduated around 1972 and went on to operate for the Royal National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company as well as acting around Ken Campbell's epic Illuminatus (1976). He besides founded a comedy class action, a National Theatre of Brant goose sustaining Patrick Barlow. Jim is as well a honorary president of The Lindsey Rural Players whose home theater is the Broadbent Theatre (hyperlink following).

He manufactured his film debut around 1978 with a bantam role around Jerzy Skolimowski's The Call, & processed his television debut a as punishment month. He went in to act by having Stephen Frears (for television, and in The Hit (1984)) and Terry Gilliam (in Time Bandits (1981) and Brazil (1985)) before establishing himself within Mike Leigh's Life is Sweet (1990). He proved his ability as a character actor inside films including The Crying Game (1992), Enchanted April (1992), Bullets Over Broadway (1994), The Borrowers (1997) and Little Voice (1998) before ingesting the leading role in another Mike Leigh film, Topsy-Turvy (1999). 2001 proved to be the breakthrough season for Broadbent, world health organization starred inside trinity of the season's virtually all successful films: ''Bridget Jones' Diary (2001), Moulin Rouge! (2001), for which he won a BAFTA and Iris'' (2001), for which won an Oscar for his portrayal of John Bayley. He is esteem a one of a cinema's virtually all dependable character actors & has the reputation of existence super convenient to operate sustaining.

He is better known to television audiences as DCI Roy 'A Slag' Woodlouse, an associate character in the hugely popular sitcom Only Fools and Horses. A character appeared inside ternion episodes on top an eight-season time period. He got originally been offered a lead role of Del Trotter in the series, however he turned it down due to more commitments. More risible roles include a lead role within sitcom The Peter Principle and occasional guest appearances in ''Not The Nine O'Clock News.

Selected Filmography
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) Valiant (2005) (voice) Robots (2005) (voice) The Magic Roundabout (2005) (voice) Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004) Vera Drake (2004) Vanity Fair (2004) Pride (2004) (TV) (voice) Around the World in 80 Days (2004) Bright Young Things (2003) Gangs of New York (2002) The Gathering Storm (2002) (TV) Iris (2001) Moulin Rouge! (2001) Bridget Jones's Diary (2001) Topsy-Turvy (1999) Little Voice (1998) The Avengers (1998) The Borrowers (1997) Smilla's Sense of Snow (1997) Richard III (1995) Bullets Over Broadway (1994) The Crying Game (1992) Enchanted April (1992) Life Is Sweet (1990) Erik the Viking (1989) Blackadder's Christmas Carol (1988) (TV) Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) Brazil (1985) Birth Of A Nation (1982) Time Bandits (1981) The Dogs of War (1981) Breaking Glass'' (1980)