Early Life
Pike was born in Hammersmith, London, the only child of concert musicians/opera singers Caroline (née Friend) and Julian Pike. Her father is now a professor at the Birmingham Conservatoire. The family travelled across Europe until she was seven, following wherever her parents' performing career took them; as a result, she speaks fluent French and German. Pike won a scholarship to Badminton School, and while appearing in a production of Romeo and Juliet at the National Youth Theatre, was noticed by an agent who helped her embark upon a professional career.
After being turned down by every stage school she applied to, she gained a place to read English Literature at Wadham College, Oxford. She graduated with a 2:1 degree. While there, she studied under both Bernard O'Donoghue, the Whitbread prize-winning poet, and Robert J. C. Young, the eminent post-colonial theorist. She starred opposite Simon Woods in Pride and Prejudice. After taking a year off to pursue her acting career, garnering stage experience in David Hare's Skylight, Arthur Miller's All My Sons, and several plays by Shakespeare; she achieved an Upper Second class degree in 2001.
Read more about this topic: Rosamund Pike
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“... business training in early life should not be regarded solely as insurance against destitution in the case of an emergency. For from business experience women can gain, too, knowledge of the world and of human beings, which should be of immeasurable value to their marriage careers. Self-discipline, co-operation, adaptability, efficiency, economic management,—if she learns these in her business life she is liable for many less heartbreaks and disappointments in her married life.”
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