Radcliffe was born in West London , England . He is the only child of Alan George Radcliffe , a literary agent , and Marcia Jeannine Gresham ( née Marcia Gresham Jacobson ) , a casting agent who was involved in several films for the BBC , including The Inspector Lynley Mysteries and Walk Away and I Stumble . His father , who was raised in Banbridge , County Down , Northern Ireland , is from " a very working @-@ class " Protestant background . His mother is Jewish , and was born in South Africa and raised in Westcliff @-@ on @-@ Sea , Essex . Her family had originally come from Poland and Russia . Radcliffe 's parents had both acted as children .