The Lord Of The Rings star was brought up believing his father was Harry Bloom, a famous South African human rights lawyer, who died when Orlando was four. But when he was 12, his mother Sonia revealed that British teacher Colin Stone - a man Orlando knew as a family friend - was his and younger sister Samantha's real father. The truth about Orlando's bizarre upbringing has only emerged recently.

He said: "It's an unusual story but, then again, you show me a family and I'll show you an unusual story."

Orlando, 26, shot to fame as Legolas in The Lord Of The Rings and is currently to be seen starring alongside Johnny Depp in Pirates Of The Caribbean. He now commands £3million a film and while filming Pirates in Mexico splashed out £36,000 on flights for his actress girlfriend Kate Bosworth to join him three times a month. Last night dad Colin, 52, a teacher from Canterbury, Kent - who years before moved in with the family to help out as Sonia nursed her then dying husband - said he was delighted at the success of his son.

"I'm very proud of everything Orlando and Samantha have achieved," he said. "They've had a lot of love, a very happy upbringing, and they've grown up to be very well-balanced, happy people."

Born in Canterbury, Orlando had a middle-class upbringing, which included attending local poetry and Bible readings. He left home at 16 and moved to London to enrol with the National Youth Theatre, before winning a scholarship to the British American Drama Academy. His first film role was as a rent boy in Wilde in 1997, and he has also appeared on TV shows such as Casualty, London's Burning and Midsomer Murders.

However, Orlando's career was halted after he broke his back in an accident in 1998 and doctors feared he would never walk again. But 12 days later he hobbled out of hospital on crutches and just months afterwards he was offered the part of Legolas.

Mum Sonia, who worked at the same language school as Colin, says the revelations have done no damage to the family. "Orlando is not sad. It was marvellous when he learned that Colin was his father," she said.

But until recently Orlando was reluctant to reveal who his dad was, saying of Colin: "He loved me like a son and has been a great guide in my life. He was never with my mother, but he was around as a father figure and I've always thought of him as that."

susie.boniface@sundaymirror.co.uk