Tim Roth
Tim Roth, 2009
Born	Simon Timothy Roth[1][2] (1961-05-14) 14 May 1961 (age 51) Dulwich, London, England
Occupation	Actor/Director
Years active	1982–present
Spouse	Niki Butler (1993-present)
Children	3 Sons

Simon Timothy "Tim" Roth (born 14 May 1961) is an English film actor and director. He is best known for his roles in the films Made in Britain, Legend of 1900, Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Four Rooms, Skellig, Planet of the Apes, The Incredible Hulk and Rob Roy, receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for the latter. He most recently starred as Cal Lightman in the TV series Lie to Me.

Early life[link]

Roth was born in London, England, the son of Ann, a painter and teacher, and Ernie, a Fleet Street journalist, painter and, until the 1970s, a member of the British Communist Party.^[3][4][5] Roth's father was born under the surname "Smith" in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York, to a British immigrant family of Irish descent; he changed his surname to "Roth" in the 1940s, "partly through solidarity with the victims of the Holocaust, partly because the British were far from welcome in some of the countries to which his job took him".^[2][5][6]

Roth attended the Strand School in Tulse Hill. As a young man, he wanted to be a sculptor and studied at London's Camberwell College of Art.^[7]

Career[link]

Roth made his acting debut at the age of 21 playing a white power skinhead in a TV film titled Made in Britain. Roth played an East End character in King of the Ghetto which was made by the BBC. This four-part drama was shown in 1986 on national television, based on a novel by Farukh Dhondy. Partly set in Brick Lane, the drama caused a sensation among the public, especially amongst the Bengali community.^{[citation needed]} In contrast to his Made in Britain role, Roth then played a desperately shy and introverted character in the 1984 Mike Leigh film, Meantime. In 1985, he appeared in the television film Murder with Mirrors opposite Bette Davis, John Mills and Helen Hayes and in 1984, Roth played an apprentice hitman in Stephen Frears' The Hit with Terence Stamp and John Hurt, earning an "Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Newcomer". With that recognition, he appeared in several other films during the end of the decade. In 1989, he had a memorable supporting role as the buffoonish lackey Mitchell in Peter Greenaway's The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover. In 1990, Roth began to enjoy international attention with starring roles as Vincent van Gogh in Robert Altman's Vincent & Theo and as Guildenstern in Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead. Roth and other young British actors who were becoming established film actors such as Bruce Payne, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth and Paul McGann were dubbed the Brit Pack,^[8] a nickname based on the Brat Pack of the United States.

Roth impressed director Quentin Tarantino and was cast as Mr. Orange in his 1992 ensemble piece Reservoir Dogs. This film paved the way for more work in Hollywood. In 1994, Tarantino cast him again as a robber in the acclaimed Pulp Fiction. They worked again in the 1995 film Four Rooms, where Roth played the extremely physically animated role of Ted the Bellhop. Roth was very successful playing viciously evil English nobleman Archibald Cunningham in Rob Roy opposite Liam Neeson; for this role he earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, a Golden Globe nomination and won a BAFTA.

In 1996, he went a different way, starring with Drew Barrymore in Woody Allen's musical comedy Everyone Says I Love You. He also starred as Danny Boodman T.D. Lemon 1900 (or just "1900") in The Legend of 1900, and in the same year co-starred with Tupac Shakur in the drama Gridlock'd. He made a critically acclaimed debut as a director in 1999 with The War Zone, a film version of Alexander Stuart's novel. In 2001, he portrayed General Thade in Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes. Roth was the original choice for the role of Severus Snape in the Harry Potter film series, but he turned it down for the Planet of the Apes job.^[9] He was also considered for the part of Hannibal Lecter in the 2001 film Hannibal before Anthony Hopkins returned to reclaim the role. Roth appeared in Francis Ford Coppola's Youth Without Youth and Michael Haneke's Funny Games, then starred opposite Edward Norton in The Incredible Hulk as Emil Blonsky.

From 2009 to 2011, he starred in a series on Fox called Lie To Me. He played Dr. Cal Lightman, an expert on body language who assists local and federal law organisations in the investigations of crimes. His character was based on Dr. Paul Ekman, notable psychologist and expert on body language and facial expressions.^[10]

In 2010, Roth appeared on the cover to Manic Street Preachers' 2010 studio album, Postcards From A Young Man.

In 2012, Roth was announced as the President of the Jury for the Un Certain Regard section at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival.^[11]

Personal life[link]

Roth has a son, Jack, born to Lori Baker in 1984.^[12] He married Nikki Butler in 1993 and they have two sons, Timothy Hunter (b. 1995) and Michael Cormac (b. 1996). Roth is a supporter of the Green Party of England and Wales.^[13]

Filmography[link]

As actor[link]

As director[link]

• The War Zone (1999)

Awards[link]

• People's Choice Awards 2011 – Favourite TV Crime Fighter (Lie to Me)^[14]

References[link]

External links[link]

• The Officially Unofficial Tim Roth Web Page
• Tim Roth at the Internet Movie Database
• Tim Roth at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Allmovie entry for Tim Roth
• Audio Interview w/ Rafferty/Mills Connection Podcast (2009)