John Rhys-Davies
Rhys-Davies at a convention in November 2003
Born	(1944-05-05) 5 May 1944 (age 68) Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, Wales
Occupation	Actor/Voice artist
Years active	1964–present
Spouse	Suzanne A.D. Wilkinson (1966–2010; her death)
Signature

John Rhys-Davies (born 5 May 1944) is a Welsh actor and voice actor. He is perhaps best known for playing the charismatic Arab excavator Sallah in the Indiana Jones films and the dwarf Gimli in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. He also played Agent Michael Malone in the 1993 remake of the 1950s television series The Untouchables, Pilot Vasco Rodrigues in the mini-series Shōgun, Professor Maximillian Arturo in Sliders, King Richard I in Robin of Sherwood, General Leonid Pushkin in the James Bond film The Living Daylights, and Macro in I, Claudius. Additionally, he provided the voices of Cassim in Disney's Aladdin and the King of Thieves, Man Ray in SpongeBob SquarePants, and Tobias in the computer game Freelancer. He is also the narrator for the TV show Wildboyz.

Early life[link]

Rhys-Davies was born in Ammanford, Wales,^[1][2] the son of Welsh parents Mary Margaretta Phyllis Jones, a nurse, and Rhys Davies, a mechanical engineer^[3][4] and Colonial Officer.^[5] He spent much of his childhood in his mother's home town of Ammanford, although he was also brought up in Tanganyika. He was educated at Truro School and at the University of East Anglia where he was one of the first 87 students admitted, and where he founded the Dramatic Society. After teaching at Watton County Secondary School in Norfolk he won a place at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

Career[link]

Although appearing sporadically on UK television in the early 1970s (for instance, as gangster Laughing Spam Fritter opposite Adam Faith in Budgie), Rhys-Davies first gained widespread popularity for his performance as Praetorian officer Naevius Sutorius Macro in I, Claudius. He then began to appear more frequently, and not just in the UK, with roles as a Portuguese navigator Rodrigues in the 1980 television miniseries Shogun, based on the novel by James Clavell, and in the Indiana Jones movies. In 1989, Rhys-Davies also starred in another James Clavell adaption, Noble House, set in Hong Kong, in which he plays Ian Dunross' corporate enemy, Quillian Gornt. He has since appeared in numerous television shows and miniseries, including Agent Michael Malone in the 1993 remake of the 1950s television series The Untouchables as well as a leading role in the television series Sliders as Professor Maximillian Arturo from 1995 to 1997. He also appeared in Reilly, Ace of Spies in 1983, made several appearances on Star Trek: Voyager as a holodeck version of Leonardo da Vinci, starred as an ally of James Bond in The Living Daylights and appeared in the movie One Night with the King. Davies has played the character Porthos in two separate projects; a two-part episode of The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne and the Hallmark Channel movie La Femme Musketeer. He has also appeared in a number of Sci Fi Channel original movies. In 2004, he starred in The Privileged Planet, a documentary that makes the case for intelligent design.^[6]

[edit] The Lord of the Rings trilogy

He is also known for his popular portrayal of the dwarf Gimli in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The cinematography of the films was aided in that Rhys-Davies is tall—6' 1", compared to the actors playing hobbits at around 5' 6".^[7] Therefore, whereas his character was supposed to be short, he was properly in proportion compared to the hobbit actors. Had he been of more similar height, shots of the entire fellowship would have required three camera passes rather than two.^[8] Rhys-Davies is the only one of the nine Fellowship of the Ring actors who did not receive a tattoo of the word "nine" written in the Tengwar script. The other members of the cast (Sean Astin, Sean Bean, Billy Boyd, Ian McKellen, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Viggo Mortensen, and Elijah Wood) got the same tattoo. Rhys-Davies' stunt double (Brett Beattie) got the tattoo instead as Rhys-Davies was disinclined to get one himself.^[9]

Rhys-Davies suffered severe allergic reactions to the prosthetics used during filming, with his eyes sometimes swelling shut. When an interviewer asked him whether he would consider returning to the role for the film version of The Hobbit, he said, "I've already been asked and to be honest with you, I wouldn't. I have already completely ruled it out. There's a sentimental part of me that would love to be involved again. Really I am not sure my face can take that sort of punishment any more." He added that this time around "They've got a different set of problems... because you've got 13 dwarves, a whole band of them... You're trying to represent a whole race... You're trying to do for dwarves what 'The Lord of the Rings' did for hobbits".

Voice work[link]

In addition to voicing the Ent Treebeard in Lord of the Rings, Rhys-Davies has also lent his distinctive deep, Welsh voice to many video games and animated television series, including playing the role of Hades in Justice League and numerous times in Gargoyles (1994–1996), as the character Macbeth. He appears in the full motion video cut scenes of computer games including Ripper (as Vigo Haman) (1996), Dune 2000 (as Noree Moneo) (1998), and the Wing Commander series (as James "Paladin" Taggart). He also lent his vocal talents to the games Freelancer (as Winston Tobias) and Lords of Everquest (both in 2003) and the game Quest for Glory IV: Shadows of Darkness, which was released with his narration on a CD-ROM version in 1995. He also made a voice role on Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance as the character Jherek, and narrated a documentary called The Glory of Macedonia.

John Rhys-Davies' voice can be heard on the 2009 documentary Reclaiming The Blade.^[10] In the narration, Rhys-Davies explores swords and fight choreography on film, a topic very familiar to him from his experiences in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, where his character Gimli wielded an axe in many scenes.

In 2004, he was the unknowing subject of an internet prank that spread false rumours in several mainstream media sources that he was scheduled to play the role of General Grievous in Star Wars Episode III.^[11]

Rhys-Davies is the narrator of The Truth & Life Dramatized audio New Testament Bible, a 22-hour, celebrity-voiced, fully dramatized audiobook version of the New Testament which uses the RSV-CE translation. In 2011, he presented KJB: The Book That Changed The World, which features him reading diverse snippets from the King James Version.

Political views[link]

Rhys-Davies in an autograph session in Sweden

Rhys-Davies holds politically conservative views.^[12] As a university student in the 1960s, he had been a radical leftist, but changed his views when he went to heckle a young local member of parliament, Margaret Thatcher. Rhys-Davies says that "she shot down the first two hecklers in such brilliant fashion that I decided I ought for once to shut up and listen".

In 2004, Rhys-Davies stated the following in a very controversial interview with a Welsh news website about the Muslim population, stating:

There is a demographic catastrophe happening in Europe that nobody wants to talk about, that we daren’t bring up because we are so cagey about not offending people racially. And rightly we should be. But there is a cultural thing as well… By 2020, fifty percent of the children in the Netherlands under the age of 18 will be of Muslim descent… And don’t forget, coupled with this there is this collapse of numbers. Western Europeans are not having any babies. The population of Germany at the end of the century is going to be 56% of what it is now. The populations of France, 52% of what it is now. The population of Italy is going to be down 7 million people.^[13]

His comments were endorsed by the British National Party.^[14][15] Rhys-Davies commented that it was "distressing to find yourself on a BNP leaflet".^[13] He was also endorsed in a National Vanguard editorial.^[16] Yet, in an interview with the conservative journal National Review, he clarified that he is opposed to Islamic extremism precisely because he feels that it violates Western beliefs in equality, democracy, tolerance, and the abolition of slavery.^[17]

Personal life[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (March 2012)

In 1966, he married Suzanne A. D. Wilkinson, a translator. They have two sons, Ben and Tom. Although separated from Suzanne (who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 1995) they were not divorced and Rhys-Davies remained close to her until her death in August 2010. He has lived with Lisa Manning (ex-host from the New Zealand television show Good Morning) since 2004. They have a daughter, Maia. Rhys-Davies has a house on the Isle of Man.

Filmography[link]

Audio books[link]

• AFFABEL (2006) (Voice)

References[link]

External links[link]

• John Rhys-Davies at the Internet Movie Database
• John Rhys-Davies at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)
• Article about controversial statements January 18, 2004
• Andrew Leigh, "No Sean Penn". National Review. March 5, 2004.
• "Lord of the Rings star: I'm settled with a new family but I'll never leave my ailing wife" Mail Online, April 11, 2007

Rhys Davies (9 November 1901 – 21 August 1978) (born Vivian Rees Davies) was a Welsh novelist and short story writer, who wrote in the English language.^[1]

One of the most prolific Welsh prose writers of the 20th century, Davies is best known for his short stories, of which he wrote over a hundred. He also wrote eighteen novels, including The Withered Root (1927), The Black Venus (1944) and The Perishable Quality (1957), an autobiography, Print of a Hare's Foot (1969), and a successful play, No Escape (1954), as well as several works of non-fiction. Davies was homosexual,^[2] though he never wrote publicly about his own sexuality. Though he lived largely in London, Davies' work is often set in Wales.

Davies was invited to stay with D. H. Lawrence and Frieda Lawrence in France in 1928–9 (their meeting has been dramatised in Sex and Power at the Beau Rivage (2003), a play by Welsh author Lewis Davies). Though Lawrence's death in March 1930 made their friendship a brief one, Lawrence appears to have been an important influence on Davies' work. Other literary associates include the publisher Charles Lahr, who published some of Davies' early work in The New Coterie, and the author Anna Kavan, whose work he edited after her death.

Davies was awarded an OBE in 1968, as well as the Welsh Arts Council Prize in 1971. His story "The Chosen One", originally published in The New Yorker, won an Edgar Allan Poe Award in 1967.

After his death, the Rhys Davies Trust was established in 1990 to promote Welsh authors writing in the English language. The trust sponsors the Rhys Davies Short Story Competition, established in 1991.

See also[link]

• Lewis Davies (younger brother)

References[link]

• Rhys Davies: Decoding the Hare (Stephens M, ed); 2001 (ISBN 0-7083-1694-8)

External links[link]

• Biographical details
• Brown T (2001) The Ex-centric voice: The English-language short story in Wales. N Am J Welsh Studies Vol. 1
• Portrait by William Roberts
• Theodore Dalrymple on Rhys Davies

Sean Astin
Astin at UIUC, 2009
Born	Sean Patrick Duke (1971-02-25) February 25, 1971 (age 41) Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Alma mater	UCLA
Occupation	Actor, director, producer, voice actor
Years active	1981–present
Spouse	Christine Harrell (m. 1992) «start: (1992)»"Marriage: Christine Harrell to Sean Astin" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Sean_Astin)
Website
http://www.seanastin.com/

Sean Astin (born February 25, 1971) is an American film actor, director, voice artist, and producer best known for his film roles as Mikey Walsh in The Goonies, the title character of Rudy, and Samwise Gamgee in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. In television, he appeared as Lynn McGill in the fifth season of 24. Most recently, he provided the voice for the title character in Disney's Special Agent Oso. Astin also served as campaign manager for his friend, Democratic entertainment industry businessman Dan Adler in California's 36th congressional district special election, 2011.

Early life and education[link]

Astin was born Sean Patrick Duke in Santa Monica, California, the son of actress Patty Duke.^[1] At the time, it was reported that Desi Arnaz, Jr., was his biological father. In 1994, Astin discovered his father was Michael Tell, a music promoter and writer, and publisher of the newspaper The Las Vegas Israelite.^[2][3][4]

Tell's marriage to Patty Duke was annulled shortly before her marriage in 1972 to actor John Astin, who adopted Sean. In 1973, Duke gave birth to Astin's half-brother Mackenzie Astin, who also became an actor. Although Patty Duke and John Astin divorced in 1985, Sean Astin has written that he has always considered John his "real" father.

He attended the Crossroads High School for the Arts and master classes at the Stella Adler Conservatory in Los Angeles. Astin graduated from UCLA with a B.A. in History and English (American literature and culture). An alumnus of Los Angeles Valley College, he serves on the school's Board of Directors of the Patrons Association and the Arts Council.

Career[link]

Early career[link]

Astin's first acting role was in a 1981 television movie titled Please Don't Hit Me, Mom, in which he played a child with an abusive mother (portrayed by his real-life mother Patty Duke). He made his film debut at age 14 as Mikey in The Goonies (1985).

Following The Goonies, Astin appeared in several more films, including the Disney made-for-TV movie, The B.R.A.T. Patrol, opposite Nia Long, Tim Thomerson and Brian Keith; Like Father Like Son (1987); White Water Summer with Kevin Bacon (1987), The War of the Roses (1989); the World War II film Memphis Belle (1990); Toy Soldiers (1991); Encino Man (1992); and the college football biopic Rudy (1993), about the life-changing struggles and rewards of the titular character, Daniel Ruettiger.

In 1994, Astin directed and co-produced (with his wife, Christine Astin) the short film Kangaroo Court, which received an Academy Award nomination for Best Live Action Short Film. Astin continued to appear in films throughout the 1990s, including the Showtime science fiction film Harrison Bergeron (1995), the Gulf War film Courage Under Fire (1996), and the Warren Beatty political satire Bulworth (1998).

[edit] The Lord of the Rings

In the early 2000s, Astin experienced a career breakthrough with his role as Samwise Gamgee in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, released in 2001, 2002 and 2003. Along with the many awards bestowed upon the trilogy, particularly its final installment The Return of the King (winner of eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture), Astin received many award nominations for his own performance in Return of the King, taking home the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor and awards from the Las Vegas Film Critics Society, the Seattle Film Critics, the Utah Film Critics Association, and the Phoenix Film Critics Society. As an ensemble, the Return of the King cast received awards from the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures and the Screen Actors Guild.

He and other cast members became very close and very good friends through the filming process. He became particularly good friends with Elijah Wood.

Astin's daughter, Alexandra, can be seen in Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. She plays his onscreen daughter, Elanor Gamgee, that runs out to him as he returns from saying goodbye to Frodo and Gandalf.

While working on Lord of the Rings, Astin persuaded a number of fellow cast and crew members, including director Peter Jackson, to assist him in making his second short film, The Long and Short of It. The film takes place on a street in Wellington, New Zealand. The Long and Short of It premiered at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival and appears on the DVD for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, along with a "making of" video.

In 2004, Astin released There and Back Again (ISBN 0-312-33146-0), a memoir (co-written with Joe Layden) of his film career with emphasis on his experiences with the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The title is derived from the subtitle of The Hobbit, by Lord of the Rings author J. R. R. Tolkien; the title also appears in the film Fellowship of the Ring and Return of the King.

[edit] Post-Lord of the Rings career

Since Lord of the Rings, Astin has continued to work in film and television. His film roles have included the Adam Sandler comedies 50 First Dates and Click.

In television, Astin guest-starred as Lynn McGill throughout the fifth season of the Fox drama 24. He also appeared in the made-for-TV films Hercules and The Colour of Magic and in episodes of Monk, Las Vegas, My Name is Earl (in which he parodied his 1993 film Rudy with co-stars Charles S. Dutton and Chelcie Ross), and Law & Order, among other shows. He directed a 2003 episode of the TV series Angel, titled "Soulless". He played the enigmatic Mr. Smith on the second season of the Showtime series Jeremiah.

Astin's career has also expanded to include voice-over roles. He narrated the American version of the Animal Planet series Meerkat Manor, and voices the title character in the animated Disney Channel series Special Agent Oso.^[5] His other voice work includes Balto III: Wings of Change and the video game Kingdom Hearts, in the latter of which he provided the voice of Hercules, replacing actor Tate Donovan, who was unavailable but would return for Kingdom Hearts II.

In 2010, he joined the Stella Adler Los Angeles Theatre Collective acting company.^[6] He and his wife, Christine, are making a movie based on Lois Lowry's Newbery Medal-winning novel Number the Stars.^[7][8]

Astin portrays the role of Matthew in The Truth & Life Dramatized audio New Testament Bible, a 22-hour, celebrity-voiced, fully dramatized audio version of the New Testament, which uses the RSV-CE.

Personal life[link]

Astin married Christine Harrell on July 11, 1992. They have three daughters: Alexandra (born November 27, 1996), Elizabeth (born August 6, 2002), and Isabella (born July 22, 2005), all with the middle name Louise. His wife held the Miss Indiana Teen USA title in 1984.

Astin has a tattoo on his ankle of the word "nine" written with the Tengwar script, commemorating his Lord of the Rings involvement and his character's membership in the Fellowship of the Ring. Of the other Fellowship actors (Elijah Wood, Sean Bean, Billy Boyd, Ian McKellen, Dominic Monaghan, Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, and John Rhys-Davies), all have the same tattoo except Rhys-Davies.^[9]

During the 2004 United States presidential election, Astin backed Senator John Kerry and participated in Kerry's campaign rally in Portland, Oregon, as the opening speaker.^[10] In the 2008 presidential election, Astin lent his support to Senator Hillary Clinton and made multiple campaign appearances on her behalf, including joining Clinton's daughter Chelsea Clinton at some stops.^[11]

Astin is a vegetarian.^[12] He attended Catholic school and also practiced Buddhism for a time (his mother is Catholic and his biological father, Michael Tell, is Jewish).^[13]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sean Astin

• Sean Astin at the Internet Movie Database
• Sean Astin at AllRovi
• Official website