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Frodo Baggins is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium.

He is the primary protagonist of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Frodo was a hobbit of the Shire who inherited Sauron's Ring from Bilbo Baggins and undertook the quest to destroy it in the fires of Mount Doom. He is also mentioned in the posthumously published The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales.

Concept and creation[link]

Frodo did not appear until the third draft of A Long-Expected Party, when he was named Bingo (after a family of toy koala bears Tolkien's kids had), son of Bilbo Baggins and Primula Brandybuck.^[1] In the fourth draft, he was renamed Bingo Bolger-Baggins, son of Rollo Bolger and Primula Brandybuck.^[2] Tolkien didn't change the name to Frodo until the third phase of writing, when much of the narrative, as far as the hobbits' arrival in Rivendell, had already taken shape.^[3] Prior to this, the name "Frodo" had been used for the character who eventually became Peregrin Took.^[4]

Internal history[link]

Background[link]

Frodo is introduced in The Fellowship of the Ring as the adoptive heir of Bilbo Baggins. The chapter "A Long-expected Party" relates that Frodo's parents Drogo Baggins and Primula Brandybuck had been killed in a boating accident when Frodo was 12; Frodo subsequently spent the next 9 years living with his maternal family, the Brandybucks in Brandy Hall. At the age of 21 he was adopted by his cousin,^{[nb 1]} Bilbo, who brought him to live at Bag End. By coincidence he and Bilbo shared the same birthday, the 22nd of September. It was Bilbo who introduced the Elvish languages to Frodo, and they often shared long walking trips together.

[edit] The Fellowship of the Ring

The Fellowship of the Ring opens as Frodo came of age (at 33 years old) and Bilbo left the Shire for good on his one hundred and eleventh birthday. Frodo inherited Bag End and Bilbo's magic ring that was introduced in The Hobbit. Gandalf, at this time, was not certain about the origin of the Ring, so he warned Frodo to avoid using it and to keep it secret. Frodo kept the Ring hidden for 17 years, until Gandalf returned to tell him that it was the One Ring of the Dark Lord Sauron, who desired to use it to conquer Middle-earth.

Realizing that he was a danger to the Shire as long as he remained there with the Ring, Frodo decided to leave his home and take the Ring to Rivendell, home of Elrond, a mighty Elf lord. He left the Shire with three companions: his gardener Samwise Gamgee and his cousins Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took. They escaped just in time, for Sauron's most powerful servants, the Nine Nazgûl, had entered the Shire as Black Riders, looking for Bilbo and the Ring. They followed Frodo's trail across the Shire and nearly intercepted him.

Frodo and his companions escape the Black Riders by travelling through the Old Forest, but they get misled by the magic of Old Man Willow until they are rescued by Tom Bombadil who gives them shelter and guides them on their way. After leaving Bombadil, they are caught in fog on the Barrow Downs by Barrow-wights and are entranced under a spell. Frodo breaks loose from the spell, attacks the barrow-wight and summons Tom Bombadil who again rescues the hobbits and sets them on their way to Bree.

At the Inn of the Prancing Pony in the village of Bree, Frodo met Aragorn, also called Strider, a Ranger of the North, who became the hobbits' guide while journeying through the wilderness towards Rivendell. The One Ring slipped onto Frodo's finger inadvertently in the Prancing Pony's common room, turning Frodo invisible. This attracted the attention of Sauron's agents, who ransacked the hobbits' rooms in the night. The group, under Aragorn's guidance, quickly fled through the Midgewater Marshes and again escaped the Black Riders.

While encamped at Amon Sûl, they were found and attacked by five Nazgûl. The chief of the Nazgûl, known as the Witch-king of Angmar, stabbed Frodo with a Morgul-blade, before Aragorn routed all five of them. A piece of this blade remained in Frodo's shoulder and, working its way towards his heart, threatened to turn him into a wraith under the control of the Witch-king. With the help of his companions and Glorfindel, Frodo was able to evade the remaining Ringwraiths and reach Rivendell. Although almost overcome by his wound, once there he was healed over time by Elrond; it was said and later seen that the wound would never completely heal, however, as it was as much spiritual as physical.

In Rivendell, the Council of Elrond met and resolved to destroy the Ring by casting it into Mount Doom in Mordor, the realm of Sauron. Frodo, realizing that he was destined for this task, stepped forward to be the Ring-bearer. A Fellowship of nine companions was formed to guide and protect him: the hobbits, Gandalf, Aragorn, the dwarf Gimli, the elf Legolas of Mirkwood, and Boromir, a man of Gondor. Together they set out from Rivendell. Frodo was armed with Sting, Bilbo's Elvish knife, and wore Bilbo's coat of Dwarven mail made of mithril. The company, seeking a way over the Misty Mountains, first tried the Pass of Caradhras, but abandoned it in favour of the mines of Moria. In Moria Frodo is stabbed by an Orc-spear, but his coat of mail saves his life. They were led by Gandalf, until he fell in Moria battling a Balrog, and then by Aragorn to Lothlórien. There Galadriel, the Lady of the Woods, gave Frodo an Elven cloak and a phial carrying the Light of Eärendil to aid him on his dangerous quest.

Having then travelled some miles down the Anduin by boat, the Fellowship reached Parth Galen. There, Boromir, having fallen to the lure of the Ring, tried to take it by force from Frodo. Frodo escaped only by becoming invisible by again donning the Ring. This event broke the Fellowship; Boromir was later slain defending Merry and Pippin from invading Orcs, who captured the two hobbits. Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas gave him a hero's funeral before setting out after the two hobbits. Frodo chose to continue the quest alone, but Sam followed his master, joining him on the journey to Mordor.

[edit] The Two Towers

Frodo and Sam made their way through Emyn Muil, followed by the creature Gollum, who had been tracking the Fellowship since Moria, seeking to reclaim the Ring he had possessed for centuries. After Gollum attacked the hobbits, Frodo subdued him with Sting. He then took pity on Gollum, and spared his life (just as Bilbo had once done), instead binding him to a promise to help the hobbits. Frodo demanded he guide them through the Dead Marshes to the Black Gate, which Gollum did. Gollum said that there was "another way" into Mordor, and Frodo, over Sam's objections, allowed him to lead them south into Ithilien. It was there that Frodo and Sam saw an Oliphaunt with a company of Haradrim. They met Faramir, younger brother of Boromir, who took them to Henneth Annûn. There Frodo allowed Gollum to be captured by Faramir, saving Gollum's life but leaving him feeling betrayed by his "master". After giving them provisions, Faramir allowed the two hobbits and Gollum to go on their way, but warned Frodo of Gollum's treachery.

The three of them passed near to Minas Morgul, where the pull of the Ring became almost unbearable. After hiding, they witnessed a great Orc army leave under the command of the Witch-king. They began the long climb up the Endless Stair, and at the top entered the tunnel, not knowing it was the home of the giant spider Shelob. Gollum, having never actually said whether the pass was inhabited or not, hoped to deliver the hobbits to her and retake the Ring from her leavings. Shelob stung Frodo, knocking him unconscious, but Sam drove her off with Sting and the Phial of Galadriel. After attempting unsuccessfully to wake Frodo, Sam concluded that he was dead and after much grieving, decided that his only option was to take the Ring in order to continue the quest. However, Orcs from Cirith Ungol soon found Frodo's body and knew that he was not dead. Planning to interrogate him after his awakening, they carried him into the tower at the head of the pass.

[edit] The Return of the King

Sam rescued Frodo from the Orcs of Cirith Ungol, and restored to him Sting and the Ring. The two of them, dressed in scavenged Orc-armour, set off for Mount Doom, trailed by Gollum. They witnessed the plains of Gorgoroth empty at the approach of the Armies of the West, but at one point they barely escaped being drafted into an Orc-band. With the Ring getting closer to its master, Frodo became progressively weaker as its influence grew. After running out of water, they left all unnecessary baggage behind to travel light. As they finally reached Mount Doom, Gollum reappeared and attacked Frodo, who beat him back. He continued on while Sam fought with Gollum. Having finally reached the Sammath Naur, or Crack of Doom, however, Frodo lost the will to destroy the Ring, and instead put it on, claiming it for himself. Gollum got past Sam and attacked the invisible Frodo, biting off his finger, and finally regained his "precious". As he danced around in elation, Gollum lost his balance and fell with the Ring into the lava. The Ring was thus destroyed, Sauron's power lost and his realm ended. Frodo and Sam were rescued by the reborn Gandalf and several Great Eagles as Mount Doom erupted.

After reuniting with the Fellowship and attending Aragorn's coronation, the four hobbits returned to the Shire to find it taken over by a gang of ruffians, led initially by Frodo's cousin, Lotho Sackville-Baggins, and then by the fallen wizard Saruman. The four travellers roused their fellow hobbits and led them in driving the ruffians out. There they witnessed the deaths of both Saruman and his henchman Gríma. Frodo's part in the fighting was mainly to ensure that the ruffians who surrendered were taken alive.

Frodo never completely recovered from the physical, emotional and psychological wounds he suffered during the War of the Ring. He was taken ill on the anniversaries of his wounding on Weathertop and his poisoning by Shelob. He briefly served as Deputy Mayor of the Shire, but spent most of his time writing the tale of his travels. Two years after the Ring was destroyed, Frodo and Bilbo as Ring-bearers were granted passage to Valinor — where Frodo might find peace. They boarded a ship at the Grey Havens and together with Gandalf, Elrond and Galadriel, the Keepers of the Three Rings, they passed over the sea and departed Middle-earth. Having no children of his own Frodo left his estate, along with the Red Book of Westmarch, to Sam.

According to Appendix D of The Lord of the Rings, Frodo’s birthday was made a festival in Minas Tirith.

"The Sea-Bell"[link]

"The Sea-Bell" was published in Tolkien's 1962 collection of verse The Adventures of Tom Bombadil with the sub-heading Frodos Dreme. Tolkien suggests that this enigmatic, narrative poem represents the despairing dreams that visited Frodo in the Shire in the years following the destruction of the Ring. It relates the otherwise unnamed speaker's journey to a mysterious land across the sea, where he tries but fails to make contact with the people who dwell there. He descends into despair and near-madness, eventually returning to his own country, to find himself utterly alienated from those he once knew.

Characteristics and appearance[link]

Gandalf described Frodo as "taller than some and fairer than most, [with] a cleft in his chin: perky chap with a bright eye."^[5] He had thick, curly brown hair like most other hobbits, and had fair skin due to his Fallohide ancestry.

Bilbo and Frodo shared a common birthday on 22 September, but Bilbo was 78 years Frodo's senior. At the opening of The Fellowship of the Ring, Frodo and Bilbo were celebrating their thirty-third and one hundred and eleventh birthdays, respectively. Frodo inherited the Ring at this point, and due to its influence he still appeared about 33 during the War of the Ring, though his age was closer to 50.

Frodo, like Bilbo and his Took ancestors, was considered by many others in Hobbiton to be a little odd. His interest in the outside world and fascination with Elves and faraway places (like those to which Bilbo travelled in The Hobbit) were uncommon among hobbits. Frodo is shown in the animated films to have a skilled musical nature when he performs a song at the Prancing Pony to the patrons there. Frodo in personality is also depicted as being very quiet, gentle and kind hearted. However with the effects of the ring, he becomes short tempered, tired and paranoid.

When he left the Shire, Frodo was dressed in typical hobbit-fashion: knee-breeches, shirt, waistcoat, jacket, cloak. He was unarmed, save for a pocket-knife.

When the hobbits were waylaid by the Barrow-wight, they found long daggers made by Dúnedain in the wight's treasure. These served as short-swords for the hobbits, but Frodo's was broken when he resisted the Witch-king at the Ford of Bruinen. Later, Bilbo gave Frodo Sting, a magic Elven dagger, and a coat of mithril chain mail. The mail saved his life on three occasions, deflecting a spear-point in the Mines of Moria, an Orc-arrow along the Anduin, and finally Saruman's knife at Bag End. Frodo wounded the Barrow-wight and a cave troll, but never killed anyone.

Like other members of the Fellowship of the Ring, Frodo received in Lórien a special cloak from Galadriel, which allowed him to blend in with natural surroundings. Galadriel also gave him a vial that reflected the light of Eärendil, the Evenstar, (and, by extension, of the Two Trees of Valinor).

Names and titles[link]

Frodo is referred to by several names and titles in The Lord of the Rings. On leaving the Shire he uses the alias 'Mr Underhill'. Gildor Inglorion calls him 'Elf-friend' in acknowledgement of his ability to speak Elvish. After the Council of Elrond he is given the title 'Ring-bearer'. After the fulfilment of the quest he is referred to by the bards as 'Nine-fingered Frodo' or 'Frodo of the Nine Fingers'.

Frodo is the only prominent hobbit whose name is not explained in Tolkien’s Appendices to The Lord of the Rings. In his letters Tolkien states that it is derived from Old English fród meaning "wise by experience". A character from Norse mythology called Fróði is mentioned in Beowulf, where it is rendered in Old English as Froda. Tolkien did mention he changed final a's to final o's in male Hobbit names.

In the early drafts of The Lord of the Rings the principal character is called Bingo Baggins; the name Frodo is given to another hobbit. In the drafts of the final chapters of The Lord of the Rings published by Christopher Tolkien as Sauron Defeated, Gandalf names Frodo Bronwe athan Harthad (Endurance Beyond Hope) after the destruction of the Ring. Tolkien states that Frodo’s name in the fictional language of Westron was Maura Labingi.^[6] His name in Sindarin (another of Tolkien's invented languages) appears to have been Iorhael,^[7] which is derived from ior meaning 'old' and hael meaning "wise". In The Return of the King he is also referred to by the name 'Daur', a Sindarin word meaning "noble" ^[8] (or perhaps "Wise by experience," if it means the same as "Frodo" does.)

Adaptations[link]

In Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated version of The Lord of the Rings, Frodo was voiced by Christopher Guard. Billy Barty was the model for Frodo, as well as Bilbo and Sam, in the live-action recordings Bakshi used for rotoscoping.

In the 1980 Rankin/Bass animated version of The Return of the King, made for television, the character was voiced by Orson Bean, who had previously played Bilbo in the same company's adaptation of The Hobbit.

In the 1981 BBC radio serial of The Lord of the Rings, Frodo is played by Ian Holm, who later played Bilbo in Peter Jackson's film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings.

In The Lord of the Rings film trilogy (2001-2003) directed by Peter Jackson, Frodo is played by American actor Elijah Wood. The timeline in Jackson's movie trilogy is simplified and much shorter than in the novel; in the movie Frodo sets out on his adventure a few months after inheriting Bag End and Bilbo's possessions, including the One Ring. Consequently he is the same age as his friends Sam, Merry and Pippin, when he begins his adventure. However, this portrayal is accurate; due to the influence of the Ring, Frodo is described as looking like a "robust and energetic hobbit just out of his tweens", and as such would appear to be of a similar age to the three younger hobbits. Dan Timmons writes in the Mythopoeic Society's Tolkien on Film: Essays on Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings (Mythopoeic Press, 2005) that the themes and internal logic of the Jackson films are undermined by the portrayal of Frodo, whom he considers a weakening of Tolkien's original.^[9] Elijah Wood will resprise his role of Frodo in the upcoming two-part film adaptation of The Hobbit (2012-2013).

On stage, Frodo was portrayed by James Loye in the three-hour stage production of The Lord of the Rings, which opened in Toronto in 2006, and was brought to London in 2007. In the United States, Frodo was portrayed by Joe Sofranko in the Cincinnati productions of The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002), and The Return of the King (2003) for Clear Stage Cincinnati. In Chicago, Patrick Blashill played Frodo in the Lifeline Theatre production of The Two Towers in 1999.

See also[link]

• Farmer Maggot
• Rings of Power

Notes and references[link]

Notes

1. ^ Although Frodo referred to Bilbo as his "uncle", they were in fact first and second cousins, once removed either way (his paternal great-great-uncle's son's son and his maternal great-aunt's son).

References

External links[link]

• Frodo Baggins at the Tolkien Gateway
• Frodo Baggins at the Internet Movie Database
• Frodo Baggins at the Encyclopedia of Arda
• Frodo Baggins at the Thain's Book

Elijah Wood
Elijah Wood at the San Diego Comic-Con International in July 2011.
Born	Elijah Jordan Wood (1981-01-28) January 28, 1981 (age 31) Cedar Rapids, Iowa, US
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1989–present

Elijah Jordan Wood ( /ɪˈlaɪdʒə ˈdʒɔrdən ˈwʊd/; born January 28, 1981) is an American actor. He made his film debut with a minor part in Back to the Future Part II (1989), then landed a succession of larger roles that made him a critically acclaimed child actor by age 9, being nominated for several Young Artist Awards. He is best known for his high-profile role as Frodo Baggins in Peter Jackson's critically acclaimed The Lord of the Rings trilogy and its upcoming prequels The Hobbit films. Since then, he has resisted typecasting by choosing varied roles in critically acclaimed films such as Bobby, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Sin City, Green Street and Everything Is Illuminated.

Wood starred in the film Day Zero (2007) and provided the voice of the main character in the award-winning animated musical films Happy Feet and Happy Feet Two. Wood also voiced the lead as 9 in the Tim Burton-produced action/science fiction film 9. He played an American tourist turned vampire in Paris, je t'aime. In 2005, he started his own record label, Simian Records. He currently appears as Ryan in FX's dark comedy Wilfred, which debuted on June 23, 2011.

Early life[link]

Wood, the second of three children, was born and raised in Cedar Rapids, Iowa to Debra D. (née Krause) and Warren W. Wood, delicatessen operators.^[1] He is of English, German, Austrian, and Danish descent.^[2] Wood has a brother, Zachariah "Zach" Wood, and a sister, Hannah Wood. At age ten, Wood began modeling in his hometown and took piano lessons. He took to the stage in his elementary school's staging of the play The Sound of Music. The following year, he graduated to the title character in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. He also served as choir boy during the production of See How They Run, produced by the Marion Creative Council.

Career[link]

Early career 1988-1998[link]

Wood modeled and did local commercials before moving with his family to Los Angeles in 1988, where he got his first break, a small role in a video by Paula Abdul – "Forever Your Girl", directed by David Fincher. More work followed, including a pivotal role in the television movie Child in the Night (1990) with JoBeth Williams and Tom Skerritt and a minor role in Back to the Future Part II (1989). It was Wood's role as Aidan Quinn's son in Barry Levinson's 1990 film Avalon (the third film in the Baltimore trilogy containing 1982's Diner and 1987's Tin Men) that first gave Wood attention, as the film received widespread critical acclaim and was nominated for four Academy Awards.

After a small part in the Richard Gere movie Internal Affairs (1990), he secured his first starring role in Paradise (1991), playing a young boy who brings estranged couple Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson back together. From there, he went on to co-star with Mel Gibson and Jamie Lee Curtis in Forever Young and with Joseph Mazzello in Radio Flyer (both were released in 1992).

In 1993, he had the lead role in The Adventures of Huck Finn and also appeared with Macaulay Culkin in The Good Son. In 1994 he starred in The War (1994), with Kevin Costner. His performance in this movie gained him a nomination for a 'Young Star Award' (for which he was nominated four times, and won twice), and Roger Ebert said in his review of the film:

"Elijah Wood has emerged, I believe, as the most talented actor, in his age group, in Hollywood history".^[3]

Also in 1994, he had the title role in North, and was featured in a Super Bowl commercial for Wavy Lay's potato chips that had him repeatedly exchanging seats with spectators at a football game (including Dan Quayle) using its famous slogan.^[4] In 1995, he appeared in the music video for The Cranberries "Ridiculous Thoughts". The following year, Wood got the lead role in Flipper (1996), which was not very successful, but the subsequent critical and financial success of Ang Lee's The Ice Storm (1997) provided a positive development in the young actor's career.

In 1997, he portrayed the pick-pocketing thief Jack "The Artful Dodger" Dawkins in Tony Bill's Oliver Twist. 1998's Deep Impact and The Faculty did not allow Wood the same degree of character development, but were great financial successes and further stepping stones in Wood's evolution from child star to young actor.

Wood's next role was as the boyfriend of a wannabe hip-hop groupie in James Toback's Black and White (1999). He followed this with a role as a junior hitman in Chain of Fools.

[edit] 1999–2003: The Lord of the Rings

Wood was cast as Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, the first installment of director Peter Jackson's adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's novel. His most hotly anticipated project, the 2001 film gave Wood top billing as Baggins, alongside a cast that included Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Orlando Bloom, Cate Blanchett, Christopher Lee, Sean Bean, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Viggo Mortensen, John Rhys-Davies, Miranda Otto, Karl Urban.

The Lord of the Rings was filmed in New Zealand and, before the cast left the country, Jackson gave Wood two gifts: one of the One Ring props used on the set and Sting, Frodo's sword. He was also given a pair of prosthetic "hobbit feet" which were worn during filming. The same year, the actor appeared in Ed Burns' Ash Wednesday, a crime drama that also featured Oliver Platt and Rosario Dawson.

In 2002, Wood lent his voice to the direct-to-video release of The Adventures of Tom Thumb and Thumbelina. His most substantial role of 2002 was his return to the role of Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.

In 2003, he starred in the direct-to-video movie All I Want (also titled Try Seventeen) and once again portrayed Frodo Baggins for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, the final part of Jackson's trilogy.

He is set to reprise his role as Frodo in the 2012 up-coming film The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

2004–present: Recent career[link]

Hot on the heels of the trilogy, Wood quickly appeared in his first post-Frodo role in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), playing a lab technician who helps erase heartbreaking memories but then uses his knowledge of the past relationship of an unknowing former patient (Kate Winslet) to woo her. He then played bespectacled serial killer Kevin in director Robert Rodriguez and writer-artist Frank Miller's adaptation of Miller's crime noir comic book series Sin City (2005), appearing opposite Mickey Rourke in the segment "The Hard Goodbye". On May 12, 2005, Wood hosted a program called "MTV Presents: The Next Generation Xbox Revealed", when the new Xbox 360 games console was launched.^[5]

Also in 2005, Wood starred in Everything Is Illuminated, in which he plays a young American Jewish man on a quest to find the woman who once saved his grandfather during World War II, and Green Street Hooligans, as an American college student who falls in with a violent English football firm. Both had limited release, but were critically acclaimed.

Wood shot a small part in Paris, je t'aime, which consists of 18 five-minute sections. Each section is directed by a different director. Wood’s section, called "Quartier de la Madeleine", was directed by Vincenzo Natali. The film opened on May 18 at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival and was shown at 2006 Toronto International Film Festival. First Look Pictures acquired the North American rights, and the film opened in the US in early 2007.^[6]

In 2006, he was part of the ensemble cast in Emilio Estevez's Bobby, in which his character gets married to change his draft classification.^[7] It premiered at the Venice Film Festival and was released on November 17, 2006, in New York and Los Angeles. Wide release followed on November 23.

In Happy Feet,^[8] Wood provided the voice of Mumble, a penguin who can tap dance, but not sing. Happy Feet was released on November 17, 2006, and has grossed over $380 million worldwide. The movie also received a Golden Globe Award nomination and won an Academy Award and a BAFTA for Best Animated Feature.

Day Zero,^[9] a drama about the draft, had its debut at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival. Wood portrays draftee Aaron Feller.

In 2006, Wood hosted the special "Saving a Species: The Great Penguin Rescue" for Discovery Kids Channel,^[10] for which he has been nominated for a Daytime Emmy in the category of acting in a children/youth/family special.^[11] On January 4, 2007, Wood joined Screen Actors Guild President Alan Rosenberg to announce the nominees for the 13th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards.^[12]

In The Oxford Murders, a film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Guillermo Martínez, Wood plays a graduate student who investigates a series of bizarre, mathematically-based murders in Oxford.^[13][14] It was released in Spain on January 18, 2008.

Wood at WonderCon 2009.

Wood also voiced the lead in the animated feature film version of the short film 9.^[15][16] A project in which Wood was set to star in, a biopic about singer Iggy Pop, putatively named The Passenger,^[17] has not come to fruition after years in development.^[18]

Wood's first starring TV role is on the FX series Wilfred in which he plays Ryan. The pilot was shot in the summer of 2010.^[19]

In January 2011, it was confirmed that Wood would reprise the role of Frodo Baggins in the The Hobbit parts one and two films to be released in 2012 and 2013.^[20]

Wood also starred in The Beastie Boys music video for Make Some Noise, along with Seth Rogen and Danny McBride.

Other work[link]

Wood DJ'ing at the box.com launch party in New York in 2012

In 2005 Wood started his own record label called Simian Records. On September 19, 2006, Wood announced that Simian had signed The Apples in Stereo as their first band, with their new album New Magnetic Wonder released in February 2007.^[21] In addition he also directed the music video for "Energy".^[22] The other band signed to Simian thus far is Heloise and the Savoir Faire.

Wood has also provided voiceovers for videogames, providing the current voice for Spyro the Dragon since 2006's The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning,^[23][24] as well as reprising Mumble in the game version of Happy Feet.^[25] He also contributed his talents to fellow Lord of the Rings star Viggo Mortensen's album Pandemoniumfromamerica, singing and playing various instruments on the album.^[26]

Wood has signed to co-produce the film Black Wings Has My Angel, based on the noir novel of the same name, with Anthony Moody and Rob Malkani of Indalo Productions.^[27]

On April 11, 2008, Wood was the guest host of Channel 4's Friday Night Project.

On April 25, 2009, Wood was honored with the Midnight Award by the San Francisco International Film Festival as a dynamic young American actor who "has made outstanding contributions to independent and Hollywood cinema, and who brings striking intelligence, exemplary talent and extraordinary depth of character to his roles"^{[citation needed]}.^[28] Wood also starred in an episode of Yo! Gabba Gabba entitled "Eat" where he danced and "went crazy" alongside the rest of the Yo! Gabba Gabba crew. Wood can be seen in a short film on stepthroughtheportal.com. The site is an interactive website created by Simian Records artist' The Apples in Stereo, promoting their upcoming album, Travelers in Space and Time. At PAX East in April 2012, it was confirmed that Wood will give the voice to Agent Maine/The Meta's AI, Sigma, in Season 10 of Red vs. Blue.

Wood in February 2006

Wood has also expressed his interest in pursuing a career in the music industry, with desires to both start his own record label and to DJ under the name 'DJ Frodo'.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life[link]

Elijah Wood is the older brother of actress Hannah Wood.

In an interview about Everything Is Illuminated, director Liev Schreiber commented that Wood has a "generosity of spirit" and a "sincere goodness as a human being."^[29] He supported campaigns for charity as Keep a Child Alive or ALDO/YouthAIDS. Wood is a music lover, owning 4,000 CDs and at one time citing his favorite band as Smashing Pumpkins.^[30][31]

Wood has a tattoo of the word "nine" written in Tengwar script, but in the English language (rather than Quenya or Sindarin as is widely believed) below his waist on the right side, a reference to his character as one of the Fellowship of the Ring. This is somewhat of a coincidence, as he would later star in 9. The other actors of "The Fellowship" got the same tattoo with the exception of John Rhys-Davies. Rhys-Davies's stunt double from the film got the tattoo instead, thus the cast can still assert that "all" the members of the Fellowship acquired a tattoo.^[32]

In May 2006, Autograph Collector Magazine published its list of 10 Best & 10 Worst Hollywood Autograph Signers, Wood was ranked #7 of Best Signers.^[33]

On April 23, 2010, in a charitable gesture, Wood visited the town of Curepto, Chile, one of the hardest hit by the 8.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Chile on February 27, 2010. He made personal visits to many of the victims and was accompanied by the first lady of Chile, Ms. Cecilia Morel.^[34][35]

In 2008, he became the first person to cross Victoria Falls on ropes during an appearance on Jack Osbourne's show Adrenaline Junkie.^[36]

Filmography[link]

Films[link]

Television[link]

Video games[link]

Music videos[link]

• Paula Abdul: "Forever Your Girl" (1989)
• The Cranberries: "Ridiculous Thoughts" (1995)
• The Apples in Stereo: "Energy" (as director) (2006)
• Greg Laswell: "How the Day Sounds" (2008)
• The Lonely Island: "Threw It On the Ground" (2009)
• Danko Jones: "Full of Regret" (2010)
• The Apples in Stereo: "Dance Floor" (2010)
• Danko Jones: "I Think Bad Thoughts" (2011)
• Beastie Boys: "Make Some Noise" (2011)

Audiobooks[link]

• 1999 The Most Beautiful Gift: A Christmas Story
• 2009 Witch & Wizard
• 2010 Witch & Wizard: The Gift
• 2010 Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Nominated— Audie Award for Best Audiobook Performance
• 2011 Witch & Wizard: The Fire

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Sibley, Brian. The Lord of the Rings Official Movie Guide. Houghton Mifflin, 2001. ISBN 0-618-15402-7.

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Elijah Wood

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Elijah Wood

• Elijah Wood at the Internet Movie Database
• Elijah Wood at Yahoo! Movies
• Wood talks about Simian Records
• Extensive audio interview on public radio program The Sound of Young America, September 6, 2010

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Davide Perino (Born in Rome, Italy of July 21, 1981) is an Italian actor and dubber, the most representative of the sixth generation of dubbing. He is the official Italian dub-over artist of Elijah Wood.

Biography[link]

He is best known for having lent voice to the role of Elijah Wood's Frodo Baggins role in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Cody Kasch in the role of Zach Young on Desperate Housewives, Kristopher Turner in the role of Jamie Andrews in the series Instant Star, Colin Morgan in Merlin, Ryan Corr in the second season of Blue Water High, where he played Eric Tanner, Aaron Ashmore as Jimmy Olsen in Smallville and Chace Crawford in the role of Nate Archibald in Gossip Girl. She also lent her voice to Lucas Grabeel in the role of Ryan Evans, in all of film High School Musical Zachary Garred and also in the show Foreign Exchange.

He has jobs in Rome, but rarely does voice jobs in Milan, for example, He has dubbed Sasori in Naruto Shippuden, Harry Osborne in Spectacular Spider-Man and Cody in the Total Drama series. For films he also does Walter in The Muppets.

For video games, He has done Spyro's Italian voice throughout The Legend of Spyro Trilogy. (Original English voice was done by Elijah Wood throughout the trilogy)

External links[link]

• Official Website (Italian)

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