John Rhys-Davies
John Rhys-Davies (born
May 5,
1944) is a
British actor. Although he has dozens of films to his credit, Rhys-Davies is probably best known for his characters in two blockbuster film series: Sallah in the
Indiana Jones films and the dwarf
Gimli in the
Lord of the Rings films (in which he also voiced
Treebeard.)
Rhys-Davies was born in
Ammanford,
Carmarthenshire,
Wales, to Phyllis and Rhys Davies, a local mechanical engineer. Davies spent much of his childhood in his mother's home town of
Ammanford although also raised in Africa. He was sent to
Truro School in
Cornwall. He later studied at
RADA and the
University of East Anglia. He currently lives in the
Isle of Man.
Rhys-Davies is a member of the
UK Conservative Party. As a university student in the
1960s, he was a radical leftist, but he started to change 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." He is also a supporter of
The Planetary Society.
The actor first gained widespread popularity for his performance as
Portuguese captain Rodrigues in the
1980 miniseries,
Shogun. He has since appeared in numerous television shows and TV
miniseries, including a leading role in the
television series Sliders as Professor
Maximillian Arturo from
1995 to
1997. He also made several appearances on
Star Trek: Voyager as a
holodeck version of
Leonardo da Vinci.
He has also lent his distinctive deep, gruff voice to many video games and
animated TV shows, including
Gargoyles, as the character MacBeth. He appears in the
full motion video cut scenes of computer games including
Ripper,
Dune 2000 and the
Wing Commander series. He also lent his vocal talents to the Sierra game
Quest for Glory IV: Shadows of Darkness, which was released with his narration on a
CD ROM version in 1995.
In 2004 he was the unknowing subject of an elaborate internet
prank that spread false rumors in several mainstream media sources that he was scheduled to play the role of
General Grievous in
Star Wars Episode III. [
1]
*
The Game of Their Lives (2005)
*
The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004)
*
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
*
The Medallion (2003)
*
The Jungle Book 2 (2003) (voice)
*
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
*
Sabretooth (2002)
*
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
*
Cats Don't Dance (1997) (voice)
*
Aladdin and the King of Thieves (1996) (voice)
*
Glory Daze (1996)
*
The Great White Hype (1996)
*
Sliders (1995-1997)
*
Quest for Glory IV: Shadows of Darkness (1994)
* The High Crusade (1994)
* The Lost World (1992)
* Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
* The Living Daylights (1987)
* King Solomon's Mines (1985)
* Sahara (1983)
* Victor/Victoria (1982)
* Ivanhoe (1982)
* Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
* I, Claudius'' (1976)
*
* Andrew Leigh, "
No Sean Penn".
National Review. March 5, 2004.
