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.)

Background

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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.

Career

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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 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 Revenge of the Sith. ^*

Selected filmography

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• The Game of Their Lives (2005)
• Royal Engagement (2004)
• The Return of the King (film) (2003)
• The Medallion (2003)
• The Jungle Book 2 (2003) (voice)
• The Two Towers (film) (2002)
• Sabretooth (2002)
• The Fellowship of the Ring (film) (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)
• '' 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)

External links

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• Andrew Leigh, "No Sean Penn". National Review. March 5, 2004.

1944 births | Living people | British actors | British character actors | British film actors | British television actors | British voice actors | Natives of Wiltshire | Star Trek: Voyager actors | The Lord of the Rings film series actors | Tales from the Crypt actors | Sliders actors | SpongeBob SquarePants actors | Hulk actors | James Bond actors | Fantastic Four actors | Gargoyles voice actors | Computer and video game actors

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