John Rhys-Davies

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John Rhys-Davies
John Rhys-Davies
Born	May 5, 1944 (age 62) Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, Wales
Notable roles	Maximillian Arturo in Sliders (1995-99) Sallah in the Indiana Jones films Gimli and Treebeard in The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-03)

John Rhys-Davies (born May 5, 1944) is a Welsh actor. Although he has dozens of films to his credit, Rhys-Davies is probably best known for portraying Professor Maximillian Arturo in the TV series Sliders and for his characters in the two blockbuster film series: Sallah in the Indiana Jones films, and the dwarf Gimli in The Lord of the Rings trilogy (in which he also voiced Treebeard). As well as playing General Leonid Pushkin in the James Bond film The Living Daylights, he also voiced "Man Ray" in the "Spongebob Squarepants" television series. He is known as a character actor and generally plays minor but interesting roles.

1 Background
2 Political Views
3 Career
4 Rumor
5 Selected filmography
6 External links

[edit] Background

Rhys-Davies was born in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, Wales, to Phyllis and Rhys Davies, a mechanical engineer. Davies spent much of his childhood in his mother's home town of Ammanford, although he was also raised in Africa. He was sent to Truro School in Cornwall. He later studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and the University of East Anglia. He currently lives in the Isle of Man.

On April 30, 2003 Rhys Davies gave an interview to the local newspaper South Wales Guardian, in which he described his upbringing in Ammanford:

My mother Phyllis was born in Coopers near Tycroes and my father Rhys was a local mechanical engineer from the area. I was born in Ammanford but when I was young we moved to Africa and I was educated in a private school in England. My childhood has influenced so much of my career because I have been fortunate enough to have experienced so many cultures. My parents moved back to Ammanford in the 1980s and I returned as often as possible.

[edit] Political Views

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."

In 2004, Rhys-Davies faced harsh criticism because of magazine interview in which he compared the theme of The Lord of the Rings with the current situation of Western Europe, whose culture he described as being diminished by Islam. His comments were enthusiastically endorsed by the British National Party [1] [2] [3], although Rhys-Davies declared that it was "distressing to find yourself on a BNP leaflet." [4] leaflet

He had stated:

"I'm burying my career so substantially in these interviews that it's painful. But I think that there are some questions that demand honest answers. I think that Tolkien says that some generations will be challenged. And if they do not rise to meet that challenge, they will lose their civilization…. There is a demographic catastrophe happening in Europe that nobody wants to talk about…. By 2020, fifty percent of the children in Holland under the age of 18 will be of Muslim descent." - US weekly magazine 'World', 20th December 2003. [5]

"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 Holland 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. Recognizing the fundamental politically incorrect nature of his words, he concluded by saying, "I am for dead white male culture" — utilizing a derogatory catchphrase used on college campuses to describe Western Culture." - US weekly magazine 'World', 20th December 2003.[6]

He is also a supporter of The Planetary Society.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Career

The actor first gained widespread popularity for his performance as Praetorian officer Naevius Sutorius Macro in I, Claudius, a Portuguese captain Rodrigues in the 1980 television miniseries, Shogun, and for his appearances in the Indiana Jones movies. He has since appeared in numerous television shows and 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 also starred as an ally of James Bond in The Living Daylights and appeared in the movie One Night with the King.

Rhys-Davies has also lent his distinctive deep, gruff voice to many video games and animated television series, 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 game Quest for Glory IV: Shadows of Darkness, which was released with his narration on a CD ROM version in 1995.

[edit] Rumor

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. [7]