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Ron Perlman
Perlman at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival
Born	Ronald Francis Perlman April 13, 1950 (1950-04-13) (age 58) Washington Heights, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA
Spouse(s)	Opal Perlman (1981-)
Awards won Golden Globe Awards Best Actor - Drama Series 1989 Beauty and the Beast

Ronald Francis "Ron" Perlman (born April 13, 1950) is an American television, film and voice over actor.

Biography

Personal life

Perlman was born in Washington Heights, New York. His mother, Dorothy, is a municipal employee, and his father is a jazz drummer and repairman.¹ Perlman stated in a 1988 interview that "It was not a bad childhood but...I had a perception of myself that was, I was terribly overweight as a young kid, and it was sort of a low self image."² Perlman continued to say that this experience is one thing that attracts him to "playing these sorts of deformed people who are very endearing."

He attended George Washington High School and later Lehman College in New York City in 1971, where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Theatre. Perlman states that he and his father were "very close", and that it was his father, after seeing Perlman in a college production of "Guys and Dolls", who told Perlman "You have to do this...You understand this? You gotta do this." Perlman says, "So, he gave me permission to be an actor...wow."³ Perlman also attended the University of Minnesota, where he graduated with a master's degree in theater arts.

Perlman is Jewish. He has been married to Opal Perlman since February 14, 1981, and he has two children, Blake Amanda (born 1984), and Brandon Avery (born 1990). Perlman has volunteered as an actor with the Young Storytellers Program.

Career

Perlman made his feature film debut in Jean-Jacques Annaud's film Quest for Fire (1981). After various minor and supporting roles in films and television series, his breakthrough role came when he played Vincent in the TV series Beauty and the Beast, opposite Linda Hamilton from 1987 to 1990. This earned him a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series in 1989⁴ and a large fanbase.

He went on to play roles in many films and television series throughout the 1980s and 1990s as well as the 2000s. His most notable film appearances were in films such as The Name of the Rose (1986), Romeo is Bleeding (1993), The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993), The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996), Alien: Resurrection (1997), Enemy at the Gates (2001) and Blade II (2002). His appearances in television series include Highlander: The Series, The Outer Limits and The Magnificent Seven.

He played his first leading film role in 1995, when he played the gargantuan oaf "One" in Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro's The City of Lost Children. He finally got another leading film role in 2004 when he played the title role in the comic book adaptation Hellboy. The director Guillermo del Toro, who worked with him previously on Cronos and Blade II, had to fight to secure the role, as the studio wanted someone more well-known such as Vin Diesel. Perlman reprised his role as Hellboy in Hellboy II: The Golden Army, released on July 11, 2008.

In 2008, Perlman joined the cast of the TV show Sons of Anarchy on FX. He plays Clay, the president of the motorcycle gang and stepfather of the main character.⁵

Perlman took part in an award-winning commercial for Stella Artois beer. This commercial, which was called "Devil's Island", won a Gold Award at the British Advertising Awards.⁶

Another note of special interest is that he has played in two Stephen King story-to-movie adaptations, Sleepwalkers and Desperation.

Roles that required make-up

Ron Perlman as Hellboy.

He is known for playing roles which require make-up, some to the point where his entire body is covered or his face requires full facial prosthetics, such as The Beauty and The Beast, where he plays Vincent, a man with the face of a half-man half-lion-like beast, The Island of Dr. Moreau where he plays a half man/half animal and the Hellboy films where he plays a demon. He even gave his Beauty and The Beast co-star Armin Shimerman advice when Shimerman was going to be in full-facial prosthetics for Star Trek. He also might play the role of the character "Larson" for Guillermo del Toro's film adaptation of the H. P. Lovecraft story At the Mountains of Madness. Del Toro, in a chat session discussing his plans for The Hobbit movies, has indicated that Perlman will have some role in the films.⁷

Voice-over work

As well as onscreen acting, Perlman has lent his voice to numerous video games and animated series. These include Vice Principal Lancer in Danny Phantom, Justice in Afro Samurai and various characters in DC Comics based series such as Slade in the Teen Titans, Clayface in Batman: The Animated Series, Jax-Ur in Superman: The Animated Series, Orion in Justice League and Justice League Unlimited, Killer Croc, Rumor, and at one point even Bane in The Batman.

His video game credits include Lord Terrence Hood, Fleet Admiral in command of Earth's space defenses against the Covenant in the games Halo 2 and Halo 3, Jagger Valance in The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, Justice League Heroes as Batman, and most recently, Hellboy: Blood and Iron. He is well-known by Fallout fans for narrating the introductory movies in the series, including uttering the famous phrase "War. War never changes". He voices Slade in the 2008 Turok game.

Perlman is soon to be the voice of Conan the Barbarian in the upcoming animated film of Robert E. Howard's Red Nails. He provides the voice to the same character in the video game Conan.

Filmography

Films

• Quest for Fire (La Guerre du feu) (1981) — Amoukar
• The Ice Pirates (1984) — Zeno
• The Name of the Rose (1986) — Salvatore
• Beauty and the Beast (1987-1990, TV series) — Vincent
• Sleepwalkers (1992) — Captain Soames
• Double Exposure (1993) — John McClure
• When the Bough Breaks (1993) — Dr. Douglas Eben
• Cronos (La Invención de Cronos) (1993) — Angel De La Guardia
• Romeo is Bleeding (1993) — Jack's attorney
• The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993) — Pap Finn
• Police Academy: Mission to Moscow (1994) — Konstantine Konali
• Sensation (1995) — Detective Pantella
• The City of Lost Children (1995) — One
• The Adventures of Captain Zoom in Outer Space (1995) — Lord Vox
• The Last Supper (1995) — Norman Arbuthnot
• Fluke (1995) — Sylvester
• The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996) — Sayer of the Law
• Highlander: The Series (1996) — The Messenger (Season 5, Episode 9)
• Betty (1997) — Donnie Shank
• Tinseltown (1997) — Cliff
• Prince Valiant (1997) — Boltar
• Alien: Resurrection (1997) — Johner
• Frogs for Snakes (1998) — Gascone
• The Protector (1998) — Dr. Ramsey Krago
• I Woke Up Early the Day I Died (1998) — Cemetery Caretaker
• The Magnificent Seven (1998-2000) — Josiah Sanchez
• Happy, Texas (1999) — Marshal Nalhober
• Primal Force (1999, TV Movie) — Frank Brodie
• The King's Guard (2000) — Lord Morton
• Price of Glory (2000) — Nick Everson
• Night Class (2001) — Morgan
• The Tick (2001) — Fiery Blaze (one episode)
• Down (2001, aka The Shaft) — Mitchell
• Enemy at the Gates (2001) — Koulikov
• Blade II (2002) — Dieter Reinhardt
• Crime and Punishment (2002) — Dusharo
• Star Trek Nemesis (2002) — Reman Viceroy
• Absolon (2003) — Murchison
• Rats (2003) — Dr. William Winslow
• Hoodlum & Son (2003) — 'Ugly' Jim McCrae
• Two Soldiers (2003) — Colonel McKellog
• Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003) — VP for Never Learning
• Hellboy (2004) — Hellboy
• Quiet Kill (2004) — Sergeant Perry
• The Second Front (2005) — General von Binding
• Missing in America (2005) — Red
• Local Color (2006) — Curtis Sunday
• The Last Winter (2006) — Ed Pollack
• Desperation (2006) — Deputy Collie Entragian
• How to Go Out on a Date in Queens (2006) — Vito
• 5ive Girls (2006) — Father Drake
• In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (2007) — Norick
• Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008) — Hellboy
• Mutant Chronicles (2008) — Brother Samuel
• Outlander (2008) — Gunnar
• Sons of Anarchy (2008-present, TV series)
• I Sell the Dead (2008) — Priest
• Acts of Violence (2008) — Priest Bill
• Killer by Nature (2008) — Dr. Julian
• Uncross the Stars (2008) — Bobby
• The Devil's Tomb (2009) — Wesley
• The Dark Country (2009) — TBA
• Bunraku (2009) — Nicola
• The Job (2009) — Jim
• Season of the Witch (2010) — TBA

Voiceography

• Batman: The Animated Series (1992-1993, TV series, voice) — Clayface
• Animaniacs (1993) — Satan, Sgt. Sweete
• Phantom 2040 (1994, TV series, voice) — Graft
• Mortal Kombat: The Animated Series (1995, TV series, voice) Kurtis Stryker
• Fantastic Four: The Animated Series (1995, TV series, voice) — Wizard, Hulk
• Aladdin (1994 TV Series) — Arbutus
• Iron Man: The Animated Series (1995, TV series, voice) — Dr. Bruce Banner/The Hulk
• Chronomaster (1995, video game, voice) — Rene Korda
• Hey Arnold (1996), TV series, voice) — Mickey Kaline
• Fallout (1997, video game, voice) — Butch Harris, narrator
• The New Batman Adventures (1997-1998, TV series, voice) — Clayface
• Fallout 2 (1998, video game, voice) — Narrator
• Superman: The Animated Series (1999, TV series, voice) — Jax-Ur
• Titan A.E. animated science fiction adventure film - voice acting of Professor Sam Tucker
• Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel (2001, video game, voice) — Narrator
• Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter (2001, video game, voice) — Wylfdene
• Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu (2003, video game, voice) — Clayface
• Justice League Unlimited (2004-2006, TV series, voice) — Clayface, Orion
• Teen Titans (2004-2006, TV series, voice) — Slade
• The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (2004, video game, voice) — Jagger Valance
• Danny Phantom (2004-2007, TV series)- Mr. Lancer
• Halo 2 (2004, video game, voice) — Fleet Admiral Lord Terrence Hood
• Gun (2005, video game, voice) — Mayor Hoodoo Brown
• Tarzan II (2005, voice) — Kago
• The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction (2005, video game, voice) — Emil Blonsky/The Abomination
• The Outfit (2005, video game, voice)
• Justice League Heroes (2006, video game, voice) — Bruce Wayne/Batman
• Hellboy: Sword of Storms (2006, TV, voice) — Hellboy
• Hellboy: Blood and Iron (2007, TV, voice) — Hellboy
• Halo 3 (2007, video game, voice) — Fleet Admiral Lord Terrence Hood
• Afro Samurai (2007) — Justice
• Avatar: The Last Airbender (2007) — Fire Lord Sozin
• Conan (2007, video game, voice) — Conan of Cimmeria
• Hellboy: The Science of Evil (2008, video game, voice) — Hellboy
• Fallout 3 (2008, video game, voice) — Narrator
• The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008, voice) Redcap
• Turok (2008, video game, voice) — Slade
• Spirit of the Forest (2008, voice) — Oak
• The Legend of Secret Pass (2008, voice) — Parker
• Conan: Red Nails (2008, animated movie, voice) — Conan of Cimmeria
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008, TV, voice) — Gha Nachkt

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ron Perlman

• Ron Perlman at the Internet Movie Database
• Ron Perlman article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki
• Ron Perlman interview
• Ron Perlman at Rotten Tomatoes