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Tim Roth
Tim Roth, 2000
Born	Timothy Simon Smith 14 May 1961 (1961-05-14) (age 47) London, England
Awards won BAFTA Awards Best Supporting Actor 1995 Rob Roy Other awards European Film Award for European Discovery of the Year 1999 The War Zone

Tim Roth (born Timothy Simon Smith; 14 May 1961) is an English film actor and director.

Biography

Early life

Roth was born Timothy Simon Smith in Dulwich, London, the son of Anne, a painter and teacher, and Ernie Smith, a journalist and member of the British Communist Party.¹² His father adopted the surname Roth after World War II in order to hide his nationality when traveling in countries hostile to the British.³ He attended the Strand School in Tulse Hill. As a young man, Roth wanted to be a sculptor and studied at London's Camberwell School of Art.

Career

After some time at the Camberwell School of Art, Roth tried acting and made his debut at the age of 21 playing a white power skinhead in a TV movie entitled Made in Britain. Roth played an east end character in 'King of the ghetto' which was made by the BBC. This four part drama was shown in 1986 on national television, based on a novel by Farukh Dhondy. The story partly set in Brick Lane, caused a sensation among the public, especially amongst the bengali community. In 1984, Roth played an apprentice hitman in Stephen Frears' The Hit with Terence Stamp and John Hurt, earning an Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Newcomer. With that recognition, he appeared in several other films during the end of the decade. In 1989 he had a memorable supporting role as the buffonish lackey, Mitchell, in Peter Greenaway's The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover. In 1990, Roth began to enjoy international attention with starring roles as Vincent Van Gogh in Robert Altman's Vincent & Theo and Guildenstern in Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead.

Roth impressed director Quentin Tarantino and was cast as Mr. Orange in his 1992 ensemble piece Reservoir Dogs. This film paved the way for more work in Hollywood. In 1994, Tarantino cast him again as a robber in the acclaimed Pulp Fiction. They worked again in the 1995 flop Four Rooms. However, Roth returned to the successful road playing viciously evil English nobleman Archibald Cunningham in Rob Roy opposite Liam Neeson. For that role he won an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, a Golden Globe nomination, and a British Academy Award.

In 1996, he went a different way, starring with Drew Barrymore in Woody Allen's musical comedy Everyone Says I Love You. He also starred as Danny Boodman T.D. Lemon 1900 (or just "1900") in the movie The Legend of 1900. Also in 1996, he co-starred with the late Tupac Shakur in the comedy Gridlock'd. In 1999 he made a critically acclaimed debut as a director with The War Zone, a film of Alexander Stuart's novel. In 2001, he made another important move by portraying General Thade in Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes. He was also considered for the part of Hannibal Lecter in the 2001 film Hannibal had Anthony Hopkins not returned to the role.

Roth recently appeared in Francis Ford Coppola's Youth Without Youth and Michael Haneke's Funny Games. He starred opposite Edward Norton in The Incredible Hulk, as Emil Blonsky.

Personal life

Roth had a son Jack with Lori Baker in 1983. He married Nikki Butler in 1993, and had 2 sons with her: Timothy Hunter (b. 1995) and Cormac (b. 1996). Both of his sons with Butler are named after the couple's favorite authors: Hunter S. Thompson and Cormac McCarthy.

Filmography

As actor

As director

• The War Zone (1999)

Quotations

"There's a lot of blood in that film. I think there's only nine pints in a body; we had about four gallons." (on Reservoir Dogs)

"Like going to Liberace's house on acid." (On attending the Academy Awards Ceremony)

"I have a bad time between jobs because I'm always convinced I'll never work again. I think it may be an English thing, this fear of unemployment."

"I never do my own stunts...that's actor nonsense." (around Planet of the Apes filming)

"I was having a great time scaring people." (as Thade in Planet of the Apes)

"The War Zone is right. It's the truth. It's the truth about this subject. And I'm bullet-proof on that. Probably more so than I will be on any other film that I make as a director."

References

External links

• The Officially Unofficial Tim Roth Web Page
• Tim Roth at the Internet Movie Database
• Allmovie entry for Tim Roth