Ron Perlman's bigness and distinctive features seem to lend themselves to playing beasts and monsters, as he did in the hit TV series Beauty and the Beast (1987-90) and the feature film versions of the comic book Hellboy (2004 and 2008). Perlman began in the movies in the early '80s, starring in the serious caveman movie Quest For Fire (1981). He has worked steadily ever since in TV and feature films; in the '90s he was a regular voice actor for television cartoons, including Batman: The Animated Series (as Clayface) and The Fantastic Four (as The Incredible Hulk). Perlman's best-known movies include The City of Lost Children (1995); The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996, starring Marlon Brando); Alien: Resurrection (1997, starring Sigourney Weaver and Winona Ryder); Enemy at the Gates (2001, starring Ed Harris); Blade II (2002, starring Wesley Snipes); and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002). In 2003 he appeared in Two Soldiers, an Oscar-winning short film based on a story by William Faulkner.
Career Highlights: The City of Lost Children, Quest for Fire, Cronos
First Major Screen Credit: Quest for Fire (1981)
Biography
Ron Perlman grew up in the Washington Heights section of New York City, where his father was a radio/TV repairman and his mother an employee with the city's Department of Health. A profoundly unhandsome youth, Perlman was nonetheless very active in high school theater by virtue of his height (6-foot-2) and his deep, rolling voice. He continued studying drama at Lehman College and later at the University of Minnesota, where he graduated with a master's degree in theater arts. He went to work with New York's Classic Stage Company, an organization specializing in Elizabethan and Restoration plays. Perlman starred in several Manhattan and touring productions staged by Tom O'Horgan of Hair fame before accepting his first film role as a Neanderthal man in 1981's Quest for Fire. Emotionally drained, Perlman backed off from acting after finishing the movie, but was soon back in the groove, essaying such attention-getting roles as the hunchbacked Salvatore in The Name of the Rose (1986). Most often cast as brooding, inarticulate, villainous characters in films (such as Pap in 1993's The Adventures of Huck Finn), Perlman became best known for his performance as the beneficent, albeit hideously ugly, sewer-dwelling Vincent in the late-'80s TV series Beauty and the Beast. Though this remained the actor's defining role for years after the show's run had drawn to a close, he was busier than ever through the '90s.
Appearing in everything from obscure arthouse hits (Cronos [1993] and The City of Lost Children [1995]) to voice-over work for television (Aladdin) and video games (Fallout, A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game) to overblown Hollywood blockbusters (Alien Resurrection), Perlman left few stones unturned in terms of flexibility and experimentation in new media. He continued this trend into the early 2000s, alternating between various arenas with remarkable ease and refusing to be pigeonholed, appearing in such high-profile releases as Titan A.E. (2000), Enemy at the Gates (2001), and Blade II (2002). Though his recognition factor seemed higher than ever, few could foresee the opportunity just ahead when Blade II and Cronos director Guillermo del Toro announced that Perlman would star in the film adaptation of Mike Mignola's popular comic book Hellboy, although it seemed highly unlikely that studios would invest the millions of dollars needed to bring the comic to life with an actor of such minimal "marquee value." They wanted Vin Diesel for the role, but del Toro, with the blessing and encouragement of character originator Mignola, eventually won out to have Perlman play the Nazi-creation-turned-superhero in the 2004 fantasy-action film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Perlman was born in Washington Heights, New York. His mother, Dorothy, is a municipal employee, and his father was 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.[citation needed] 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, daughter Blake Amanda (born 1984), and son 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 1989[4] and a large fanbase.[citation needed]
In 2008, Perlman joined the cast of the TV show Sons of Anarchy on FX. He plays Clay Morrow, the president of the motorcycle gang and stepfather of the main character. In 2008 Perlman advertised Stella Artoisbeer. This commercial, which was called "Devil's Island," [5] won a Silver Award at the 2003 British Advertising Awards. [6][7]
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. Some examples include The Name of the Rose where he plays a disfigured hunchback, 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: Deep Space Nine. 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.[8]
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