John Rhys-Davies » Trivia

Ironically, he is actually taller than The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) co-stars Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom and Ian McKellen, yet he plays the Dwarf.

According to an article in the Sunday Herald Sun (Melbourne, Australia), December 14, 2003, the actors who played the members of the Fellowship of the Ring got a tattoo as a memento of their shared experiences, except for Rhys-Davies, who sent his stunt double instead. According to the BellaOnline body art website, the double was martial artist Brett Beattie, who in fact spent more film hours performing as Gimli the Dwarf.

Is one of four "Lord of the Rings" stars to star, pre-"Rings," with Harrison Ford. He starred with Ford in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), and Ford starred with Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn) in Witness (1985), with Sean Bean (Boromir) in Patriot Games (1992), and with Miranda Otto (Eowyn) in _What Lies Beneath' (2000)_.

Children: Tom, Ben.

Lost the end tip of his left hand middle finger to the knuckle while changing out a van motor. During filming of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), he was fitted with a gel tip for the finger. Rhys-Davies and the crew played a prank on director Peter Jackson by slicing the gel tip nearly in half and inserting prop blood inside. Rhys-Davies approached Jackson to tell him he was hurt and pulled open the tip, letting the blood flow out.

April 2004 - Appeared as the special Lord of the Rings guest at the Armageddon Sci-Fi and Comics Convention in Auckland, New Zealand.

Two of his television movies have been followed up with similarly themed theatrical films starring Eric Bana. He played The Kingpin in The Trial of the Incredible Hulk (1989) (TV); the film Hulk starred Bana. He played King Priam in Helen of Troy (2003) (TV); Eric Bana played Hector in Troy (2004).

Every film he has made with 'Kiran Shah' has been nominated for Best Picture: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003).

Although a double needed to be used to make Rhys-Davies look much smaller than his shorter co-stars Viggo Mortensen and Orlando Bloom, his height was exactly the right proportions to those of his hobbit co-stars and no body doubles were used in their shots together. The hobbits are supposed to average about 3' 6" (2 feet shorter than the actors who played them) and Gimli, at just over 4 feet tall, is about 2 feet shorter than the real Rhys-Davies.

Played the character of Malone in the TV Series "The Untouchables" (1993). The character was played by Sean Connery in the movie version The Untouchables (1987). Both actors also played Richard the Lionheart, King of England, in separate versions of Robin Hood: Rhys-Davis in TV's "Robin of Sherwood" (1984) and Connery (albeit uncredited) in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991). Connery and Rhys-Davies appeared together in between these projects in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989).

His son urged him to accept the role in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001).

Attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), London, England, and is an Associate Member.

Keeps busy by developing a new hobby with each movie.

Graduated from the University of East Anglia.

While working on the Lord of the Rings films, he lost seventy pounds from all the running around the part involved. When he went back to New Zealand for re-shoots, the makeup artists had to alter his Gimli makeup to better fit his slimmed-down facial features.