Rolf Peter Ingvar Storm(born 27 August 1953), known professionally as Peter Stormare, is a Swedish actor, theatre director, playwright, and musician. He is probably best known in the United States for playing Gaear Grimsrud in the 1996 film Fargo. He is also well known for his role as John Abruzzi in the Fox series Prison Break.

Early life

Stormare was born in Kumla, Närke, Sweden, and grew up in Arbrå, Hälsingland. He changed his surname when he discovered he shared it with a senior student at the acting academy. Just like "storm" (a word which has the same meaning in Swedish and English), "stormare" is a Swedish word, meaning "stormer". Before settling on "Stormare" he briefly contemplated changing his name to "Mrots Retep" which is simply "Peter Storm" backwards.

Acting career

Stormare began his career with the Royal Dramatic Theatre, to which he belonged for 11 years. In 1990, he took a leading position as Associate Artistic Director at the Tokyo Globe Theatre and made a name for himself through various Shakespeare performances, including Hamlet. Three years later, he moved to New York City and mainly took part there in English language productions. He played Carl Hamilton, a fictional Swedish secret agent. He was discovered by international audiences for his critically acclaimed role as one of the kidnappers in Fargo (1996). He portrayed Dieter Stark in the 1997 film The Lost World: Jurassic Park and later played sleazy, unlicensed "eye-doctor" Solomon Eddie in Minority Report.

Personal life

Stormare divides his time between the United States and Sweden. He married actress Karen Sillas in 1989; they divorced in 2006. He married Toshimi, a native of Japan, in 2008. Their daughter Kaiya Bella Luna Stormare was born on May 9th 2009.

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