Ron Perlman

Ronald N. "Ron" Perlman (born April 13, 1950) is an American television, film and voice actor. He is best known for his roles as Vincent in the television series Beauty and the Beast (for which he won a Golden Globe), as the comic book character Hellboy in both 2004's Hellboy and its 2008 sequel Hellboy II: The Golden Army and as Clarence "Clay" Morrow in television series Sons of Anarchy. Perlman is a frequent collaborator of Hellboy director Guillermo del Toro, also having roles in his films Cronos, Blade II and Pacific Rim. He is also known for his voice-over work as the narrator of the post-apocalyptic game series Fallout, Clayface in Batman: The Animated Series, Slade in the animated series Teen Titans, The Lich in Adventure Time, The Stabbington Brothers in Disney's animated film Tangled and as the narrator of the television series 1000 Ways to Die.

Early life

Perlman was born in Washington Heights, New York. His mother, Dorothy, was a municipal employee, and his father, Bert Perlman, was a jazz drummer and repairman. 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." His family was Jewish, and Perlman had a Bar Mitzvah ceremony. 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, which did not have a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Theatre at that time. He has said 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." Perlman attended the University of Minnesota, where he graduated with a master's degree in theater arts in 1973.

Career

Perlman started his career as a stage actor appearing in various productions and 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.

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), Police Academy: Mission to Moscow (1994), The Last Supper (1995), The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996), Alien Resurrection (1997), Enemy at the Gates (2001), Blade II and Star Trek Nemesis (both 2002) and two Stephen King story-to-movie adaptations, Sleepwalkers and Desperation. 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 "One" in Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro's French-language The City of Lost Children. In 2003, Perlman starred in a commercial for Stella Artois beer. This commercial, which was called "Devil's Island," won a Silver Award at the 2003 British Advertising Awards. He got another leading film role in 2004 when he played the title role in the comic book adaptation Hellboy. Perlman reprised his role as Hellboy in the straight to DVD animated features Hellboy: Sword of Storms (2006) and Hellboy: Blood and Iron (2007) as well as Hellboy II: The Golden Army, released on July 11, 2008.

Personal life

He has been married to Opal Stone Perlman since February 14, 1981; they have two children, a daughter, Blake Amanda (born 1984), and a son, Brandon Avery (born 1990). Perlman has volunteered as an actor with the Young Storytellers Program. On July 9, 2012 he supported the Make-A-Wish foundation by fulfilling a boy's dream to meet him dressed in full, film-ready makeup as Hellboy.

[ Wikipedia ]