Hellboy

Background:

Golden Globe-winning actor Ron Perlman began his career with the New York Classic Stage Company after receiving a Master of Arts degree in theater arts from the University of Minnesota. The classically trained actor landed his big screen debut as a prehistoric man in Jean-Jacques Annaud's "Guerre du feu, La" (1981; aka "Quest for Fire") and would become a household name after starring as Vincent, the lion-faced man, in the CBS cult romantic drama series "Beauty and the Beast" (1987-1990), opposite Linda Hamilton as the beautiful Catherine Chandler. He is also widely popular as the titular benevolent comic book demon in the Guillermo del Toro-directed supernatural action-thriller, "Hellboy" (2004).

The 6' 2" hulking New York native performer with a deep, rolling voice was a regular voice actor for such television cartoons as “Batman” (as Clayface/Killre Crock), “The Fantastic Four” (as The Incredible Hulk), "Mortal Kombat" (as Kurtis Stryker), "Superman" (as Jax-Ur), "Teen Titans" (as Slade), "Justice League" (as Orion/Clayface), and "Danny Phantom" (as Vice Principal Lancer).

With a career spanning over three decades, Perlman has worked alongside famous actors in films like “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). He also appeared in “Two Soldiers” (2003), an Oscar-winning short film based on a story by William Faulkner. He will next be seen in the upcoming films "The Mutant Chronicles," "Uncross the Stars," "Killer by Nature," "I Sell the Dead," "The Legend of Secret Pass" (voice), "The Dark Country," "Outlander," "Streetlight," and "At the Mountains of Madness" (rumored). He will also reprise his Hellboy role in the upcoming sequel, "Hellboy II: The Golden Army."

Ronald Francis

Childhood and Family:

Son to a municipal employee mother named Dorothy and a repairman father who was also a jazz drummer for Artie Shaw's Band, Ronald Francis Perlman was born on April 13, 1950, in New York, New York, and was raised in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan, New York. He attended George Washington High School where he began his theatrical work, and later went to Lehman College in New York City, where he graduated in 1971 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Theatre. That same year, he was accepted at the University of Minnesota and graduated on July 20, 1973, with a Master of Fine Arts Degree in Theatre.

On February 14, 1981, Perlman married his present wife, fashion designer Opal Stone. They have a daughter, Blake Amanda, who was born on January 7, 1984, and a son, Brandon Avery, who was born on March 29, 1990. They now live in Los Angeles, California, but also keep a home in New York City. Perlman is also the godfather to Nicholas Kadi's daughter.

Perlman is left-handed, but was forced to use his right as a child; therefore he is relatively comfortable using his right hand. He is a New York Yankees fan and his favorite movie is “Nobody's Fool” (1994). He has a dog (terrier) named Nigel and during his spare time, he likes to play golf, jazz, and pool.

Perlman was friends with Sammy Davis Jr., whom he met at the Golden Globe Awards in the late 80s. He also good friends with former "Beauty and the Beast" (1987) co-star Linda Hamilton, with whom he also worked in the theater play “Lover Letters” (1991) and in the post-Vietnam War drama “Missing in America” (2005).

On working with Hamilton, Perlman admitted, “[looks up at the ceiling, big smile on his face] It was tough. Linda Hamilton is a consummate professional. I don't think I've ever worked with an actor that was more prepared for the day's work than she and more dedicated to getting it right than she. I thought I was a guy who did his homework, but she caught me a number of times sort of unprepared and she brought out the best in me. There was no way you could give halfway when you worked with Linda. In terms of her being the beauty, it made my work a lot easier because she was. And she is.”

In May 2001, Perlman attended the A Diamond is Forever - Cinema Against Aids gala at the Moulin de Mougins restaurant, to benefit the American Foundation for AIDS Research. He also has volunteered as an actor with the Young Storytellers Program.

Beauty and the Beast

Career:

“I don't think anything is ever going to replace the human heart and what that generates in terms of performance.” Ron Perlman

Doing stand-up comedy early in his career, Ron Perlman, who performed in his first theatrical production with a leading role in “Thieves’ Carnival” at high school, began acting extensively and has appeared in works by Arthur Miller and Rogers and Hammerstein. He honed in on his craft at the Lehman College in New York City and the University of Minnesota, the latter of which was based near the famous Guthrie Theatre.

With a Master of Fine Arts Degree in Theatre under his belt, Perlman joined New York's Classic Stage Company, an organization specializing in Elizabethan and Restoration plays, where he played significant roles, most notably as Valentine in a staging of William Shakespeare's “The Two Gentlemen of Verona.” He later reprised this role under the direction of David Feldshuh.

In 1976, Perlman made his Off-Broadway debut in Fernando Arrabal's "The Architect and the Emperor of Assyria" at the La Mama Theatre Annex, and three years later, in 1979, he landed on Broadway in the play "Teibele and Her Demon." He then began appearing on television by playing Bernie Marx in the ABC soap opera "Ryan's Hope."

The early 1980s saw Perlman co-starring as Amoukar, a prehistoric man, in his feature debut, "Guerre du feu, La" (1981; aka "Quest for Fire"), director Jean-Jacques Annaud's film adaptation of the 1911 French novel by J.-H. Rosny aîné. In the film that won the Academy Award for Makeup, Perlman acted opposite Everett McGill and Rae Dawn Chong and received a Genie nomination for Best Performance by a Foreign Actor.

He followed it up with roles in the films "The Ice Pirates" (1984), Stewart Raffill's cult classic starring Robert Urich, Mary Crosby and Anjelica Huston, and "Name der Rose, Der" (1986; aka "The Name of the Rose"), Jean-Jacques Annaud's take on Umberto Eco's novel starring Sean Connery and Christian Slater in which Perlman portrayed Salvatore, a demented hunchback who spews forth gibberish in various languages.

Meanwhile, TV viewers could catch him guest starring in the ABC action/adventure series "The Fall Guy," ABC’s crime drama "MacGruder and Loud," the detective show "The Insiders," NBC/USA Network's popular and innovative detective series "Miami Vice," and the short-lived, but ground-breaking ABC sci-fi/drama "Max Headroom." He also co-starred in the unsold pilot "Our Family Honor" (1985) alongside Kenneth McMillan and Eli Wallach.

“Well the very first film I did was a complete transformational experience in 'A Quest for Fire.' I was unrecognizable under four hours of makeup. I guess whatever you break out in, that's your niche. My niche was more transformational than representational. The same director gave me another transformational role in 'The Name of the Rose,' which was a great film and pretty well received critically. Right after that, I was on the short list [for] 'Beauty and the Beast.' Those three were right on the heels of one another, those were my humble beginnings.” Ron Perlman

1987 marked Perlman's breakthrough role in his career. He garnered a huge fan following after portraying Vincent, the lion-faced "beast" man (his makeup was devised by veteran Hollywood makeup artist Rick Baker), opposite Linda Hamilton as the beautiful New York corporate lawyer Catherine Chandler, in the CBS cult romantic drama series "Beauty and the Beast," which was inspired by the popular fairy tale and was partly connected to the Jean Cocteau French film of 1946, "La Belle et la Bête."

He stayed with the show until 1990 and was nominated for Emmy Awards in 1988 and 1989, both for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. He also won a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a TV-Series - Drama, and two Viewers for Quality Television Awards, both for Best Actor in a Quality Drama Series (1988 and 1989). Additionally, he was hailed Male Discovery of the Year at the Golden Apple Awards in 1988. His turn as Vincent in the series ranked in “Star Magazine's” Reader's Poll “Best Dramatic Actor” (1987) and in “US Magazine's” First Annual Reader's Poll - Third runner-up for “Best Dramatic Actor” (1987). He would later be offered promotional advertisements as Vincent, which he turned down, stating that the character was not there to be exploited. Meanwhile, he also narrated the album of poetry, "Of Love and Hope," as Vincent with music from "Beauty and the Beast."

During his “Beauty and the Beast” stint, Perlman played the head of an Amish family in "A Stoning in Fulham County" (1988), along with Ken Olin and Brad Pitt. He also returned to Broadway in the role of Colonel Jessep in Aaron Sorkin's acclaimed play, "A Few Good Men." Jack Nicholson would play the role in its film adaptation in 1992.

Following the demise of “Beauty and the Beast,” Perlman voiced villain Clayface on the Fox animated series "The Adventures of Batman and Robin" (1992-1993). He also starred in the TV movies "Blind Man's Bluff" (1992) and "Arly Hanks" (1993), as well as voiced Sergeant Francis Q. Grating in the Disney Channel cartoon series "Bonkers" (1993-1995). He also continued acting in films and was seen in Mick Garris' horror/thriller "Sleepwalkers" (1992; starring Brian Krause and Alice Krige), Claudia Hoover's crime drama "Double Exposure" (1993; as a troubled private detective hired by Ian Buchanan's character), and Michael Cohn's drama/thriller "When the Bough Breaks" (1993; with Ally Walker and Martin Sheen). He was cast in Stephen Sommers' adaptation of Mark Twain's novel, "The Adventures of Huck Finn" (1993), Guillermo del Toro's vampire drama "Cronos" (1993; opposite Federico Luppi and Claudio Brook), and Peter Medak's mafia drama "Romeo Is Bleeding" (1993; alongside Gary Oldman).

During this time, Perlman narrated a documentary on the Trans-Siberian Railroad titled "The Red Express" (1993) as well as the audio books "Caliban's Hour" written by Tad Williams (Published by Harper Collins Audio; 1994) and "Superstitious" written by R.L. Stine (Published by Time/Warner Audio Books; 1995).

The rest of the 1990s saw Perlman with a leading role in "The City of Lost Children" (1995), which was co-directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro, and in a featured role in Jean-Pierre Jeunet's "Alien Resurrection" (1997). He also provided the voice for Kurtis Stryker in the USA Network's animated "Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm" (1995) and The Family Channel animated series "The Legend of Prince Valiant." Additionally, he co-starred in the CBS drama series based on the 1960 movie, "The Magnificent Seven," portraying Josiah Sanchez (1998-2000).

“I didn't set out to occupy that [sci-fi/fantasy] world, but I go where the work is. When I was younger, I really liked mask work. It made the acting somehow more specific and kind of easier. That's not the case anymore. But there's a good chance I'll be putting on the 'Hellboy' makeup until I'm 85.” Ron Perlman

After being cast as the Reman Viceroy in "Star Trek: Nemesis" (2002), Perlman appeared in “Two Soldiers” (2003), an Oscar-winning short film based on a story by William Faulkner. He would go to the spotlight once again in 2004 with the title role of the benevolent comic book demon in the Guillermo del Toro-directed supernatural action-thriller, "Hellboy," which became a box office hit. Playing Hellboy at age 53 made Perlman the oldest actor ever to play a main superhero. To prepare for his role in the film, he read all the Dark Horse comics by Mike Mignola and worked out three hours a day, five to seven days a week, even on the film set. However, he broke a rib while filming the subway scenes.

Perlman subsequently recorded an audio commentary for the film “Hellboy” with actors Selma Blair, Rupert Evans and Jeffrey Tambor. He also lent his voice to the Hellboy character in many animated projects, including "Hellboy Animated: Sword of Storms" (2006; TV), "Hellboy Animated: Blood and Iron" (2007; TV), "Hellboy Animated: Iron Shoes" (2007), as well as the upcoming "Hellboy Animated: The Phantom Claw" (2008; TV) and "Hellboy: The Science of Evil" (2008; VG). He is currently working on the film's sequel, "Hellboy II: The Golden Army," scheduled to be released on July 11, 2008.

About what convinced him to do the voice work for the “Hellboy” animated tales, Perlman explained, “This is a character and a group of creative people that I absolutely love. And I just love being associated with the character. He's mythic in scope; it's almost like playing a Greek god. It's sort of harkens back to where I started. I have a Master's Degree in theater, and one of the enduring pleasures of my education was anything epic that happened in the course of theatrical literature. And here's a guy who occupies a space as heady and otherworldly as anything you can read in any literature. So he's a pleasure to play.”

Recently, Perlman starred in Larry Fessenden's horror/thriller feature, "The Last Winter," which premiered in The Contemporary World Cinema Programme at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival and earned him a Gotham Award nomination for Best Ensemble Cast that he shared with co-stars Connie Britton, Kevin Corrigan, Zach Gilford and James LeGros. He was also cast opposite Jason Statham in Uwe Boll's video game-based movie, "In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale" (2007) and voiced Killer Croc in Kids' WB Emmy Award-winning animated television series based on the DC Comics superhero, "The Batman."

Perlman has completed his upcoming films, "The Mutant Chronicles," Simon Hunter's sci-fi adventure starring Thomas Jane, "Uncross the Stars," Kenny Golde's drama/comedy in which he starred opposite Dan Gillies and Barbara Hershey, and "Killer by Nature," Douglas S. Younglove's crime thriller in which he co-starred with Zachary Ray Sherman and Armand Assante.

He is currently working on Glenn McQuaid's horror film "I Sell the Dead," Steve Trenbirth's CGI animated movie inspired by American Indian mythology, "The Legend of Secret Pass," the video game "Fallout 3" with Liam Neeson, and "Conan: Red Nails" (V), in which he voiced the title character. He is also working on "The Dark Country," Thomas Jane's novel-based mystery/thriller film, "Outlander," Howard McCain's sci-fi movie starring James Caviezel, "Streetlight," Ian Sharp's dark, m dern thriller in which he will team up with Terence Stamp, and an untitled Gehenna project. Additionally, Perlman is rumored to be starring in Guillermo del Toro's new adventure/fantasy movie called "At the Mountains of Madness."

“I've done millions of mediocre movies. I've done way more than my fair share. You do what you gotta do. This is not heart surgery. I'm not curing cancer. I'm just trying to put my kids through school.” Ron Perlman

Awards:

• Big Bear Lake International Film Festival: Acting Award of Excellence, 2004

• Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a TV-Series - Drama, "Beauty and the Beast," 1989

• Viewers for Quality Television: Best Actor in a Quality Drama Series, "Beauty and the Beast," 1989

• Viewers for Quality Television: Best Actor in a Quality Drama Series, "Beauty and the Beast," 1988

• Golden Apple: Male Discovery of the Year, 1988