Tim Roth (born 14 May 1961)
is an English
film
actor and director best known for his roles in the
American films Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Four Rooms, Planet of the Apes,
The Incredible
Hulk and Rob Roy,
for which he received an Academy Award
Nomination for Best Supporting
Actor. He currently stars as
Cal
Lightman in the TV series
Lie to Me.
Early life
Roth was
born Timothy Simon Smith in Dulwich
, London
, the son of
Ann, a painter and teacher, and Ernie Smith, a journalist, painter
and, until the 1970s, a member of the British Communist Party. His
father adopted the surname Roth after
World
War II in order to hide his nationality when travelling in
countries hostile to the British.
Roth
attended the Strand
School
in Tulse
Hill
. As a young man, Roth wanted to be a sculptor and studied at London's Camberwell
School of Art
.
Career
After some time at the Camberwell School of Art, Roth tried acting
and made his debut at the age of 21 playing a
white power skinhead in a TV movie
entitled
Made in Britain.
Roth
played an East
End
character in 'King of the Ghetto' which was made by
the BBC. This four part drama was shown in 1986 on national
television, based on a novel by Farukh Dhondy. The story partly set
in Brick Lane, caused a sensation among the public, especially
amongst the
Bengali community. In
1984, Roth played an apprentice
hitman in
Stephen Frears'
The Hit with
Terence
Stamp and
John Hurt, earning an
Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Newcomer. With
that recognition, he appeared in several other films during the end
of the decade. In 1989 he had a memorable
supporting role as the buffoonish
lackey, Mitchell, in
Peter Greenaway's
The Cook, the
Thief, His Wife & Her Lover. In 1990, Roth began to
enjoy international attention with starring roles as
Vincent van Gogh in
Robert Altman's
Vincent & Theo and
Guildenstern in
Tom
Stoppard's
Rosencrantz &
Guildenstern Are Dead.
Roth impressed director
Quentin
Tarantino and was cast as Mr. Orange in his 1992 ensemble piece
Reservoir Dogs. This film
paved the way for more work in Hollywood. In 1994, Tarantino cast
him again as a robber in the acclaimed
Pulp Fiction. They worked again in
the 1995 movie
Four Rooms, where
Roth played the extremely physically animated role of "Ted the
Bellhop". Roth was very successful playing viciously evil English
nobleman Archibald Cunningham in
Rob
Roy opposite
Liam Neeson. For
that role he earned an
Academy Award
nomination for
Best Supporting
Actor, a
Golden Globe nomination,
and won a
British Academy
Award.
In 1996, he went a different way, starring with
Drew Barrymore in
Woody Allen's musical comedy
Everyone Says I Love You. He
also starred as Danny Boodman T.D. Lemon 1900 (or just "1900") in
the movie
The Legend of
1900. Also in 1996, he co-starred with the late
Tupac Shakur in the drama
Gridlock'd. In 1999 he made a critically
acclaimed debut as a director with
The
War Zone, a film of
Alexander Stuart's novel. In 2001,
he made another important move by portraying General Thade in
Tim Burton's blockbuster
Planet of the Apes. He
was also considered for the part of
Hannibal Lecter in the
2001 film Hannibal had
Anthony Hopkins not returned to the
role.
Roth recently appeared in
Francis
Ford Coppola's
Youth
Without Youth and
Michael
Haneke's
Funny Games.
He starred opposite Edward Norton in
The Incredible Hulk, as
Emil Blonsky.
In 2009 he began starring in a new series on
Fox called
Lie To Me. He plays Dr. Cal
Lightman, an expert on body language, whose team assists local and
federal law organisations in the investigations of crimes. His
character is based on Dr.
Paul Ekman,
notable
psychologist and expert on body
language and facial expressions.
Personal life
Roth had a son, Jack, with Lori Baker in 1983. He married Nikki
Butler in 1993, and had two sons with her, Timothy Hunter (b. 1995)
and Michael Cormac (b. 1996).
Filmography
As actor
As director
Quotations
- "There's a lot of blood in that film. I think there's only nine
pints in a body; we had about four gallons." (on Reservoir
Dogs)
- "Like going to Liberace's house on
acid." (On attending the Academy Awards
Ceremony)
- "I have a bad time between jobs because I'm always convinced
I'll never work again. I think it may be an English thing, this
fear of unemployment."
- "I never do my own stunts...that's actor nonsense." (around
Planet of the Apes filming)
- "I was having a great time scaring people." (as Thade in
Planet of the Apes)
- "The War Zone is right. It's the truth. It's the truth
about this subject. And I'm bullet-proof on that. Probably more so
than I will be on any other film that I make as a director."
References
- Tim Roth Biography (1961-)
- Tim Roth: Press
- Tim Roth Biography
External links
Wikis
Quiz
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