John Rhys-Davies
John Rhys-Davies is a Welsh actor and vocal artist. He was born in Ammanford, Wales, the son of Welsh parents Mary Margaretta Phyllis Jones, a nurse, and Rhys Davies, a mechanical engineer and Colonial Officer. He spent much of his childhood in his mother's home town of Ammanford, although he was also brought up in Tanganyika. He was educated at Truro School and at the University of East Anglia where he was one of the first 87 students admitted, and where he founded the Dramatic Society. After teaching at Watton County Secondary School in Norfolk he won a place at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
Although appearing sporadically on UK television in the early 1970s, John first gained widespread popularity for his performance as Praetorian officer Naevius Sutorius Macro in I, Claudius. He then began to appear more frequently, and not just in the UK, with roles as a Portuguese navigator Rodrigues in the 1980 television miniseries Shogun, based on the novel by James Clavell, and in the Indiana Jones movies. In 1989, John also starred in another James Clavell adaption, Noble House, set in Hong Kong, in which he plays Ian Dunross' corporate enemy, Quillian Gornt. He has since appeared in numerous television shows and miniseries, including Agent Michael Malone in the 1993 remake of the 1950s television series The Untouchables as well as a leading role in the television series Sliders as Professor Maximillian Arturo from 1995 to 1997. He also appeared in Reilly, Ace of Spies in 1983, made several appearances on Star Trek: Voyager as a holodeck version of Leonardo da Vinci, starred as an ally of James Bond in The Living Daylights and appeared in the movie One Night with the King. John has played the character Porthos in two separate projects; a two-part episode of The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne and the Hallmark Channel movie La Femme Musketeer. He has also appeared in a number of Sci Fi Channel original movies. In 2004, he starred in The Privileged Planet, a documentary that makes the case for Intelligent Design.
He is also known for his popular portrayal of the dwarf Gimli in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. He also was the voice behind the Ent Treebeard in Lord of the Rings, and has lent his distinctive deep, Welsh voice to many video games and animated television series.
Rhys-Davies holds politically conservative views. As a university student in the 1960s, he had been a radical leftist, but changed his views when he went to heckle a young local member of parliament, Margaret Thatcher. Rhys-Davies says that "she shot down the first two hecklers in such brilliant fashion that I decided I ought for once to shut up and listen".
In 1966 he married Suzanne A.D. Wilkinson, a translator. They have two sons, Ben and Tom. Although he separated from Suzanne (who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 1995) he did not divorce her and he remained close to her until her death in August 2010. He has lived with Lisa Manning (ex-host from television show Good Morning) since 2004. They have a daughter, Maia. Davies has a house on the Isle of Man. Davies currently lives in Glen Murray, a country town north of Huntly, New Zealand.
Interestingly, John explained to The Christian Post, in an April 2011 interview, his personal appreciation and relationship with the KJV Bible after working on the docudrama, “KJB: The Book that Changed the World.”
While working as the host for the film, John became aware of many unanswered questions in his life, such as “What do I really believe? What are my real core values and understanding?”
He confessed, “For me, it has been a very personal journey, which I have to tell you is not yet completed spiritually.”
In this interview, John said, explicitly, that "he would not call himself a Christian." I'd like to add a word to this: YET.
Will you pray, this week, that God will complete the work in John's heart to bring him to salvation through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ?
--Pray about Everything!
-Heidi