Ronald N. Perlman was born on April 13, 1950, in Washington Heights, Manhattan, New York, to Dorothy (Rosen) and Bertram "Bert" Perlman, a repairman and drummer. His parents were both from Jewish families, with his mother being from Hungary, Germany, and Poland, and his father being from Hungary and Poland.
Perlman's career spans over three decades, during which he has worked alongside a diverse range of actors, including Marlon Brando, Sean Connery, Dominique Pinon, Brad Dourif, Ed Harris, John Hurt, Jude Law, Christina Ricci, Federico Luppi, Sigourney Weaver, Michael Wincott, and Elijah Wood.
Perlman started his career with a strong performance as Amoukar in Jean-Jacques Annaud's Academy Award-winning film Quest for Fire (1981),earning a Genie Award nomination. He then teamed up with Annaud again for The Name of the Rose (1986),playing the role of a hunchback named Salvatore.
Perlman's breakthrough role came when he landed the part of Vincent, a noble lion-man, opposite Linda Hamilton in the fantasy series Beauty and the Beast (1987). His performance earned him a Golden Globe Award and an underground fan following, although the series was canceled shortly after Hamilton's character's death.
Perlman has since appeared in a wide range of films and television shows, including Guillermo del Toro's Cronos (1992),The City of Lost Children (1995),and Alien: Resurrection (1997). He has also lent his distinctive voice to numerous animated films and series, and has become a fan favorite in the video game world due to his work on the Fallout series.
Perlman's big break came when he was cast as the title character in Guillermo del Toro's Hellboy (2004),a role he reprised in Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008). He has also appeared in other notable films, including The Last Supper (1995),Enemy at the Gates (2001),Blade II (2002),and Sons of Anarchy (2008).
Perlman is married to Opal and has two children, Blake and Brandon, and currently resides in Los Angeles, California.