Ronald N. Perlman, a classically-trained actor, has had a diverse career spanning over three decades, with appearances in countless stage plays, feature films, and television productions. Born on April 13, 1950, in Washington Heights, Manhattan, New York, Perlman is the son of Dorothy (Rosen) and Bertram "Bert" Perlman, a repairman and drummer, who both came from Jewish families with roots in Hungary, Germany, and Poland.
With a career that has seen him work alongside renowned actors such as 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 has never been a bankable star, yet has maintained a loyal fan base.
Perlman's breakthrough role came when he played Amoukar, a tribesman, in Jean-Jacques Annaud's Academy Award-winning film Quest for Fire (1981),earning him a Genie Award nomination. He later teamed up with Annaud again, this time as Salvatore, a hunchback, in The Name of the Rose (1986).
Perlman's first real breakthrough came when he landed the role of Vincent, a lion-man, opposite Linda Hamilton on the fantasy series Beauty and the Beast (1987),earning him a Golden Globe Award and an underground fan following. The series was unfortunately canceled in its third season after Hamilton's character's death.
After that, Perlman spent time doing supporting work on television and independent films, including Guillermo del Toro's debut Cronos (1992) and his first lead role as One in Jean-Pierre Jeunet's surreal The City of Lost Children (1995). His first big role in a mainstream film came when Jeunet wanted him for the brutish Johner in Alien Resurrection (1997).
Perlman has also used his distinctive voice to his advantage, appearing in many animated films and series, commercials, and video games, such as the Fallout series. It was not until much later that he received worldwide fame when his friend Guillermo del Toro helped him land the title role in the big-budget comic book movie Hellboy (2004).
Del Toro fought the studio for four years because they wanted a more secure name, but he stood his ground, and in 2004, after almost 25 years in and out of obscurity, Perlman became a household name and a sought-out actor. Perlman has had one of the most offbeat careers in film, playing everything from a prehistoric ape-man to an aging transsexual.
Other notable roles include the cunning Norman Arbuthnot in The Last Supper (1995),sniper expert Koulikov in Enemy at the Gates (2001),vampire leader Reinhardt in Blade II (2002),his reprisal of Hellboy in Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008),and biker chief Clarence Morrow on the popular series Sons of Anarchy (2008).
Perlman currently resides in Los Angeles, California, with his wife, Opal, and their two children, Blake and Brandon.
