John Rhys-Davies

Few actors have given more to franchises that did not technically belong to them. As Gimli, Rhys-Davies acted through layers of prosthetics and still delivered the trilogy's warmest comic relief and its most touching friendship; as Sallah, he made a sidekick feel like family. I admire the classical instrument underneath it all, that booming, theatre-trained Welsh voice that lends gravity to even a throwaway line. He represents a kind of character actor that is getting rarer: one who elevates everything around him without ever demanding the spotlight. Born in 1944 and still working, he has earned every bit of the affection audiences hold for him.

John Rhys-Davies (born 5 May 1944) is a Welsh actor known for portraying Gimli in The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Sallah in the Indiana Jones franchise. He has received three Screen Actors Guild Award nominations, with one win, and a Primetime Emmy Award nomination.

Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Name (English)

John Rhys-Davies

Name (Japanese)

ジョン・リス＝デイヴィス

Reading

じょん・りす＝でいゔぃす

Born

May 5, 1944 (age 82)

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Taurus / Monkey

Origin

Ammanford, United Kingdom

Blood type

Private

Height

Private

Agency

Private

Occupation

actor / television actor / film actor / stage actor

Elementary school

Private

Junior high

Private

High school

Private

University

University of East Anglia

Spouse

Private

Children

Private

Parents

Private

Siblings

Private

Motto

Private

• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A7%E3%83%B3%E3%83%BB%E3%83%AA%E3%82%B9%EF%BC%9D%E3%83%87%E3%82%A4%E3%83%B4%E3%82%A3%E3%82%B9

Tags

• actor
• television actor
• film actor

Last updated

2026-06-11

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.