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Viggo Mortensen (born October 20, 1958 in New
York City), is a Danish-American theater and movie actor, a published poet,
photographer and painter. He is divorced and has a son, Henry Blake.
He is best known for his role as Aragorn in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the
Rings film trilogy. He was a last-minute replacement for the role, and
wouldn't have taken the part if it hadn't been for his son's enthusiasm for
J. R. R. Tolkien's trilogy.
After several years of experience in live theater, he began his movie career
as an Amish farmer in Peter Weir's Witness. He has also appeared in Jane
Campion's film The Portrait of a Lady, Sean Penn's Indian Runner, Brian
DePalma's Carlito's Way, Tony Scott's Crimson Tide, Ridley Scott's G.I.
Jane, Tony Goldwyn's A Walk on the Moon and Philip Ridley's Reflecting Skin.
Mortensen's performance in Bent at the Coast Playhouse, Los Angeles, won him
a Dramalogue Critics' Award.
Mortensen's bibliography includes
Ten Last Night (1993), his first collection of poetry;
Hole in the Sun (2002, ISBN 0972143610), color and black and white
photographs of a back yard swimming pool;
SignLanguage (2002, ISBN 1889195499), a catalog from an exhibition of his
works, which combines photographs, paintings, and poetry into a multimedia
diary of his time in New Zealand while filming The Fellowship of the Ring;
Miyelo (2003, ISBN 097214367X), a series of panoramic photographs of a
Lakota Ghost Dance.
His marriage in 1987 to punk rocker Exene (Christene) Cervenka, ended in an
amicable divorce in 1998. They have a son, Henry, born in 1988.
Mortensen spent some childhood years in Venezuela, Argentina, and his
father's native Denmark, before returning to high school in Watertown, New
York (where he was captain of the swim team). He graduated from St. Lawrence
University in 1980. He is fluent in English, Spanish, and Danish. |
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