Peter Dinklage

Peter Dinklage
Dinklage at the 69th Annual Golden Globes Awards, January 15, 2012
Born	Peter Hayden Dinklage (1969-06-11) June 11, 1969 (age 43) Morristown, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1995–present
Height	4 ft 5 in (1.35 m)[1]
Spouse(s)	Erica Schmidt (2005–present)
Children	Zelig (born 2011)

Peter Hayden Dinklage^[2] (pronounced /ˈdɪnklɪdʒ/ (DINK-lidge)^[3], born June 11, 1969) is an American film, television, and theatre actor. Since his breakout role in The Station Agent (2003), he has acted in Elf (2003), Find Me Guilty (2006), Underdog (2007), Death at a Funeral (2007) and its remake (2010), The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008), and Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012). Since 2011, he has starred as Tyrion Lannister in the HBO series Game of Thrones, based on George R.R. Martin's series of novels A Song of Ice and Fire, which earned him the Emmy and the Golden Globe Award for Supporting Actor.

Early life [edit]

Dinklage was born in Morristown, New Jersey,^[4] the son of Diane, an elementary school music teacher, and John Carl Dinklage, a retired insurance salesman.^[5][6] Dinklage was born with achondroplasia, a common cause of dwarfism. He grew up in Mendham Township, New Jersey, and is of German and Irish descent.^[7] His German ancestors were related to the Westphalian noble family "von Dincklage". Dinklage graduated from Delbarton School in Morristown in 1987 and from Bennington College in 1991.^[8]

Career [edit]

Dinklage made his feature film debut in the cult art house film Living in Oblivion (1995), playing a frustrated dwarf actor complaining about his clichéd part. His breakout role was in the 2003 film The Station Agent,^[9] for which he received Independent Spirit and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for Best Actor. That same year, he appeared in the direct-to-DVD movie Tiptoes with Gary Oldman. As well as appearing in films, Dinklage has starred several times in Off-Broadway productions.^[10]

In Elf, Dinklage played a pretentious children's author who beats up Will Ferrell's character after he is unintentionally insulted. In 2005, Dinklage starred in the short-lived CBS science fiction series Threshold and appeared in the Michael Showalter comedy The Baxter (2005) as a wedding planner. In 2006, Dinklage appeared in Sidney Lumet's courtroom drama Find Me Guilty and in episodes of Nip/Tuck. He played himself in one episode of the HBO television series Entourage and was featured on NBC's 30 Rock. Dinklage also had a role in the British comedy Death at a Funeral (2007) and the American remake (2010). That same year, he played the villainous Simon Bar Sinister in Underdog (2007).

Dinklage was chosen by director Andrew Adamson for the role of Trumpkin in Prince Caspian (2008),^[11] although film critic Bill Gibron described his role as a "cutesy stereotype he has tried to avoid."^[12]

In the summer of 2008, Dinklage performed the title role in Uncle Vanya, directed by his wife Erica Schmidt, in Bard College's annual Bard SummerScape, the Upstate New York summer stage on the Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, campus.^[13]

He also stars in the upcoming horror comedy Knights of Badassdom,^[14] directed by Joe Lynch.^[15]

Dinklage plays Tyrion Lannister in HBO's Game of Thrones, an adaptation of author George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. His performance has received widespread praise,^[16][17] highlighted by his receiving the Emmy Award^[18] for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2011, as well as the 2012 Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film. As a result of his outstanding performance and increased screen time, Dinklage was given top billing in the second season of the series.^[19]

In 2012, Dinklage voiced Captain Gutt in Ice Age: Continental Drift. In February 2013, Bryan Singer announced that Dinklage would portray an unnamed villain role in X-Men: Days of Future Past.^[20]

Personal life [edit]

In 2005, Dinklage married Erica Schmidt, a theatre director. In 2011, they had their first child, a daughter, Zelig.^[21][22]

When asked about his height in a 2003 interview, he said: "When I was younger, definitely, I let it get to me. As an adolescent, I was bitter and angry and I definitely put up these walls. But the older you get, you realize you just have to have a sense of humor. You just know that it's not your problem. It's theirs."^[10] Dinklage is a vegetarian and lives with his wife and daughter in upstate New York.^[23] Dinklage supports Farm Sanctuary and has served as the spokesperson for the organization's Walk for Farm Animals.^[24]

Filmography [edit]

Film [edit]

Television [edit]

References [edit]

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Peter Dinklage

General

• Peter Dinklage at the Internet Movie Database
• Peter Dinklage at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Peter Dinklage at Emmys.com
• Dan Kois (March 29, 2012). "Peter Dinklage Was Smart to Say No". The New York Times. 

Interviews

• Interview with Peter Dinklage about The Station Agent
• BBC Movies Interview about The Station Agent
• Interview with Peter Dinklage in Delbarton Today
• Playboy 20Q Interview with Peter Dinklage