Karl Urban

Infobox actor

---

caption = Karl Urban at the premiere of Peter Jackson's "King Kong" in Wellington, New Zealand
birthname = Karl-Heinz Urban
birthdate = birth date and age|1972|06|07
birthplace = Wellington, New Zealand
othername =
occupation = actor
yearsactive =
website =

Karl-Heinz Urban (born June 7, 1972) is a New Zealand actor. He is best known for playing Éomer in the and installments of Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, the Russian assassin Kirill in "The Bourne Supremacy", and for lead roles in Viking adventure "Pathfinder", and the movie adaptation of video game "Doom". He also won acclaim for his performances in New Zealand films "The Price of Milk" and "Out of the Blue".

Biography

Early life

Karl Urban was born in Wellington, New Zealand, the son of a leather goods manufacturer. [ [http://www.filmreference.com/film/66/Karl-Urban.html Karl Urban Biography (1972-) ] ] He attended St Mark's Church School where he showed an early love for public performance. His first acting role was when he was eight he had a line on a television show. However, he did not act again until after high school. He then went on to Wellington College. Upon leaving High School Karl was offered a role in the hit New Zealand TV-series "Shortland Street" playing homosexual paramedic Jamie Forrest. After appearing on the show for the 1993-1994 season he attended Victoria University of Wellington for one year, then left to pursue his acting career. Over the next few years, he landed several theater roles in the Wellington area. Eventually, he moved to Auckland where he was offered many guest roles in local shows. One of his first roles was that of a heroin addict in police drama "Shark In the Park".

Career

As well as appearing in films and television shows, Urban had various roles in theatre productions and TV advertisements. In February/March 1998, he was in a play called "The Herbal Bed" at the Maidment Theatre in Auckland. In August 1998, he played Mark Antony in Auckland Theatre Company's production of "Shakespeare's Julius Caesar". The following year he appeared in the Auckland Theatre Company's production of New Zealand classic "Foreskin's Lament".

Urban was seen on the internationally syndicated American TV series ' and on its spin-off ', in which he played both Cupid and Julius Caesar from 1996 to 2001. Both shows were filmed in New Zealand. He won the New Zealand Film and TV Awards for his starring role in the offbeat rural romance "The Price of Milk". Urban later won acclaim for his portrayal of policeman Nick Harvey in "Out of the Blue", a dramatisation of New Zealand's Aramoana Massacre.

International roles

Urban's Hollywood break came with his role in the 2002 horror film "Ghost Ship". Since then, Karl has worked on many blockbusters including "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy (in which he played Éomer of Rohan), "The Bourne Supremacy" and"The Chronicles of Riddick" with Vin Diesel and Judi Dench.

The Hollywood Reporter speculated that Urban was one of several actors being considered for the part of British secret service agent 007 in "Casino Royale", directed by fellow New Zealander Martin Campbell. Website filmforce.com expressed mixed feelings over whether he would make the best Bond. "While darkly handsome, he's a bit elfish-looking for Bond. He's the right age, is recognisable, but not yet a big name and had proven himself adept at genre fare. But does Urban have the gravitas and flair needed for Bond?" The actor selected for the part was Daniel Craig.

Urban played John "Reaper" Grimm, one of the lead characters in Universal Pictures' "Doom" which was released on October 21, 2005. Following his role in "Doom", he played the lead in the Viking adventure "Pathfinder", which is regarded as a box office disappointment.

A longtime fan of Westerns, Urban recently appeared in "Comanche Moon", the mini-series prequel to "Lonesome Dove". In October 2007, it was announced that he would take on the role of Leonard McCoy in the eleventh Star Trek film. [ [http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/news/article/2310434.html And Karl Urban as McCoy!] , October 17, 2007] [ [http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3id8e5364152f5fc45f22c9f376098ef3b Urban, Pine join Abrams' 'Star Trek'] , October 18, 2007] [ [http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2008-01-10-karl-urban_N.htm Karl Urban rewinds TV favorites] , January 10, 2008] [ [http://www.tvguide.com/news/karl-urban-comanche/080111-03 Karl Urban: From Comanche Moon's Old West to Star Trek's Exciting Future] , January 11, 2008] [ [http://trekmovie.com/2008/01/11/urban-talks-trek-characters-and-production-design Urban Talks Trek Characters and Production Design] , January 11, 2008]

Filmography

*"Homeward Bound" (1992) TV Series .... Tim Johnstone
*"Chunuk Bair" (1992) .... Wellington soldier
*"Shortland Street" (1992) TV Series .... Paramedic Jamie Forrest
*"White Fang (1993)" TV Series...David
*"Riding High (1995)" TV Series .... James Westwood
*"Amazon High (1997)" (TV) .... Kor
*"Heaven (1998)" .... Sweeper
*"Via Satellite (1998)" .... Paul
*"" (1996-1998) .... Julius Caesar, Cupid
*"The Privateers (2000)" (TV) .... Capt. Aran Dravyk
*"The Irrefutable Truth About Demons" (2000) .... Harry Ballard
*"The Price of Milk" (2000) .... Rob
*"" (1996-2001) .... Julius Caesar, Cupid, Mael, Kor
*"Ghost Ship" (2002) .... Munder
*"" (2002) .... Éomer
*"" (2003) .... Éomer
*"The Chronicles of Riddick" (2004) .... Vaako
*"The Bourne Supremacy" (2004) .... Kirill
*"Doom" (2005).... John "Reaper" Grimm/ Doomguy
*"Out Of The Blue" (2006).... Nick Harvey
*"Pathfinder" (2007).... Ghost
*"Comanche Moon" (2008).... Woodrow F. Call
*"Black Water Transit" (2008).... Earl Pike
*"Star Trek" (2009).... Leonard McCoy
*"Tr2n" (2010)

References

External links

*imdb name|id=0881631|name=Karl Urban

Persondata
NAME= Urban, Karl
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Urban, Karl-Heinz
SHORT DESCRIPTION= New Zealand film and television actor.
DATE OF BIRTH= June 7, 1972
PLACE OF BIRTH= Wellington, New Zealand
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=