Tall, solid and bearded, dark-haired, stage-trained John Rhys-Davies became recognizable to moviegoers as Sallah, the faithful companion of Indiana Jones in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981). Since then, the burly actor has essayed numerous roles of varying ethnicity. Born in England to Welsh parents, Rhys-Davies spent his formative years in Wales and East Africa, returning to the UK when he was nine. At age 11, he reportedly saw his first play, "Oedipus Rex" and became interested in the theater. While attending the Truro School in Cornwall, Rhys-Davies began performing in plays like "Troilus and Cressida", "Volpone" (in the title role at age 16) and "Othello". After graduating from the University of East Anglia (where he was instrumental in forming a dramatic society), he spent a year as a schoolteacher. Deciding he wanted a theatrical career, Rhys-Davies enrolled at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and began his extensive professional stage career.

1970 was a watershed year for the actor as he landed a role in the British TV series "Budgie" and began working in the theater. For much of the 1970s, he divided his time between the small screen and on stage. Viewers of public television may recall Rhys-Davies from his roles in "The Naked Civil Servant" (1975) and "I, Claudius" (1977). As the decade waned, he began to find work in network programs like "The Nativity" (ABC, 1978), the NBC miniseries "Shogun" (NBC, 1980), for which he earned a Best Supporting Actor Emmy nomination as a Portuguese rival to Richard Chamberlain, and "Sadat" (syndicated, 1983), in which he portrayed Egyptian president Gamal Abdel-Nasser. Over the course of his long career, Rhys-Davies has often been cast in ethnic roles like the Indian in "Kim" (CBS, 1984), a Russian general in the 007 feature outing "The Living Daylights" (1987) and an Israeli Mossad chief in "Secret Weapon" (TNT, 1990).

While his film career has included high points like two installments of the Indiana Jones trilogy and "Victor/Victoria" (1982, as Julie Andrews' agent), he has also been wasted in run-of-the-mill fare like the remake of "King Solomon's Mines" (1985, reteamed with Richard Chamberlain) and "Glory Daze" (1996). Attempts to find a suitable small screen vehicle led to his playing a titled noblemen in the ludicrous "The Quest" (ABC, 1982), wherein four Americans weekly competed for the right to ascend the throne of a tiny principality. Rhys-Davies seemed to find some stability with the surprisingly successful sci-fi series "Sliders" (Fox), about a group who travel to parallel worlds, but he asked to leave the series after three seasons (1995-97) and his character was summarily dispatched. A brief stint as the mentor of a genie on the ABC sitcom "You Wish" followed but audiences tuned out. Rhys-Davies did receive strong notices for his guest appearances as Leonardo Da Vinci in a two-part episode of UPN's "Star Trek: Voyager" in 1997, later reprising the role sporadically . He has additionally lent his distinctive deep vocals to several animated projects like the series "The Legend of Prince Valiant" (syndicated, 1991), "Gargoyles" (syndicated, 1994) and the feature "Sinbad: Beyond the Veil Mists" (1999). Finding a place in yet another genre favorite, Rhys-Davies was cast as the dwarf warrior Gimli in director Peter Jackson's adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkein's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, appearing in all three instalments, "The Fellowship of the Ring" (2001), "The Two Towers" (2002) and "The Return of the King" (2003).