Tuesday, February 11, 2025

Actor Viggo Mortensen turns 66

Twice nominated for an Academy Award, the Danish-American actor became popular by playing Aragorn in “The Lord of the Rings”

Actor Viggo Mortensen turns 66



With a career spanning for over 3 decades, where he starred in an impressive string of hit movies, it’s surprising that the awarded actor Viggo Mortensen only got his big break in 1999 when he played Aragorn in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy. Born in New York City on October 20, 1958, Viggo Peter Mortensen Jr is the son of a Danish father and American mother who met in Norway. He spent the first years of his life, and most of his childhood in South America and Denmark. First moving to Venezuela, then Denmark and settling in Argentina, in the provinces of Córdoba, Chaco, and Buenos Aires, where Mortensen attended primary school and acquired a fluent proficiency in Spanish while his father managed poultry farms and ranches. At age 11 he moved back to New York City with his mother after his parents’ divorce. Mortensen’s movie career begun during the early 1980’s, and his first credited role was on the popular 1985 blockbuster “Witness” starring Harrison Ford. He also starred on Wooddy Allen’s “The Purple Rose of Cairo,” however, his parts were cut from the final editing. In 1987 Mortensen guest starred as a police detective on the hit series “Miami Vice.” Overall, during the 1980’s he starred in several movies and TV Shows, but wasn’t until the 1990’s he started to become a familiar face of the big screen when he starred on movies including “Young Guns II,” “Prison,” “Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III,” “The Indian Runner,” “Carlito’s Way,” “Crimson Tide,” “G.I. Jane,” “Daylight,” “A Walk on the Moon,” the remake films “A Perfect Murder” and Gus Van Sant’s “Psycho,” and in 2000 “28 Days” among many others. In 1999, he was cast as Aragorn on “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, which boosted his career and made him into one of the world’s leading and most famous actors. In 2007 he starred on “Eastern Promises,” directed by David Cronenberg, an acclaimed performance that earned him a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Actor and in 2016 he was again nominated for his role in “Captain Fantastic.” But Mortensen’s talents are not limited to acting. He’s also an author with various books of poetry, photography, and painting published and, a painter and photographer. As an author and poet, he writes in English, Danish, and Spanish. As a painter, many of his own paintings can be seen in the movie “A Perfect Murder,” where he portrays an artist. And that’s not all, the multi-talented Mortensen also sings, and he can be found for example on “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King soundtrack” singing “Aragorn’s Coronation” the words by Tolkien and the music composed by Mortensen and he has an extensive published discography. Today Viggo Mortensen turns 66.



Watch a scene of “The Lord of the Rings” series played by Viggo Mortensen



Watch Viggo Mortensen singing “Aragorn’s Coronation” 



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