Happy birthday to actor Lee Pace, who turns 36 on March 25, 2015!
March 25 is a very important date to fans of Middle-earth: the anniversary of the destruction of the One Ring, the downfall of Sauron and Barad-dûr, Tolkien Reading Day… and the birthday of Lee Pace, the actor who brought Elven-king Thranduil to life. Lee celebrates his 36th birthday today!
Lee was born in Chickasha, Oklahoma. While Lee was growing up, his family lived in Saudi Arabia for a time, settling first in New Orleans and then in Houston after returning to the USA. Lee started acting in high school, and left school for a while to work with the well-known Alley Theatre in Houston. After completing high school, Lee was accepted to the Julliard School Drama Division in 1997.
Lee Pace with Jim Parsons in ‘The Normal Heart’ (2011). Photo credit: Joan Marcus.
After earning the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Julliard, Lee had a number of stage roles, including The Credeaux Canvas and The Fourth Sister. His performances in the off-Broadway shows Small Tragedy and Guardians brought him recognition with nominations for Lucille Lortell Awards. Lee made his first Broadway appearance in 2011 as Bruce Niles in a revival of The Normal Heart by Larry Kramer.
In 2003, Lee had his breakthrough film performance in Soldier’s Girl, a role that earned him several award nominations, including a Golden Globe, and won the Gotham Award for Breakthrough Actor. Other well-known film roles for Lee include The Fall (2006), Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008), The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 (2012), Lincoln (2012), and Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). Fans of Peter Jackson’s film trilogy of The Hobbit know Lee well as the icy King Thranduil, ruler of the Elves of Mirkwood and father of Legolas Greenleaf.
King Thranduil (Lee Pace) leads the Elves of Mirkwood into battle in ‘The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies’ (2014). Photo credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures.
Lee has also done roles for television. He played Aaron Tyler in Wonderfalls (2004), created by Bryan Fuller and Todd Holland. The actor went on to star as Ned in Fuller’s Pushing Daisies (2007-2009). The role garnered Lee nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe, and remains one of Lee’s most popular characters. Earlier this week, Pushing Daisies won Esquire’s TV Reboot Tournament, defeating Firefly, a show with a deeply devoted fan base. In 2014, Lee starred in a Halt and Catch Fire on AMC, which will return for a second season in summer 2015.
From all of us at Middle-earth News – Happy birthday, Lee! We hope you have a wonderful celebration, complete with a bottle or two of Dorwinion wine. And maybe some pie.
Lee Pace as Ned, the pie man with the power to bring the dead back to life in ‘Pushing Daisies’. Photo via ‘Pushing Daisies’ on Facebook.
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