Richard Crispin Armitage, our very own Thorin Oakenshield of The Hobbit film trilogy, was born on August 22, 1971. Help us wish him a happy 44th birthday!
Guess what day it is today? pic.twitter.com/GpzqGyOZTM
— Richard Armitage (@RCArmitage) August 21, 2014
Richard has had a very busy year since his last birthday. He started out in grand style on last year’s birthday by sending his first tweets to the Twitterverse. Richard has continued to connect with fans and promote his projects and charities through Twitter, showing his own particular brand of humor and his generous nature as well.
Richard Armitage as John Proctor in the Old Vic Theatre’s production of ‘The Crucible,’ directed by Yael Farber. Photo credit: Johan Persson.
On his birthday last year, Richard was in the middle of a highly successful run in the role of John Proctor in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible at the Old Vic Theatre in London, under the direction of Yael Farber. The production and Richard’s performance gained critical acclaim and played to sold out houses for much of the 4-month run of the show. Richard was later honored with an Olivier Award nomination as Best Actor for his performance, and the production received an Olivier Award nomination for Best Revival.
Close on the heels of the last performance of The Crucible, Richard traveled to Los Angeles to film Sleepwalker under the direction of Elliott Lester, costarring with Ahna O’Reilly. The film is currently in post-production and will reportedly be released sometime in 2015.
The end of 2014 found Richard busily promoting The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies at a flurry of events around the world, beginning with the world premiere of the film in London on December 1, 2014. The USA premiere was held in Hollywood, California the following week, ahead of the December 17 USA release date. The press tour wrapped up in January when Richard joined director Peter Jackson for a premiere in Beijing, China.
@TheHobbitMovie @wbpictures PJ&RA The Great Wall China. “I will have Wall” #selfiestick pic.twitter.com/UzhOz04lZO
— Richard Armitage (@RCArmitage) January 21, 2015
Mere days after the last Hobbit premiere, Richard was at work again, this time for a guest-starring role on NBC’s series, Hannibal. Richard took on the role of Francis Dolarhyde, the central villain of the second half of what would turn out to be the show’s final season. The six-episode story arc, based on the book Red Dragon by Thomas Harris, began airing in July. Richard’s performance quickly earned much attention and critical praise, with whispers of an Emmy nomination becoming increasingly frequent.
Photo credit: De Laurentiis Productions, NBC.
Immediately after wrapping on Hannibal in April 2015, Richard was off to Ireland to film Pilgrimage, a story set in 13th century Ireland. The adventure/drama centers on a group of monks who must take a sacred relic through dangerous country. Richard plays a knight, Raymond de Merville.
In June 2015, Richard and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies were honored at the 41st Annual Saturn Awards, recognizing the best in science fiction, fantasy, horror, and other genres in film and television. Richard received the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Film for his performance as Thorin Oakenshield, and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies took home the award for Best Fantasy Film. Richard enjoyed the evening with his friends from Hannibal, which tied with The Walking Dead for most awards in television. Richard even donned a flower crown in the Hannibal tradition to commemorate the evening.
Xxx pic.twitter.com/ixA0ncrEg2
— Richard Armitage (@RCArmitage) June 26, 2015
Richard returned to San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) this year as part of the Hannibal panel, joining Hugh Dancy (Will Graham), showrunner Bryan Fuller, and producer Martha De Laurentiis. The group spent a busy three days meeting with press and fans to preview and promote the second half of Hannibal’s third season.
The ‘Hannibal’ panel at San Diego Comic Con 2015 sported flower crowns. Richard Armitage added a red dragon to his regalia.
As soon SDCC came to a close, Richard was on his way to Vancouver to film Brain on Fire, a new film produced by Charlize Theron and directed by Gerard Barrett. Based on Susannah Calahan’s memoir, the film looks at a young woman’s precipitous descent into insanity. Richard (Tom Calahan) costars with Chloe Grace Moretz (Susannah Calahan), Carrie-Anne Moss (Rhona Nack), and Tyler Perry (Richard). The film is slated for a 2016 release.
This past year has been a remarkable one for Richard’s career. We look forward to seeing all of this work on screens around the world, and send him our congratulations for the well-deserved recognitions he has received this year.
All of us at Middle-earth News would like to wish Richard a very happy birthday, and many more! May the hair of your beard never fall out!
You can find Richard on Twitter here.
