Peter Dinklage biography

Synopsis

Early Life

Actor Peter Dinklage has captivated film, television and theater audiences with his expressive blue eyes, powerful presence, wit and charm. The Emmy Award and Golden Globe winner discovered a passion for performing at a young age growing up in Morristown, New Jersey.

Born to average-sized parents, Dinklage learned early on that he had achondroplasia, a genetic condition that effects bone growth. A person with this form of dwarfism usually has a normal-sized head and torso but short limbs. While he has come to accept his condition, Dinklage found it challenging sometimes while growing up. “As an adolescent, I was bitter and angry, and I definitely put up these walls," he told MSNBC. "But the older you get, you realize you just have to have a sense of humor. You just know that it’s not your problem. It’s theirs."

Dinklage got his first taste of theatrical success in a fifth grade production of The Velveteen Rabbit. Playing the lead, he was delighted by the audience's response to the show. "When you get your first solo bow, that feels pretty good," he explained to People magazine. At the Delbarton School, a Catholic prep school for boys, Dinklage continued to seek out applause as part of the drama club.

As a student at Bennington College, Dinklage appeared in numerous productions. He graduated in 1991 and then moved to New York City to pursue an acting career. With a friend, Dinklage started a theater group in Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood. While this initial venture flopped, he landed some work in off-Broadway shows.

Career Highlights

While he had only a small part, Dinklage made an impressive debut in the 1995 parody of the independent film world Living in Oblivion. He played a dwarf hired for a dream sequence who goes off on the film's director (Steve Buscemi). The following year, Dinklage landed a role in an off-Broadway play, The Killing Act, written by Tom McCarthy. He played an "over-the-top" Tom Thumb in the show.

Dinklage and McCarthy reunited for the hit independent drama The Station Agent (2003). In the film, he played a lonely, train-obsessed man who inherits a rundown train depot. His character befriends a food cart vendor (Bobby Cannavale) and becomes involved with a widowed artist (Patricia Clarkson). The film received a warm welcome at the Sundance Film Festival, where it was bought by Miramax. Dinklage's performance also enthralled critics, with one heralded his work as "warm, heartbreaking and hilarious."

In 2004, Dinklage played one of his dream roles—Shakespeare's Richard III—at the Public Theater.