“Give ‘em hell Indiana Jones!” The booming voice of actor John Rhys-Davies roars in the trailer for one of this summer’s most-anticipated blockbusters, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. John returns as Indy’s Egyptian excavator friend Sallah, a role he first played in Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981.
John plays Sallah in three of the five Indiana Jones films, sitting out on the Temple of Doom (1984) and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008). That doesn’t make his character any less beloved, though, and he's considered a fan favourite in the franchise.
To many people John will be known for his role as the dwarf Gimli in The Lord of the Rings series. What’s your favourite John Rhys-Davies role? Let us know in the comments.
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But what has John said about his Welsh heritage, what else has he been in and how tall is he? Here’s everything you need to know.
John Rhys-Davies’ Welsh heritage
Although he was born in Salisbury in England, John is the son of two Welsh parents. His mother Phillis was a nurse and his father Rhys Davies was a mechanical engineer and colonial officer.
Due to his father's work as a colonial police officer, John was raised in Tanzania before his family moved to Ammanford. Speaking about Wales in the 2013 BBC series Coming Home, he said: “I’m very proud of being a Welshman, I’m very proud of my Welsh heritage and yet these days I feel we do not treasure the past quite as much as we should.
“I’m told I was conceived in Wales and it was intended I should be born there but it was wartime and you couldn’t make the travel arrangements at the time. My parents were always Welsh-speaking and very proud of Wales. My father went out to Africa in 1947 and was in the Welsh society. As part of my upbringing I used to spend at least two months of the year in Wales with my grandmother in Ammanford and Auntie Maggie in Treorchy.
“I’ve had the feeling of being Welsh all of my life. When I was at my little boarding school down in Cornwall, we used to have mock elections and I stood as a Welsh Nationalist. I got three votes – all three I cast myself, of course.”
What else has John Rhys-Davies been in?
Aside from his two recognisable roles in the Indiana Jones and The Lord of the Rings franchises, John has performed in numerous other film, television and theatre productions. His films include Victor/Victoria (1982), The Living Daylights (1987), The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004) and Aquaman (2018).
Some of his most recognisable television roles, meanwhile, are as Macro in I, Claudius (1976), Vasco Rodrigues in Shōgun (1980) and Michael Malone in The Untouchables (1993).
What is John Rhys-Davies’ height?
Despite appearing as a literal dwarf in The Lord of the Rings, John is far from that in real life. The 79-year-old actor is 6ft 1in in height.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is out now in cinemas. For more showbiz and television stories get our newsletter here.
