Elijah Wood, star of the hit movie Lord of the Rings, started his career in television commercials?

Find out more about Elijah Wood at Wikipedia

Elijah is #16 in the Top 50 Child Stars find out more at YouTube

Date of Birth

28 January 1981

Birth Name

Elijah Jordan Wood

Nickname

Elwood, Lij and Monkey

Height

5' 6" (1.68 m)

Mini Biography

Elijah Jordan Wood was born on January 28, 1981, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to Warren and Debbie Wood. Elijah has an older brother Zack and a younger sister Hannah Wood. At an early age Elijah showed an ability for entertaining and wowing audiences. His mother decided she would take him to Los Angeles for an Annual International Modeling and Talent Association convention. He quickly landed himself an acting job and soon after began appearing in commercials and in small parts on television. His first major part was appearing in Avalon in 1990. His acting career blossomed from this point, and he began appearing in films such as Paradise (1991), Radio Flyer (1992) and Forever Young (1992), with Mel Gibson.

Elijah has proven that he is a strong performer with great Talent. With an interesting career (discover more Biography facts at IMDb) Elijah went on to work on what has been called the biggest project ever to hit the movie screens of the World, the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, based on the books by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Elijah Trivia

Melissa Joan Hart wanted him to play the male lead in Drive Me Crazy (1999) because she thought it would take some of the pressure off her in her first leading role. However, she was told that he looked too young next to her, and the role went to Adrian Grenier.

Parents' names are Warren and Debbie Wood.

Elijah has an older brother, Zack Wood (b. 1974), who works in video games, and a younger sister, Hannah Wood (born 7th October 1983).

He was the first recipient of the NATO/ShoWest Young Star of the Year Award.

He heard about the Lord of the Rings trilogy while filming The Faculty (1998). Immediately, he realised this was the chance of a lifetime. Director George Huang, a personal friend of Wood's, filmed his audition tape for the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. He shot the scene from different angles which were cut together for the video. They sent the video off to New Zealand for director Peter Jackson and a few months later, he had landed the part.

Smashing Pumpkins is his favorite band.

He owns one of two prop rings used in "Lord of the Rings." The other went to Andy Serkis, who played Gollum.

He plays piano.

He became a child model when his mother wanted him to burn off excessive energy.

Two of his favorite books are "The Hobbit" and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame."

Considers Frodo Baggins to be his best role to date.

He is the first member of the official "Lord of the Rings" fanclub.

In the original book "The Lord of the Rings," Frodo is 50 years old when he leaves Bag End, which makes him the oldest of the four lead hobbits. Elijah is actually the youngest of the four actors in the movie..

Each of the nine Fellowship members got the same tattoo: the number nine written in Elvish. Elijah's is on his pelvic bone on the right side.

Has a visible scar, under his eyebrow, which he aquired during the filming of Green Street (2005)

Favorite food is fried artichoke hearts dipped in ranch dressing. During the filming of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), he found a small restaurant that served him artichokes.

In 2005, started his own record label.

His favorite music groups include Smashing Pumpkins, The Stone Roses, The Beatles, The Sundays, Black Sabbath, Verbena and The Beach Boys.

Some of his favorite actresses are Liza Minnelli and Vanessa Redgrave.

Elijah is of English, German, Austrian, and Danish descent.

Personal Quotes

"I won't change and my perspective won't change. I want to continue my life the way I live it, and I'm not going to let anything stop me from doing that. It isn't all about acting. There's a lot more to life than Hollywood." [comment on celebrity]

I think being different, being against the grain of society, is the greatest thing in the world.