Early life

Dinklage was born in Morristown, New Jersey, the son of John Carl Dinklage, a retired insurance salesman, and Diane Dinklage, an elementary school music teacher. He was born with achondroplasia, a common form of dwarfism. He grew up in Mendham Township, New Jersey, and is of German, English, and Irish descent.

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. Dinklage graduated from Delbarton School, a Catholic prep school for boys, in 1987 where he continued to develop his acting as part of the school's drama club. He then attended Bennington College where he appeared in numerous productions before graduating in 1991.

Career

Dinklage made his film debut in Living in Oblivion (1995) as a frustrated actor with dwarfism who complains about his clichéd roles. His breakout role was in the 2003 film The Station Agent, for which he received Independent Spirit and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for Best Actor. That same year, he appeared in the direct-to-DVD film Tiptoes. Dinklage has also starred in several Off-Broadway productions. Dinklage appeared in the 2003 film Elf, as Miles Finch, an irritable children's author who beats up Buddy Hobbs (Will Ferrell) after he is unintentionally insulted. In 2005, he starred in the short-lived CBS science fiction series Threshold and appeared as a wedding planner in the comedy film The Baxter. In 2006, Dinklage appeared in the courtroom drama Find Me Guilty and episodes of Nip/Tuck. He played himself in one episode of the HBO television series Entourage and appeared in the NBC series 30 Rock.

Dinklage appeared in the 2007 British comedy film Death at a Funeral, reprising the role in the 2010 American remake. Later in 2007, he played the villainous Simon Bar Sinister in Underdog. Dinklage played Trumpkin in the 2008 film The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, although film critic Bill Gibron described his role as a "cutesy stereotype he has tried to avoid". In the summer of 2008, he played the title role in Uncle Vanya (directed by his wife, Erica Schmidt) in Bard College's annual Bard SummerScape, the Upstate New York summer stage on the Annandale-on-Hudson campus. In 2010 he appeared in the Australian movie I Love You Too alongside Brendan Cowell and Peter Helliar.

Dinklage plays Tyrion Lannister in HBO's Game of Thrones, an adaptation of author George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. His performance has received widespread praise, highlighted by his receiving the Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2011 and 2015, as well as the 2012 Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Series, Miniseries or Television Film. As a result of his performance and increased screen time, Dinklage was given top billing starting in the series' second season. In 2014, he said on The Late Show with David Letterman that he had once tried to read the books the show is based upon, but got confused. He joked, "George Martin, our author, is probably going to kill my character soon because I mentioned that."

In 2012, Dinklage voiced Captain Gutt in Ice Age: Continental Drift. In 2014, he starred in the comedy horror film Knights of Badassdom and portrayed Bolivar Trask in the superhero film X-Men: Days of Future Past. He also voiced Ghost in the 2014 video game Destiny, but was replaced by Nolan North in August 2015 due in part to availability issues and "Hollywood nonsense". Dinklage and writer-director Sacha Gervasi spent several years writing and producing a film based on the final days of actor Hervé Villechaize, who committed suicide shortly after his 1993 interview with Gervasi. Dinklage will star and play the title role in My Dinner with Hervé. He will also star in O Lucky Day, which is to be directed by Adam Shankman and is said to be a "leprechaun comedy". In 2015, Dinklage starred in the movie Pixels as a former arcade champion named Eddie Plant. In 2016 Dinklage role the voice of The Mighty Eagle in The Angry Birds Movie.

Personal life

In 2005, Dinklage married Erica Schmidt, a theatre director. They have a daughter together born in 2011. The family lives in Manhattan.

Dinklage learned early on that he had a form of dwarfism, achondroplasia, which affects bone growth. As a result, he is 4 ft 5 in (1.35 m) tall, with a typical-sized head and torso but short limbs. While Dinklage has come to accept his condition, he found it challenging sometimes while growing up. In 2003, he said: "When I was younger, I definitely let it get to me. As an adolescent, I was bitter and angry, and I definitely put up these walls. 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." When asked in 2012 whether he saw himself as "a spokesman for the rights of little people," Dinklage responded: "I don't know what I would say. Everyone's different. Every person my size has a different life, a different history. Different ways of dealing with it. Just because I'm seemingly okay with it, I can't preach how to be okay with it. I don't think I still am okay with it. There are days when I'm not."

Dinklage has been a vegetarian since the age of 16, he supports Farm Sanctuary and has served as the spokesperson for the organization's Walk for Farm Animals. He also narrated the video Face your Food, a film advocating a vegan diet on ethical grounds.

Filmography

Main article: Peter Dinklage filmography

Awards and nominations

Year	Nominated work	Association	Category	Result
2003	The Station Agent	New York Film Critics Online	Online Award for Breakthrough Performance	Won
2004		Independent Spirit Awards	Best Male Lead	Nominated
		Online Film Critics Society	Best Breakthrough Performance
		Screen Actors Guild	Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
			Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
	N/A	Satellite Awards	Special Achievement Award For Outstanding Talent	Won
2011	Game of Thrones	Portal Award	Best Supporting Actor	Nominated
		Golden Globe Awards	Best Supporting Actor - Series, Miniseries or Television Film	Won
		IGN Awards	Best TV Actor	Nominated
		Online Film & Television Association	Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series	Won
		Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
		Satellite Awards	Best Supporting Actor - Series, Miniseries or Television Film
		Scream Awards	Scream Award for Best Supporting Actor
			Scream Award for Best Ensemble	Nominated
		Screen Actors Guild	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
		SFX Awards	Best Actor
		TCA Awards	Individual Achievement in Drama
2012		Portal Award	Best Actor
		Critics' Choice Television Awards	Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
		Golden Nymph awards	Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series
		Online Film & Television Association	Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
		Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
		Satellite Awards	Best Supporting Actor - Series, Miniseries or Television Film
		SFX Awards	Best Actor
		TCA Awards	Individual Achievement in Drama
2013		Online Film & Television Association	Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
		Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
		Screen Actors Guild	Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
		Screen Actors Guild	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
2014		Online Film & Television Association	Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series	Won
		Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series	Nominated
		Satellite Awards	Best Supporting Actor - Series, Miniseries or Television Film
		Screen Actors Guild	Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
			Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
		SFX Awards	Best Actor
2015		Empire magazine	Empire Hero Award	Won
		Online Film & Television Association	Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series	Nominated
		Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series	Won
		Satellite Awards	Best Supporting Actor - Series, Miniseries or Television Film	Nominated
		Screen Actors Guild	Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
			Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
	X-Men: Days of Future Past	MTV Movie Awards	Best Villain

[ Source: Wikipedia ]