Biography for
Karl Urban More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

7 June 1972, Wellington, New Zealand

Birth Name

Karl-Heinz Urban

Height

6' 1" (1.85 m)

Mini Biography

Originally from Wellington, New Zealand, Karl Urban now lives in Auckland. Born on June 7, 1972, he is the son of a leather goods manufacturer (who had hoped that Karl would follow in his footsteps). His first acting role was when he was 8 -- he had a line on a television series. However, he did not act again until after high school. He was offered a role in the NZ soap opera "Shortland Street" (1992), as he was preparing to attend Victoria University. After appearing on the series for the 1993-1994 season, he attended the university for one year, then left to pursue his acting career. Over the next few years, he landed several theater roles in the Wellington area. Eventually, he moved to Auckland where a number of guest roles in NZ television followed. One of his first roles was that of a heroin addict in the drama series "Shark in the Park" (1989). He was in a movie as well, entitled Once in Chunuck Bay (aka Chunuk Bair (1992)). Other television roles followed, including a guest starring role in the series "White Fang" (1993). Karl's biggest role yet is Éomer in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

IMDb Mini Biography By: AvidDark <jdh@g33k.net>

Spouse

Natalie Wihongi

(16 September 2004 - present) 2 children

Trade Mark

Deep commanding voice

Intense stare

Trivia

He is, and has almost always been, very active. He worked on his aunt and uncle's farm for many years doing odd jobs. For filming the "Lord of the Rings" movies, he realized that Eomer was a consummate horseman and he was nowhere near that level, so he invested a lot of time learning--six to eight weeks, five days a week, two hours a day. He wanted to learn to neck rein, a method of steering a horse using one hand while leaving the other hand free to wield a sword. He wanted to be so at one with the horse that he wasn't conscious or concerned about what the horse was doing. In addition, he also enjoys indoor rock climbing.

Has a black Lab terrier named Ire (pronounced eye-ree) after a Bob Marley song (from the album "Uprising").

Hobbies include fishing, surfing, golf, and gardening.

Had a beret and coat to perform self-written Frank Spencer skits at the ages of 11 and 12 as school assembly entertainment.

Primary school classmate of Jack Yan.

Reportedly received a $400,000 bonus for his work on "The Lord of the Rings." [London Daily Mail, December 5, 2003]

Has a son, Hunter Urban (born November 1, 2000), with wife, Natalie Wihongi.

Did roles on "Xena: Warrior Princess" (1995): Julius Caesar the emperor, Kor a caveman, and Mael (biblical character), Icas's brother. Also did roles on "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" (1995): Cupid, son of Aphrodite and Cesar.

His character of Cupid was originally written into the "Xena: Warrior Princess" (1995) Season 5 finale episode "Motherhood", but Urban was unavailable because he was filming "The Lord of the Rings" elsewhere in New Zealand. As compensation, Robert G. Tapert wrote the Season 6 episode "When Fates Collide" specifically for him, this time for his more popular character of Julius Caesar. Tapert also used this episode as an opportunity to bid farewell to two other fan favorite recurring characters; Alti and Brutus, portrayed by Claire Stansfield and David Franklin. "When Fates Collide" became one of the most popular episodes of the entire series.

Was introduced in the second installment of the three big franchises he has appeared in: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), The Bourne Supremacy (2004) and The Chronicles of Riddick (2004).

Is good friends with co-stars Viggo Mortensen from "The Lord of the Rings" and Renée O'Connor from "Xena: Warrior Princess" (1995).

Was considered for the part of Kainan in Outlander (2008).

Appears in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), which was previously made as an animated film with the voice of John Huston. Urban later appeared in "Comanche Moon" (2008), a prequel to "Lonesome Dove" (1989), which featured Anjelica Huston.

Of German descent on his father's side.

Has played the younger versions of iconic characters in two "prequels." He plays Woodrow Call in the "Lonesome Dove" (1989) prequel "Comanche Moon" (2008) and Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy in Star Trek (2009).

Very good friends with his Star Trek co-stars Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto.

Has replaced Tommy Lee Jones as Woodrow Call in the Lonesome Dove series, and Sylvester Stallone as Judge Dredd. Both characters previously appeared in films opposite Diane Lane.

Has two sons: Hunter (born November 2000) and Indiana (Indy) (born January 2005).

Is an ambassador for KidsCan. A charity which supports over 16,000 disadvantaged children with shoes, food and coats.

Started his acting career at the age of 8.

His father is a German immigrant and owned a leather goods factory. His mother worked for Film Facilities in Wellington, New Zealand.

Was a huge fan of the Star Trek franchise long before being cast as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy in the remake.

He has stated that his favorite "Xena: Warrior Princess" (1995) episode is "A Day in the Life" in which he did not appear.

Enjoys video games, which is what influenced him to take a role in the 2005 adaptation of "Doom".

His accent as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy in the 2009 Star Trek film was so reminiscent of DeForest Kelley that it reportedly moved Leonard Nimoy (who starred alongside Kelley in the original series and films) to tears.

He named his son Indiana after Harrison Ford's iconic character Indiana Jones, of whom Karl is a huge fan.

Personal Quotes

[on his fondest memory of working with Peter Jackson while shooting the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy] Peter's really open to the humor in the day-to-day. One time we were referencing a line in the book, "We counted all the slain and despoiled them, then we piled the carcasses and burned them." Of course, we went on all sorts of disgusting tangents about what else these Rohan soldiers did to the poor Orcs.