Rhys-Davies appeared sporadically on UK television in the early 1970s, including his role as the gangster "Laughing Spam Fritter" opposite
Adam Faith in
Budgie. Later, Rhys-Davies played
Praetorian officer
Naevius Sutorius Macro in
I, Claudius. He then began to appear more frequently, and not just in the UK, with roles as a Portuguese navigator Rodrigues in the 1980 television miniseries
Shōgun, based on the novel by
James Clavell. In 1989, Rhys-Davies played Marvel Comics character
Kingpin in
The Trial of the Incredible Hulk. He also starred in another Clavell adaption,
Noble House, set in Hong Kong, where Rhys-Davies plays Ian Dunross' corporate enemy, Quillan Gornt. He has since appeared in numerous television shows and miniseries, including Agent Michael Malone in the 1993 remake of the 1950s television series
The Untouchables as well as a leading role in the television series
Sliders as Professor Maximillian Arturo from 1995 to 1997. Rhys-Davies also appeared in
Reilly, Ace of Spies in 1983, made several appearances in
Star Trek: Voyager as a
holodeck version of
Leonardo da Vinci, starred as an ally of
James Bond in
The Living Daylights, and appeared in the film
One Night with the King. Rhys-Davies has played the character
Porthos in two separate projects; a two-part episode of
The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne, and the Hallmark Channel film
La Femme Musketeer. He appears in the
full-motion video cut scenes of computer games including
Ripper (as Vigo Haman) (1996),
Dune 2000 (as Noree Moneo) (1998), and the
Wing Commander series (as James Taggart, doubling as the voice of Thrakhath nar Kiranka in the third game of the series). In 2004, Rhys-Davies narrated
The Privileged Planet, a documentary that makes the case for
intelligent design. He also provided narration in the MTV series
Wildboyz around this time. In 2013, Rhys-Davies appeared in the family history programme
Coming Home, in which he discovered information about his grandfather's life in the Carmarthenshire coal mines. In 2014, Rhys-Davies joined the cast of the television show
Métal Hurlant Chronicles to play Holgarth, an immortal alchemist. In October 2015, it was announced that he had a role in the single-player module
Squadron 42, of the planned PC game franchise
Star Citizen; the work consisted of full body
motion capture, including facial expressions and his voice. In October 2024, with
Squadron 42 in its 10th year of development, the developer suggested that it might be released in 2026.
Indiana Jones movies Rhys-Davies played
Sallah in the 1981 film
Raiders of the Lost Ark. He reprised the role of Sallah in two subsequent
Indiana Jones films.
The Lord of the Rings movies Rhys-Davies appeared as the dwarf
Gimli in
The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The cinematography of the films was aided in that Rhys-Davies is tall – , compared to the actors playing hobbits at around . Therefore, although his character was supposed to be short, Rhys-Davies was properly in proportion compared to the hobbit actors. Had he been of more similar height, shots of the entire fellowship would have required three camera passes rather than two. Rhys-Davies is the only one of the nine Fellowship of the Ring actors who did not receive a tattoo of the word "nine" written in the
Tengwar script; his stunt double, Brett Beattie, was offered the tattoo instead as Rhys-Davies was disinclined to get one himself and Beattie had spent so much time as his double that he almost received co-credit. Rhys-Davies suffered severe reactions to the
prosthetics used during filming, and his eyes sometimes swelled shut. When asked whether Rhys-Davies would consider returning to the role for the
film version of The Hobbit, he said, "I have already completely ruled it out. There's a sentimental part of me that would love to be involved again. Really I am not sure my face can take that sort of punishment any more." Rhys-Davies added that this time around, "[t]hey've got a different set of problems... because you've got 13 dwarves, a whole band of them... You're trying to represent a whole race... You're trying to do for dwarves what
The Lord of the Rings did for hobbits." He offered help as a dwarf advisor in 2011, but ruled out returning as Gimli in
The Hobbit because of the punishing makeup required.
Voice work In addition to voicing the Ent
Treebeard in
Lord of the Rings, Rhys-Davies has lent his distinctive voice to many video games and animated television series, including the role of
Hades in
Justice League, the original voice of
Man Ray in
SpongeBob SquarePants (until both roles were recast with
Bob Joles), and numerous times in
Gargoyles (1994–1996), as the character
Macbeth. He also lent his vocal talents to the games
Freelancer (as Richard Winston Tobias) and
Lords of Everquest (both in 2003) and the game
Quest for Glory IV: Shadows of Darkness, which was released with his narration on a CD-ROM version in 1995. Rhys-Davies also had a voice role on ''
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance as the character Jherek, and narrated a documentary called The Glory of Macedonia
. Next Generation magazine gave its Dune 2000'' review "an automatic one-star deduction for featuring John "Multimedia Whore" Rhys-Davies in the
FMV." Rhys-Davies' voice can be heard on the 2009 documentary
Reclaiming the Blade. In the narration, he explores swords,
historical European swordsmanship and fight choreography on film, a topic very familiar to Rhys-Davies from his experiences in
The Lord of the Rings trilogy, where his character wielded an axe in many scenes. In 2004, Rhys-Davies was the unknowing subject of an internet prank that spread false rumours in several mainstream media sources that he was scheduled to play the role of
General Grievous in
Star Wars Episode III. Rhys-Davies is the narrator of
The Truth & Life Dramatized audio New Testament Bible, a 22-hour, celebrity-voiced, fully dramatised
audiobook version of the New Testament which uses the Revised Standard Version-Catholic Edition translation. In 2011, he presented
KJB: The Book That Changed The World, which features Rhys-Davies reading diverse snippets from the King James Version. Rhys-Davies' voice work also includes voice-over work with
Breathe Bible. In 2016, he provided spoken words for
Voices of Fire, the sixth album by
a cappella power metal band
van Canto. A resident of the
Isle of Man since 1988, John Rhys-Davies provides the introductory voice-over to the Island's
Castle Rushen, one of the best-preserved medieval fortresses in the British Isles. In 2018, he lent his voice to the Isle of Man's tourism commercial. Rhys-Davies voice was recorded for some of the callouts in the 1993 Williams SuperPin
Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure. In the 2023 video game
The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria, Rhys-Davies reprises the role of Gimli and narrates the opening scene. ==Personal life==