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Viggo Peter Mortensen (born October 20, 1958 in
New York City), is a Denmark|Danish-United
States|American theater and film|movie actor, a
published poet, Photography|photographer and
painter. Viggo's parents meet in Norway. He has a
son, Henry Blake, with his ex-wife Christine
Cervenka (aka "Exene"). 
His grandmother was from Trondheim, Norway

He is best known for his role as Aragorn in Peter
Jackson's The Lord of the Rings#The Lord of the
Rings on film|The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.
He was a last-minute replacement for the role, and
wouldn't have taken the part if it hadn't been for
his son's enthusiasm for J. R. R. Tolkien's
trilogy.  With part of the money he received for
the film he founded the Perceval Press publishing
house--named for the knight from the legend of
King Arthur--to help other artists by publishing
avant-garde works that might not find a home in
more traditional publishing venues.

After several years of experience in live theater,
he began his movie career playing an Amish farmer
in Peter Weir's Witness.  He has also appeared in
Jane Campion's film The Portrait of a Lady
(film)|The Portrait of a Lady, Sean Penn's Indian
Runner, Brian DePalma's Carlito's Way, Tony
Scott's Crimson Tide (movie)|Crimson Tide, Ridley
Scott's G.I. Jane, Tony Goldwyn's A Walk on the
Moon and  Philip Ridley's Reflecting Skin.

Mortensen's performance in Bent at the Coast
Playhouse,  Los Angeles, won him a Dramalogue
Critics' Award.

Mortensen's bibliography includes
* Ten Last Night (1993 in literature|1993), his
first collection of poetry;
* Recent Forgeries (1998 in literature|1998),
ISBN: 1-889195-32-4 5th Edition, documents Viggo's
first solo exhibition and includes a CD with music
and spoken-word poetry. Introduction by Dennis
Hopper; 
* Errant Vine (2000 in literature|2000), limited
edition booklet of an exhibit at the Robert Mann
Gallery.  Only about 300 were published at the
time of the exhibition so it is a very rare book;
* Hole in the Sun (2002 in literature|2002, ISBN
0972143610), color and black and white photographs
of a back yard swimming pool;
* SignLanguage (2002 ISBN 1889195499), a catalog
from an exhibition of his works, combining
photographs, paintings, and poetry into a
multimedia diary of his time in  New Zealand while
filming The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of
the Ring (film)|The Lord of the Rings: The
Fellowship of the Ring;
* Coincidence of Memory (2002 in literature|2002,
ISBN: 0-9721436-0-2 Third Edition, in this book,
the artist combines photographs, paintings, and
poems that cover his artistic output from 1978 to
2002;
* Mo Te Upoko-o-te-ika/For Wellington (2003 in
literature|2003), ISBN 0-9721436-8-8, a book to
accompany the joint exhibitions at Massey
University and the Wellington City Gallery during
the premiere of The Lord of the Rings: The Return
of the King (film)|The Lord of the Rings: The
Return of the King;
* 45301 (2003 in literature|2003), ISBN
0-9721436-3-7, Abstract images, fragments and
phrases from poems create this photography book.
Many of the photographs were shot during travels
to Morocco, Cuba, and the northern plains of the
United States; 
* Un hueco en el sol (2003 in literature|2003), a
small booklet was published to accompany the
exhibition "Un hueco en el sol" at the Fototeca de
Cuba in Havana. In Spanish;
* Miyelo (2003 in literature|2003), ISBN
097214367X), a series of panoramic
format|panoramic photographs of a Lakota Ghost
Dance;
* The Horse is Good (2004 in literature|2004),
ISBN 0-9747078-1-3, a photography book partly shot
during his work on the film Hidalgo (film)|Hidalgo
about horses as partners, teachers, and fellow
travelers. Images from Morocco, South Dakota,
Montana, California, Iceland, New Zealand,
Denmark, Brazil, Argentina.

His marriage in 1987 to punk rocker Exene
Cervenka|Exene (Christene) Cervenka, ended in an
amicable divorce in 1998. They have a son, Henry,
born in 1988. 


Mortensen spent some childhood years in Venezuela,
Argentina, and his father's native Denmark, before
returning to high school in Watertown, New York
(where he was captain of the swim team). He
graduated from St. Lawrence University in 1980. He
is fluent in English language|English, Spanish
language|Spanish and Danish language|Danish. He
also speaks  Norwegian language|Norwegian and
Swedish language|Swedish reasonably well.

== Artwork, Music, and Poetry ==
Mortensen is also a published author of poetry. He
also sings some of his poetry in what is called
experimental music. This type of music consists of
any sound that can fit into the song.  A frequent
collaborator on many of his recordings is
Buckethead.

His Discography includes: Don't Tell Me What to
Do, One Less Thing to Worry About, 
One Man's Meat, Live at Beyond Baroque, The Other
Parade, This That and The Other, Live at Beyond
Baroque 2, Pandemoniumfromamerica, and Please
Tomorrow. 

His voice was featured on the The Lord of the
Rings: The Return of the King (film)|The Lord of
the Rings: The Return of the King soundtrack. His
poems are written in English, Danish, and Spanish.


Mortensen is also a painter, and photographer. His
paintings are abstract, and often contain
fragments of his poetry in them. His paintings
have been featured in galleries worldwide.

== External links ==
* imdb name|id=0001557|name=Viggo Mortensen
* http://www.percevalpress.com/ Perceval Press,
Mortensen's publishing company
* http://www.brego.net/viggo/
www.brego.net/viggo/, Extensive resource on
Viggo's art, music and political activism