kids encyclopedia robot

Karl Urban facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Quick facts for kids
Karl Urban
Karl Urban by Gage Skidmore 2.jpg
Urban in 2017
Born
Karl-Heinz Urban

(1972-06-07) 7 June 1972 (age 51)
Wellington, New Zealand
Education St Mark's Church School
Alma mater Wellington College
Occupation Actor
Years active 1990–present
Spouse(s)
Natalie Wihongi
(m. 2004; separated 2014)
Children 2

Karl-Heinz Urban (born 7 June 1972) is a New Zealand actor. His career began with appearances in New Zealand films and TV series such as Xena: Warrior Princess. His first Hollywood role was in the 2002 horror film Ghost Ship. Since then, he has starred in many high-profile movies, including as Éomer in the second and third installments of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Vaako in the second and third installments of the Riddick film series, Leonard McCoy in the Star Trek reboot film series, Kirill in The Bourne Supremacy (2004), John "Reaper" Grimm in Doom (2005), Judge Dredd in Dredd (2012), Gavin Magary in Pete's Dragon (2016), and Skurge in Marvel Studios' Thor: Ragnarok (2017). In 2013, he starred in the sci-fi series Almost Human. Since 2019, he has starred as Billy Butcher in Amazon's superhero streaming television series The Boys.

Early life

Urban was born in Wellington, New Zealand. His father, a German immigrant, owned a leather goods store, and his mother once worked for Film Facilities in Wellington. Through his mother, the young Urban was exposed to classic New Zealand cinema and developed an interest in the film industry. Urban attended St Mark's Church School, where he showed an early love for public performance. His first acting role came at age eight, when he had a single line in one episode of the New Zealand television series Pioneer Woman. Though continuing to take part in school stage productions, he did not act professionally again until after high school.

He attended Wellington College in 1986–1990. He then enrolled at Victoria University of Wellington in the Bachelor of Arts program but left after one year to pursue a career in acting. Over the next few years, he appeared in several local TV commercials in addition to theater roles in the Wellington area. ..... Urban then moved briefly to Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia in 1995 before returning to New Zealand the following year.

Career

Urban's first Hollywood role was in the 2002 horror film Ghost Ship. Since then, he has worked on many high-profile movies, including the second and third installments of The Lord of the Rings trilogy (The Two Towers and The Return of the King) as Éomer, The Bourne Supremacy (as Russian Federal Security Service agent Kirill), The Chronicles of Riddick, Star Trek and Doom. The Hollywood Reporter speculated that Urban was one of several actors being considered for the part of British secret service agent 007 in Casino Royale, directed by fellow New Zealander Martin Campbell.

Urban played John "Reaper" Grimm in Universal Pictures' Doom (based on the first-person shooter video game Doom), which was released on 21 October 2005. In 2007, he starred in the Viking adventure Pathfinder. A longtime fan of Westerns, he starred as Woodrow Call in Comanche Moon, a television miniseries that aired in early 2008 as a prequel to the Lonesome Dove miniseries based on Larry McMurtry's book series of the same name.

Star Trek Into Darkness Cast 2013
Urban, Zachary Quinto, J. J. Abrams, and Chris Pine, at the Star Trek Into Darkness movie premiere in Sydney, Australia in April 2013

In the 2009 film Star Trek, he played Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, a role originated by DeForest Kelley in the original Star Trek TV series. A fan of the Star Trek franchise since childhood, Urban actively pursued a role in the film. His performance was widely embraced by the Star Trek fan community for its faithfulness to the spirit of Kelley's McCoy. Urban reprised the role in the 2013 film Star Trek Into Darkness and the 2016 film Star Trek Beyond.

Urban next appeared as CIA agent William Cooper in Red, adapted from the graphic novel of the same name and co-starring Bruce Willis and Helen Mirren. He portrayed Black Hat, a villainous priest-turned-vampire, in the film adaptation of the Korean manhwa Priest, released in 3-D in 2011.

In 2012, Urban starred as law-enforcing comic book character Judge Dredd in the film Dredd. In an interview with Shave magazine, Urban described it as a "high-octane, action-fueled film... about the day in the life of Dredd". The film was directed by Pete Travis, with a script by Alex Garland. Though it underperformed at the box office, Dredd was well received by critics.

Karl Urban (18325632655)
Urban at Phoenix Comicon in May 2015

In 2013, Urban starred as Detective John Kennex in Almost Human, a TV series created by J. H. Wyman. The series was set 35 years into the future when cops in the L.A.P.D. are paired up with lifelike androids. Urban played a detective who has a dislike for robots but ends up being teamed up with one with emotional feelings. Urban next appeared in the ensemble thriller The Loft, a remake of the Belgian film of the same name. It was filmed in New Orleans and Belgium by the director of the 2008 original, Erik Van Looy. In January 2015, Urban replaced Michael C. Hall as the main antagonist in the 2016 remake of Pete's Dragon. In 2017, he played Skurge in Thor: Ragnarok. Also in 2017, Urban played a psychotic cop in the action thriller Acts of Vengeance opposite Antonio Banderas and Robert Forster. Urban had a cameo as a stormtrooper in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in 2019. He voiced the lead role in The Sea Beast in 2022.

Since 2019, Urban has starred as William "Billy" Butcher in the Amazon Prime series The Boys.

Personal life

In September 2004, Urban married his longtime partner, Natalie Wihongi, who was his makeup artist for the 2000 television film The Privateers. Together they have two sons; Hunter and Indiana. His second son was named for the eponymous hero of the Indiana Jones franchise, which he has stated is one of his favourite movie series. They lived in their NZ$5.25 million mansion in the affluent Herne Bay section of Auckland, New Zealand. The couple announced their separation in June 2014.

From 2014 to 2018, he was in a relationship with actress Katee Sackhoff.

Philanthropy

Urban serves as a celebrity ambassador for KidsCan, a charity that currently supports over 16,000 disadvantaged children in New Zealand by providing them with essentials such as food, clothing, and shoes.

In May 2022, UNICEF Aotearoa New Zealand welcomed Urban as an official Ambassador to support in raising awareness on children's rights both in New Zealand and around the world.

On 1 June 2020, Urban, together with Sean Astin, Sean Bean, Orlando Bloom, Billy Boyd, Ian McKellen, Dominic Monaghan, Viggo Mortensen, Miranda Otto, John Rhys-Davies, Andy Serkis, Liv Tyler, and Elijah Wood, plus writer Philippa Boyens and director Peter Jackson, joined Josh Gad's YouTube series Reunited Apart which reunites the cast of popular movies through video-conferencing, and promotes donations to non-profit charities.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1992 Chunuk Bair Wellington Soldier
1998 Heaven Sweeper
Via Satellite Paul
2000 The Irrefutable Truth about Demons Harry Ballard
The Price of Milk Rob
2002 Ghost Ship Munder
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Éomer
2003 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast
Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Acting Ensemble
National Board of Review Award for Best Cast
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Nominated—Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast
2004 The Chronicles of Riddick Siberius Vaako
The Bourne Supremacy Kirill
2005 Doom John "Reaper" Grimm Nominated—Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Bloodiest Beatdown (with Dwayne Johnson)
2006 Out of the Blue Nick Harvey Won—Qantas Film and Television Award for Best Supporting Actor
2007 Pathfinder Ghost
2009 Star Trek Leonard McCoy Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cast
Denver Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast
Nominated—Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Acting Ensemble
Nominated—Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble
Black Water Transit Earl Pike
2010 And Soon the Darkness Michael
Red William Cooper
2011 Priest Black Hat
2012 Dredd Judge Dredd
2013 Star Trek Into Darkness Leonard McCoy
Riddick Siberius Vaako Cameo
Walking with Dinosaurs Zack
2014 The Loft Vincent Stevens
2016 Star Trek Beyond Leonard McCoy
Pete's Dragon Gavin Magary
2017 Thor: Ragnarok Skurge the Executioner
Acts of Vengeance Officer Hank Strode
Hangman Detective Will Ruiney
2018 Bent Danny Gallagher
2019 Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Stormtrooper Cameo
2020 Butcher: A Short Film William "Billy" Butcher Short film
2022 The Sea Beast Jacob Holland Voice role
TBA Mortal Kombat 2 Johnny Cage Filming
Key
Films that have not yet been released Denotes films that have not yet been released

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1990 Shark in the Park Rohann Murdoch 6 episodes
1992 Homeward Bound Tim Johnstone Unknown episodes
1993 White Fang David Episode: "Tough Kid"
1993–1994 Shortland Street Paramedic Jamie Forrest Recurring
1995 Riding High James Westwood Unknown episodes
1996–1998 Hercules: The Legendary Journeys Cupid; Julius Caesar Episode: "The Green-Eyed Monster"; "Render Unto Caesar"
1996–2001 Xena: Warrior Princess Mael Episode: "Altared States" (season 1)
Julius Caesar 8 episodes (season 2–4, 6)
Cupid 2 episodes (season 2)
Kor Episode: "Lifeblood" (season 5)
1997 Amazon High Kor Television film
2000 The Privateers Captain Aran Dravyk Television film
2008 Comanche Moon Woodrow F. Call Miniseries
2013 Almost Human John Kennex 13 episodes
2014 Short Poppies Alex Turnbull Episode: "Mary Ledbetter"
2019–present The Boys William "Billy" Butcher Lead role, 24 episodes. Also producer.
Nominated—Best Actor in a Superhero Series, Critics' Choice Super Awards
Nominated—Best Actor in a Streaming Series, Drama, Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards
2022 Ark: The Animated Series Bob Voice role
2023 Gen V William "Billy" Butcher Episode: "Guardians of Godolkin"

Video games

Year Title Voice role Notes
2013 Star Trek Leonard McCoy Also likeness
2023 "Let's Get to Work”

ARMORED CORE VI FIRES OF RUBICON

live–action trailer

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Karl Urban para niños

kids search engine
Karl Urban Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.