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REAL NAME: Christopher A. Lloyd
BORN: October 22, 1938, Stamford, Conneticut
STATS: 6′1″, Brown eyes
EDUCATION: Neighborhood Playhouse, New York.
SPOUSE: Jane Walker Wood-Lloyd
CHRISTOPHER LLOYD, an actor whose performing credits include a wide variety of motion picture, television and theatrical roles, has been known to make magic on more than one performance. There are several actors who can be instantly identified to a single character role. For Lloyd, single character recognition is impossible. He has captivated both critics and audiences alike with his winning portrayals of quirky, off-beat characters; portrayals that have taken him to untold dimensions. Constantly astounding and amusing fellow cast and crew members with outrageous improvisation, his performances take on a variety of facial and body contortions that are unique only to Lloyd.
Christopher Lloyd grew up in nearby New Canaan and Westport. He was drawn to acting at the age of 14, and only two years later, was apprenticing in summer stock. At the age of 19, he moved to New York and began acting classes, most notably at the Neighborhood Playhouse with Sanford Meisner. Opting for the bright lights of the big city over college, he moved to New York City to study acting. Before long, off-Broadway became his new stomping grounds.
Christopher Lloyd has appeared in countless Broadway, New York Shakespeare Festivals, and off-Broadway productions. Among these are: “Happy End", “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (both opposite Meryl Streep), “Red, White and Maddox", “Kaspar", “The Harlot and the Hunted", “The Seagull", “Total Eclipse", “MacBeth", “In the Boom Boom Room", “Cracks", “Professional Resident Company", “What Every Woman Knows", “As They Put Handcuffs on the Flowers", “The Father", “King Lear", and “Power Failure".
It was a casting break out of New York City that launched Lloyd’s film career, when he won a role in the Academy® Award-winning One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. After shooting finished in Oregon, Lloyd was determined to pursue a film career, and on July 4, 1976 he moved to Los Angeles. Two years later, he made a guest appearance on the eighth episode of Taxi, and that was the beginning of his launch into super-stardom. The following season, he was added as a cast regular, opposite buddy Danny DeVito, whom he had previously worked with on One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Goin’ South.
Lloyd has won three Emmy® Awards - two for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his role in both the 1982 and 1983 seasons of Taxi, and the other for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series on a guest appearance in Disney’s Avonlea (1992). He has also won an Obie Award (1973), and a Drama Desk Award (1973) from the Village Voice for Outstanding Performance in the Off-Broadway play “Kaspar".
After Taxi, his success snowballed. Probably the hardest working man in show business, Lloyd is known primarily for his portrayal of some of Hollywood’s most recognizable off-beat characters, such as “Reverend Jim Ignatowski", “Doc Brown", “Fester Addams” and “Colonel Kruge” to name a few. Globally recognized as “Dr. Emmett L. Brown” from the Back to the Future movies, Christopher Lloyd reprised the character in the early ’90s in Universal Studios’ themepark attraction Back to the Future…The Ride, and for two seasons on CBS’s Back to the Future - The Animated Series. He made his CD-ROM game debut on the interactive game Toonstruck.
He continues to move between television and movie roles with the greatest of ease. Because of Lloyd’s extensive work in all entertainment media, his credits are numerous. In addition to his Emmy® Award-winning work on Taxi, he has appeared in Cheers and Barney Miller. Other television credits include Old Friends, Best of the West, Visions, as well as numerous miniseries and movies for television. His most recent work in television was for the short-lived UPN series Deadly Games.
But don’t expect to see Lloyd dropping in on the various talk shows to promote his movies or television projects. He is an extremely shy individual, and prefers to keep his personal life separate from his acting career. He makes sure that every contract is written so that he is not obligated to promote the projects he’s involved with, as he simply just does not feel comfortable doing interviews. It’s a request that remains highly respected by the Hollywood community. He has, however, promoted two films by appearing in music videos by the soundtrack’s artists. He appeared as Doc Brown in Huey Lewis & The News’ “The Power of Love", and as Fester Addams in Hammer’s “Addams Groove".
Christopher Lloyd and his wife Jane currently make their residence in the Los Angeles area.
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