Born on Apr. 13, 1950, in New York, NY to a jazz musician father and municipal worker mother, Perlman was an outgoing performer at an early age, first getting a taste of the stage with standup comedy as a teenager. After graduating George Washington High School, he earned a bachelor of fine arts degree in theater from Lehman College and his master’s in the same from the University of Minnesota. He returned to New York well-trained in classical theater and drama, making his off-Broadway debut in 1976 as the Emperor in "The Architect and the Emperor of Assyria" at the famed LaMaMa Theatre. Perlman’s Broadway breakthrough came with "Teibele and Her Demon" in 1979, leading to many more stage roles, including "La Tragedie de Carmen" (1981) and a U.S. tour of the Rodgers and Hart musical "Pal Joey." The following year, his imposing frame and expressive features helped secure his feature film debut as a perpetually hungry Cro-Magnon guard who could literally smell trouble in "Quest for Fire" (1982).
In the first of many B-movies, Perlman had a supporting role in the tongue-in-cheek sci-fi comedy, "The Ice Pirates" (1984), before playing a monk under suspicion of murder in the adaptation of Umberto Eco’s best-selling novel, "The Name of the Rose" (1986). His real breakthrough, however, came in 1987 when he was cast as the poignant, yet heroic half-human, half-animal Vincent in the series "Beauty and the Beast." While not a ratings success by any stretch, the series won a wildly devoted audience due in large part to the chemistry between Perlman and Linda Hamilton. Perlman’s sterling performance earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series. During the show’s run, Perlman beefed up his resume with television movies and was particularly memorable as the father of an Amish family who loses a child to a hate crime in "A Stoning in Fulham County" (NBC, 1988).
Perlman began to carve out a niche for himself in voicing characters for animated series, including "The Legend of Prince Valiant" (The Family Channel, 1991-95) and "The Adventures of Batman and Robin" (Fox, 1992-99), while ramping up his big screen career with roles in the Stephen King adaptation “Sleepwalkers” (1993) and Guillermo del Toro’s “Cronos” (1993). He played Pap Finn to Elijah Wood's Huck in "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" (1993), then overdid it as a Russian mobster in the farcical "Police Academy 7: Mission to Moscow" (1994). He voiced the animated kids show "Aladdin" (CBS and Syndication, 1994-97) and debuted in the video game world as the voice of Rene Korda in “Chronomaster.” Perlman’s first leading role in a feature film came when he was cast as a circus strongman in Jeunet & Caro's "The City of Lost Children" (1995). In a refreshing return to adult drama, he was excellent as a political pundit and ill-fated dinner guest in "The Last Supper" (1996).
Perlman had the opportunity to appear alongside Marlon Brando as the putative spiritual leader of the men-beasts in John Frankenheimer's unintentionally campy "The Island of Dr. Moreau" (1996). He went on to get a better profile boost opposite Sigourney Weaver and Winona Ryder in the fourth and final “Alien” film, “Alien Resurrection” (1997). Perlman’s distinctive voice rolled out on popular video games “Fallout” and “Fallout 2,” while being featured as Clayface in the animated series “The New Batman Adventures” (WB, 1997-99). After a pair of uniquely dark comedies – “I Woke Up Early the Day I Died” (1998) and “Happy, Texas” (1999) – he portrayed an aging Russian sniper in the World War II epic "Enemy at the Gates" (2001), then played a member of the Bloodpack with a persona vendetta against a vampire hunter (Wesley Snipes) in del Toro’s tense horror thriller, "Blade II" (2002). Reprising the voice of Clayface for half a dozen Batman-based series and video games, Perlman continued to voice a growing number of superhero and fantasy video games and animated series.
The increasingly visible actor scored a supporting role as the Reman Viceroy in "Star Trek: Nemesis" (2002), though the 10th installment of the franchise was a lesser hit than previous offerings. But no matter, Perlman’s next outing was a starring role that launched him to official movie star status. Reuniting with Guillermo del Toro, Perlman provided the burly physique and resonant voice of artist Mike Mignola's lesser-known comic book super-hero, "Hellboy" (2004), a demon delivered to Earth who grows up to become a benevolent paranormal investigator. The surprise sleeper hit provided Perlman with his most high-profile role — albeit under layers of red makeup — since his days as the Beast. Critics and audiences alike credited his charisma as crucial to the film’s success as the stunning visuals.
Perlman’s critically-hailed performance led to a flood of post-“Hellboy” offers. He delivered another standout performance in “The Last Winter” (2006), underground movie legend Larry Fessenden’s profoundly chilling story of a group of oil drillers in a remote part of Alaska. The film received universal raves from reviewers, but only received a limited art house release before finding some popularity on DVD. He went on to star in another psychological horror hit, “Stephen King’s Desperation” (ABC, 2006), an adaptation of the horror writer’s haunting tale about evil consuming a small desert town. Though Uwe Boll’s misguided video game adaptation, “In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale” (2007), was rightly skewered by critics, Perlman was back in the clover with the sequel “Hellboy 2: The Golden Army” (2008). Del Toro’s second outing again found Perlman battling to protect the human race against demonic forces, but this time a new threat tempts him to reconsider his loyalty. The film scored critical kudos, while Perlman’s characterization was again singled out as the key to the film’s success.