Barry Pepper (info)
Barry Robert Pepper was born on April 4, 1970, in Campbell River, British Columbia, Canada, as the youngest of three sons. He has two older brothers named Alex and Doug Pepper. The Peppers didn't stick around Campbell River for too long. They had been building a ship in their backyard for years. When Barry was five years old, the ship was done and the family set sail. The ship, named "The Moonlighter," was a 50-foot craft that would be their home for the next five years. They navigated through the South Pacific islands, using only a sextant and the stars as guides. While visiting such exotic locales as Fiji and Tahiti, Barry was educated through correspondence courses and sometimes enrolled in public schools. He grew up around Polynesian children and credits them for his love of dance, music and other expressive arts. Barry had plenty of time to practice his newfound loves, too. Without television as entertainment on the ship, the family relied on games and sketch acting for fun. When the five-year cruise was over, the Peppers returned to their native Canada, where they set up shop on a small island off the West Coast near Vancouver. They built a farm on the outskirts of a small artists' town, which was populated mainly by hippies, poets, musicians and other craftsmen. While in high school, Barry was enthusiastic about art and excelled in sports. In addition to playing volleyball, he was an excellent rugby player. He graduated in 1988 from George P. Vanier High School in Courtenay and then enrolled in college and majored in marketing and graphic design, but after getting involved with the Vancouver Actors Studio, he changed his course. Once again, he was using "the stars" to navigate. Barry landed his first role on
Madison (1993) (a sort of Canadian 90210) and other prominent television series before moving on to more prestigious roles in the US. Television movies followed, most notably the mini-series
Titanic (1996), which costarred
George C. Scott. Still, Barry's career really wasn't taking off. He was a hard-working actor, but not a star. That all changed in 1998. After a string of big screen duds, Pepper obtained his breakthrough role as a Bible-quoting sniper in
Steven Spielberg's WW II drama
Salvar al soldado Ryan (1998). With the success of the film came sudden stardom for its cast--complete with photo spreads, interviews and even some Oscar buzz. Barry followed the film with a small but noteworthy role in the blockbuster,
Enemigo público (1998) opposite
Will Smith and
Gene Hackman. Next he co-starred in an Oscar-worthy film starring
Tom Hanks:
Stephen King's
La milla verde (1999). Barry received much critical acclaim in 2001 for his portrayal of
Roger Maris in the made-for-cable drama about the 1961 home run race between Maris and
Mickey Mantle called
61* (2001). - IMDb Mini Biography By:
Laffz00@aol.com
Spouse
Cindy Pepper (
16 November 1997 - present) (1 child)
Trade Mark
Frequently plays soldiers or agents
Often cries in the roles he plays.
Trivia
Graduated from Georges P. Vanier Secondary School.
From the age of five, Barry spent three years traveling with his family to places like Fiji, Tahiti and New Zealand on a boat which they built themselves.
17 June 2000 - 6 lb. 12 oz. daughter born, named Annaliese.
Barry's mother enrolled him in ballet classes to round out his love of rugby, football, and baseball. At one point, he taught breakdancing.
Appeared in Jagged Edge's "Goodbye" video.
Frequently employs his older brother Doug Pepper as his assistant on film sets.
Was going to play
Howard Hughes's chief engineer
Glenn Odekirk in director
Martin Scorsese's latest film
El aviador (2004), but due to prior commitment and scheduling conflicts with the film
Ripley Under Ground (2005), he had to drop out.
He announced, after the fact, that had he known he was going to "win" a Worst Supporting Actor Razzie Award for Campo de batalla: la Tierra (2000), he would have gladly attended the ceremonies and accepted his dis-honor in person.
Has played two different popular sports stars: he played
Roger Maris in
61* (2001), and
Dale Earnhardt in
3: The Dale Earnhardt Story (2004).
Auditioned for a role in Tombstone: la leyenda de Wyatt Earp (1993).
As of 2014, has appeared in three films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar:
Salvar al soldado Ryan (1998),
La milla verde (1999) and
Valor de ley (2010).
Appeared as Tom Hanks subordinate in two films: Salvar al soldado Ryan (1998) and La milla verde (1999). Both films were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar.
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