Person
J. R. R. Tolkien
Bloemfontein, Orange Free State, South Africa
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE, was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high-fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord…
IMDbKnown for
Popular titles
Photos
More stills of J. R. R. Tolkien
Biography
A closer look
Read full biography
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE, was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high-fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. He served as the Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon and Fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford, from 1925 to 1945 and Merton Professor of English Language and Literature and Fellow of Merton College, Oxford from 1945 to 1959. He was at one time a close friend of C. S. Lewis —they were both members of the informal literary discussion group known as the Inklings. Tolkien was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II on 28 March 1972. After Tolkien's death, his son Christopher published a series of works based on his father's extensive notes and unpublished manuscripts, including The Silmarillion. These, together with The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings form a connected body of tales, poems, fictional histories, invented languages, and literary essays about a fantasy world called Arda, and Middle-Earth within it. Between 1951 and 1955, Tolkien applied the term “legendarium” to the larger part of these writings. While many other authors had published works of fantasy before Tolkien, the great success of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings led directly to a popular resurgence of the genre. This has caused Tolkien to be popularly identified as the father of modern fantasy literature —or, more precisely, of high fantasy. In 2008, The Times ranked him sixth on a list of The 50 greatest British writers since 1945.
Filmography
Movies and shows, newest first
-
2027
The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum
Movie Novel
-
2024
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim
Movie Characters
-
2024
Tolkien: The True Story of the Rings
Movie Self - Writer (archive footage)
-
2022
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
TV show Novel
- 2022
-
2022
Wonderland: From JM Barrie to JRR Tolkien
TV show Self (archive footage)
-
2016
Dagor Dagorath
Movie Author
-
2016
Robert Gilson: Memoirs of an Infantry Officer
Movie Self (archive footage)
-
2015
Ainulindalë (J.R.R Tolkien Short Animation)
Movie Writer
-
2014
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Movie Novel
-
2013
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Movie Novel
-
2012
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Movie Novel
-
2008
The Mewlips
Movie Author
-
2004
Mr. Bliss
Movie Novel
-
2003
Secrets of Middle-Earth: Inside Tolkien's The Return of the King
Movie Self (archive footage)
-
2003
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Movie Novel
More credits
-
2003
Secrets of Middle-Earth: Inside Tolkien's The Hobbit
Movie Self (archive footage)
-
2003
Secrets of Middle-Earth: Inside Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring
Movie Self (archive footage)
-
2003
Secrets of Middle-Earth: Inside Tolkien's The Two Towers
Movie Self (archive footage)
-
2002
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Movie Novel
-
2002
J.R.R. Tolkien: Master of the Rings - The Definitive Guide to the World of the Rings
Movie Self (archive footage)
- 2001
-
1998
J.R.R. Tolkien
Movie Self (archive footage)
-
1994
The Hobbit: Treasures Under the Mountain
Movie Novel
-
1993
The Hobbits
TV show Novel
-
1992
J.R.R.T. : A Study of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, 1892-1973
Movie Self (archive footage)
-
1991
The Keepers
TV show Novel
- 1985
-
1980
The Return of the King
Movie Novel
-
1978
The Lord of the Rings
Movie Novel
-
1977
The Hobbit
Movie Novel
-
1971
Sagan om ringen
Movie Novel
-
1968
Tolkien in Oxford
Movie Himself
-
1967
J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit
Movie Novel
-
—
The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past
Movie Characters
