Deep Roy

Gurdeep "Deep" Roy (born Mohinder Purba; 1 December 1957) is a Kenyan-British actor, puppeteer and stuntman. At tall, he has often been cast as diminutive characters, such as Teeny Weeny in '' The NeverEnding Story'', all the Oompa-Loompas in '' Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'', Keenser in ''Star Trek'' and its sequels, and in television series such as ''The X-Files'', ''Doctor Who'', and '' Eastbound & Down''.

Life and career

Roy was born on 1 December 1957 in Nairobi to Indian parents in a Sikh family. He studied accounting in London before dropping out at 18. He later enrolled in The Slim Wood School of Comedy and got his start in the entertainment arena in England in 1970 as a stand-up comic in local cabaret clubs. In April 1970, Roy opened on the UK stage in Ray Cooney's Miracle Worker at the Palace Theatre, Westcliff-on-Sea. He made his professional screen acting debut in a 1976 episode of '' The New Avengers'', titled "Target!" as a character named Klokoe. He made his film debut later that same year, in '' The Pink Panther Strikes Again'', as the Italian Assassin. Another early role was as Mr. Sin, the "pig-brained Peking Homunculus", a villain with a distinct appetite for homicide, in the ''Doctor Who'' serial '' The Talons of Weng-Chiang''. In 1979, Roy played a genetically engineered life form "Decima" in the first season of ''Blake's 7'' episode "The Web", the diminutive chess genius, "The Klute", in the second season of ''Blake's 7'' episode "Gambit" and he voiced the character "Moloch", in the third season of ''Blake's 7'' episode "Moloch". He was a stand-in for the Jedi Master Yoda in '' The Empire Strikes Back''. He is uncredited on the film but can be seen in many behind-the-scenes photos dressed as Yoda for perspective shots filmed towards the end of production.

He has played apes in two movies: '' Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes,'' and again in the Tim Burton remake of ''Planet of the Apes'' (2001) in two roles, one as a young gorilla boy and as Thade's niece. He has worked for Burton in three other films, '' Big Fish'' (2003), '' Corpse Bride'' (2005), where he supplied General Bonesapart's voice, and ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' (also 2005). He played all 165 Oompa-Loompas in ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.'' In referencing his workload during production, director Tim Burton called Roy the "hardest-working man in show biz". Roy had extensive training for the role in dance, yoga, and some minor instrument playing.

He has performed many other roles in films and on television, including ''The X-Files'', '' Flash Gordon'', '' Return to Oz'' (as the Tin Woodman), Jim Henson's ''The Dark Crystal'' as a puppeteer extra, '' The NeverEnding Story'' as Teeny Weeny, the rider of the "racing snail", '' Alien from L.A.'', '' Howling VI: The Freaks'' as Mr Toones and ''Return of the Jedi'' as Droopy McCool.

He appeared in '' Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen'' (2009) as an Egyptian border guard and in the film ''Star Trek'' (also 2009) as Keenser, Scotty's assistant on the ice planet Delta Vega; he reprised the Keenser role in the sequels '' Star Trek Into Darkness'' and ''Star Trek Beyond''. In one of his more prominent speaking roles, Roy played Aaron, a violent Mumbai-born Mexican criminal in the second season of the HBO comedy '' Eastbound & Down''. Roy starred as Sandeep Majumdar in the 2012 short film ''The Ballad of Sandeep''.

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Roy, Deep
1957 births
20th-century British male actors
20th-century Kenyan male actors
21st-century British male actors
21st-century Kenyan male actors
Actors with dwarfism
British actors with disabilities
British male actors
British people of Indian descent
British people of Indo-Kenyan descent
British puppeteers
British stunt performers
Kenyan emigrants to the United Kingdom
Kenyan male film actors
Kenyan people of Indian descent
Kenyan people with disabilities
Kenyan stunt performers
Living people
Male actors from Nairobi
Puppetry in Kenya