Elijah Wood's Real Name: Elijah Jordan Wood

Quick answer: Elijah Wood was born Elijah Jordan Wood on January 28, 1981, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He acts under his first and last names. He started out as a child model, moved to Los Angeles as a boy, and became world famous as Frodo Baggins in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy. He is also a keen music fan who DJs (Library of Congress; Los Angeles Times).

Real name and early life

The Library of Congress name authority files him as "Wood, Elijah, 1981-." Its citation reads "Elijah Wood, actor, producer; b. Elijah Jordan Wood, January 28, 1981 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, USA." Another LOC citation, from Lord of the Rings material, lists "Elijah Jordan Wood, plays Frodo the hobbit."

A 1990 Los Angeles Times profile reported that "Elijah began his career as a model in his native Cedar Rapids, Iowa." When his modeling school attended a convention in Los Angeles, an acting agent noticed him, and his family moved west. "I had never seen a palm tree before," the 9-year-old told the Times. "There is nothing to do in Cedar Rapids except the Sweet Corn Festival." Nuvo magazine later reported that he began modeling at about 5 on a mall runway. He moved to Los Angeles at about 7, appeared first in a Paula Abdul music video, and within a year had a small role in Back to the Future Part II. He credited his mother with keeping him grounded. "She never allowed me to believe that I was any more special than anyone else," he said.

Career highlights

Wood's first major film role was in Barry Levinson's Avalon (1990), as the director's young alter ego. He told the Times that working on location in Baltimore for four months "was just another job." Through the 1990s he was a busy child actor, with films including The Good Son, The Ice Storm, and Deep Impact.

The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002), and The Return of the King (2003) made him an international star as Frodo, and he returned briefly in The Hobbit. Nuvo noted his appetite for offbeat parts. He played a serial killer in Sin City, voiced the dancing penguin in Happy Feet, and took a supporting role in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind because he admired Michel Gondry and Charlie Kaufman. "I would have done catering on that film," he said. He starred in the FX comedy Wilfred.

Nuvo described him in 2012 as "a huge music buff who often DJs at local clubs." Despite that sideline, acting remains his main career.

Name notes for searchers

Elijah Wood is his birth name; Jordan is his middle name. He has never used a stage name.