Viggo Mortensen

Best known as an actor, Viggo Mortensen is a renaissance man of sorts who also pursues a variety of other artistic endeavors, including painting and poetry. Born in Manhattan, New York, in 1958, Mortensen grew up in a diverse household as the son of a Danish father and American mother. After his parents divorced in the late '60s, Mortensen lived with his mother in Watertown, NY, where he attended high school. After school, Mortensen earned degrees in government and Spanish at St. Lawrence University, from which he graduated in 1980. He then lived for a time with his father's f...