TimRoth reveals grandfather sexually abused him

Tim Roth has revealed that both he and his father were sexually abused by his grandfather, in a shocking interview with The Guardian. Tim Roth, who was doing the press rounds for his new BBC drama ‘Rillington Place’, has spoken about his own abuse briefly in the past.

Tim Roth… reveals abuse at the hands of his grandfather – Credit: AP

 

However, he has now said that his abuser was the same man who abused his father – Tim Roth’s grandfather.

“He was an abused kid, my dad, and it was a terrible childhood that he had, and he took that sh*t seriously,” he said of his father, a journalist who also served in the RAF during the war and changed the family’s name from Smith to Tim Roth in solidarity with the Jews.

“He was a damaged soul. I loved him. He was funnier than f**k. He was abused. And I was abused. But I was not abused by him. I was abused by his abuser.”

Asked whether he was referring to the same man, he added: “Yeah. It was his father. He was a f**king rapist. But nobody had the language. Nobody knew what to do. That’s why I made The War Zone.”

(Credit: Rex Features)

Tim Roth, known for his collaborations with Quentin Tarantino, made the movie "The War Zone", his directorial debut, in 1999. Adapted from Alexander Stuart’s controversial novel of the same name, it starred Ray Winstone as a violent and sexually abusive father. It won Roth a slew of awards on the European film festival circuit.

Timothy Simon "Tim" Roth (born 14 May 1961) is an English actor and director. He made his debut role in the 1982 television film Made in Britain (1982).  He later earned international recognition for appearing in Quentin Tarantino films, such as Reservoir Dogs (1992), Pulp Fiction (1994) and Four Rooms (1995).

He was considered for the part of Hannibal Lecter in the 2001 film Hannibal before Anthony Hopkins returned to reclaim the role. He appeared in Francis Ford Coppola's Youth Without Youth and Michael Haneke's Funny Games, then starred as Emil Blonsky / Abomination in The Incredible Hulk.

From 2009 to 2011, he starred in a series on Fox called Lie To Me tv series. He played Dr. Cal Lightman, an expert on body language who assists local and federal law organisations in the investigations of crimes. His character was based on Dr. Paul Ekman, a notable psychologist and expert on body language and facial expressions

Personal life

Tim Roth is a survivor of child sexual abuse committed by his paternal grandfather, who he has stated sexually abused him from childhood until his early teen years. He first revealed that he was a survivor of sexual abuse during press for his 1996 directorial debut, The War Zone Movie (which dealt with the topics of incest and sexual violence within a family), but declined to name the perpetrator at that time. In December of 2016, he gave an interview to the British newspaper The Guardian in which he revealed that his abuser was his grandfather, who had also sexually abused Tim Roth's own father when he was a child.

Tim Roth has a son, Jack, born to Lori Baker in 1984.  Jack is also an actor.  Roth married Nikki Butler in 1993; they have two sons, Timothy Hunter (born 1995) and Michael Cormac (born 1996). Roth is a supporter of the Green Party of England and Wales.

 Source:
https://uk.movies.yahoo.com/tagged/news
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Roth

Ben Arnold

UK Movies Writer

6 December 2016