Maximillian Arturo
Encyclopedia
Professor Maximillian P. Arturo (often called the professor, or simply Professor, or occasionally Max, during the third season) is a fictional character
on the science fiction
television show
Sliders
. He was played by John Rhys-Davies
.
during the early 1940s. (His driving licence, shown in "Summer of Love," indicates that his birthdate is September 23.) When he was a young child, his aunt's house was bombed by the Luftwaffe while he and his mother were staying there. Both Arturo's mother and aunt were killed. His only memories of this incident were his mother's dead body being pulled off him. Since his father was fighting in India
at the time, there was no way for Arturo to be identified, so he was put in an orphanage. After the war ended, Arturo's father came to get him ("Season's Greedings").
Arturo served in the British Army
as a young adult. After completing his service, he moved to the United States
, where he pursued graduate studies in physics, and met fellow student Christina Fox, whom he later married. Christina died of a brain
aneurysm
when she was 27 (Reference: "Eggheads"). Arturo had a son; however, it is not revealed in the show whether or not Christina Fox was the mother (Reference: "Into the Mystic
"). At the beginning of "Sliders," Arturo was Regents professor of cosmology
and ontology
at the fictional California University.
As a travelling companion, Arturo was arrogant, hot-tempered, and pompous, often referring to people who failed to meet his expectations as "blistering idiots." But he was not without a soft spot, particularly toward individuals he perceived as kindred intellects. Having been estranged from his son before he began sliding, Arturo had expressed that he wished Quinn
were his son. Arturo was somewhat resentful of Quinn, jealous of Quinn's greater intelligence, as well as the fact that Quinn (and not Arturo) invented sliding.
In 1996, when the Sliders mistakenly believed they had landed home, Arturo's double attempted to impersonate him. Quinn, Wade
, and Rembrandt
never knew whether they took the right Arturo sliding with them or not. (Reference: "Post Traumatic Slide Syndrome") Later that year, Arturo was diagnosed with a terminal illness, and attempted to stop sliding. He continued to slide because Quinn needed him, and Quinn was more fearful of his friend and mentor's death than Arturo himself was. (Reference: "The Guardian") In mid-1997, while on an alternate Earth
that was to be destroyed by a pulsar
, Arturo was shot by ruthless Marine
Colonel Angus Rickman. Rickman initially tried to shoot Quinn, but Arturo took the bullet for him. His last words to Quinn were, "Get them [Rembrandt and Wade] home . . . Sliders." (Reference: "The Exodus, Part Two")
Since the Sliders never determined which Arturo they took in "Post Traumatic Slide Syndrome," it is possible the original Arturo from Earth Prime
is still alive, as Rembrandt said at the end of the episode, "We've got an Arturo and we don't even know which one!"
s) around the Sliders were real. He believed that all that is perceived as "supernatural" is an illusion designed to fool the simple-minded. However, in the episode "Obsession," Arturo found it interesting that a psychic saved the life of the world's Abraham Lincoln
.
When it was left as a possibility that a double of Arturo's had slid instead of the Earth Prime
Arturo, controversy has been generated among fans about which Arturo actually slid. The show's creator, Tracy Tormé
, has stated that he has decided which Arturo slid, but will not reveal which one. However, he said there are clues in the episodes. In an interview done in 2009, he stated that he intended that the Arturo who slid should not be the original Arturo. But due to Tormé losing control of the show and John Rhys-Davies leaving the following year, this issue was never resolved.
revealed that the character of Maximillian Arturo was very nearly played by actors other than John Rhys-Davies
— Hector Elizondo
was in fact the producers' final choice for the role prior to auditioning Rhys-Davies, but ultimately passed, due to the filming location. At one point, Elizondo went on a late-night talk show and mentioned that "I [would be] doing Sliders right now, except for one word: 'Vancouver'."
Also on the DVD commentary, Weiss and Tormé reveal that other actors who were considered for the role included Ricardo Montalban
and David Ogden Stiers
(who was reportedly one of the chief finalists).
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
on the science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
television show
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
Sliders
Sliders
Sliders is an American science fiction television series. It was broadcast for five seasons, beginning in 1995 and ending in 2000. The series follows a group of travelers as they use a wormhole to "slide" between different parallel universes. The show was created by Robert K. Weiss and Tracy Tormé...
. He was played by John Rhys-Davies
John Rhys-Davies
John Rhys-Davies is a Welsh actor and voice actor. He is perhaps best known for playing the charismatic Arab excavator Sallah in the Indiana Jones films and the dwarf Gimli in The Lord of the Rings trilogy...
.
Synopsis
Maximillian P. Arturo was born in Great BritainUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
during the early 1940s. (His driving licence, shown in "Summer of Love," indicates that his birthdate is September 23.) When he was a young child, his aunt's house was bombed by the Luftwaffe while he and his mother were staying there. Both Arturo's mother and aunt were killed. His only memories of this incident were his mother's dead body being pulled off him. Since his father was fighting in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
at the time, there was no way for Arturo to be identified, so he was put in an orphanage. After the war ended, Arturo's father came to get him ("Season's Greedings").
Arturo served in the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
as a young adult. After completing his service, he moved to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, where he pursued graduate studies in physics, and met fellow student Christina Fox, whom he later married. Christina died of a brain
Brain
The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...
aneurysm
Aneurysm
An aneurysm or aneurism is a localized, blood-filled balloon-like bulge in the wall of a blood vessel. Aneurysms can commonly occur in arteries at the base of the brain and an aortic aneurysm occurs in the main artery carrying blood from the left ventricle of the heart...
when she was 27 (Reference: "Eggheads"). Arturo had a son; however, it is not revealed in the show whether or not Christina Fox was the mother (Reference: "Into the Mystic
Into the Mystic
"Into the Mystic" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and featured on his 1970 album Moondance. It was also included on Morrison's 1974 live album, It's Too Late To Stop Now....
"). At the beginning of "Sliders," Arturo was Regents professor of cosmology
Physical cosmology
Physical cosmology, as a branch of astronomy, is the study of the largest-scale structures and dynamics of the universe and is concerned with fundamental questions about its formation and evolution. For most of human history, it was a branch of metaphysics and religion...
and ontology
Ontology
Ontology is the philosophical study of the nature of being, existence or reality as such, as well as the basic categories of being and their relations...
at the fictional California University.
As a travelling companion, Arturo was arrogant, hot-tempered, and pompous, often referring to people who failed to meet his expectations as "blistering idiots." But he was not without a soft spot, particularly toward individuals he perceived as kindred intellects. Having been estranged from his son before he began sliding, Arturo had expressed that he wished Quinn
Quinn Mallory
Quinn R. Mallory is a fictional character on the science fiction television show Sliders, played by Jerry O'Connell.-Childhood:Quinn was born in 1973 and raised in San Francisco, California, the son of Michael and Amanda Mallory...
were his son. Arturo was somewhat resentful of Quinn, jealous of Quinn's greater intelligence, as well as the fact that Quinn (and not Arturo) invented sliding.
In 1996, when the Sliders mistakenly believed they had landed home, Arturo's double attempted to impersonate him. Quinn, Wade
Wade Welles
Wade Kathleen Wells, a fictional character on the show Sliders played by Sabrina Lloyd, is from San Francisco, and worked at Doppler Computer Store while attending North Shore Junior College. She was studying literature and poetry....
, and Rembrandt
Rembrandt Brown
Rembrandt Lee Brown is a fictional character played by Cleavant Derricks on the science fiction television show Sliders. In 1994, Rembrandt was living in San Francisco. Rembrandt is a musician, whose stage name is The Crying Man because of his ability to "cry real tears" on stage...
never knew whether they took the right Arturo sliding with them or not. (Reference: "Post Traumatic Slide Syndrome") Later that year, Arturo was diagnosed with a terminal illness, and attempted to stop sliding. He continued to slide because Quinn needed him, and Quinn was more fearful of his friend and mentor's death than Arturo himself was. (Reference: "The Guardian") In mid-1997, while on an alternate Earth
Parallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
that was to be destroyed by a pulsar
Pulsar
A pulsar is a highly magnetized, rotating neutron star that emits a beam of electromagnetic radiation. The radiation can only be observed when the beam of emission is pointing towards the Earth. This is called the lighthouse effect and gives rise to the pulsed nature that gives pulsars their name...
, Arturo was shot by ruthless Marine
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
Colonel Angus Rickman. Rickman initially tried to shoot Quinn, but Arturo took the bullet for him. His last words to Quinn were, "Get them [Rembrandt and Wade] home . . . Sliders." (Reference: "The Exodus, Part Two")
Since the Sliders never determined which Arturo they took in "Post Traumatic Slide Syndrome," it is possible the original Arturo from Earth Prime
Earth Prime (Sliders)
Earth Prime, a term used in the television show Sliders, is the name of the alternate Earth where the four original sliders started their journey. Although it is very similar to our Earth, the creator of the show, Tracy Tormé, has stated that it is not our Earth...
is still alive, as Rembrandt said at the end of the episode, "We've got an Arturo and we don't even know which one!"
Beliefs
In the episode "Into The Mystic," Arturo expresses strong opposition to the ideas that any supernatural phenomena (such as psychicPsychic
A psychic is a person who professes an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception , or is said by others to have such abilities. It is also used to describe theatrical performers who use techniques such as prestidigitation, cold reading, and hot...
s) around the Sliders were real. He believed that all that is perceived as "supernatural" is an illusion designed to fool the simple-minded. However, in the episode "Obsession," Arturo found it interesting that a psychic saved the life of the world's Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
.
Wrong Arturo
In the second season episode Post Traumatic Slide Syndrome, the vortex had opened on Quinn's front lawn as the Arturos had a showdown. Quinn wanted to "take them both (and) sort it out after we slide," but one of the Arturos said "Like hell we will," and attacked his counterpart. After a brief scuffle, one of the Arturos slugged the other one and jumped into the vortex alongside Quinn. Once the vortex closed, the remaining Arturo said "Oh my god" with a worried look on his face.When it was left as a possibility that a double of Arturo's had slid instead of the Earth Prime
Earth Prime
Earth Prime is a term sometimes used in works of speculative fiction involving parallel universes or a multiverse, and refers either to the universe containing "our" Earth, or to a parallel world with a bare minimum of divergence points from Earth as we know it...
Arturo, controversy has been generated among fans about which Arturo actually slid. The show's creator, Tracy Tormé
Tracy Tormé
Tracy R. Tormé is an American screenwriter and television producer. He has worked for Saturday Night Live, Odyssey 5, Sliders, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Fire in the Sky and Carnivàle.-Sliders:...
, has stated that he has decided which Arturo slid, but will not reveal which one. However, he said there are clues in the episodes. In an interview done in 2009, he stated that he intended that the Arturo who slid should not be the original Arturo. But due to Tormé losing control of the show and John Rhys-Davies leaving the following year, this issue was never resolved.
Casting
In the DVD audio commentary on the Sliders pilot episode, series creators Tracy Tormé and Robert K. WeissRobert K. Weiss
Robert K. Weiss is an American film and television producer. His productions include films by director John Landis, producer Lorne Michaels, and the “Z. A. Z.” team of Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker. He also co-created the science-fiction TV series Sliders...
revealed that the character of Maximillian Arturo was very nearly played by actors other than John Rhys-Davies
John Rhys-Davies
John Rhys-Davies is a Welsh actor and voice actor. He is perhaps best known for playing the charismatic Arab excavator Sallah in the Indiana Jones films and the dwarf Gimli in The Lord of the Rings trilogy...
— Hector Elizondo
Hector Elizondo
Héctor Elizondo is an American actor. Elizondo's first major role was that of "God" in the play Steambath, for which he won an Obie Award...
was in fact the producers' final choice for the role prior to auditioning Rhys-Davies, but ultimately passed, due to the filming location. At one point, Elizondo went on a late-night talk show and mentioned that "I [would be] doing Sliders right now, except for one word: 'Vancouver'."
Also on the DVD commentary, Weiss and Tormé reveal that other actors who were considered for the role included Ricardo Montalban
Ricardo Montalbán
Ricardo Gonzalo Pedro Montalbán y Merino, KSG was a Mexican radio, television, theatre and film actor. He had a career spanning six decades and many notable roles...
and David Ogden Stiers
David Ogden Stiers
David Ogden Stiers is an American actor, director, vocal actor, and musician, noted for his roles in Disney movies, as well as his performances in the television series M*A*S*H as Major Charles Emerson Winchester III and the science fiction drama The Dead Zone as Reverend Gene Purdy...
(who was reportedly one of the chief finalists).