John Diehl

Last updated

John Diehl
Born
John Henry Diehl

(1950-05-01) May 1, 1950 (age 73)
Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
OccupationActor
Years active1980–present
Spouse
​
(m. 1992)​
Children1

John Henry Diehl (born May 1, 1950) is an American character actor. Noted for his work in avant-garde theater, Diehl has performed in more than 140 films and television shows, including Land of Plenty , Stripes , City Limits , Nixon , Jurassic Park III and the TV series Miami Vice , The Shield , and Point Pleasant .

Contents

Diehl has "largely avoided the typecasting that is an accepted part of most character actors' careers." [1] He has been a member of The Actors Studio since 2004. [2]

Early life

Diehl was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1950. His father, John A. Diehl, was a civil engineer, and his mother, Mary, was a social worker. Raised in a devoutly Roman Catholic family, he was educated at parochial schools, and graduated from St. Xavier High School in 1968. [3] [4]

Career

In 1970, Diehl moved to New York, encouraged by his sister, who had just graduated from the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. He spent 1971 squatting in Amsterdam and returned to New York in 1972. In 1976, he moved to Los Angeles. He had always been interested in drawing and making things, and intended to pursue a career in the visual arts there. Initially he supported himself in LA by moving furniture and objet d'art. [3]

Although he had no previous experience as an actor, Diehl's interest turned to acting after he arrived in Los Angeles. He took a three-hour scene studies class in Hollywood twice a week, and in 1979 he was cast in Action, a one act play written by Sam Shepard. In 1980, he became an acting member of Murray Mednick's Padua Hills Playwrights Festival, an annual event which brought young playwrights from throughout the United States together to live and work with such playwrights as Mednick, Shepard, Maria Irene Fornes, John O’Keefe, John Steppling, and Robert Glaudini. Diehl worked with all of the playwrights in residence over the course of his several years as an acting member of the festival. [3] [5]

Diehl's first significant film role was in the 1981 movie Stripes . In the 25th Anniversary DVD release of Stripes, John Laroquette compared the improvisation of John Candy and Diehl to the improvisation of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. In 1983, Diehl appeared in National Lampoon's Vacation , which Harold Ramis directed. [6]

In 1984, Diehl was cast as Detective Larry Zito in Miami Vice . Diehl found the role unfulfilling, and decided to leave. On January 9, 1987 — the 57th episode of Miami Vice — Diehl made his last appearance in a two-part episode, "Down for the Count", in which his character was killed off. [7]

Diehl moved into a basement apartment in Greenwich Village in New York, and despite a drastic reduction in his income, he declined television roles, and chose instead to continue working in film while pursuing a serious stage career. [7] He subsequently appeared in The Hanoi Hilton (1987), a film about the experiences of American prisoners of war in Hanoi in the 1960s/70s, [8] and Alex Cox's Walker (1987), which was shot in Nicaragua during the Contra War. In late 1988, Diehl relocated to Los Angeles after he was cast in Sam Shepard's A Lie of the Mind at the Mark Taper Forum. [9]

He continued to work in theater in New York, however, and frequently returned to the stage there, most notably for a Shepard play at the Public Theater with Shepard in residence at the Signature, and Mednick's Joe And Betty, which was produced twice on Theater Row in New York. [7] [10] [11]

In 1997, Diehl reprised his role in Action at the Public Theater, and in 2005 he worked once again with Padua Playwrights, appearing in two plays in Mednick's Gary Trilogy. Among others, his theater credits include Life of Mine, (with Holly Hunter) at the Mark Taper Forum, Samuel Beckett's Endgame and Happy Days , one of three plays which Diehl directed. [12]

He has appeared in more than 140 films, including Joysticks (1983), Angel (1984), City Limits (1984), Madhouse (1990), The Dark Side of the Moon (1990), Kickboxer 2 (1991), Mikey (1992), Mo' Money (1992), Gettysburg (1993), The Client (1994), Stargate (1994), The New Age (1994), Mind Ripper (1995), A Time to Kill (1996), Pearl Harbor (2001), and Road to Nowhere (2010). [13]

He played G. Gordon Liddy in Oliver Stone's Nixon (1995), the mercenary Cooper in Jurassic Park III (2001), and in recurring roles on The Shield, Friday Night Lights , The West Wing and The John Larroquette Show . In 2000, he appeared in Fail Safe , which aired live on television. Between 2002 and 2004, he portrayed General Motors' Harley Earl in a series of television commercials for Buick. The commercials were directed by Tony Scott, who had previously directed films including Top Gun and Crimson Tide. [14]

In 2004, Wim Wenders cast Diehl as the male lead in Land of Plenty , a film about post 9/11 American life. Shot on digital video in sixteen days, the film centered on Diehl's character, Paul, a troubled Vietnam veteran, and his niece, played by Michelle Williams. In a New York Times review of the film, A.O. Scott wrote that Diehl gave a "wry, cunning performance, allowing glimmers of Paul's intelligence and decency to shine through even in his moments of high self-delusion." [15]

A member of the Actors Studio since 2004, Diehl won the Los Angeles Times Warren Award in 2012, and in 2014 won the Southampton Film Festival's Lead Actor Award for his role in the short film Kahea. [1] [16]

Personal life

Diehl and singer Julie Christensen were married in 1992. They relocated from Nashville, Tennessee to Jemez Springs, New Mexico in 2022 [17] and have one son, Magnus Jackson Diehl. [18]

He boxed as a middleweight in two professional matches (one win and one loss), and participated in several exhibition shows for charity. [19]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1980 Falling in Love Again Beaver (1940s)
1981 Escape from New York Punk
1981 Stripes 'Cruiser'
1983 Joysticks Arnie
1983 Hysterical Taxi Driver
1983 National Lampoon's Vacation Assistant Mechanic
1983 D.C. Cab Head Kidnapper
1984 Angel The Killer
1984 City Limits 'Whitey'
1987 The Hanoi Hilton Murphy
1987 Walker Strebbins
1990 Madhouse Fred
1990 Cool Blue ClaytonDirect-to-video
1990 The Dark Side of the Moon Philip Jennings
1991 Kickboxer 2: The Road Back Jack
1991 Whore Derelict
1991 A Climate for Killing Wayne Paris
1991 Motorama Phil
1991Trumpet #7Bud
1992 Mikey Neil Trenton
1992The Paint JobFather
1992 Mo' Money Keith Heading
1993 Falling Down Dad, Back Yard Party
1993RemoteDelbert McCoyDirect-to-video
1993 Gettysburg Private Bucklin
1994Almost DeadEddie Herbek
1994 The Client Jack Nance
1994 The New Age Lyle
1994 Stargate Lt. Colonel Charles Kawalsky
1995 Mind Ripper Alex
1995 Three Wishes Leland's Father
1995 Nixon Gordon Liddy
1996 Female Perversions Jake Rock
1996 The Grave J.C. Cole
1996 The Destiny of Marty Fine Deke
1996 Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day Pinchot
1996 A Time to Kill Tim Nunley
1996 Foxfire Mr. Buttinger
1997CasualtiesPolito
1997ManaguaUnknown
1997 The End of Violence Lowell Lewis
1997 Con Air Public DefenderUncredited
1997 Fire Down Below EPA Agent Frank Elkins
1997 Most Wanted SWAT Captain
1998 Monument Ave. Digger
1998 The Hi-Lo Country Les Birk
1998Davis Is DeadThe Killer
1999 Anywhere But Here Jimmy
1999Swap MeetUnknown
2000 Tully Mal 'Mac' MacAvoy
2000 Lost Souls Henry Birdson
2001The ZerosBurl
2001 Pearl Harbor Senior Doctor
2001 Jurassic Park III Cooper
2001Falling Like ThisEddie GallagherAlso co-producer
2003 Bookies Vincent
2003Out of Our HandsVicShort film
2003Just Another StoryAl
2004Pass for HumanEx-Husband
2004 Land of Plenty Paul
2005 Down in the Valley Steve
2006 The House Is Burning Mr. Garson
2006 The Far Side of Jericho 'Cash' Thornton
2006Running Out of Time in HollywoodUnknown
2008 The Lucky Ones Tom Klinger
2008Natural DisastersJohn
2009Follow the ProphetTed
2009Gary's WalkGary
2009Drifter: Henry Lee LucasSheriff Larabie
2009My Happy FacesDr. M.Short film
2010 Road to Nowhere Bobby Billings
2011 Natural Selection Abe
2012SwerveSammDirect-to-video
2012 The Obama Effect Steve Warren
2012Gabe the Cupid DogRoger
2012 Apartment 1303 3D Detective
2012StillframeFatherShort film
2013 Singularity Principle Jack Brenner
2014 A Long Way Off Mr. Abraham
2014KaheaJake BaldwinShort film
2014Sal and the GoonWilliam TruthShort film
2014Strong Collected SpiritMarty Stock
2015 Forever Neil
2016 The North Star Master Anderson
2019Out of the WildHenry McBride
2022 Armageddon Time Fred Trump

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1980 A Rumor of War D.T.Television miniseries
1980A Cry for LoveUnknownTelevision film
1981 Hill Street Blues TomEpisode: "Chipped Beef"
1982The Ambush MurdersFergusonTelevision film
1983 Cagney & Lacey UnknownEpisode: "The Grandest Jewel Thief of Them All"
1983 The Family Tree The IntruderEpisode: "The Burglary"
1984 Hunter Bank RobberEpisode: "Hunter"
1984–1987 Miami Vice Detective Larry Zito56 episodes
1988GlitzTeddy MagykTelevision film
1988 Monsters Miles MagnusEpisode: "Pillow Talk"
1989 Beauty and the Beast Vernon ToulaneEpisode: "The Hollow Men"
1989 Falcon Crest Gus WallachEpisode: "The Price of Freedom"
1990 In the Heat of the Night John SevranceEpisode: "Triangle"
1992 Mann & Machine ConciergeEpisode: "Prototype"
1993 South of Sunset Merlin2 episodes
1994 L.A. Law Tim / Kevin Delahanty2 episodes
1994–1996 The John Larroquette Show Chris5 episodes
1995The MarshallEarl 'The Beast' LipscombEpisode: "The Bounty Hunter"
1995 Buffalo Girls General Custer Television miniseries
1995 Amanda and the Alien Colonel RosencransTelevision film
1996 The Lazarus Man Nat Pratchett2 episodes
1996Ruby Jean and JoeHarris JohnsonTelevision film
1996 Profiler Toby 'The Wick' WoodEpisode: "Ring of Fire"
1996 ER Johnson's SonEpisode: "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"
1997 Nash Bridges Albert FossEpisode: "The Counterfeiters"
1997 The Outer Limits JoeEpisode: "The Revelations of 'Becka Paulson"
1998 The Pretender Sheriff DelmontEpisode: "Red Rock Jarod"
1998 The Rat Pack Joe DiMaggioTelevision film
1999 Purgatory 'Badger' BrittonTelevision film
1999 The X-Files Wilson Pinker RawlsEpisode: "Trevor"
1999 JAG Jack RaglanTelevision film
2000 18 Wheels of Justice Matt CurranEpisode: "Mr. Invisible"
2000Get RealHarris FormanEpisode: "Tough Love"
2000 Fail Safe Colonel CascioTelevision film
2000–2002 The West Wing Claypool2 episodes
2001 Dead Last Richard StenglerEpisode: "To Serve, with Love"
2002 NYPD Blue Joe BradyEpisode: "Gypsy Woe's Me"
2002 The Guardian FortunatoEpisode: "Sacrifice"
2002–2005 The Shield Ben Gilroy9 episodes
2003 Dragnet Dr. Rupert MilesEpisode: "Sticks and Stones"
2003 Without a Trace DoyleEpisode: "Revelations"
2003 Karen Sisco Junior McLeodEpisode: "Nostalgia"
2005 Strong Medicine Mr. LawsonEpisode: "Gunshot Wedding"
2005–2006 Point Pleasant David Burke7 episodes
2006 Hidden Places Frank WyattTelevision film
2006 Jesse Stone: Death in Paradise Jerry SnyderTelevision film
2007 Jericho Governor TraderEpisode: "Black Jack"
2007 Cold Case Isaac Keller2 episodes
2007 Women's Murder Club Paul GalvanEpisode: "The Past Comes Back to Haunt You"
2009 Mental Hank CrowleyEpisode: "Rainy Days"
2009 Friday Night Lights Richard Sherman2 episodes
2010 Lie to Me Charlie EverettEpisode: "Veronica"
2011TrichotomyThe MuseVideo short
2011 Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe Admiral James G. LawrenceTelevision film
2011 Rizzoli & Isles Arthur DunbarEpisode: "My Own Worst Enemy"
2012 Scandal Ray DwyerEpisode: "The Other Woman"
2014 Almost Human Edward KennexEpisode: "Straw Man"
2019 Snowfall Colonel McDonaldEpisode: "Protect and Swerve"
2019 Castle Rock JohnEpisode: "The Word"
2022 Dark Winds B.J. Vines6 episodes

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References

  1. 1 2 Gaita, Paul. "The Warren Awards: John Diehl". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved February 10, 2016.
  2. ↑ Johnson, Reed (August 12, 2001). "Getting Ahead...On The L.A. Stage?". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on April 24, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 Nimershiem, Jack (February 1, 1986). "The Miami Vice Connection". Cincinnati Magazine. Retrieved February 10, 2016.
  4. ↑ "John A. Diehl, Obituary". Hodapp Funeral Home. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
  5. ↑ Friedman, E. Lund (May 12, 2003). "MARKETING: Harley Earl TV ad brings fame to veteran actor". Automotive News. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
  6. ↑ Rabin, Nathan (June 5, 2009). "John Larroquette". AV Club. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 Bennets, Leslie (January 9, 1987). "'MIAMI VICE' FREES ACTOR BY KILLING LIEUTENANT ZITO". The New York Times . Retrieved March 29, 2016.
  8. ↑ Hurlburt, Roger (May 19, 1987). "SURVIVAL, CAMARADERIE ARE THEMES OF 'HILTON'". Sun-Sentinel . Retrieved March 29, 2016.
  9. ↑ Sullivan, Dan (January 22, 1988). "STAGE REVIEW : A Tale of Two Families in 'A Lie of the Mind'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
  10. ↑ Lawton, Adam (June 2, 2011). "Interview with John Diehl". Media Mikes. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
  11. ↑ Sullivan, Dan (January 22, 1988). "Stage Review: A Tale of Two Families in 'A Lie of the Mind'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
  12. ↑ Martinez, Julio (April 10, 2005). "Review: "The Gary Plays: Tirade for Three & Gary's Walk"". Variety . Retrieved March 30, 2016.
  13. ↑ "Monte Hellman's "Road to Nowhere" on its Way to a U.S. Release via monterey media". IndieWire . January 13, 2011. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
  14. ↑ Hakim, Danny (October 10, 2002). "THE MEDIA BUSINESS: ADVERTISING; Buick uses a mid-20th-century designer to lure younger buyers, but also brings out the skeptics". The New York Times. Retrieved February 13, 2016.
  15. ↑ Scott, AO (October 12, 2005). "A Desire to Heal the Rifts in a Troubled Landscape". The New York Times. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
  16. ↑ "Award Winners 2014". Southampton Film Festival. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
  17. ↑ Bowen, Bliss; Diehl, Magnus (April 7, 2022). "Julie Christensen returns to support her Kevin Gordon album". www.pasadenaweekly.com. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  18. ↑ Anderson, Skip (February 15, 2016). "Featured artist: Julie Christensen". The East Nashvillian. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
  19. ↑ "John Diehl". Boxing Record. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
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