Ray McKinnon (actor)

Ray McKinnon
McKinnon in 2010
Born	Raymond Wilkes McKinnon (1957-11-15) November 15, 1957 (age 67) Adel, Georgia, U.S.
Education	Valdosta State University
Occupations	Actor screenwriter director producer
Years active	1989–present
Spouse	Lisa Blount ​ ​ (m. 1998;died 2010)​

Raymond Wilkes McKinnon (born November 15, 1957) ^[1] is an American actor, screenwriter, film director and producer. He appeared in television series and films, including Apollo 13 (1995), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), the Oscar-winning short The Accountant (2001), Deadwood (2004), Sons of Anarchy (2011), and Mayans M.C. (2018–2023). ^[2]

Early life and education

McKinnon was born in Adel, Georgia.

In 1981, he graduated with a degree in theatre from Valdosta State University. ^[3]

Career

McKinnon played Reverend Smith in the HBO series Deadwood . ^{[4] [5]} He played Lincoln Potter in the fourth season of the FX show Sons of Anarchy and in its spin-off series, Mayans M.C. ^[6]

McKinnon, his wife Lisa Blount, and Walton Goggins founded a production company, Ginny Mule Pictures. The production company produced The Accountant , which won an Academy Award in 2001 for Live Action Short Film. ^[7]

In 2004, McKinnon wrote, produced, directed and played Snake in the film Chrystal, starring Blount and Billy Bob Thornton. Chrystal made its debut at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004, where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize. At the 2004 Stockholm International Film Festival, Blount received a Best Actress award for her performance. ^[8]

McKinnon wrote and directed the television series Rectify in 2013, the first original series from SundanceTV. The plot featured a man released from a Georgia state prison after 19 years on death row. ^[9] The series ended in December 2016. ^[10] The series won a Peabody Award in 2013. ^[11]

Personal life

McKinnon was married to Lisa Blount, an actress and producer, from 1998 until her death in 2010. ^[12] He lives in Little Rock, Arkansas. ^[13]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989	Driving Miss Daisy	Trooper #1
1990	Tune in Tomorrow	Cub Reporter
	Vampire Cop	Raymond
1991	Paris Trout	Carl Bonner
	Livin' Large!	Harmon
	Bugsy	David Hinton
1992	The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag	Detective Frank
1993	Sommersby	Lawyer Webb
	Needful Things	Deputy Norris Ridgewick
	A Perfect World	Deputy Bradley
1995	Apollo 13	Jerry Bostick - FIDO White
	The Net	Dale Hessman
	The Grass Harp	Charlie Cool Jr.
1998	Goodbye Lover	Rollins
1999	This Is Harry Lehman	Harry Lehman	Short film
2000	O Brother, Where Art Thou?	Vernon T. Waldrip
2001	The Accountant	The Accountant	Short film, writer and director
2002	The Pickets	Craig	Short film
	The Badge	Deputy C.B.
2003	The Missing	Russell J. Wittick
2004	Chrystal	Snake	Writer/producer/director
2006	Come Early Morning	Toby
	Things That Hang from Trees	Tom Wheeler Sr.
2007	Randy and the Mob	Randy Pearson/Cecil Pearson	Writer/director
2008	The Last Lullaby	Ominous Figure
2009	That Evening Sun	Lonzo Choat	Producer
	The Blind Side	Coach Cotton
2010	Spanola Pepper Sauce Company		Director, Short film
2011	Take Shelter	Kyle
	Hick	Lloyd
	Dolphin Tale	Mr. Doyle
	Footloose	Wes Warnicker
	The Last Ride	Stan
2012	Mud	Senior
2019	Ford v Ferrari	Phil Remington
2020	News of the World	Simon Boudlin
2021	Chaos Walking	Matthew
2023	The Dead Don't Hurt	Judge Blagden
	Knox Goes Away	Thomas Muncie
	Sick Girl	Malcolm

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989	In the Heat of the Night	Timer	Episode: "Crackdown"
1990	Murder in Mississippi	Lyle's Father	Television movie
	Rising Son	Ken Mott	Television movie
	Web of Deceit	Stuart Troxel	Television movie
	When Will I Be Loved?	Man With Basketball	Television movie
1990–1991	In the Heat of the Night	Jethro Puller	2 episodes
1991	Night of the Hunter	Ben Harper	Television movie
	In the Line of Duty: Manhunt in the Dakotas	Bob Cheshire	Television movie
	I'll Fly Away	Donny Hubbard	Episode: "The Hat"
	The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw	Lee Bob	Television movie
1991–1992	Designing Women	Dwayne Dobber	2 episodes
1992	In Sickness and in Health	Dr. Nyland	Television movie
	Taking Back My Life: The Nancy Ziegenmeyer Story	Les	Television movie
	Indecency	Victor	Television movie
1993	Arly Hanks	Hobert Middleton	Television movie
1994	Picket Fences	Jeffrey Murray	Episode: "Paging Doctor God"
	The Stand	Charlie Campion	Television miniseries; Episode: "The Plague"
	Sisters	Billy	Episode: "Protective Measures"
	Roswell	Deputy Joe Pritchard	Television movie
	Moment of Truth: Caught in the Crossfire	Buddy Rivers	Television movie
	The Boys Are Back	Bill	Episode: "The Fishing Trip"
	Matlock	Wade Parsons	Episode: "The Tabloid"
	Scarlett	Will Benteen	Television miniseries (2 episodes)
1995	Legend	Kyle	Episode: "Knee-High Noon"
	The Client	Lenny Barlow	2 episodes
1996	Forgotten Sins	Steve Sweetler	Television movie
	Dead Man's Walk	Long Bill Coleman	Television miniseries (3 episodes)
	The Pretender	Lawson	Episode: "Flyer"
	Nash Bridges	Gary Graham	Episode: "Zodiac"
1997	Old Man	Shanty Man With Gun	Television movie
	Brooklyn South	Gilbert Van Eggidy	Episode: "A Reverend Runs Through It"
1998	Michael Hayes	Unknown role	Episode: "Devotion"
1999	NYPD Blue	Ted	Episode: "T'aint Misbehavin'"
	The Price of a Broken Heart	Diner Patron	Television movie
	Any Day Now	Unknown role	Episode: "You Really Believe in That Stuff?"
2000	Rocky Times	Sheriff Rick	Television movie
2001	The Practice	Frank Vaughan	Episode: "Suffer the Little Children"
2002	Philly	Dewey Hicks	Episode: "The Curse of the Klopman Diamonds"
	The X-Files	Mad Wayne	Episode: "Improbable"
2004	Deadwood	Reverend H.W. Smith	Recurring role (11 episodes)
2008	Comanche Moon	Bill Coleman	Television miniseries (2 episodes)
2010	Justified	Mr. Duke	Episode: "Blind Spot"
2011	Sons of Anarchy	US Attorney Lincoln Potter	Recurring role; 12 episodes (Season 4)
2013–2016	Rectify		Creator/writer/executive producer/director
2017	Fear the Walking Dead	Proctor John	2 episodes
2018	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	William LaBott	Episode: "The Book of Esther"
2018–2023	Mayans M.C.	US Attorney Lincoln Potter	Recurring role; 17 episodes
2019	Wayne	Wayne McCullough Sr.	Episode: "Get Some Then"
	Heartstrings	Roy Meegers	Episode: "Two Doors Down" [14]
	Reprisal	Tommy Quinn	Episode: "The Tale of Harold Horpus"
2021	Dopesick	Jerry Mallum	7 episodes
2023	The Continental: From the World of John Wick	Jenkins	2 episodes

Awards and nominations

Association	Year	Category	Nominated Work	Result
Academy Awards	2002	Best Live Action Short Film	The Accountant	Won
Atlanta Film Festival	2001	Best Narrative Short	The Accountant	Won
	2001	Southeastern Media Award	The Accountant	Won
Austin Film Festival	2001	Short Film Award	The Accountant	Won
Independent Spirit Awards	2010	Best Supporting Male	That Evening Sun	Nominated
	2014	Best Ensemble Cast	Mud	Won
Gotham Awards	2011	Best Ensemble Performance	Take Shelter	Nominated
Nashville Film Festival	2007	President's Award	Randy and the Mob	Won
	2007	Audience Choice Award	Randy and the Mob	Won
Slamdance Film Festival	2001	Spirit of Slamdance Award	The Accountant Randy and the Mob	Won
Sundance Film Festival	2004	Dramatic	Chrystal	Nominated
SXSW Film Festival	2009	Best Ensemble Cast	That Evening Sun	Won
Washington DC Independent Film Festival	2002	Best Fiction Short Form — Grand Jury Award	The Accountant	Won
	2002	Best Fiction Short Form — Audience Award	The Accountant	Won
Writers Guild of America	2015	Episodic Drama for "Donald the Normal"	Rectify	Nominated

References

1. "Raymond W Mc Kinnon - United States Public Records". FamilySearch . Retrieved 29 September 2016.
2. Poling, Dean (18 March 2007). "Oscar winner comes home to VSU". The Valdosta Daily Times . Retrieved 29 September 2016.
3. "Academy Award Winner To Speak for the President's Lecture Series - Valdosta State University". Valdosta State University . 5 March 2007. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
4. Los Angeles Times (19 June 2014). "'Rectify's' Ray McKinnon tries to find what matters". Los Angeles Times .
5. Boone, Brian (May 24, 2019). "We Finally Understand Why Deadwood Was Canceled". Looper. Static Media. Retrieved 2023-05-03.
6. Neale, April (October 10, 2018). "Who plays Lincoln Potter on Mayans M.C.? Ray McKinnon's Sons of Anarchy character returns". Monsters and Critics. Retrieved May 3, 2023.
7. "The Accountant". www.sundance.tv. Archived from the original on 2016-05-28. Retrieved 2016-05-04.
8. Hickey, Christopher (October 12, 2021). "Encyclopedia of Arkansas". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Central Arkansas Library System. Retrieved May 3, 2023.
9. "Rectify creator Ray McKinnon wants to leave some season finale questions unanswered". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on 2016-10-30.
10. Tucker, Ken (December 15, 2016). "'Rectify' Finale: So Good, It Hurt". Yahoo Entertainment. Retrieved 2023-05-03.
11. "Rectify". The Peabody Awards. Retrieved 2025-07-07.
12. "Oscar-winning director, Ray McKinnon still misses his wife Lisa Blount, who died in 2010. Says no to second marriage??!!". liverampup.com.
13. "Ginny Mule Pictures". Short Film Central.
14. Iannucci, Rebecca (February 11, 2019). "Sarah Shahi, Scandal's Bellamy Young, thirtysomething Alums and More Join Netflix's Dolly Parton Anthology". TVLine.

External links

• Ray McKinnon at IMDb