James Cromwell | |
---|---|
Born | James Oliver Cromwell January 27, 1940 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Other names | Jamie Cromwell |
Education | Carnegie Mellon University (BFA) |
Occupations |
|
Years active | 1974–present |
Height | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) |
Spouses | |
Children | 3 |
Parents |
James Oliver Cromwell [1] (born January 27, 1940) [1] is an American actor and activist. Known for his extensive work as a character actor, he has received a Primetime Emmy Award as well as a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Babe (1995). Other notable roles include in Star Trek: First Contact (1996), L.A. Confidential (1997), Deep Impact (1998), The Green Mile (1999), The Queen (2006), W. (2008), Secretariat (2010), The Artist (2011), Still Mine (2013), Marshall (2017), and Emperor (2020). [2] He has also voiced roles in Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002), and Big Hero 6 (2014).
Cromwell is also well known for his roles in television including Angels in America (2003), Six Feet Under (2003–2005), American Horror Story: Asylum (2012–2013), Boardwalk Empire (2012–2013), The Young Pope (2016), Counterpart (2018–2019), and Succession (2018–2023), for which he earned three Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Guest Actor. He won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for his role in American Horror Story: Asylum.
Cromwell was born in Los Angeles, California. [1] He is the son of actress Kay Johnson (1904–1975) and actor and director John Cromwell (1886–1979), who was blacklisted during the McCarthy era. His parents divorced in 1946. [3] [4] He has English, German, Irish, and Scottish ancestry. [5] [6] He graduated from The Hill School in 1958, [7] and went on to Middlebury College, [8] and Carnegie Mellon University, where he graduated with a B.F.A. in 1964. [9] [10] He received his acting training at HB Studio [11] in New York City. Like his parents, he was drawn to the theater, performing in everything from Shakespeare to experimental plays.[ citation needed ]
Cromwell's first television performance was in a 1974 episode of The Rockford Files playing Terry, a tennis instructor. A few weeks later, [12] he began a recurring role as Stretch Cunningham on All in the Family . In 1975, he took his first lead role on television as Bill Lewis in the short-lived Hot l Baltimore , and appeared on M*A*S*H as Captain Leo Bardonaro in the episode "Last Laugh". A year later, he made his film debut in Neil Simon's classic detective spoof Murder by Death . [13] Cromwell portrayed four different characters in four episodes of Barney Miller (1977–1981). In 1977 he appeared in Three's Company episode- "Chrissy's Night Out" as Detective Lannigan.
In 1980, Cromwell guest-starred in the two-part episode "Laura Ingalls Wilder" of the long-running television series Little House on the Prairie . He played Harve Miller, one of Almanzo Wilder's old friends.[ citation needed ]
While Cromwell continued with regular television work throughout the 1980s, he made appearances in films with supporting roles in Tank and Revenge of the Nerds (both 1984). He guest starred on the sitcom Night Court , playing a mental patient, along with Kevin Peter Hall. He had starring roles in the critically acclaimed films Babe (1995), The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996), The Education of Little Tree (1997), L.A. Confidential (1997), The Green Mile (1999), The General's Daughter , (1999) and Snow Falling on Cedars (1999). Cromwell's first Star Trek role was on Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1990, in the season 3 episode "The Hunted", followed by the 1993 episode "Birthright, Part 1" as Jaglom Shrek. He also played Dr. Zefram Cochrane in Star Trek: First Contact (1996), the Star Trek: Enterprise pilot episode "Broken Bow", and the 2022 Star Trek: Lower Decks season 3 premiere episode, "Grounded". The Star Trek: Enterprise episode "In a Mirror, Darkly" reused some of the First Contact footage. [14] Cromwell appeared in another Star Trek role on the television series Deep Space Nine , in the episode "Starship Down" as Hanok. He also voiced the Colonel in DreamWorks' Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron . [15]
Cromwell's role as newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst in the television film RKO 281 earned him an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Television Movie. The following year, he received his second Emmy Award nomination for playing Bishop Lionel Stewart on the NBC medical drama series ER . In 2004, he guest-starred as former President D. Wire Newman in The West Wing episode "The Stormy Present". From 2003 to 2005, Cromwell played George Sibley in the HBO drama series Six Feet Under , which earned him his third Emmy Award nomination in 2003. Along with the rest of his castmates, he was also nominated for two Screen Actors Guild Awards for Best Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2005 and 2006. The following year, Cromwell played Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in The Queen (2006), that earned Helen Mirren an Academy Award for Best Actress. He also guest starred as Phillip Bauer, father of lead character Jack, in the sixth season of the Fox thriller drama series 24 . [16]
In October 2007, Cromwell played the lead role of James Tyrone Sr. in the Druid Theatre Company's production of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night , at the Gaiety in Dublin as part of the Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival's 50th Anniversary. [17] That same year he received the King Vidor Memorial Award from the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival for his artistic achievements in film. Cromwell played George H. W. Bush in Oliver Stone's W. (2008), that chronicles the rise to power of Bush's son up until the 2003 invasion of Iraq. [18] Cromwell also provided the voice of the main villain Professor Robert Callaghan/Yokai in the Disney movie Big Hero 6 .
In 2015, Cromwell executive produced the documentary Imminent Threat which tackles the War on Terror's impact on civil liberties. [19]
In 2016 Cromwell starred in HBO's series The Young Pope alongside Jude Law and Diane Keaton. [20] In 2018, he appeared in HBO's Succession , and Starz's Counterpart . [21]
In 2020, Cromwell starred in the Australian comedy-drama film Never Too Late . [22] Cromwell starred in Operation Buffalo , an Australian television comedy-drama series about the atomic bomb tests in outback Australia, which screened on ABC from 31 May 2020.
He is currently featured in the HBO Max show Julia , as Julia Child's father, John McWilliams. [23]
In 2021, Cromwell executive produced the psychedelic comedy Mondo Hollywoodland , directed by Janek Ambros, who also directed Imminent Threat. [24]
Cromwell has long been an advocate of progressive causes, particularly regarding animal rights. He became a vegetarian in 1974 after seeing a stockyard in Texas and experiencing the "smell, terror and anxiety". [25] He became vegan while playing the character of Farmer Hoggett in the 1995 film Babe . [26] He frequently speaks out on issues regarding animal cruelty for PETA, largely on the treatment of pigs. [27] In 2017, he was arrested during a PETA protest against SeaWorld's treatment of orca whales, at which he spoke about marine mammals' suffering and premature deaths. [28]
Cromwell served as the narrator of the short film Farm to Fridge, a documentary produced by Mercy for Animals. [29]
In February 2013, Cromwell was arrested along with animal rights activist Jeremy Beckham for interrupting a University of Wisconsin Board of Regents meeting while showing a graphic photo of a cat to protest about alleged mistreatment of animals on campus. [30] [31] The incident, which garnered widespread press coverage, was resolved on March 25, 2013, when an attorney representing Cromwell entered no-contest pleas to the non-criminal offense and agreed to pay $100 forfeitures and court costs of $263.50. [32] In December 2015, he was removed from an event in New York for heckling an energy company receiving an award. [33] On December 18, 2015, Cromwell and five other people were arrested while protesting against the construction of a natural gas power station in Wawayanda, New York, near his home in Warwick, New York. [34] He and his fellow protesters, called the "Wawayanda Six", were convicted of disorderly conduct and obstruction of traffic. They were fined $375, due June 29, 2017 and sentenced to 16 hours of community service. [35] [36] [37] After refusing to pay the fine, he was sentenced to a week in jail, scheduled to go on July 14. [38] However, they were released three days later on July 17. [39] Cromwell and fellow Star Trek actor J. G. Hertzler were among the 19 people arrested in Watkins Glen, New York on June 6, 2016, for a protest against underground gas storage in salt caverns near Seneca Lake. [40] On June 6, 2017, he was escorted out of a Democratic Party fundraiser (which New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi attended) after disrupting the event by protesting about the power station. [41] Cromwell was again arrested, this time for trespassing after taking part in a protest along with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) at Seaworld on July 24. [42]
On October 31, 2019, Cromwell was again arrested with 34-year-old animal rights activist Jeremy Beckham. They were charged with disorderly conduct after police said they disrupted a meeting of the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents. The two were part of a demonstration by PETA, protesting A&M's use of dogs for medical research. Both were released after posting bonds of $5,000 each. [43]
In May 2022, Cromwell superglued his hand on the counter of a Manhattan Starbucks to protest the surcharge of plant-based milks. [44] Later that year, PETA named him their 2022 Person of the Year. [45] In April 2023, he helped rehome a pig destined for slaughter to the Indraloka Animal Sanctuary and named it "Babe". [46]
Cromwell married Ann Ulvestad in 1977. [47] They divorced in 1986. Together the couple had three children: Kate, John and Colin. [10] Cromwell married actress Julie Cobb on May 29, 1986; they divorced in 2005. [48] On January 1, 2014, Cromwell married actress Anna Stuart at the home of Stuart's former Another World co-star Charles Keating. [49] [50] Cromwell lives in Warwick, New York. [51]
Cromwell is known for his height; at 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m), he is the tallest actor nominated for an Academy Award. His son John is even taller, standing 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m). [1] [52] In the 2012 film Memorial Day, John played the young Bud Vogel, while James played him as a grandfather, [53] and both Cromwells appear as the same character at different ages in American Horror Story: Asylum (2012) and the first season of Betrayal (2013).
Cromwell's experiences of the Civil Rights Movement while on a theatre tour through several Deep South states in 1964 had a profound effect on him. The courage of local campaigners and visiting activists – Cromwell had played high school football with civil rights worker Mickey Schwerner, who was murdered with two of his colleagues in Mississippi in 1964 – convinced him to become an activist. He subsequently became involved in the anti-Vietnam War movement, [54] and by the late 1960s, Cromwell was a member of the Committee to Defend the Panthers, a group organized to defend 13 members of the Black Panther Party who had been imprisoned in New York on charges of conspiracy. All 13 were eventually released. In a 2004 interview with CNN, Cromwell praised the Panthers. [55]
In an October 2008 interview, Cromwell criticized the Republican Party and the George W. Bush administration, saying that their foreign policy would "either destroy us or the entire planet". [18]
He supported the presidential campaign of Bernie Sanders in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. [56]
Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1995 | Academy Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Babe | Nominated | |
2000 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie | RKO 281 | Nominated | |
2001 | Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series | ER | Nominated | ||
2003 | Six Feet Under | Nominated | |||
2013 | Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie | American Horror Story: Asylum | Won | ||
2020 | Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series | Succession | Nominated | [57] | |
2022 | Nominated | [58] | |||
2023 | Nominated | [59] | |||
1997 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture | L.A. Confidential | Nominated | |
1999 | The Green Mile | Nominated | |||
2004 | Outstanding Ensemble in a Drama Series | Six Feet Under | Nominated | ||
2005 | Nominated | ||||
2011 | Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture | The Artist | Nominated | ||
Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry. It originally aired from September 28, 1987, to May 23, 1994, in syndication, spanning 178 episodes over seven seasons. The third series in the Star Trek franchise, it was inspired by Star Trek: The Original Series. Set in the latter third of the 24th century, when Earth is part of the United Federation of Planets, it follows the adventures of a Starfleet starship, the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D), in its exploration of the Alpha quadrant and Beta quadrant in the Milky Way galaxy.
Levardis Robert Martyn Burton Jr. is an American actor, director, and television host. He played Geordi La Forge in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987–1994), Kunta Kinte in the ABC miniseries Roots (1977), and was the host of the PBS Kids educational television series Reading Rainbow for 23 years (1983–2006). He received 12 Daytime Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award as host and executive producer of Reading Rainbow.
Edward James Olmos is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Lieutenant Martin "Marty" Castillo in Miami Vice (1984–1989), American Me (1992), William Adama in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica (2004–2009), Detective Gaff in Blade Runner (1982) and its sequel Blade Runner 2049 (2017) and the voice of Mito in the 2005 English dub of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. For his performance as high school math teacher Jaime Escalante in Stand and Deliver (1988), he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor.
Woodrow Tracy Harrelson is an American actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for three Academy Awards and four Golden Globe Awards. Harrelson first became known for his role as bartender Woody Boyd on the NBC sitcom Cheers (1985–1993), for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series from five nominations. He reprised his role in the acclaimed spinoff series Frasier in 1999 for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series nomination.
Steven Vincent Buscemi is an American actor. Buscemi is known for his work as an acclaimed character actor. His early credits consist of major roles in independent film productions such as the AIDS drama Parting Glances (1986), Mystery Train (1989), In the Soup (1992), and his breakout role as Mr. Pink in Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs (1992).
Victor Jay Garber, is a Canadian actor. Known for his work on stage and screen, he has been nominated for three Gemini Awards, four Tony Awards, and six Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2022, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.
Cloris Leachman was an American actress and comedian whose career spanned nearly eight decades. She won many accolades, including eight Primetime Emmy Awards from 22 nominations, making her the most nominated and, along with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, most awarded performer in Emmy history. Leachman also won an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Golden Globe Award.
James Dominic Frain is an English stage and screen actor. His best known television roles include Thomas Cromwell in the Showtime/CBC historical drama The Tudors (2007–2009), Franklin Mott in the HBO drama True Blood (2010), Warwick the Kingmaker in the BBC drama serial The White Queen (2013), John Sumner in the Sky/Canal+ crime drama The Tunnel (2013), Ferdinand Chevalier in the BBC/Space sci-fi thriller Orphan Black (2015–2017), Theo Galavan/Azrael in Fox's Gotham (2015–2016), and Sarek in Star Trek: Discovery (2017–2019). He also played leading roles in the BBC dramas Armadillo (2001), The Buccaneers (1995) and The Mill on the Floss (1997).
Stephen Root is an American actor. He has starred as Jimmy James on the NBC sitcom NewsRadio (1995–1999), as Milton Waddams in the film Office Space (1999), and voiced Bill Dauterive and Buck Strickland on the animated series King of the Hill (1997–2010).
Terrance Quinn, known professionally as Terry O'Quinn, is an American actor. He is best known for his Primetime Emmy Award-winning performance of John Locke on the TV series Lost (2004–2010). In film, he is best known for playing the title role in The Stepfather (1987) and Howard Hughes in The Rocketeer (1991), with roles in other films such as Heaven's Gate (1980), Silver Bullet (1985), Young Guns (1988), Blind Fury (1989), Tombstone (1993), and Primal Fear (1996).
Kristoff St. John was an American actor best known for playing Neil Winters on the CBS daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless from 1991 until his death in 2019. Playing the role of Neil earned him two Daytime Emmy Awards from eleven nominations, and ten NAACP Image Awards. He was also known for his role as Adam Marshall in the NBC soap opera Generations, for which he received two Daytime Emmy Award nominations; and his role as a young Alex Haley on the ABC miniseries Roots: The Next Generations.
Jessica Ann Walter was an American actress who appeared in more than 170 films, stage and television productions. In films, she was best known for her role as a psychotic and obsessed fan of a local disc jockey in the 1971 Clint Eastwood thriller, Play Misty for Me. On television, she was most recently known for her role of Lucille Bluth on the sitcom Arrested Development, and providing the voice of Malory Archer on the FX animated series Archer (2009–2021). Walter received various awards over the course of her television career including a Primetime Emmy Award for Amy Prentiss (1975). She also received two Golden Globe Award nominations and three Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. For her starring role opposite Eastwood in Play Misty for Me, Walter received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama.
"Borderland" is the fourth episode of the fourth season of the science fiction television series Star Trek: Enterprise. It originally aired on October 29, 2004, on UPN. The script was written by Ken LaZebnik, and was directed by David Livingston. The episode featured the first appearance of Star Trek: The Next Generation actor Brent Spiner in Enterprise. It also featured guest appearances by Bobbi Sue Luther and WWE wrestler Big Show.
Fionnghuala Manon "Fionnula" Flanagan is an Irish stage, television, and film actress. Flanagan is known for her roles in the films James Joyce's Women (1985), Some Mother's Son (1996), Waking Ned (1998), The Others (2001), Four Brothers (2005), Yes Man (2008), The Guard (2011) and Song of the Sea (2014). She is also known for her recurring role as Eloise Hawking in the series Lost (2007–2010). Notable stage productions she has performed in include Ulysses in Nighttown and The Ferryman, both of which earned her Tony Award nominations for Best Featured Actress in a Play.
Taraji Penda Henson is an American actress. She has received several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for an Academy Award, a Tony Award and four Primetime Emmy Awards.
Star Trek is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. Since its creation, the franchise has expanded into various films, television series, video games, novels, and comic books, and it has become one of the most recognizable and highest-grossing media franchises of all time.
William Shatner is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the Star Trek franchise, from his 1966 debut as the captain of the starship Enterprise in the second pilot of the first Star Trek television series to his final appearance as Captain Kirk in the seventh Star Trek feature film, Star Trek Generations (1994).
Matt Shakman is an American film, television, and theatre director, and former child actor. He produced and directed WandaVision and has directed episodes of The Great, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Fargo and Game of Thrones. He is the artistic director of the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles, California.
The following is a list of acting credits for American character actor and activist James Cromwell.
[I]n 1995, he became the tallest actor ever nominated for an Academy Award.
I'm proud to have attended Middlebury College.
...CMU alumnus James Cromwell (A'64)....
He dropped out of Middlebury and enrolled as a theater major at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie-Mellon). A year later, 'I left in a huff,' he says. 'Institutions and I get on each other's nerves something fierce.' ... A nine-year first marriage to actress Ann Ulvestad ended in 1986. Cromwell retained custody of their three children: Kate, now 18 and a freshman at Smith College, John, 16, and Colin, 14.
John is 6'8 to James' already very tall 6'7.