Ed Flanders
Encyclopedia
Edward Paul Flanders was an American actor best known for his role as Dr. Donald Westphall in the television series St. Elsewhere
.
, the son of Bernice (née
Brown) and Francis Michael Grey Flanders. Flanders began his acting career on Broadway
before moving on to guest parts in television series. From 1967 through 1975, Flanders appeared in more than a dozen American TV shows, including six appearances on Hawaii Five-O
(as six different characters). During this time, he was also prolific in TV movies. He also married actress Ellen Geer
during this time; they later divorced.
In the late 1970s, Flanders moved away from small TV roles to take major credits in both TV and feature films, while continuing his stage career. In 1974, Flanders won a Tony Award
for Best Supporting or Featured Actor in a Dramatic Presentation for A Moon for the Misbegotten
by Eugene O'Neill
on Broadway
, He also won an Emmy award in 1976 for the TV movie adaptation of A Moon for the Misbegotten.
which was to earn him four Emmy Award
nominations as Outstanding Lead Actor in a TV Series, winning the award in 1983. After a stormy departure from the series in 1987, he returned for two more episodes including the 1988 series finale. During a scene in which Westphall addressed the staff, Flanders began speaking extemporaneously about the quality of art and had to be edited for broadcast. His exit on St. Elsewhere
as a regular cast member was titled Moon for the Misbegotten after the play that won him a Tony Award
. The episode gained much publicity as Westphall left the hospital after "mooning" his new boss, Dr. Gideon (played by Ronny Cox
). Flanders continued his working relationship with executive producer Bruce Paltrow
in the short-lived 1994 CBS series, The Road Home
.
from April 1945 until January 1953, across the end of World War II
and most of the Korean War
in Truman at Potsdam, Harry S Truman: Plain Speaking, and MacArthur. In the last, Flanders, once again portraying Harry Truman, had second billing to Gregory Peck
's lead as General Douglas MacArthur
.
Flanders is one of a very short list of actors, including Jason Robards
and Anthony Hopkins
, who have portrayed two different Presidents. See also this list of actors who played Presidents.
In feature films, Flanders performed major roles in two dark movies based on novels by William Peter Blatty
. In the first, The Ninth Configuration
(1980), he plays Col. Richard Fell, a self-effacing medic at a secret U.S. army psychiatric facility who assists Marine psychiatrist Col. Vincent Kane (Stacy Keach
). The film was based on Blatty's darkly satirical novel Twinkle, Twinkle, "Killer" Kane. Then in 1990, Flanders played the avuncular Father Dyer alongside star George C. Scott
in Blatty's The Exorcist III
based on the novel Legion.
One of Flanders' best-remembered TV guest roles was in the first season M*A*S*H episode "Yankee Doodle Doctor", playing film director
Duane William Bricker. Bricker, commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Special Services, is making a documentary about M*A*S*H units and comes to the 4077th on the recommendation of General Clayton. When Hawkeye and Trapper react to Bricker's filmmaking by destroying the negatives, Bricker abandons the project and leaves. Hawkeye takes over the making of the film which, instead of a serious documentary, becomes a farce in the style of the Marx Brothers
.
Flanders also played nationally known journalist William Allen White
in the 1977 made for TV movie Mary White. This movie was based on the famous eulogy White wrote about his daughter after her death in 1922 from being hit in the head while riding her horse. He also appeared in the 1979 made-for-TV-horror-mini-series Salem's Lot as Dr. Bill Norton. He also played news anchor John Woodley in the 1983 made-for-TV suspense drama Special Bulletin
, about a group of environmentalists who threaten to detonate a nuclear weapon in Charleston, South Carolina.
, particularly after his 1992 divorce from his second wife, health issues with back pain from a road accident and financial problems with his ranch in northern California.
He took his own life by a self-inflicted gunshot wound on February 22, 1995 in Denny, California
.
for Best Supporting or Featured Actor in a Dramatic Presentation for A Moon for the Misbegotten
by Eugene O'Neill
.
St. Elsewhere
St. Elsewhere is an American medical drama television series that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982 to May 25, 1988. The series is set at fictional St. Eligius, a decaying urban teaching hospital in Boston's South End neighborhood...
.
Biography
Flanders was born in Minneapolis, MinnesotaMinnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, the son of Bernice (née
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Brown) and Francis Michael Grey Flanders. Flanders began his acting career on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
before moving on to guest parts in television series. From 1967 through 1975, Flanders appeared in more than a dozen American TV shows, including six appearances on Hawaii Five-O
Hawaii Five-O
Hawaii Five-O is an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productions and Leonard Freeman. Set in Hawaii, the show originally aired for twelve seasons from 1968 to 1980, and continues in reruns. The show featured a fictional state police unit run by Detective Steve McGarrett,...
(as six different characters). During this time, he was also prolific in TV movies. He also married actress Ellen Geer
Ellen Geer
Ellen Ware Geer is an American actress, professor, screenwriter, film director and theatre director.-Personal life:Geer was born in New York City, New York, the daughter of actors Herta Ware and Will Geer. She is currently married to children's musician Peter Alsop, and was previously married to...
during this time; they later divorced.
In the late 1970s, Flanders moved away from small TV roles to take major credits in both TV and feature films, while continuing his stage career. In 1974, Flanders won a Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for Best Supporting or Featured Actor in a Dramatic Presentation for A Moon for the Misbegotten
A Moon for the Misbegotten
A Moon for the Misbegotten is a play by Eugene O'Neill. The play can be thought of as a sequel to the autobiographical Long Day's Journey into Night...
by Eugene O'Neill
Eugene O'Neill
Eugene Gladstone O'Neill was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into American drama techniques of realism earlier associated with Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, and Swedish...
on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
, He also won an Emmy award in 1976 for the TV movie adaptation of A Moon for the Misbegotten.
St. Elsewhere
In 1982, he began his role in St. ElsewhereSt. Elsewhere
St. Elsewhere is an American medical drama television series that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982 to May 25, 1988. The series is set at fictional St. Eligius, a decaying urban teaching hospital in Boston's South End neighborhood...
which was to earn him four Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
nominations as Outstanding Lead Actor in a TV Series, winning the award in 1983. After a stormy departure from the series in 1987, he returned for two more episodes including the 1988 series finale. During a scene in which Westphall addressed the staff, Flanders began speaking extemporaneously about the quality of art and had to be edited for broadcast. His exit on St. Elsewhere
St. Elsewhere
St. Elsewhere is an American medical drama television series that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982 to May 25, 1988. The series is set at fictional St. Eligius, a decaying urban teaching hospital in Boston's South End neighborhood...
as a regular cast member was titled Moon for the Misbegotten after the play that won him a Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
. The episode gained much publicity as Westphall left the hospital after "mooning" his new boss, Dr. Gideon (played by Ronny Cox
Ronny Cox
Daniel Ronald "Ronny" Cox is an American character actor, singer-songwriter and guitarist.-Personal life:Cox, the third of five children, was born in Cloudcroft, New Mexico, the son of Lounette and Bob P. Cox, a carpenter who also worked at a dairy. He grew up in Portales, New Mexico...
). Flanders continued his working relationship with executive producer Bruce Paltrow
Bruce Paltrow
Bruce Weigert Paltrow was an American television and film director and producer. He was the husband of actress Blythe Danner, and was the father of actress Gwyneth Paltrow and director Jake Paltrow.-Life and career:...
in the short-lived 1994 CBS series, The Road Home
The Road Home (TV series)
The Road Home is an American TV series that aired on CBS from March 5, 1994, to April 16, 1994. The series starred Karen Allen, Ed Flanders, Terence Knox, Jessica Bowman and Christopher Masterson...
.
Notable roles
In addition to his six-year role as Dr. Donald Westphall, Flanders is noted as the actor who has played President Harry Truman more times, and in more separate productions, than any other. He portrayed Truman, who was PresidentPresident of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
from April 1945 until January 1953, across the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and most of the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
in Truman at Potsdam, Harry S Truman: Plain Speaking, and MacArthur. In the last, Flanders, once again portraying Harry Truman, had second billing to Gregory Peck
Gregory Peck
Eldred Gregory Peck was an American actor.One of 20th Century Fox's most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1960s, Peck continued to play important roles well into the 1980s. His notable performances include that of Atticus Finch in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird, for which he won an...
's lead as General Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the...
.
Flanders is one of a very short list of actors, including Jason Robards
Jason Robards
Jason Nelson Robards, Jr. was an American actor on stage, and in film and television, and a winner of the Tony Award , two Academy Awards and the Emmy Award...
and Anthony Hopkins
Anthony Hopkins
Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins, KBE , best known as Anthony Hopkins, is a Welsh actor of film, stage and television...
, who have portrayed two different Presidents. See also this list of actors who played Presidents.
In feature films, Flanders performed major roles in two dark movies based on novels by William Peter Blatty
William Peter Blatty
William Peter Blatty is an American writer and filmmaker. The novel The Exorcist, written in 1971, is his magnum opus; he also penned the subsequent screenplay version of the film, for which he won an Academy Award....
. In the first, The Ninth Configuration
The Ninth Configuration
The Ninth Configuration, is an American-made film, released in 1980, directed by William Peter Blatty...
(1980), he plays Col. Richard Fell, a self-effacing medic at a secret U.S. army psychiatric facility who assists Marine psychiatrist Col. Vincent Kane (Stacy Keach
Stacy Keach
Stacy Keach is an American actor and narrator. He is most famous for his dramatic roles; however, he has done narration work in educational programming on PBS and the Discovery Channel, as well as some comedy and musical...
). The film was based on Blatty's darkly satirical novel Twinkle, Twinkle, "Killer" Kane. Then in 1990, Flanders played the avuncular Father Dyer alongside star George C. Scott
George C. Scott
George Campbell Scott was an American stage and film actor, director and producer. He was best known for his stage work, as well as his portrayal of General George S. Patton in the film Patton, and as General Buck Turgidson in Stanley Kubrick's Dr...
in Blatty's The Exorcist III
The Exorcist III
The Exorcist III is a 1990 American supernatural thriller written and directed by William Peter Blatty. It is the second sequel of The Exorcist series and a film adaptation of Blatty's novel, Legion . The film stars George C. Scott, Brad Dourif, Ed Flanders, and Nicol Williamson...
based on the novel Legion.
One of Flanders' best-remembered TV guest roles was in the first season M*A*S*H episode "Yankee Doodle Doctor", playing film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
Duane William Bricker. Bricker, commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Special Services, is making a documentary about M*A*S*H units and comes to the 4077th on the recommendation of General Clayton. When Hawkeye and Trapper react to Bricker's filmmaking by destroying the negatives, Bricker abandons the project and leaves. Hawkeye takes over the making of the film which, instead of a serious documentary, becomes a farce in the style of the Marx Brothers
Marx Brothers
The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act, originally from New York City, that enjoyed success in Vaudeville, Broadway, and motion pictures from the early 1900s to around 1950...
.
Flanders also played nationally known journalist William Allen White
William Allen White
William Allen White was a renowned American newspaper editor, politician, author, and leader of the Progressive movement...
in the 1977 made for TV movie Mary White. This movie was based on the famous eulogy White wrote about his daughter after her death in 1922 from being hit in the head while riding her horse. He also appeared in the 1979 made-for-TV-horror-mini-series Salem's Lot as Dr. Bill Norton. He also played news anchor John Woodley in the 1983 made-for-TV suspense drama Special Bulletin
Special Bulletin
Special Bulletin is an American made-for-TV movie first broadcast in 1983. It was an early collaboration between director Edward Zwick and writer Marshall Herskovitz, a team that would later produce such series as thirtysomething and My So-Called Life...
, about a group of environmentalists who threaten to detonate a nuclear weapon in Charleston, South Carolina.
Later life and death
Flanders continued working in telemovies in the early 1990s, but was suffering from depressionDepression (mood)
Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person's thoughts, behaviour, feelings and physical well-being. Depressed people may feel sad, anxious, empty, hopeless, helpless, worthless, guilty, irritable, or restless...
, particularly after his 1992 divorce from his second wife, health issues with back pain from a road accident and financial problems with his ranch in northern California.
He took his own life by a self-inflicted gunshot wound on February 22, 1995 in Denny, California
Denny, California
Denny is a ghost town in Trinity County, California, United States. Actor Ed Flanders committed suicide there in 1995.-External links:* *...
.
TV Series
- 1967 Cimarron StripCimarron StripCimarron Strip is an American Western television series that aired on CBS from September 1967 to March 1968. Starring Stuart Whitman as Marshal Jim Crown, the series was produced by the creators of Gunsmoke...
(episode: The Roarer)...as Arliss Blynn - 1969 Daniel BooneDaniel Boone (TV series)Daniel Boone is an American action/adventure television series starring Fess Parker as Daniel Boone that aired from September 24, 1964 to September 10, 1970 on NBC for 165 episodes, and was made by 20th Century Fox Television. Ed Ames co-starred as Mingo, Boone's Native American friend, for the...
(episode: The Traitor)...as Lackland - 1971 The Name of the GameThe Name of the Game (TV series)The Name of the Game is an American television series starring Tony Franciosa, Gene Barry, and Robert Stack that ran from 1968 to 1971 on NBC, totaling 76 episodes of 90 minutes. It was a pioneering wheel series, setting the stage for the likes of The Bold Ones and the NBC Mystery Movie in the 1970s...
(episode: Beware of the Watchdog)...as Lazlo Subich - 1971 Travis Logan D.A....as Psychiatrist
- 1971 Bearcats! (episode: Hostages)...as Ben Tillman
- 1971 Goodbye, Raggedy Ann (TV Movie)...as David Bevin
- 1971 McMillan & Wife (episode: Husbands, Wives and Killers)...as Tom Benton
- 1971 Mission: ImpossibleMission: ImpossibleMission: Impossible is an American television series which was created and initially produced by Bruce Geller. It chronicled the missions of a team of secret American government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force . The leader of the team was Jim Phelps, played by Peter Graves, except in...
(episode: Blues)...as Joe Belker - 1972 MannixMannixMannix is an American television detective series that ran from 1967 through 1975 on CBS. Created by Richard Levinson and William Link and developed by executive producer Bruce Geller, the title character, Joe Mannix, is a private investigator. He is played by Mike Connors...
(episode: A Walk in the Shadows)...as Tom Farnom - 1972 Nichols aka James Garner as Nichols (episode: Fight of the Century)
- 1972 Cade's CountyCade's CountyCade's County is a modern-day Western/crime drama which aired on CBS during the 1971–72 television season. There were 24 episodes.-Synopsis:...
(episode: The Fake)...as Ben Crawford - 1972 IronsideIronside (TV series)Ironside is a Universal television series which ran on NBC from September 14, 1967 to January 16, 1975. The show starred Raymond Burr as the wheelchair-using Chief of Detectives, Robert T. Ironside. The character's debut was in a TV-movie on March 28, 1967. The original title of the show in the...
(episode: Five days in the Death of Sgt. Brown: Part 1)...as Phil McIver - 1972 The Bold Ones: The New DoctorsThe Bold Ones: The New DoctorsThe Bold Ones: The New Doctors is an American medical drama that lasted for four seasons on NBC, from 1969 to 1973.-Overview:The series focuses on the life of Dr. David Craig The Bold Ones: The New Doctors (also known as The New Doctors) is an American medical drama that lasted for four seasons on...
aka The New Doctors (episode: Five Days in the Death of Sgt Brown: Part II)...as Phil McIver - 1972 M*A*S*H (episode: Yankee Doodle Doctor)...as Lt Dwayne Bricker
- 1972 BanyonBanyonBanyon is a detective series broadcast in the United States by NBC as part of its 1972-73 television schedule, though a standalone two-hour television movie was broadcast first in March 1971. The series was a Quinn Martin Production Banyon is a detective series broadcast in the United States by NBC...
(episode: Just Once)...as Sergeant Randall - 1973 Kung FuKung Fu (TV series)Kung Fu is an American television series that starred David Carradine. It was created by Ed Spielman, directed and produced by Jerry Thorpe, and developed by Herman Miller, who was also a writer for, and co-producer of, the series...
(episode: The Salamander)...as Alonzo Davis - 1973 Marcus Welby, M.D.Marcus Welby, M.D.Marcus Welby, M.D. is an American medical drama television program that aired on ABC from September 23, 1969, to July 29, 1976. It starred Robert Young as a family practitioner with a kind bedside manner, and was produced by David Victor and David J. O'Connell...
aka Robert Young, Family Doctor (episode: The Comeback)...as Magruder - 1974 Barnaby JonesBarnaby JonesBarnaby Jones is a television detective series starring Buddy Ebsen and Lee Meriwether as father- and daughter-in-law who run a private detective firm in Los Angeles. A spin-off from Cannon, the show ran on CBS from January 28, 1973 to April 3, 1980, beginning as a midseason replacement...
(episode: Death on Deposit)...as 'Doc' Fred Tucker - 1969-1975 Hawaii Five-OHawaii Five-OHawaii Five-O is an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productions and Leonard Freeman. Set in Hawaii, the show originally aired for twelve seasons from 1968 to 1980, and continues in reruns. The show featured a fictional state police unit run by Detective Steve McGarrett,...
(7 episodes: 1969 Up Tight ...as David Stone; (1970) Three Dead Cows at Makapuu (2-parter)...as Dr Alexander Kline; (1970) The Guarmerius Caper...as Dmitri Rostov; (1972) While You're at It, Bring in the Moon(1974); One Born Every Minute...as Joe Connors; (1975) And the Horse Jumped Over the Moon) - 1975 The Mary Tyler Moore ShowThe Mary Tyler Moore ShowThe Mary Tyler Moore Show is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns that aired on CBS from 1970 to 1977...
(episode: Mary's Father)...as Father Terrance Brian - 1975 The Legend of Lizzie BordenThe Legend of Lizzie BordenThe Legend of Lizzie Borden is a 1975 American television movie. It premiered on ABC on February 10, 1975.-Plot:The film, although based on fact, is a stylish retelling of the events of August 4, 1892 when the parents of New England spinster Lizzie Andrew Borden were found brutally murdered in...
ABC 2-part docudrama. Airdate: 2/10/57...as Hosea Knowlton - 1975 Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux KlanAttack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux KlanAttack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan is a 1975 two-part television movie, which dramatised the events following the 1964 disappearance and murder of three Civil Rights workers in Mississippi...
CBS 2-part docudrama. Airdate: 2/20/75...as Justice Department attorney Ralph Paine - 1976 Hallmark Hall of FameHallmark Hall of FameHallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City based greeting card company. The second longest-running television program in the history of television, it has a historically long run, beginning in 1951 and continuing into 2011...
(episode: Truman at Potsdan)...as President Harry S Truman - 1979 Backstairs at the White House (episodes 1.1, 1.2 and 1.4)...as President Calvin Coolidge
- 1979 Blind Ambition (TV mini-series)...as John Dean
- 1979 Salem's Lot aka Blood Thirst aka ...as Dr Bill Norton
- 1982-1988 St. ElsewhereSt. ElsewhereSt. Elsewhere is an American medical drama television series that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982 to May 25, 1988. The series is set at fictional St. Eligius, a decaying urban teaching hospital in Boston's South End neighborhood...
in 120 episodes...as Dr. Donald Westphall - 1993 Jack's PlaceJack's PlaceJack's Place is a US TV series that aired from May 26, 1992 to July 13, 1993 on ABC. The series was about a retired jazz musician named Jack Evans who runs a restaurant where romances tend to start...
(episode: Who Knew?)...as Marcus Toback - 1994 The Road HomeThe Road Home (TV series)The Road Home is an American TV series that aired on CBS from March 5, 1994, to April 16, 1994. The series starred Karen Allen, Ed Flanders, Terence Knox, Jessica Bowman and Christopher Masterson...
(pilot episode)...as William Babineaux
Films
- 1970 The GrasshopperThe Grasshopper (film)The Grasshopper is a 1969 drama film directed by Jerry Paris. It stars Jacqueline Bisset and Jim Brown.-Plot:Christine Adams, a cheerful 19-year-old from British Columbia, Canada, travels to Los Angeles to be with her fiance, who works there in a bank. When the relationship doesn't work out, she...
aka PassionsThe Grasshopper (film)The Grasshopper is a 1969 drama film directed by Jerry Paris. It stars Jacqueline Bisset and Jim Brown.-Plot:Christine Adams, a cheerful 19-year-old from British Columbia, Canada, travels to Los Angeles to be with her fiance, who works there in a bank. When the relationship doesn't work out, she...
aka The Passing of Evil...as Jack Benton - 1972 The Trial of the Catonsville Nine (film)...as Father Daniel Berrigan
- 1972 The Snoop SistersThe Snoop SistersThe Snoop Sisters was an American mystery television show that aired on NBC during the 1973–1974 season.-Plot:The show starred Hollywood film legends Helen Hayes and Mildred Natwick as two elderly sisters who routinely stumbled across mysteries which they solved...
aka The Female Instinct (TV movie)...as Milo Perkins - 1973 HunterHunter (film)Hunter was a 1973 movie , involving the kidnapping and brainwashing of a race car driver in order to turn him into an assassin against America...
(TV)...as Dr Miles - 1974 Indict and Covinct (TV)...as Timothy Fitzgerald
- 1974 Things in Their Season (TV)...as Carl Gerlach
- 1975 The Legend of Lizzie BordenThe Legend of Lizzie BordenThe Legend of Lizzie Borden is a 1975 American television movie. It premiered on ABC on February 10, 1975.-Plot:The film, although based on fact, is a stylish retelling of the events of August 4, 1892 when the parents of New England spinster Lizzie Andrew Borden were found brutally murdered in...
(TV)...as Hosea Knowlton - 1975 Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux KlanAttack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux KlanAttack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan is a 1975 two-part television movie, which dramatised the events following the 1964 disappearance and murder of three Civil Rights workers in Mississippi...
(TV)...as Ralph Paine - 1975 A Moon for the MisbegottenA Moon for the MisbegottenA Moon for the Misbegotten is a play by Eugene O'Neill. The play can be thought of as a sequel to the autobiographical Long Day's Journey into Night...
(TV)...as Phil Hogan - 1976 Eleanor and FranklinEleanor and FranklinEleanor and Franklin is a television movie released on January 11, 1976, starring Edward Herrmann as Franklin D. Roosevelt and Jane Alexander as Eleanor Roosevelt. It is the first part in a two-part biopic based on Joseph P. Lash's Pulitzer Prize-winning and best-selling biography with the same...
(TV)...as Louis Howe - 1976 The Sad and Lonely Sundays (TV)...as Dr Frankman
- 1976 Harry S. Truman: Plain Speaking (TV)...as President Harry S. Truman
- 1977 The Amazing Howard HughesThe Amazing Howard HughesThe Amazing Howard Hughes is a 1977 television movie about American aviation pioneer and filmmaker Howard Hughes, based on the book by Hughes' business partner Noah Dietrich. The film starred Tommy Lee Jones, Ed Flanders, and Tovah Feldshuh....
(TV)...as Noah Dietrich - 1977 MacArthurMacArthur (film)MacArthur is a 1977 American biographical war film directed by Joseph Sargent and starring Gregory Peck in the eponymous role as American General Douglas MacArthur.-Plot:...
...as President Harry S. Truman - 1977 Mary White (TV)...as William Allen White
- 1979 Salem's Lot...as Dr. Bill Norton
- 1980 The Ninth ConfigurationThe Ninth ConfigurationThe Ninth Configuration, is an American-made film, released in 1980, directed by William Peter Blatty...
aka Twinkle, Twinkle, Killer Kane...as Col. Richard Fell - 1981 Inchon (film)...voice (uncredited) as President Harry S. Truman
- 1981 True ConfessionsTrue Confessions (film)True Confessions is a 1981 film directed by Ulu Grosbard, loosely based on the Black Dahlia murder case of 1947. The film stars Robert De Niro and Robert Duvall, was produced by Chartoff-Winkler Productions and is adapted from the novel of the same name by John Gregory Dunne.-Plot summary:In the...
...as Dan T. Campion - 1981 The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper aka Pursuit...as Brigadier
- 1981 SkokieSkokie (film)Skokie is a 1981 television movie directed by Herbert Wise, based on the real life NSPA Controversy of Skokie, Illinois, which involved the National Socialist Party of America.The film premiered in the U.S. on November 17, 1981...
aka Once They Marched Through a Thousand Towns (UK title) (TV)...as Mayor Albert J. Smith - 1982 Tomorrow's Child (TV)...as Anders Stenslund
- 1983 Special BulletinSpecial BulletinSpecial Bulletin is an American made-for-TV movie first broadcast in 1983. It was an early collaboration between director Edward Zwick and writer Marshall Herskovitz, a team that would later produce such series as thirtysomething and My So-Called Life...
(TV)...as John Woodley - 1989 The Final DaysThe Final DaysThe Final Days is a 1976 non-fiction book written by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. A follow up to their book All the President's Men, The Final Days concerns itself with the final months of the Richard Nixon presidency....
(TV)...as Leonard Garment - 1990 The Exorcist IIIThe Exorcist IIIThe Exorcist III is a 1990 American supernatural thriller written and directed by William Peter Blatty. It is the second sequel of The Exorcist series and a film adaptation of Blatty's novel, Legion . The film stars George C. Scott, Brad Dourif, Ed Flanders, and Nicol Williamson...
aka Exorcist 3 (Philippines: English title); aka Wiiliam Blatty's The Exorcist III (USA complete title)...as Father Dyer - 1991 The Perfect Tribute (TV)...as Warren
- 1992 Citizen CohnCitizen CohnCitizen Cohn is a 1992 cable film covering the life of Joseph McCarthy's controversial chief counsel Roy Cohn. James Woods, who starred as Cohn, was nominated for both an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his performance...
(TV)...as Joseph N. Welch - 1993 Message from NamMessage from NamMessage From Nam is a fiction novel, authored by Danielle Steel and published by Dell Publishing in October, 1990. The novel follows Paxton Andrews, a fictional character who is stationed in Vietnam as a journalist, focusing on the men she enounters and how her life and the lives of the people she...
aka Danielle Steel's Message from Nam (UK title)...as Ed Wilson - 1995 Bye Bye LoveBye Bye Love (film)Bye Bye Love is a 1995 American comedy-drama film that deals with the central issue of divorce. It was directed by Sam Weisman and written by Gary David Goldberg and Brad Hall...
...as Walter Sims
Emmy nominations
- 1979 - Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or a Special, for: "Backstairs at the White House"
- 1985 - Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, for: "St. Elsewhere"
- 1986 - Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, for: "St. Elsewhere"
- 1987 - Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, for: "St. Elsewhere"
Emmy Awards (won)
- 1976 - Outstanding Single Performance by a Supporting Actor in Comedy or Drama Special, for: A Moon for the Misbegotten
- 1977 - Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama or Comedy Special, for: Harry S. Truman: Plain Speaking
- 1983 - Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, for: "St. Elsewhere"
Tony Award
1974 - Tony AwardTony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for Best Supporting or Featured Actor in a Dramatic Presentation for A Moon for the Misbegotten
A Moon for the Misbegotten
A Moon for the Misbegotten is a play by Eugene O'Neill. The play can be thought of as a sequel to the autobiographical Long Day's Journey into Night...
by Eugene O'Neill
Eugene O'Neill
Eugene Gladstone O'Neill was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into American drama techniques of realism earlier associated with Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, and Swedish...
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