James Cromwell
Encyclopedia
James Oliver Cromwell is an American film
and television
actor
. Some of his more notable roles are in Babe
(1995), for which he earned Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor
, Star Trek: First Contact
(1996), L.A. Confidential
(1997), The Green Mile
(1999), The Sum of All Fears
(2002), and in the television series Six Feet Under (2003–2005). He has been nominated for an Oscar, three Emmy Award
s, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards
during his career.
, California
and was raised in Manhattan
, New York
. He is the son of actress Kay Johnson
and actor, director and producer John Cromwell
, who was blacklist
ed during the McCarthy
era. He was educated at The Hill School
, Middlebury College
and Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University
). Like his parents, he was drawn to the theater, performing in everything from Shakespeare
to experimental plays.
playing Terry. A few weeks later, 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 a year later he made his film debut in Neil Simon
's classic detective spoof Murder by Death
.
In 1980, Cromwell guest-starred in the two-part pivotal episode "Laura Ingalls Wilder
" of the long-running television series Little House on the Prairie
. He played Harve Miller, one of Almanzo Wilder's (Dean Butler
) old friends. He comes to visit Almanzo, who lives with his shy sister, Walnut Grove's school teacher Eliza Jane. Eliza Jane and Harve spend time together over the next few weeks, and she falls in love, for the first time, with Harve. However, Eliza, misunderstands some comments Harve has made, and he stuns her, at Nellie's restaurant, by announcing he wishes to marry another woman in a different town. Harve is totally unaware that she had feelings of love towards him. She takes Almanzo's wagon to the town of Sleepy Eye to seek him out before he marries someone else. She finally gathers the courage to tell him that she loves him. Instead, he tells Eliza that it is too late, he is already married. Eliza lies to everyone, and claims she is marrying Harve and moving away. This allows seventeen-year-old Laura Ingalls (Melissa Gilbert
) to take over her job as school teacher, giving Laura and Almanzo desperately needed income, and allowing Laura to move into their home to marry Almanzo at last.
While Cromwell continued with regular television work throughout the 1980s, he made real inroads in film business for his supporting roles in the films Tank
and Revenge of the Nerds
. His starring roles in the 1990s critically acclaimed films Babe
(1995), The People vs. Larry Flynt
(1996), L.A. Confidential
(1997), The Green Mile
, and Snow Falling on Cedars
(both 1999) were breakout roles for him, and made him more bankable in Hollywood. He also played Dr. Zefram Cochrane
in Star Trek: First Contact
(1996) and the Star Trek: Enterprise
pilot Broken Bow (the Star Trek: Enterprise
episode "In a Mirror, Darkly" later reused some of the First Contact footage). He has appeared on other Star Trek
television series The Next Generation
and Deep Space Nine
, though not as Cochrane (his appearances on these shows predated his role in First Contact), he guest starred in episodes including "The Hunted", "Birthright" (Part I and II) and "Starship Down".
Cromwell also had additional success on television throughout his career. His 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 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 Award 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
.
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. That same year he received the King Vidor Memorial Award from the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival for his artistic achievements in film. More recently, Cromwell played George Herbert Walker Bush
in Oliver Stone
's W.
(2008), that chronicles the rise to power of his son
up until the 2003 invasion of Iraq
. In an interview, Cromwell revealed that Stone had originally offered the role to Warren Beatty
and Harrison Ford
.
who had been imprisoned in New York on charges of conspiracy. All thirteen were eventually released. In a 2004 interview with CNN
.com, Cromwell praised the Panthers. He became a vegetarian
in 1974 after seeing a stockyard in Texas
and experiencing the "smell, terror and anxiety." He became an ethical vegan
while playing the character of Farmer Hoggett in the movie Babe
in 1995. He frequently speaks out on issues regarding animal cruelty for PETA
, largely the treatment of pig
s. In the book Money Men, author Jeffrey Birnbaum describes how John McCain went out of his way to meet Cromwell as he advocated on Capital Hill for funding of Native American arts education. He served as the narrator of the short film Farm to Fridge, a documentary produced by Mercy for Animals
. In an October 2008 interview, he strongly attacked the Republican Party
and the George W. Bush
administration, saying their foreign policy would "either destroy us or the entire planet."
Cromwell is known for his tall stature; at , he is the tallest actor nominated for an Academy Award. His son John is also tall, standing at
He was married to Anne Ulvestad from 1976 to 1986. They had three children. He married his second wife, Julie Cobb
, on 29 May 1986; that marriage ended in divorce in 2005.
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
. Some of his more notable roles are in Babe
Babe (film)
Babe is a 1995 Australian-American film directed by Chris Noonan. It is an adaptation of the 1983 novel The Sheep-Pig, also known as Babe: The Gallant Pig in the United States, by Dick King-Smith and tells the story of a pig who wants to be a sheepdog...
(1995), for which he earned Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
, Star Trek: First Contact
Star Trek: First Contact
Star Trek: First Contact is the eighth feature film in the Star Trek science fiction franchise, released in November 1996, by Paramount Pictures. First Contact is the first film in the franchise to feature no cast members from the original Star Trek television series of the 1960s...
(1996), L.A. Confidential
L.A. Confidential (film)
L.A. Confidential is a 1997 American film based on James Ellroy's 1990 novel of the same title, the third book in his L.A. Quartet. Both the book and the film tell the story of a group of LAPD officers in the 1950s, and the intersection of police corruption and Hollywood celebrity...
(1997), The Green Mile
The Green Mile (film)
The Green Mile is a 1999 American drama film directed by Frank Darabont and adapted by him from the 1996 Stephen King novel of the same name...
(1999), The Sum of All Fears
The Sum of All Fears (film)
The Sum of All Fears is a 2002 American action film/political thriller directed by Phil Alden Robinson and based on the novel The Sum of All Fears by Tom Clancy...
(2002), and in the television series Six Feet Under (2003–2005). He has been nominated for an Oscar, three 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...
s, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards
Screen Actors Guild Awards
A Screen Actors Guild Award is an accolade given by the Screen Actors Guild to recognize outstanding performances by its members. The statuette given, a nude male figure holding both a mask of comedy and a mask of tragedy, is called "The Actor"...
during his career.
Early years
Cromwell was born in Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and was raised in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. He is the son of actress Kay Johnson
Kay Johnson
Kay Johnson was an American actress who performed on the stage and in Hollywood films.-Family:Catherine Townsend Johnson was born in Mount Vernon, New York in 1904. Her father was architect Thomas R. Johnson who designed several noteworthy buildings in the New York City...
and actor, director and producer John Cromwell
John Cromwell (director)
Elwood Dager Cromwell , known as John Cromwell, was an American film actor, director and producer.-Biography:...
, who was blacklist
Blacklist
A blacklist is a list or register of entities who, for one reason or another, are being denied a particular privilege, service, mobility, access or recognition. As a verb, to blacklist can mean to deny someone work in a particular field, or to ostracize a person from a certain social circle...
ed during the McCarthy
McCarthyism
McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s and characterized by...
era. He was educated at The Hill School
The Hill School
The Hill School is a preparatory boarding school for boys and girls located in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, about 35 miles northwest of Philadelphia....
, Middlebury College
Middlebury College
Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college located in Middlebury, Vermont, USA. Founded in 1800, it is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges in the United States. Drawing 2,400 undergraduates from all 50 United States and over 70 countries, Middlebury offers 44 majors in the arts,...
and Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
). Like his parents, he was drawn to the theater, performing in everything from Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
to experimental plays.
Career
Cromwell's first television performance was in a 1974 episode of The Rockford FilesThe Rockford Files
The Rockford Files is an American television drama series which aired on the NBC network between September 13, 1974 and January 10, 1980. It has remained in regular syndication to the present day. The show stars James Garner as Los Angeles-based private investigator Jim Rockford and features Noah...
playing Terry. A few weeks later, he began a recurring role as Stretch Cunningham on All in the Family
All in the Family
All in the Family is an American sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS television network from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. In September 1979, a new show, Archie Bunker's Place, picked up where All in the Family had ended...
. In 1975, he took his first lead role on television as Bill Lewis in the short-lived Hot l Baltimore
Hot l Baltimore
Hot l Baltimore was a short-lived 1975 television situation comedy series adapted from the hit off-Broadway play by Lanford Wilson.-Premise and run:...
, and a year later he made his film debut in Neil Simon
Neil Simon
Neil Simon is an American playwright and screenwriter. He has written numerous Broadway plays, including Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, and The Odd Couple. He won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Lost In Yonkers. He has written the screenplays for several of his plays that...
's classic detective spoof Murder by Death
Murder by Death
Murder by Death is a 1976 comedy film with a cast featuring Eileen Brennan, Truman Capote, James Coco, Peter Falk, Alec Guinness, Elsa Lanchester, David Niven, Peter Sellers, Maggie Smith, Nancy Walker, and Estelle Winwood, written by Neil Simon and directed by Robert Moore.The plot is a spoof of...
.
In 1980, Cromwell guest-starred in the two-part pivotal episode "Laura Ingalls Wilder
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder was an American author who wrote the Little House series of books based on her childhood in a pioneer family...
" of the long-running television series Little House on the Prairie
Little House on the Prairie (TV series)
Little House on the Prairie is an American Western drama television series, starring Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert, about a family living on a farm in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, in the 1870s and 1880s. The show was an adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder's best-selling series of Little House books...
. He played Harve Miller, one of Almanzo Wilder's (Dean Butler
Dean Butler (actor)
Dean Butler was born May 20, 1956, in Prince George, British Columbia, Canada, is an American movie and television actor and producer of documentaries....
) old friends. He comes to visit Almanzo, who lives with his shy sister, Walnut Grove's school teacher Eliza Jane. Eliza Jane and Harve spend time together over the next few weeks, and she falls in love, for the first time, with Harve. However, Eliza, misunderstands some comments Harve has made, and he stuns her, at Nellie's restaurant, by announcing he wishes to marry another woman in a different town. Harve is totally unaware that she had feelings of love towards him. She takes Almanzo's wagon to the town of Sleepy Eye to seek him out before he marries someone else. She finally gathers the courage to tell him that she loves him. Instead, he tells Eliza that it is too late, he is already married. Eliza lies to everyone, and claims she is marrying Harve and moving away. This allows seventeen-year-old Laura Ingalls (Melissa Gilbert
Melissa Gilbert
Melissa Ellen Gilbert is an American actress, writer, and producer, primarily in movies and television. Gilbert is best known as a child actress who co-starred as Charles Ingalls's second daughter, Laura Ingalls Wilder, on the dramatic television series Little House on the Prairie...
) to take over her job as school teacher, giving Laura and Almanzo desperately needed income, and allowing Laura to move into their home to marry Almanzo at last.
While Cromwell continued with regular television work throughout the 1980s, he made real inroads in film business for his supporting roles in the films Tank
Tank (film)
Tank is a 1984 comedy, drama, and action movie starring James Garner, Jenilee Harrison, and C. Thomas Howell. The film was written by Dan Gordon and directed by Marvin J. Chomsky...
and Revenge of the Nerds
Revenge of the Nerds
Revenge of the Nerds is a 1984 comedy film satirizing social life on a college campus. The film stars Robert Carradine and Anthony Edwards, with Curtis Armstrong, Ted McGinley, Julia Montgomery, Brian Tochi, Larry B. Scott, John Goodman, and Donald Gibb...
. His starring roles in the 1990s critically acclaimed films Babe
Babe (film)
Babe is a 1995 Australian-American film directed by Chris Noonan. It is an adaptation of the 1983 novel The Sheep-Pig, also known as Babe: The Gallant Pig in the United States, by Dick King-Smith and tells the story of a pig who wants to be a sheepdog...
(1995), The People vs. Larry Flynt
The People vs. Larry Flynt
The People vs. Larry Flynt is a 1996 American biographical drama film directed by Miloš Forman about the rise of pornographic magazine publisher and editor Larry Flynt, and his subsequent clash with the law. The film stars Woody Harrelson, Courtney Love, and Edward Norton.The film was written by...
(1996), L.A. Confidential
L.A. Confidential (film)
L.A. Confidential is a 1997 American film based on James Ellroy's 1990 novel of the same title, the third book in his L.A. Quartet. Both the book and the film tell the story of a group of LAPD officers in the 1950s, and the intersection of police corruption and Hollywood celebrity...
(1997), The Green Mile
The Green Mile (film)
The Green Mile is a 1999 American drama film directed by Frank Darabont and adapted by him from the 1996 Stephen King novel of the same name...
, and Snow Falling on Cedars
Snow Falling on Cedars (film)
Snow Falling on Cedars is a film directed by Scott Hicks. It is based on David Guterson's novel of the same title. It was released in 1999 and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography.-Plot:...
(both 1999) were breakout roles for him, and made him more bankable in Hollywood. He also played Dr. Zefram Cochrane
Zefram Cochrane
Zefram Cochrane is a fictional character in the Star Trek universe. Created by writer Gene L. Coon, the character first appeared in the 1967 Star Trek episode "Metamorphosis", in which he was played by Glenn Corbett. James Cromwell later played Cochrane in the 1996 feature film Star Trek: First...
in Star Trek: First Contact
Star Trek: First Contact
Star Trek: First Contact is the eighth feature film in the Star Trek science fiction franchise, released in November 1996, by Paramount Pictures. First Contact is the first film in the franchise to feature no cast members from the original Star Trek television series of the 1960s...
(1996) and the Star Trek: Enterprise
Star Trek: Enterprise
Star Trek: Enterprise is a science fiction television series. It follows the adventures of humanity's first warp 5 starship, the Enterprise, ten years before the United Federation of Planets shown in previous Star Trek series was formed.Enterprise premiered on September 26, 2001...
pilot Broken Bow (the Star Trek: Enterprise
Star Trek: Enterprise
Star Trek: Enterprise is a science fiction television series. It follows the adventures of humanity's first warp 5 starship, the Enterprise, ten years before the United Federation of Planets shown in previous Star Trek series was formed.Enterprise premiered on September 26, 2001...
episode "In a Mirror, Darkly" later reused some of the First Contact footage). He has appeared on other Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
television series The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
and Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe...
, though not as Cochrane (his appearances on these shows predated his role in First Contact), he guest starred in episodes including "The Hunted", "Birthright" (Part I and II) and "Starship Down".
Cromwell also had additional success on television throughout his career. His role as newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst was an American business magnate and leading newspaper publisher. Hearst entered the publishing business in 1887, after taking control of The San Francisco Examiner from his father...
in the television film RKO 281
RKO 281
RKO 281 is a 1999 historical drama film directed by Benjamin Ross. It stars Liev Schreiber, James Cromwell, Melanie Griffith, John Malkovich, and Roy Scheider and depicts the troubled production behind the 1941 film Citizen Kane...
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
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
medical drama series ER
ER (TV series)
ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
. In 2004, he guest-starred as former President D. Wire Newman in the The West Wing episode "The Stormy Present
The Stormy Present
-Plot:When former President Owen Lassiter dies, two other ex-Presidents fly on Air Force One with President Josiah Bartlet to attend the funeral. Onboard, Bartlet's two historic guests partake in a lively debate about their administrations...
". 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 Award for Best Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2005 and 2006. The following year, Cromwell played Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is the husband of Elizabeth II. He is the United Kingdom's longest-serving consort and the oldest serving spouse of a reigning British monarch....
in The Queen
The Queen (film)
The Queen is a 2006 British drama film directed by Stephen Frears, written by Peter Morgan, and starring Helen Mirren as the title role, HM Queen Elizabeth II...
(2006), that earned Helen Mirren
Helen Mirren
Dame Helen Mirren, DBE is an English actor. She has won an Academy Award for Best Actress, four SAG Awards, four BAFTAs, three Golden Globes, four Emmy Awards, and two Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Awards.-Early life and family:...
an Academy Award for Best Actress
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
. He also guest starred as Phillip Bauer, father of lead character Jack
Jack Bauer
Jack Bauer is the main protagonist of the American television series 24. His character has worked in various capacities on the show, often as a member of the fictional Counter Terrorist Unit based in Los Angeles, and working with the FBI in Washington, D.C...
, in the sixth season
24 (season 6)
Season Six, also known as Day 6, of the television series 24 premiered in the United States on Sunday, January 14, 2007, the UK on January 21, 2007 and in Australia on January 30, 2007.The season's storyline began and ended at 6:00 a.m...
of the Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
thriller drama series 24
24 (TV series)
24 is an American television series produced for the Fox Network and syndicated worldwide, starring Kiefer Sutherland as Counter Terrorist Unit agent Jack Bauer. Each 24-episode season covers 24 hours in the life of Bauer, using the real time method of narration...
.
In October 2007, Cromwell played the lead role of James Tyrone Sr. in the Druid Theatre Company
Druid Theatre Company
The Druid Theatre Company, founded in Galway in 1975, was the first Irish professional theatre company to be established outside Dublin. The theatre company was founded by Garry Hynes, Marie Mullen and Mick Lally after the three had met and put on productions together while members of the...
's production of 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...
's Long Day's Journey into Night
Long Day's Journey Into Night
Long Day's Journey Into Night is a 1956 drama in four acts written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill. The play is widely considered to be his masterwork...
, at the Gaiety in Dublin as part of the Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival's
Dublin Theatre Festival
The Dublin Theatre Festival is Europe's oldest specialized theatre festival. It was founded by theatre impresario Brendan Smith in 1957 and has, with the exception of two years, produced a season of international and Irish theatre each autumn. It is one of a number of key post-World War II events...
50th Anniversary. That same year he received the King Vidor Memorial Award from the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival for his artistic achievements in film. More recently, Cromwell played George Herbert Walker Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
in Oliver Stone
Oliver Stone
William Oliver Stone is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Stone became well known in the late 1980s and the early 1990s for directing a series of films about the Vietnam War, for which he had previously participated as an infantry soldier. His work frequently focuses on...
's W.
W. (film)
W. is a 2008 American film based on the life and presidency of George W. Bush. It was produced and directed by Oliver Stone, written by Stanley Weiser, and stars Josh Brolin as Bush, with a cast that includes Ellen Burstyn, Elizabeth Banks, James Cromwell, Thandie Newton, Jeffrey Wright, Scott...
(2008), that chronicles the rise to power of his son
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
up until the 2003 invasion of Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
. In an interview, Cromwell revealed that Stone had originally offered the role to Warren Beatty
Warren Beatty
Warren Beatty born March 30, 1937) is an American actor, producer, screenwriter and director. He has received a total of fourteen Academy Award nominations, winning one for Best Director in 1982. He has also won four Golden Globe Awards including the Cecil B. DeMille Award.-Early life and...
and Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in...
.
Personal life
He has long been an advocate of progressive causes. In the late 1960s, he was a member of "The Committee to Defend The Panthers", a group organized to defend 13 members of the Black Panther PartyBlack Panther Party
The Black Panther Party wasan African-American revolutionary leftist organization. It was active in the United States from 1966 until 1982....
who had been imprisoned in New York on charges of conspiracy. All thirteen were eventually released. In a 2004 interview with CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
.com, Cromwell praised the Panthers. He became a vegetarian
Vegetarianism
Vegetarianism encompasses the practice of following plant-based diets , with or without the inclusion of dairy products or eggs, and with the exclusion of meat...
in 1974 after seeing a stockyard in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
and experiencing the "smell, terror and anxiety." He became an ethical vegan
Veganism
Veganism is the practice of eliminating the use of animal products. Ethical vegans reject the commodity status of animals and the use of animal products for any purpose, while dietary vegans or strict vegetarians eliminate them from their diet only...
while playing the character of Farmer Hoggett in the movie Babe
Babe (film)
Babe is a 1995 Australian-American film directed by Chris Noonan. It is an adaptation of the 1983 novel The Sheep-Pig, also known as Babe: The Gallant Pig in the United States, by Dick King-Smith and tells the story of a pig who wants to be a sheepdog...
in 1995. He frequently speaks out on issues regarding animal cruelty for PETA
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is an American animal rights organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president. A non-profit corporation with 300 employees and two million members and supporters, it claims to be the largest animal rights...
, largely the treatment of pig
Pig
A pig is any of the animals in the genus Sus, within the Suidae family of even-toed ungulates. Pigs include the domestic pig, its ancestor the wild boar, and several other wild relatives...
s. In the book Money Men, author Jeffrey Birnbaum describes how John McCain went out of his way to meet Cromwell as he advocated on Capital Hill for funding of Native American arts education. He served as the narrator of the short film Farm to Fridge, a documentary produced by Mercy for Animals
Mercy for Animals
Mercy for Animals is an animal rights group based in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in October 1999, it is a nonprofit, tax exempt, 501 organization with more than 25,000 members. Nathan Runkle is the group's executive director and founder...
. In an October 2008 interview, he strongly attacked the Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
and the George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
administration, saying their foreign policy would "either destroy us or the entire planet."
Cromwell is known for his tall stature; at , he is the tallest actor nominated for an Academy Award. His son John is also tall, standing at
He was married to Anne Ulvestad from 1976 to 1986. They had three children. He married his second wife, Julie Cobb
Julie Cobb
Julie Cobb is a longtime American actress, the daughter of actor Lee J. Cobb and actress Helen Beverley. At one point, she was a Playboy Bunny....
, on 29 May 1986; that marriage ended in divorce in 2005.
Films
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Murder by Death Murder by Death Murder by Death is a 1976 comedy film with a cast featuring Eileen Brennan, Truman Capote, James Coco, Peter Falk, Alec Guinness, Elsa Lanchester, David Niven, Peter Sellers, Maggie Smith, Nancy Walker, and Estelle Winwood, written by Neil Simon and directed by Robert Moore.The plot is a spoof of... |
Marcel | |
| 1978 | Schnell | ||
| 1981 | Nobody's Perfekt | Dr. Carson | |
| 1983 | Realtor | ||
| 1984 | Officer Quick | ||
| 1984 | Tank Tank (film) Tank is a 1984 comedy, drama, and action movie starring James Garner, Jenilee Harrison, and C. Thomas Howell. The film was written by Dan Gordon and directed by Marvin J. Chomsky... |
Deputy Euclid Baker | |
| 1984 | Revenge of the Nerds Revenge of the Nerds Revenge of the Nerds is a 1984 comedy film satirizing social life on a college campus. The film stars Robert Carradine and Anthony Edwards, with Curtis Armstrong, Ted McGinley, Julia Montgomery, Brian Tochi, Larry B. Scott, John Goodman, and Donald Gibb... |
Mr. Skolnick | Credited as "Jamie Cromwell" |
| 1984 | Oh, God! You Devil Oh, God! You Devil Oh, God! You Devil is a black comedy/fantasy film starring George Burns, Ted Wass, Ron Silver and Roxanne Hart.Directed by Paul Bogart and produced by Robert M. Sherman... |
Priest | |
| 1985 | Explorers Explorers (film) Explorers is a 1985 family-oriented science-fiction fantasy film written by Eric Luke and directed by Joe Dante. It was the first feature film for both Ethan Hawke and River Phoenix.It was filmed in 70mm color with 6-track sound, and runs for 109 minutes... |
Mr. Müller | |
| 1986 | Detective Blist | ||
| 1987 | Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise is the 1987 sequel to the 1984 comedy Revenge of the Nerds. Its cast featured most of the main actors from the earlier film, including Robert Carradine, Anthony Edwards, Curtis Armstrong, Larry B. Scott, Timothy Busfield, Donald Gibb, and Andrew Cassese.... |
Mr. Skolnick | |
| 1988 | Admiral Rothman | ||
| 1989 | Unknown | ||
| 1989 | Pink Cadillac | Motel Desk Clerk | |
| 1992 | Brother Mathias | ||
| 1993 | Romeo Is Bleeding Romeo Is Bleeding Romeo Is Bleeding is a darkly comic 1993 crime film starring Gary Oldman and Lena Olin, directed by Peter Medak. The film's title was taken from a song by Tom Waits.... |
Cage | |
| 1995 | Babe Babe (film) Babe is a 1995 Australian-American film directed by Chris Noonan. It is an adaptation of the 1983 novel The Sheep-Pig, also known as Babe: The Gallant Pig in the United States, by Dick King-Smith and tells the story of a pig who wants to be a sheepdog... |
Farmer Arthur Hoggett | Nominated — Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the... Nominated — Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actor Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actor The Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actor is an award given by the Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film to the actor or actors whose winning performance is voted by participating members. The Chlotrudis Awards is an annual ceremony where the best of the previous year's independent and... |
| 1995 | Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe... |
Hanok | |
| 1996 | Eraser Eraser (film) Eraser is a 1996 American action film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, James Caan and Vanessa L. Williams. It was directed by Chuck Russell. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Sound Effects Editing in 1996.-Plot:... |
William Donohue | |
| 1996 | Charles Keating Charles Keating Charles Humphrey Keating Jr. is an American athlete, lawyer, real estate developer, banker, and financier, most known for his role in the savings and loan scandal of the late 1980s.... |
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| 1996 | Star Trek: First Contact Star Trek: First Contact Star Trek: First Contact is the eighth feature film in the Star Trek science fiction franchise, released in November 1996, by Paramount Pictures. First Contact is the first film in the franchise to feature no cast members from the original Star Trek television series of the 1960s... |
Dr. Zefram Cochrane Zefram Cochrane Zefram Cochrane is a fictional character in the Star Trek universe. Created by writer Gene L. Coon, the character first appeared in the 1967 Star Trek episode "Metamorphosis", in which he was played by Glenn Corbett. James Cromwell later played Cochrane in the 1996 feature film Star Trek: First... |
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| 1997 | Owd Bob | Adam MacAdam | |
| 1997 | L.A. Confidential L.A. Confidential (film) L.A. Confidential is a 1997 American film based on James Ellroy's 1990 novel of the same title, the third book in his L.A. Quartet. Both the book and the film tell the story of a group of LAPD officers in the 1950s, and the intersection of police corruption and Hollywood celebrity... |
Captain Dudley Smith | Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture |
| 1997 | Granpa | ||
| 1998 | Species II Species II Species II is a 1998 sequel to the 1995 film Species. It stars Natasha Henstridge, Michael Madsen and Marg Helgenberger, all of whom reprise their roles from the first film. It also features actor James Cromwell as "Senator Judson Ross"... |
Senator Judson Ross | |
| 1998 | Deep Impact Deep Impact (film) Deep Impact is a 1998 science-fiction disaster-drama film released by Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks in the United States on May 8, 1998. The film was directed by Mimi Leder and stars Robert Duvall, Elijah Wood, Téa Leoni, and Morgan Freeman... |
Alan Rittenhouse | |
| 1998 | Babe: Pig in the City Babe: Pig in the City Babe: Pig in the City is a 1998 sequel to the 1995 film Babe. It occurs in the fictional city of Metropolis. Due to the unexpected darker and more mature subject matter , the film was not received as well as the first Babe film was, as it flopped at the box office and reviews were generally... |
Farmer Arthur Hoggett | |
| 1999 | Lt. Gen. Joseph Campbell | Nominated — Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actor - Suspense | |
| 1999 | Priest | ||
| 1999 | Warden Hal Moores | Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture | |
| 1999 | RKO 281 RKO 281 RKO 281 is a 1999 historical drama film directed by Benjamin Ross. It stars Liev Schreiber, James Cromwell, Melanie Griffith, John Malkovich, and Roy Scheider and depicts the troubled production behind the 1941 film Citizen Kane... |
William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst was an American business magnate and leading newspaper publisher. Hearst entered the publishing business in 1887, after taking control of The San Francisco Examiner from his father... |
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| 1999 | Snow Falling on Cedars Snow Falling on Cedars (film) Snow Falling on Cedars is a film directed by Scott Hicks. It is based on David Guterson's novel of the same title. It was released in 1999 and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography.-Plot:... |
Judge Fielding | |
| 2000 | Space Cowboys Space Cowboys Space Cowboys is a 2000 science fiction film directed by Clint Eastwood. Eastwood also stars in the film alongside Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, and James Garner as four older "ex-test pilots" who are sent into space to repair an old Soviet satellite... |
Bob Gerson | |
| 2002 | Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron is a 2002 American animated film that was released by DreamWorks. It follows the adventures of a young Kiger mustang stallion living in the 19th century wild west. The film, written by John Fusco and directed by Kelly Asbury and Lorna Cook, was nominated for the... |
The Colonel | Western Heritage Award for Theatrical Motion Picture |
| 2002 | President J. Robert Fowler | ||
| 2002 | Franz | ||
| 2003 | Blackball Blackball (film) Blackball is a 2003 British comedy sports film, borrowed from the Australian film, Crackerjack about Cliff Starkey , a fictional rebellious young bowls player. His dream is to play for his country, but always preferred to play by his own rules, much to the disapproval of the local bowls club... |
Ray Speight | |
| 2003 | Walter Shepherd | Nominated — DVD Exclusive Award DVD Exclusive Awards The DVD Exclusive Awards is an award that honors direct to video productions. The awards were first held in 2001. They are awarded by online periodical Video Business and The Digital Entertainment Group.... for Best Supporting Actor (in a DVD Premiere Movie) (2006) |
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| 2004 | I, Robot I, Robot (film) I, Robot is a 2004 science-fiction action film directed by Alex Proyas. The screenplay was written by Jeff Vintar, Akiva Goldsman and Hillary Seitz, and is very loosely based on Isaac Asimov's short-story collection of the same name. Will Smith stars in the lead role of the film as Detective Del... |
Dr. Alfred Lanning | |
| 2005 | Warden Hazen | Nominated — Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Bad Guy | |
| 2006 | Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is the husband of Elizabeth II. He is the United Kingdom's longest-serving consort and the oldest serving spouse of a reigning British monarch.... |
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| 2007 | Dante's Inferno Dante's Inferno (2007 film) Dante's Inferno is a 2007 comedy film performed with hand-drawn paper puppets on a toy theater stage. The film was adapted from the book "Dante's Inferno" by Sandow Birk and Marcus Sanders , which is a modern update of the canticle Inferno from Dante Alighieri's epic poem The Divine Comedy... |
Virgil Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid... |
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| 2007 | Becoming Jane Becoming Jane Becoming Jane is a 2007 historical film directed by Julian Jarrold. It is inspired by the early life of author Jane Austen , and her posited relationship with Thomas Langlois Lefroy . Also appearing are Julie Walters, James Cromwell and Maggie Smith... |
Reverend Austen | |
| 2007 | Spider-Man 3 Spider-Man 3 Spider-Man 3 is a 2007 American superhero film written and directed by Sam Raimi, with a screenplay by Ivan Raimi and Alvin Sargent. It is the third film in the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy based on the fictional Marvel Comics character Spider-Man... |
Captain George Stacy George Stacy George Stacy is a supporting character in Marvel Comics's Spider-Man series. He first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #56 , and was created by Stan Lee, John Romita, Sr., and Don Heck. He is Gwen Stacy's father and he strongly approves of his daughter's relationship with Peter Parker... |
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| 2008 | Tortured Tortured (film) Tortured is a 2008 crime thriller film written and directed by Nolan Lebovitz and starring Cole Hauser, Laurence Fishburne, and James Cromwell. It was released direct-to-DVD in the U.S. on September 16, 2008. The movie was filmed in Canada, in Vancouver, British Columbia.-Plot:FBI agent Kevin Cole... |
Jack | |
| 2008 | W. W. (film) W. is a 2008 American film based on the life and presidency of George W. Bush. It was produced and directed by Oliver Stone, written by Stanley Weiser, and stars Josh Brolin as Bush, with a cast that includes Ellen Burstyn, Elizabeth Banks, James Cromwell, Thandie Newton, Jeffrey Wright, Scott... |
George H. W. Bush George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to... |
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| 2009 | Howard Simons | ||
| 2009 | Surrogates | Dr. Lionel Canter | |
| 2010 | Secretariat Secretariat (film) Secretariat is a 2010 biographical film produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Mayhem Pictures, and directed by Randall Wallace. The film chronicles the life of thoroughbred race horse Secretariat, winner of the Triple Crown in 1973... |
Ogden Phipps Ogden Phipps Ogden Phipps was an American stockbroker, court tennis champion and Hall of Fame member, thoroughbred horse racing executive and owner/breeder, and an art collector and philanthropist... |
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| 2011 | Clifton | ||
| 2012 | Flying into Love Flying Into Love Flying into Love is an upcoming film, that covers the story of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, particularly the events leading up to his assassination, from the perspective of his wife Jacqueline, and others.... |
Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States... |
in production |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Terry | Episode 1.3: "The Countess" | |
| 1974 | All in the Family All in the Family All in the Family is an American sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS television network from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. In September 1979, a new show, Archie Bunker's Place, picked up where All in the Family had ended... |
Stretch Cunningham | Appeared in three episodes |
| 1974, 1978 | Maude Maude (TV series) Maude was an American television sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS network from September 12, 1972 until April 22, 1978.Maude starred Beatrice Arthur as Maude Findlay, an outspoken, middle-aged, politically liberal woman living in suburban Tuckahoe, Westchester County, New York with... |
Alfie Dr. Farrington |
Episode 3.9: "Last Tango in Tuckahoe" Episode 6.13: "The Obscene Phone Call" |
| 1975 | Hot l Baltimore Hot l Baltimore Hot l Baltimore was a short-lived 1975 television situation comedy series adapted from the hit off-Broadway play by Lanford Wilson.-Premise and run:... |
Bill Lewis | Main cast member |
| 1975 | Barbary Coast Barbary Coast The Barbary Coast, or Barbary, was the term used by Europeans from the 16th until the 19th century to refer to much of the collective land of the Berber people. Today, the terms Maghreb and "Tamazgha" correspond roughly to "Barbary"... |
Roy | Episode 1.4: "The Ballad of Redwing Jail" |
| 1976 | Stranded | Jerry Holmes | Television film |
| 1976 | Insight Insight (TV series) Insight was an Emmy-winning syndicated television series produced by Paulist Productions that aired 250 episodes from 1960 to 1983. The series presented half-hour dramas illuminating the contemporary search for meaning, freedom, and love... |
Norman | Episode "Jesus B.C." |
| 1976 | Glen | ||
| 1976 | Once an Eagle Once an Eagle Once An Eagle is a nine hour American television mini-series directed by Richard Michaels and E.W. Swackhamer. The picture was written by Peter S... |
J. L. Cleghorne | Miniseries |
| 1977 | Police Story | Lutz | Episode 4.20: "Ice Time" |
| 1977 | Deputy Malcolm Rossiter Jr. | Television film | |
| 1977 | M*A*S*H | Captain Leo Bardonaro | Episode 6.3: "Last Laugh" |
| 1977 | Three's Company Three's Company Three's Company is an American sitcom that aired from March 15, 1977, to September 18, 1984, on ABC. It is based on the British sitcom, Man About the House.... |
Detective Lannigan | Episode 2.9: "Chrissy's Night Out" |
| 1977 | Deadly Game | Deputy Malcolm Rossiter Jr. | Television film |
| 1977, 1979, 1981 | Barney Miller Barney Miller Barney Miller is a situation comedy television series set in a New York City police station in Greenwich Village. The series originally was broadcast from January 23, 1975 to May 20, 1982 on ABC. It was created by Danny Arnold and Theodore J. Flicker... |
Sgt. Wilkinson Neil Spencer Jason Parrish Dr. Edmund Danworth |
Episode 3.20: "Group Home" Episode 6.6: "Strip Joint" Episode 7.22: "Liquidation" Episode 8.5: "Stress Analyzer" |
| 1978 | Alice Alice (TV series) Alice is an American sitcom television series that ran from August 31, 1976 to July 2, 1985 on CBS. The series was based on the 1974 film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. The show stars Linda Lavin in the title role, a widow who moves with her young son to start her life over again, and finds a job... |
Detective Ralph Hilton | Episode 3.9: "Who Ordered the Hot Turkey?" |
| 1979 | Eight Is Enough Eight Is Enough Eight Is Enough is an American television comedy-drama series which ran on ABC from March 15, 1977 until August 29, 1981. The show was modeled after syndicated newspaper columnist Thomas Braden, a real-life parent with eight children, who wrote a book with the same name... |
Coach Pollard | Episode 3.23: "The Better Part of Valour" |
| 1979 | Diff'rent Strokes Diff'rent Strokes Diff'rent Strokes is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from November 3, 1978 to May 4, 1985, and on ABC from September 27, 1985 to March 7, 1986... |
Father O'Brien | Episode 2.7: "Arnold's Hero" |
| 1979, 1980 | Mr. Hamilton Art Commings |
Episode 1.13: "Mainstream" Episode 2.22: "The Death of Me Yet?" |
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| 1980 | Flo Flo Flo is an American sitcom which aired on CBS from 1980 to 1981. The series is a spin-off for Polly Holliday who portrayed the sassy and street-smart waitress Florence Jean "Flo" Castleberry on the sitcom Alice... |
Leon | Episodes 1.1: "Homecoming" and 1.4: "Take My Sister, Please" |
| 1980 | Little House on the Prairie Little House on the Prairie (TV series) Little House on the Prairie is an American Western drama television series, starring Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert, about a family living on a farm in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, in the 1870s and 1880s. The show was an adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder's best-selling series of Little House books... |
Harve Miller | Episodes 7.1: "Laura Ingalls Wilder: Part 1" and 7.2: "Laura Ingalls Wilder: Part 2" |
| 1980 | Reverend Lohman | Television film | |
| 1981 | Barefoot in the Park | Harry Pepper | Television film |
| 1982 | Noah Curry | Television film | |
| 1982 | Nurse | Paul Moore | Episode 2.9: "A Place to Die" |
| 1982 | Francisek | Television film | |
| 1982 | Born to the Wind | Fish Belly | |
| 1982 | Father Murphy Father Murphy Father Murphy is an American television drama series that aired on the NBC network from November 3, 1981 to September 18, 1983. Michael Landon created the series, was the executive producer, and also directed the show in partnership with William F... |
Farley Webster | Episodes 2.5: "The Reluctant Runaway: Part 1" and 2.6: "The Reluctant Runaway: Part 2" |
| 1984 | Buffalo Bill Buffalo Bill (TV series) Buffalo Bill is an American television situation comedy that featured the misadventures of an egotistical talk show host and his staff at WBFL-TV, a small TV station in Buffalo, New York. It premiered May 31, 1983 on NBC and ran for only part of two seasons... |
Unknown | Episode 2.2: "Jerry Lewis Week" |
| 1984 | Gimme a Break! Gimme a Break! Gimme a Break! is an American sitcom which aired on NBC from October 29, 1981, until May 12, 1987. The series stars Nell Carter as the housekeeper for a widowed police chief and his three daughters.-Premise:... |
Russell Cosgrove | Episode 3.22: "Class of '84" |
| 1984 | Spraggue | Lieutenant Hurley | Television film |
| 1984 | Earthlings | Simon Games | Television film |
| 1984–85 | Dallas Dallas (TV series) Dallas is an American serial drama/prime time soap opera that revolves around the Ewings, a wealthy Texas family in the oil and cattle-ranching industries. Throughout the series, Larry Hagman stars as greedy, scheming oil baron J. R. Ewing... |
Gerald Kane | Appeared in three episodes |
| 1985 | Night Court Night Court Night Court is an American television situation comedy that aired on NBC from January 4, 1984, to May 20, 1992. The setting was the night shift of a Manhattan court, presided over by the young, unorthodox Judge Harold T. "Harry" Stone... |
Alan | Episode 2.14: "Nuts About Harry" |
| 1985 | Family Ties Family Ties Family Ties is an American sitcom that aired on NBC for seven seasons, from 1982 to 1989. The sitcom reflected the move in the United States from the cultural liberalism of the 1960s and 1970s to the conservatism of the 1980s. This was particularly expressed through the relationship between young... |
John Hancock | Episode 3.15: "Philadelphia Story" |
| 1985 | Riptide Riptide (TV series) Riptide is a TV detective series that ran on NBC from 1983 to 1986, starring Perry King, Joe Penny, and Thom Bray. Riptide was created by Frank Lupo and Stephen J. Cannell, and produced by Stephen J. Cannell Productions. The main theme was composed by Mike Post and Pete Carpenter... |
Joey Dietz | Episode 2.17: "Girls Night Out" |
| 1985 | Hardcastle and McCormick Hardcastle and McCormick Hardcastle and McCormick is a 1980s action/drama television series from Stephen J. Cannell Productions, shown on ABC from 1983–1986, starring Brian Keith as Judge Milton C. Hardcastle and Daniel Hugh Kelly as ex-con and race car driver Mark "Skid" McCormick.The show's premise involves the... |
Jake Fellows | Episode 2.20: "Undercover McCormick" |
| 1985 | Knight Rider | Curtis | Episode 3.18: "Ten Wheel Trouble" |
| 1985 | Wildside | Fake Buffalo Bill | Episode 1.5: "Buffalo Who?" |
| 1985 | Hill Street Blues Hill Street Blues Hill Street Blues is an American serial police drama that was first aired on NBC in 1981 and ran for 146 episodes on primetime into 1987. Chronicling the lives of the staff of a single police precinct in an unnamed American city, the show received critical acclaim and its production innovations ... |
Lowenhandler | Episode 5.23: "Grin and Bear It" |
| 1985 | Hunter | Seymour Robbins | Episode 1.19: "Sniper" |
| 1985 | Obediah Payne | Episode 1.6: "Examination Day/A Message from Charity" | |
| 1985–86 | Scarecrow and Mrs. King Scarecrow and Mrs. King Scarecrow and Mrs. King is an American television series that aired from October 3, 1983, to May 28, 1987 on CBS. The show starred Kate Jackson and Bruce Boxleitner as divorced housewife Amanda King and top-level "Agency" operative Lee Stetson who begin a strange association, and eventual romance,... |
Gregory | Episodes 3.4: "Tail of the Dancing Weasel" and 3.18: "Wrong Number" |
| 1986 | Amazing Stories Amazing Stories (TV series) Amazing Stories is a fantasy, horror, and science fiction television anthology series created by Steven Spielberg. It ran on NBC from 1985 to 1987, and was somewhat erratically screened in Britain by BBC1 and BBC2 - billed in the Radio Times as "Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories" - with episodes... |
Francis | Episode 1.15: "One for the Road" |
| 1986 | Magnum, P.I. Magnum, P.I. Magnum, P.I. is an American television series starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a private investigator living on Oahu, Hawaii. The series ran from 1980 to 1988 in first-run broadcast on the American CBS television network.... |
French Policeman | Episode 6.21: "Photo Play"; uncredited |
| 1986 | Chief Bludhorn | ||
| 1986 | Dream West | Major General David Hunter | Miniseries |
| 1987 | Easy Street Easy Street (TV series) Easy Street is a short-lived American sitcom that aired for 22 episodes on NBC during the 1986-87 television season.-Overview:The series starred Loni Anderson as L.K. McGuire, a onetime showgirl who manages to nab a young wealthy husband, only to have him die and leave her fending for herself... |
Quentin Standard | Episode 1.13: "Frames and Dames" |
| 1987 | Alison's Demise | Humboldt Hobson | Television film |
| 1988 | China Beach China Beach China Beach is an American dramatic television series set at an evacuation hospital during the Vietnam War. The title refers to My Khe beach in the city of Da Nang, Vietnam, which was nicknamed "China Beach" by unknown foreigners, most likely Americans... |
Ambassador at Large Roland Weymouth | Pilot |
| 1988 | Mr. Belvedere Mr. Belvedere Mr. Belvedere is an American sitcom that originally aired on ABC from March 15, 1985, until July 8, 1990. The series was based on the Lynn Aloysius Belvedere character created by Gwen Davenport for her 1947 novel Belvedere, which was later adapted into the 1948 film Sitting Pretty... |
Roy Gallagher | Episode 5.1: "Fat Cats" |
| 1988 | Mama's Boy | Unknown | |
| 1989 | Christine Cromwell | Arthur | Episode 1.1: "Things That Go Bump in the Night" |
| 1990 | Life Goes On Life Goes On (TV series) Life Goes On is a television series that aired on ABC from September 12, 1989 to May 23, 1993. The show centers on the Thacher family living in suburban Chicago: Drew, his wife Elizabeth, and their children Paige, Rebecca, and Charles, who is known as Corky... |
Bill Henderson | Episode 1.13: "Thacher and Henderson" |
| 1990 | Miracle Landing Miracle Landing Miracle Landing is a 1990 television film based on an in-flight accident aboard Aloha Airlines Flight 243 that occurred in April 1988. The Boeing 737-200 was flying from Hilo, Hawaii to Honolulu, Hawaii, when it experienced rapid decompression when a section of the fuselage was torn away... |
B.J. Cocker | Television film |
| 1990 | Matlock Matlock (TV series) Matlock is an American television legal drama, starring Andy Griffith in the title role of attorney Ben Matlock. The show originally aired from September 23, 1986 to May 8, 1992 on NBC, where it replaced The A-Team, then from November 5, 1992 until May 7, 1995 on ABC.The show's format was similar... |
Judge Raymond Price | Episode 5.2: "Nowhere to Turn" |
| 1990, 1993 | Star Trek: The Next Generation Star Trek: The Next Generation Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production... |
Prime Minister Nayrok Jaglom Shrek |
Episode 3.11: "The Hunted" Episodes 6.16: "Birthright: Part 1" and 6.17: "Birthright: Part 2" |
| 1991 | Jacob | Episode 2.14: "The Peacemakers" | |
| 1991 | Jake and the Fatman Jake and the Fatman Jake and the Fatman is a television crime drama starring William Conrad as prosecutor J. L. "Fatman" McCabe and Joe Penny as investigator Jake Styles. The series ran on CBS for five seasons from 1987 to 1992. Diagnosis: Murder was a spin-off of this series... |
Havilland | Episode 4.19: "It Never Entered My Mind" |
| 1991 | In a Child's Name | Unknown | Television film |
| 1992 | Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation is a 1992 sequel to the 1984 comedy Revenge of the Nerds.-Plot:In the beginning of the movie a new generation of nerds rule the Adams College campus, upholding the traditions of nerds from the first film. The Alpha Betas are now respectful of the nerds'... |
Mr. Skolnick | Television film; credited as "Jamie Cromwell" |
| 1994 | Revenge of the Nerds IV: Nerds in Love Revenge of the Nerds IV: Nerds in Love Revenge of the Nerds IV: Nerds in Love is a 1994 sequel to the 1984 comedy Revenge of the Nerds and the follow-up films in 1987 and 1992.-Plot:... |
Mr. Skolnick | Television film; credited as "Jamie Cromwell" |
| 1994 | Charlie 'the Robber' Mulvihill | Television film | |
| 1994 | Home Improvement | Fred | Episode 4.9: "My Dinner with Wilson" |
| 1995 | Renegade Renegade (TV series) Renegade is an American television series that ran for 110 episodes spanning 5 seasons between September 19, 1992 and April 4, 1997.The series stars Lorenzo Lamas as Reno Raines, a police officer who is framed for a murder he didn't commit. Raines goes on the run and joins forces with Native... |
Jeremy Sullivan | Episode 3.15: "Stalker's Moon" |
| 1995 | Picket Fences Picket Fences Picket Fences is a 60-minute American television drama about the residents of the fictional town of Rome, Wisconsin, created and produced by David E. Kelley. The show initially ran from September 18, 1992, to June 26, 1996, on the CBS television network in the United States... |
The Bishop | Episode 3.20: "Saint Zach" |
| 1995 | Indictment: The McMartin Trial Indictment: The McMartin Trial Indictment: The McMartin Trial is a made for TV movie that originally aired on HBO on May 20, 1995. Indictment is based on the true story of the McMartin preschool trial.-Summary:... |
Judge Pounders | Television film |
| 1995 | Hawkeye Hawkeye (TV series) Hawkeye is a television series, airing in syndication for one season during 1994-1995, and produced by Stephen J. Cannell. The series was filmed in North Vancouver and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.... |
Unknown | Episode 1.17: "The Visit" |
| 1995 | Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe... |
Hanok | Episode 4.7: "Starship Down" |
| 1995–96 | Partners Partners (TV series) Partners is an American sitcom that aired on FOX from 1995 to 1996.-Synopsis:The series centered a pair of young architects, Bob and Owen , and Owen's fiancée Alicia . Much of the show's humor derived from Bob's lack of success with women and his competition with Alicia for Owen's attention... |
Mr. Saxonhouse | Episodes 1.11: "Do We Have to Write You a Check?" and 1.18: "Can We Keep Her, Dad?" |
| 1996 | Strange Luck Strange Luck Strange Luck is an American television series that aired on FOX, created by Karl Schaefer and starring D. B. Sweeney in the role of Chance Harper, a freelance photographer afflicted with a bizarre tendency to always be in the wrong place at the right time. As Chance himself says, "If I go to a... |
Minister | Episode 1.13: "Healing Hands" |
| 1996 | Officer Joe Denton | Episode 1.17: "The High Ground" | |
| 1999 | John Edgerson | Television film | |
| 1999 | RKO 281 RKO 281 RKO 281 is a 1999 historical drama film directed by Benjamin Ross. It stars Liev Schreiber, James Cromwell, Melanie Griffith, John Malkovich, and Roy Scheider and depicts the troubled production behind the 1941 film Citizen Kane... |
William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst was an American business magnate and leading newspaper publisher. Hearst entered the publishing business in 1887, after taking control of The San Francisco Examiner from his father... |
Television film Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor – Miniseries or a Movie |
| 2000 | Fail Safe | Gordon Knapp | Television play |
| 2001 | ER ER (TV series) ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television... |
Bishop Stewart | Appeared in four episodes Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor – Drama Series |
| 2001 | Star Trek: Enterprise Star Trek: Enterprise Star Trek: Enterprise is a science fiction television series. It follows the adventures of humanity's first warp 5 starship, the Enterprise, ten years before the United Federation of Planets shown in previous Star Trek series was formed.Enterprise premiered on September 26, 2001... |
Dr. Zefram Cochrane | Episode 1.1: "Broken Bow: Part 1" Cromwell also appeared in archive footage in Episode 4.18: "In a Mirror, Darkly" |
| 2001 | Citizen Baines | Senator Elliot Baines | Appeared in all seven episodes |
| 2002 | Joel Lynch | Television film | |
| 2002 | Major Amberson | Television film | |
| 2002 | RFK RFK (film) RFK is an American TV movie directed by Robert Dornhelm released in 2002. It takes place through the eyes of Robert F. Kennedy after his brother John F. Kennedy's assassination in 1963. As he lives through the loss, he starts to identify himself as a political figure, not just the former... |
President Lyndon B. Johnson | |
| 2003 | Angels in America | Henry | Miniseries; chapters 1 and 4 |
| 2003–05 | Six Feet Under | George Sibley | Appeared in 27 episodes Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor – Drama Series Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (2005–06) |
| 2004 | President D. Wire Newman | Episode 5.10: "The Stormy Present The Stormy Present -Plot:When former President Owen Lassiter dies, two other ex-Presidents fly on Air Force One with President Josiah Bartlet to attend the funeral. Onboard, Bartlet's two historic guests partake in a lively debate about their administrations... " |
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| 2004 | 'Salem's Lot | Father Donald Callahan Father Callahan Father Donald Frank Callahan is a fictional character created by Stephen King. He originally appeared in Salem's Lot and later the Dark Tower, appearing in The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla, The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah and finally The Dark Tower... |
Miniseries |
| 2005 | Pope John Paul II | Cardinal Adam Stefan Sapieha Adam Stefan Sapieha Prince Adam Stefan Stanisław Bonifacy Józef Sapieha was a Polish cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Kraków. Between 1922–1923 he was a senator of the Second Rzeczpospolita. In 1946, Pope Pius XII created him Cardinal.... |
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| 2006 | Avenger | Paul Devereaux | Television film |
| 2007 | 24 24 (TV series) 24 is an American television series produced for the Fox Network and syndicated worldwide, starring Kiefer Sutherland as Counter Terrorist Unit agent Jack Bauer. Each 24-episode season covers 24 hours in the life of Bauer, using the real time method of narration... |
Phillip Bauer | Appeared in eight episodes |
| 2007 | Masters of Science Fiction Masters of Science Fiction Masters of Science Fiction is an American television anthology series by the same creators as Masters of Horror. The show debuted on ABC on August 4, 2007 at 10PM for a run of four episodes... |
Randolph Ludwin | Episode 1.6: "Watchbird" |
| 2008 | Hit Factor | Orson Fierce | Also producer |
| 2008 | My Own Worst Enemy My Own Worst Enemy (TV series) My Own Worst Enemy is an American television drama that aired on NBC in 2008. It premiered on October 13 and ended on December 15 after 9 episodes. The series was produced by Universal Media Studios. Jason Smilovic was the executive producer; David Semel was the director and executive producer... |
Alistar Trumble | Appeared in six episodes |
| 2009 | Strikeout | Director | Television film |
| 2009 | Impact Impact (TV miniseries) Impact is a mini-series about a meteor shower which eventually sends the moon on a collision course with Earth. The two-part mini-series premiered February 14 and 15, 2009 on the Canadian premium television channel Super Channel and was also shown on ABC on June 21 and 28, 2009 and on Alpha TV on... |
Lloyd | Miniseries |
| 2009 | Hank Paulson Henry Paulson Henry Merritt "Hank" Paulson, Jr. is an American banker who served as the 74th United States Secretary of the Treasury. He previously served as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Goldman Sachs.-Early life and family:... |
Docu-drama |
Further reading
- "Cover Biography for August 2005: James Cromwell", Current BiographyCurrent BiographyCurrent Biography is an American monthly magazine published by the H. W. Wilson Company of The Bronx, New York, a publisher of reference books, that appears every month except December. Current Biography contains profiles of people in the news and includes politicians, athletes, businessmen, and...
, August 2005