Jim Beaver
Encyclopedia
James Norman "Jim" Beaver, Jr. (born August 12, 1950) is an American
stage, film, and television actor, playwright
, screenwriter
, and film historian. He is perhaps most familiar to worldwide audiences as the gruff but tenderhearted prospector
Whitney Ellsworth on the HBO Western drama series Deadwood
, a starring role which brought him acclaim and a Screen Actors Guild Awards
nomination for Ensemble Acting after three decades of supporting work in films and TV. He currently portrays Bobby Singer
in the CW television series Supernatural
. His memoir
Life's That Way was published in April 2009.
, the son of Dorothy Adell (née
Crawford) and James Norman Beaver, Sr. (1924–2004), a minister. His father was of French and English heritage (the family name was originally de Beauvoir, and Beaver is a distant cousin of author and philosopher Simone de Beauvoir
and Pennsylvania governor General James A. Beaver
), and his mother is Scots-German-Cherokee and a descendant of senator, governor, and three-time U.S. Attorney General John J. Crittenden
. Although his parents' families had both been long in Texas, Beaver was born in Laramie while his father was doing graduate work in accounting at the University of Wyoming
. Returning to Texas, Beaver Sr. worked as an accountant and as a minister for the Church of Christ
in Fort Worth, Texas
, Crowley, Texas
, Dallas, Texas
and Grapevine, Texas
. For most of Jim Beaver's youth, his family lived in Irving, Texas
, even while his father preached in surrounding communities. He and his three younger sisters (Denise, Reneé, and Teddlie) all attended Irving High School
(where he was a classmate of ZZ Top
drummer Frank Beard
), but he transferred in his senior year to Fort Worth Christian Academy, from which he graduated in 1968. He also took courses at Fort Worth Christian College. Despite having appeared in some elementary-school plays, he showed no particular interest in an acting career, but immersed himself in film history and expressed a desire for a career as a writer, publishing a few short stories in his high school anthology.
. Following basic training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego
, Beaver was trained there as a microwave radio relay technician. He served at the Marine Corps Base Twentynine Palms
and at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton
before being transferred to the 1st Marine Division near Da Nang
, South Vietnam
in 1970. He served as a radio operator at an outlying detachment of the 1st Marine Regiment, then as supply chief for the division communications company. He returned to the U.S. in 1971 and was discharged as Corporal (E-4), though he remained active in the Marine Reserve until 1976.
as a corn-chip dough mixer. He entered what is now Oklahoma Christian University
, where he became interested in theatre. He made his true theatrical debut in a small part in The Miracle Worker
. The following year, he transferred to Central State University (now known as the University of Central Oklahoma
). He performed in numerous plays in college and supported himself as a cabdriver, a movie projectionist, a tennis-club maintenance man, and an amusement-park stuntman at Frontier City
. He also worked as a newscaster and hosted jazz and classical music programs on radio station KCSC
. During his college days, he also began to write, completing several plays and also his first book, on actor John Garfield
, while still a student. Beaver graduated with a degree in Oral Communications in 1975. He briefly pursued graduate studies, but soon returned to Irving, Texas.
at the Oklahoma Theatre Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
. After returning to Texas, he did a great deal of local theatre in the Dallas area, supporting himself as a film cleaner at a 16 mm film rental firm and as a stagehand for the Dallas Ballet. He joined the Shakespeare Festival of Dallas
in 1976, performing in numerous productions. In 1979, he was commissioned by Actors Theatre of Louisville
to write the first of three plays for that company (Spades, Sidekick, and Semper Fi), and was twice a finalist in the theatre's national Great American Play Contest (for Once Upon a Single Bound and Verdigris). Along with plays, he continued writing for film journals and for several years was a columnist, critic, and feature writer for the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures
magazine Films in Review.
Moving to New York City in 1979, Beaver worked steadily onstage in stock and on tour, simultaneously writing plays and researching a biography of actor George Reeves
(a project which he still pursues between acting jobs). He appeared in starring roles in such plays as The Hasty Heart
and The Rainmaker
in Birmingham, Alabama
and The Lark
in Manchester, New Hampshire
, and toured the country as Macduff in Macbeth
and in The Last Meeting of the Knights of the White Magnolia. During this period, he ghostwrote the book Movie Blockbusters for critic Steven Scheuer.
In 1983, he moved to Los Angeles, California
to continue research on his biography of George Reeves
. He worked for a year as the film archivist for the Variety Arts Center. Following a reading of his play Verdigris, he was asked to join the prestigious Theatre West
company in Hollywood, where he continues as an actor and playwright to this day. Verdigris was produced to very good reviews in 1985 and Beaver was signed by the powerful Triad Artists agency. He immediately began to work writing episodes of various television series, including Alfred Hitchcock Presents (he received a 1987 CableACE Award
nomination for his very first TV script, for this show), Tour of Duty
, and Vietnam War Story. He also worked occasionally in small roles in films and television.
The 1988 Writers Guild of America
strike fundamentally altered the freelance television writing market, and Beaver's TV writing career came to an abrupt halt. However, a chance meeting led to his being cast as the best friend of star Bruce Willis
in Norman Jewison
's drama about Vietnam veterans, In Country
, and his acting career suddenly took up the slack where his TV writing career had faltered. (Beaver was the only actual Vietnam veteran among the principal cast of In Country.)
Subsequently he has appeared in many popular films, including Sister Act
, Sliver
, Bad Girls
, Adaptation.
, Magnolia
, and The Life of David Gale
. He starred in the TV series Thunder Alley as the comic sidekick to Ed Asner
, and as homicide cop Earl Gaddis on Reasonable Doubts
. He was also French Stewart
's sullen boss Happy Doug on the sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun
.
In 2002, Beaver was cast as one of the stars of the ensemble Western drama Deadwood
in the role of Whitney Ellsworth, a goldminer whom he often described as "Gabby Hayes with Tourette syndrome
". Ellsworth went from being a filth-covered reprobate to marrying the richest woman in town and becoming a beloved and stalwart figure in the community. (Originally Ellsworth did not have a first name, but when it became necessary to provide one, Beaver requested he be named Whitney Ellsworth, after the producer of George Reeves
's Adventures of Superman
.) He continued his long research for the Reeves biography, and in 2005 served as the historical/biographical consultant on the theatrical feature film about Reeves's death, Hollywoodland
.
Beaver in 2006 joined the cast of the HBO drama John from Cincinnati
while simultaneously playing the recurring roles of Bobby Singer
on Supernatural
and Carter Reese on another HBO drama Big Love
. He then took on the role of Sheriff Charlie Mills in the CBS drama Harper's Island, which aired from April 9, 2009 to July 11, 2009.
His memoir of the year following his wife's 2003 diagnosis of lung cancer, entitled Life's That Way, was purchased in a preemptive bid by Putnam/Penguin
publishers in the fall of 2007. Prior to publication in April, 2009, it was chosen for the Barnes & Noble
Discover Great New Writers program for 2009.
Beaver studied acting with Clyde Ventura and Academy Award-winning actor Maximilian Schell
.
, who had been a friend since Beaver's childhood. In 1989, following a four-year courtship, Beaver married actress/casting director Cecily Adams
, daughter of Get Smart
star Don Adams
. Their daughter Madeline was born in 2001. Cecily Adams
died of lung cancer March 3, 2004.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
stage, film, and television actor, playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
, screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
, and film historian. He is perhaps most familiar to worldwide audiences as the gruff but tenderhearted prospector
Prospecting
Prospecting is the physical search for minerals, fossils, precious metals or mineral specimens, and is also known as fossicking.Prospecting is a small-scale form of mineral exploration which is an organised, large scale effort undertaken by mineral resource companies to find commercially viable ore...
Whitney Ellsworth on the HBO Western drama series Deadwood
Deadwood (TV series)
Deadwood is an American Western drama television series created, produced and largely written by David Milch. The series aired on the premium cable network HBO from March 21, 2004, to August 27, 2006, spanning three 12-episode seasons. The show is set in the 1870s in Deadwood, South Dakota, before...
, a starring role which brought him acclaim and a 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"...
nomination for Ensemble Acting after three decades of supporting work in films and TV. He currently portrays Bobby Singer
Bobby Singer
Robert "Bobby" Singer is a fictional character in The CW Television Network's drama/horror television series Supernatural portrayed by Jim Beaver. Chosen due to his working relationship with executive producer Robert Singer, Beaver made his initial appearance in the first season finale "Devil's Trap"...
in the CW television series Supernatural
Supernatural (TV series)
Supernatural is an American supernatural and horror television series created by Eric Kripke, which debuted on September 13, 2005 on The WB, and is now part of The CW's lineup. Starring Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester and Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester, the series follows the brothers as they...
. His memoir
Memoir
A memoir , is a literary genre, forming a subclass of autobiography – although the terms 'memoir' and 'autobiography' are almost interchangeable. Memoir is autobiographical writing, but not all autobiographical writing follows the criteria for memoir set out below...
Life's That Way was published in April 2009.
Early life
Beaver was born in Laramie, WyomingLaramie, Wyoming
Laramie is a city in and the county seat of Albany County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 30,816 at the . Located on the Laramie River in southeastern Wyoming, the city is west of Cheyenne, at the junction of Interstate 80 and U.S. Route 287....
, the son of Dorothy Adell (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....
Crawford) and James Norman Beaver, Sr. (1924–2004), a minister. His father was of French and English heritage (the family name was originally de Beauvoir, and Beaver is a distant cousin of author and philosopher Simone de Beauvoir
Simone de Beauvoir
Simone-Ernestine-Lucie-Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir, often shortened to Simone de Beauvoir , was a French existentialist philosopher, public intellectual, and social theorist. She wrote novels, essays, biographies, an autobiography in several volumes, and monographs on philosophy, politics, and...
and Pennsylvania governor General James A. Beaver
James A. Beaver
James Addams Beaver was an American politician who served as the 20th Governor of Pennsylvania from 1887 to 1891...
), and his mother is Scots-German-Cherokee and a descendant of senator, governor, and three-time U.S. Attorney General John J. Crittenden
John J. Crittenden
John Jordan Crittenden was a politician from the U.S. state of Kentucky. He represented the state in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate and twice served as United States Attorney General in the administrations of William Henry Harrison and Millard Fillmore...
. Although his parents' families had both been long in Texas, Beaver was born in Laramie while his father was doing graduate work in accounting at the University of Wyoming
University of Wyoming
The University of Wyoming is a land-grant university located in Laramie, Wyoming, situated on Wyoming's high Laramie Plains, at an elevation of 7,200 feet , between the Laramie and Snowy Range mountains. It is known as UW to people close to the university...
. Returning to Texas, Beaver Sr. worked as an accountant and as a minister for the Church of Christ
Church of Christ
Churches of Christ are autonomous Christian congregations associated with one another through common beliefs and practices. They seek to base doctrine and practice on the Bible alone, and seek to be New Testament congregations as originally established by the authority of Christ. Historically,...
in Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
, Crowley, Texas
Crowley, Texas
Crowley is a city in Johnson and Tarrant counties in the U.S. state of Texas; virtually all of the city is in Tarrant County, with only about .01 sq mi in Johnson County...
, Dallas, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
and Grapevine, Texas
Grapevine, Texas
Grapevine is a city in northeast Tarrant County, Texas, United States located within the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census the city population was 46,334. The city's moniker is derived from the native grapes prevalent in the area. In recent years several wineries have...
. For most of Jim Beaver's youth, his family lived in Irving, Texas
Irving, Texas
Irving is a city located in the U.S. state of Texas within Dallas County. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city population was 216,290. Irving is within the Dallas–Plano–Irving metropolitan division of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area, designated...
, even while his father preached in surrounding communities. He and his three younger sisters (Denise, Reneé, and Teddlie) all attended Irving High School
Irving High School (Irving, Texas)
Irving High School is a public high school in Irving, Texas. It was the first high school established in the Irving Independent School District....
(where he was a classmate of ZZ Top
ZZ Top
ZZ Top is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "That Little Ol' Band from Texas". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based boogie rock, has come to incorporate elements of arena, southern, and boogie rock. The band, from Houston Texas, formed in 1969...
drummer Frank Beard
Frank Beard (musician)
Frank Lee Beard is the drummer in the rock band ZZ Top. Beard was formerly with the bands The Cellar Dwellars, who originally were a three-piece band, The Hustlers, The Warlocks, and American Blues before starting to play and record with Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill as ZZ Top.Beard was born in...
), but he transferred in his senior year to Fort Worth Christian Academy, from which he graduated in 1968. He also took courses at Fort Worth Christian College. Despite having appeared in some elementary-school plays, he showed no particular interest in an acting career, but immersed himself in film history and expressed a desire for a career as a writer, publishing a few short stories in his high school anthology.
Military
Less than two months after his graduation from high school, Beaver followed several of his close friends into the United States Marine CorpsUnited States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
. Following basic training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego
Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego
Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego is a United States Marine Corps military installation in San Diego, California. It lies between San Diego Bay and Interstate 5, adjacent to San Diego International Airport and the former Naval Training Center San Diego...
, Beaver was trained there as a microwave radio relay technician. He served at the Marine Corps Base Twentynine Palms
Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms
The Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center , also known as 29 Palms, is a United States Marine Corps base. It was a census-designated place officially known as Twentynine Palms Base located adjacent to the city of Twentynine Palms in southern San Bernardino County, California. As of the 2000...
and at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton
Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton
Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps and serves as its prime amphibious training base...
before being transferred to the 1st Marine Division near Da Nang
Da Nang
Đà Nẵng , occasionally Danang, is a major port city in the South Central Coast of Vietnam, on the coast of the South China Sea at the mouth of the Han River. It is the commercial and educational center of Central Vietnam; its well-sheltered, easily accessible port and its location on the path of...
, South Vietnam
South Vietnam
South Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...
in 1970. He served as a radio operator at an outlying detachment of the 1st Marine Regiment, then as supply chief for the division communications company. He returned to the U.S. in 1971 and was discharged as Corporal (E-4), though he remained active in the Marine Reserve until 1976.
Education
Upon his release from active duty in 1971, he returned to Irving, Texas, and worked briefly for Frito-LayFrito-Lay
Frito-Lay North America is the division of PepsiCo that manufactures, markets and sells corn chips, potato chips and other snack foods. The primary snack food brands produced under the Frito-Lay name include Fritos corn chips, Cheetos cheese-flavored snacks, Doritos and Tostitos tortilla chips,...
as a corn-chip dough mixer. He entered what is now Oklahoma Christian University
Oklahoma Christian University
Oklahoma Christian University is a private comprehensive coeducational Christian liberal arts university founded in 1950 by members of the churches of Christ. OC is located on a campus in Oklahoma City. Enrollment for the fall 2011 semester numbered 2,194, which included 1,854 undergraduate and...
, where he became interested in theatre. He made his true theatrical debut in a small part in The Miracle Worker
The Miracle Worker
The Miracle Worker is a cycle of 20th century dramatic works derived from Helen Keller's autobiography The Story of My Life. Each of the various dramas describes the relationship between Keller—a deafblind and initially almost feral child—and Anne Sullivan, the teacher who introduced her to...
. The following year, he transferred to Central State University (now known as the University of Central Oklahoma
University of Central Oklahoma
The University of Central Oklahoma, often referred to as UCO, is a coeducational public university located in Edmond, Oklahoma. The university is the third largest in Oklahoma, with almost 18,000 students and approximately 434 full-time and 400 adjunct faculty...
). He performed in numerous plays in college and supported himself as a cabdriver, a movie projectionist, a tennis-club maintenance man, and an amusement-park stuntman at Frontier City
Frontier City
Frontier City is a western-themed amusement park in Oklahoma City's Adventure District. It is currently owned by CNL Lifestyle Properties and operated by former Six Flags executives Kieran Burke and Gary Story. The park is the subject of the song "Frontier City" by the Nashville band Kings of...
. He also worked as a newscaster and hosted jazz and classical music programs on radio station KCSC
KCSC
KCSC is a classical music radio station serving the Oklahoma City area and is owned by University of Central Oklahoma.-History:KCSC was originally a student-run classical music station when it signed on in 1966. KCSC adopted its name from when the university was known as Central State College...
. During his college days, he also began to write, completing several plays and also his first book, on actor John Garfield
John Garfield
John Garfield was an American actor adept at playing brooding, rebellious, working-class character roles. He grew up in poverty in Depression-era New York City and in the early 1930s became an important member of the Group Theater. In 1937 he moved to Hollywood, eventually becoming one of Warner...
, while still a student. Beaver graduated with a degree in Oral Communications in 1975. He briefly pursued graduate studies, but soon returned to Irving, Texas.
Career
Jim Beaver made his professional stage debut in October 1972, while still a college student, in Rain, by W. Somerset MaughamW. Somerset Maugham
William Somerset Maugham , CH was an English playwright, novelist and short story writer. He was among the most popular writers of his era and, reputedly, the highest paid author during the 1930s.-Childhood and education:...
at the Oklahoma Theatre Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City is the capital and the largest city in the state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, the city ranks 31st among United States cities in population. The city's population, from the 2010 census, was 579,999, with a metro-area population of 1,252,987 . In 2010, the Oklahoma...
. After returning to Texas, he did a great deal of local theatre in the Dallas area, supporting himself as a film cleaner at a 16 mm film rental firm and as a stagehand for the Dallas Ballet. He joined the Shakespeare Festival of Dallas
Shakespeare Festival of Dallas
Shakespeare Dallas has been a local staple since the 1970s.As of January 2008, Raphael Parry was appointed the figurehead of the organization under the title of Executive & Artistic Director...
in 1976, performing in numerous productions. In 1979, he was commissioned by Actors Theatre of Louisville
Actors Theatre of Louisville
Actors Theatre of Louisville is a performing arts theater located in downtown Louisville, Kentucky. It was founded in 1964 by Louisville native Ewel Cornett, local producer Richard Block and actor Ken Jenkins of Scrubs fame, and was designated the "State Theater of Kentucky" in 1974. It is run as a...
to write the first of three plays for that company (Spades, Sidekick, and Semper Fi), and was twice a finalist in the theatre's national Great American Play Contest (for Once Upon a Single Bound and Verdigris). Along with plays, he continued writing for film journals and for several years was a columnist, critic, and feature writer for the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures
National Board of Review of Motion Pictures
The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures was founded in 1909 in New York City, just 13 years after the birth of cinema, to protest New York City Mayor George B. McClellan, Jr.'s revocation of moving-picture exhibition licenses on Christmas Eve 1908. The mayor believed that the new medium...
magazine Films in Review.
Moving to New York City in 1979, Beaver worked steadily onstage in stock and on tour, simultaneously writing plays and researching a biography of actor George Reeves
George Reeves
George Reeves was an American actor best known for his role as Superman in the 1950s television program Adventures of Superman....
(a project which he still pursues between acting jobs). He appeared in starring roles in such plays as The Hasty Heart
The Hasty Heart
The Hasty Heart is a 1949 British-American co-production film based on the play of the same name by John Patrick. It tells the story of a group of wounded Allied soldiers in a mobile surgery unit at the end of World War II who, after initial resentment and ostracism, rally around a loner, a...
and The Rainmaker
The Rainmaker (play)
The Rainmaker is a play written by N. Richard Nash in the early 1950s. The play opened on October 28, 1954 at the Cort Theatre in New York and ran for 125 performances. It was directed by Joseph Anthony and produced by Ethel Linder Reiner....
in Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
and The Lark
L'Alouette (The Lark)
L'Alouette is a 1952 play by Jean Anouilh about Joan of Arc. It was presented on Broadway in English in 1955, starring Julie Harris as Joan and Boris Karloff as Pierre Cauchon. It was produced by Kermit Bloomgarden.The English adaptation was by Lillian Hellman and the incidental music was by...
in Manchester, New Hampshire
Manchester, New Hampshire
Manchester is the largest city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire, the tenth largest city in New England, and the largest city in northern New England, an area comprising the states of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. It is in Hillsborough County along the banks of the Merrimack River, which...
, and toured the country as Macduff in Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
and in The Last Meeting of the Knights of the White Magnolia. During this period, he ghostwrote the book Movie Blockbusters for critic Steven Scheuer.
In 1983, he moved to Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
to continue research on his biography of George Reeves
George Reeves
George Reeves was an American actor best known for his role as Superman in the 1950s television program Adventures of Superman....
. He worked for a year as the film archivist for the Variety Arts Center. Following a reading of his play Verdigris, he was asked to join the prestigious Theatre West
Theatre West
Theatre West is a theatre company in Hollywood, California, the oldest continually-operating theatre company in Los Angeles, established in 1962....
company in Hollywood, where he continues as an actor and playwright to this day. Verdigris was produced to very good reviews in 1985 and Beaver was signed by the powerful Triad Artists agency. He immediately began to work writing episodes of various television series, including Alfred Hitchcock Presents (he received a 1987 CableACE Award
CableACE Award
The CableACE Award was an award that was given from 1978 to 1997 to honor excellence in American cable television programming...
nomination for his very first TV script, for this show), Tour of Duty
Tour of Duty (TV series)
Tour of Duty is an American drama television series on CBS. It ran for three seasons from September 1987 to April 1990 as 58 one–hour episodes. The show was created by Steve Duncan and L. Travis Clark, and produced by Zev Braun....
, and Vietnam War Story. He also worked occasionally in small roles in films and television.
The 1988 Writers Guild of America
Writers Guild of America
The Writers Guild of America is a generic term referring to the joint efforts of two different US labor unions:* The Writers Guild of America, East , representing TV and film writers East of the Mississippi....
strike fundamentally altered the freelance television writing market, and Beaver's TV writing career came to an abrupt halt. However, a chance meeting led to his being cast as the best friend of star Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis
Walter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...
in Norman Jewison
Norman Jewison
Norman Frederick Jewison, CC, O.Ont is a Canadian film director, producer, actor and founder of the Canadian Film Centre. Highlights of his directing career include In the Heat of the Night , The Thomas Crown Affair , Fiddler on the Roof , Jesus Christ Superstar , Moonstruck , The Hurricane and The...
's drama about Vietnam veterans, In Country
In Country
In Country is a 1989 American drama film produced and directed by Norman Jewison, starring Bruce Willis and Emily Lloyd. The screenplay by Frank Pierson and Cynthia Cidre was based on the novel by Bobbie Ann Mason. The original music score was composed by James Horner...
, and his acting career suddenly took up the slack where his TV writing career had faltered. (Beaver was the only actual Vietnam veteran among the principal cast of In Country.)
Subsequently he has appeared in many popular films, including Sister Act
Sister Act
Sister Act is a 1992 American comedy film released by Touchstone Pictures. Directed by Emile Ardolino, it features musical arrangements by Marc Shaiman and stars Whoopi Goldberg as a Reno lounge singer who has been put under protective custody in a San Francisco convent and has to pretend to be a...
, Sliver
Sliver (film)
Sliver is a 1993 film based on the Ira Levin novel of the same name about the mysterious occurrences in a privately owned New York highrise apartment building. Phillip Noyce directed the film, from a screenplay by Joe Eszterhas...
, Bad Girls
Bad Girls (film)
Bad Girls is a 1994 western film starring Madeleine Stowe, Mary Stuart Masterson, Andie MacDowell and Drew Barrymore. It was directed by Jonathan Kaplan from a screenplay by Ken Friedman and Yolande Turner.-Plot:...
, Adaptation.
Adaptation.
Adaptation. is a 2002 American comedy-drama film directed by Spike Jonze and written by Charlie Kaufman. The film is based on Susan Orlean's non-fiction book The Orchid Thief through self-referential events...
, Magnolia
Magnolia (film)
Magnolia is a 1999 American drama film written, produced, and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, narrated by Ricky Jay, and starring Tom Cruise, Philip Baker Hall, Philip Seymour Hoffman, William H. Macy, Julianne Moore, John C. Reilly, and Jason Robards in his last feature film appearance...
, and The Life of David Gale
The Life of David Gale
The Life of David Gale is a 2003 American drama film directed by Alan Parker and written by Charles Randolph.Kevin Spacey stars as the eponymous character, a college Professor and longtime activist against capital punishment who is sentenced to death for killing a fellow capital punishment opponent...
. He starred in the TV series Thunder Alley as the comic sidekick to Ed Asner
Ed Asner
Edward Asner , commonly known as Ed Asner, is an American film, television, stage, and voice actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild, primarily known for his Emmy Award-winning role as Lou Grant on both The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its spin-off series, Lou Grant...
, and as homicide cop Earl Gaddis on Reasonable Doubts
Reasonable Doubts
Reasonable Doubts is a police drama broadcast in the United States by NBC that ran from 1991 to 1993.-Synopsis:Reasonable Doubts is primarily about the working relationship between Assistant District Attorney Tess Kaufman , a prosecutor very sensitive to the rights of the accused, and...
. He was also French Stewart
French Stewart
Milton French Stewart , better known by his stage name French Stewart, is an American actor, best known for his role as Harry Solomon on the 1990s sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun.-Early life:...
's sullen boss Happy Doug on the sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun
3rd Rock from the Sun
3rd Rock from the Sun is an American sitcom that aired from 1996 to 2001 on NBC. The show is about four extraterrestrials who are on an expedition to Earth, which they consider to be a very insignificant planet...
.
Deadwood (TV series)
Deadwood is an American Western drama television series created, produced and largely written by David Milch. The series aired on the premium cable network HBO from March 21, 2004, to August 27, 2006, spanning three 12-episode seasons. The show is set in the 1870s in Deadwood, South Dakota, before...
in the role of Whitney Ellsworth, a goldminer whom he often described as "Gabby Hayes with Tourette syndrome
Tourette syndrome
Tourette syndrome is an inherited neuropsychiatric disorder with onset in childhood, characterized by multiple physical tics and at least one vocal tic; these tics characteristically wax and wane...
". Ellsworth went from being a filth-covered reprobate to marrying the richest woman in town and becoming a beloved and stalwart figure in the community. (Originally Ellsworth did not have a first name, but when it became necessary to provide one, Beaver requested he be named Whitney Ellsworth, after the producer of George Reeves
George Reeves
George Reeves was an American actor best known for his role as Superman in the 1950s television program Adventures of Superman....
's Adventures of Superman
Adventures of Superman (TV series)
Adventures of Superman is an American television series based on comic book characters and concepts created in 1938 by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The show is the first television series to feature Superman and began filming in 1951 in California...
.) He continued his long research for the Reeves biography, and in 2005 served as the historical/biographical consultant on the theatrical feature film about Reeves's death, Hollywoodland
Hollywoodland
Hollywoodland is a 2006 American biographical docudrama film directed by Allen Coulter in his feature directorial debut. The film documents a fictional account of the investigation surrounding the death of actor George Reeves , the star of the 1950s television series Adventures of Superman. Adrien...
.
Beaver in 2006 joined the cast of the HBO drama John from Cincinnati
John from Cincinnati
John from Cincinnati is an American television drama, set against the surfing community of Imperial Beach, California, that aired on HBO from June 10, 2007 to August 12, 2007. It is the result of a collaborative effort between writer/producer David Milch and author Kem Nunn, whose novels have been...
while simultaneously playing the recurring roles of Bobby Singer
Bobby Singer
Robert "Bobby" Singer is a fictional character in The CW Television Network's drama/horror television series Supernatural portrayed by Jim Beaver. Chosen due to his working relationship with executive producer Robert Singer, Beaver made his initial appearance in the first season finale "Devil's Trap"...
on Supernatural
Supernatural (TV series)
Supernatural is an American supernatural and horror television series created by Eric Kripke, which debuted on September 13, 2005 on The WB, and is now part of The CW's lineup. Starring Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester and Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester, the series follows the brothers as they...
and Carter Reese on another HBO drama Big Love
Big Love
Big Love is an American television drama that aired on HBO between March 2006 and March 2011. The show is about a fictional fundamentalist Mormon family in Utah that practices polygamy...
. He then took on the role of Sheriff Charlie Mills in the CBS drama Harper's Island, which aired from April 9, 2009 to July 11, 2009.
His memoir of the year following his wife's 2003 diagnosis of lung cancer, entitled Life's That Way, was purchased in a preemptive bid by Putnam/Penguin
G. P. Putnam's Sons
G. P. Putnam's Sons was a major United States book publisher based in New York City, New York. Since 1996, it has been an imprint of the Penguin Group.-History:...
publishers in the fall of 2007. Prior to publication in April, 2009, it was chosen for the Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble, Inc. is the largest book retailer in the United States, operating mainly through its Barnes & Noble Booksellers chain of bookstores headquartered at 122 Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron District in Manhattan in New York City. Barnes & Noble also operated the chain of small B. Dalton...
Discover Great New Writers program for 2009.
Beaver studied acting with Clyde Ventura and Academy Award-winning actor Maximilian Schell
Maximilian Schell
Maximilian Schell is an Austrian-born Swiss actor who won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Judgment at Nuremberg in 1961...
.
Personal life
During college, Beaver married a fellow student, Debbie Young, in August 1973, but the couple separated four months later (though divorce did not occur until 1976). For several years after his move to California, Beaver shared a house with character actor Hank WordenHank Worden
Hank Worden was an American cowboy-turned-character-actor who appeared in many Westerns.-Biography:...
, who had been a friend since Beaver's childhood. In 1989, following a four-year courtship, Beaver married actress/casting director Cecily Adams
Cecily Adams
Cecily April Adams was born in Jamaica, Queens, New York, the daughter of comic actor Don Adams and singer Adelaide Efantis, and the sister of actress/TV executive Stacey Adams...
, daughter of Get Smart
Get Smart
Get Smart is an American comedy television series that satirizes the secret agent genre. Created by Mel Brooks with Buck Henry, the show starred Don Adams , Barbara Feldon , and Edward Platt...
star Don Adams
Don Adams
Don Adams was an American actor, comedian and director. In his five decades on television, he was best known as Maxwell Smart in the television situation comedy Get Smart , which he also sometimes directed and wrote. Adams won three consecutive Emmy Awards for his portrayal of Smart...
. Their daughter Madeline was born in 2001. Cecily Adams
Cecily Adams
Cecily April Adams was born in Jamaica, Queens, New York, the daughter of comic actor Don Adams and singer Adelaide Efantis, and the sister of actress/TV executive Stacey Adams...
died of lung cancer March 3, 2004.
Filmography
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1977 | Semi-Tough Semi-Tough Semi-Tough is a 1977 film directed by Michael Ritchie and starring Burt Reynolds, Kris Kristofferson, Jill Clayburgh, Lotte Lenya, Bert Convy, and Brian Dennehy. The plot involves a love triangle between the characters portrayed by Reynolds, Kristofferson and Clayburgh... |
B.E.A.T. Member | uncredited |
| 1978 | Desperado | Nathan | TV Film |
| The Seniors The Seniors The Seniors is a 1978 comedy film.Four college seniors open a bogus sex clinic, which unexpectedly mushrooms into a multi-million dollar business. Featuring a young Dennis Quaid in one of his earliest roles and Alan Reed in his final film appearance.In 1978, it was given an MPAA rating of R... |
Client | uncredited | |
| 1979 | Warnings | The Artist | Short film |
| Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders | Cowboy player | TV Film | |
| 1981 | Nighthawks Nighthawks (film) Nighthawks is a 1981 thriller film starring Sylvester Stallone, Billy Dee Williams, Rutger Hauer, Lindsay Wagner, Persis Khambatta, and Nigel Davenport. It was directed by Bruce Malmuth. The original music score was composed by Keith Emerson.-Storyline:... |
Subway Passenger | uncredited |
| 1983 | Girls of the White Orchid | Pedestrian | uncredited |
| Silkwood Silkwood Silkwood is a 1983 American drama film directed by Mike Nichols. The screenplay by Nora Ephron and Alice Arlen was inspired by the true-life story of Karen Silkwood, who died in a suspicious car accident while investigating alleged wrongdoing at the Kerr-McGee plutonium plant where she... |
Plant Manager | ||
| 1985 | File 8022 | Ben Crysler | |
| 1987 | Sweet Revenge Sweet Revenge (1987 film) Sweet Revenge is an American motion picture starring Nancy Allen as Jillian Grey, a newscaster abducted and sold into white slavery while doing an undercover expose. Martin Landau, Gina Gershon, Michele Little, Lotis Key and Ted Shackelford round out the cast of this R-rated action adventure... |
Smuggler | uncredited |
| Hollywood Shuffle Hollywood Shuffle Hollywood Shuffle is a 1987 comedy film that satirizes the racial stereotypes of African Americans in film and television. The film tracks the attempts of Bobby Taylor to become a successful actor and the mental and external roadblocks he encounters, represented through a series of interspersed... |
Postal Worker | ||
| 1988 | Two Idiots in Hollywood | Crying Man | |
| Perry Mason: The Case of the Lady in the Lake | Motel Manager | TV Film | |
| Defense Play | FBI Agent | ||
| 1989 | Mergers & Acquisitions | Gabby Hayes | Short film |
| Turner & Hooch Turner & Hooch Turner & Hooch is a 1989 comedy film starring Tom Hanks, Mare Winningham, Craig T. Nelson, and Reginald VelJohnson. It was directed by Roger Spottiswoode; the film was originally slated to be directed by Henry Winkler, but he was terminated due to "creative differences"... |
Plant Manager | ||
| The Cherry | The Captain | Short film | |
| In Country In Country In Country is a 1989 American drama film produced and directed by Norman Jewison, starring Bruce Willis and Emily Lloyd. The screenplay by Frank Pierson and Cynthia Cidre was based on the novel by Bobbie Ann Mason. The original music score was composed by James Horner... |
Earl Smith | ||
| Mothers, Daughters and Lovers | Sheriff Jack Edzard | TV Film | |
| 1990 | Follow Your Heart | Craig Hraboy | TV Film |
| El Diablo | Spivey Irick | ||
| The Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson | Maj. Trimble | ||
| 1991 | little secrets | Liquor Store Cashier | Credited as Richard Muldoon |
| 1992 | Gunsmoke: To the Last Man | Deputy Willie Rudd | TV Film |
| Sister Act Sister Act Sister Act is a 1992 American comedy film released by Touchstone Pictures. Directed by Emile Ardolino, it features musical arrangements by Marc Shaiman and stars Whoopi Goldberg as a Reno lounge singer who has been put under protective custody in a San Francisco convent and has to pretend to be a... |
Detective Clarkson | ||
| 1993 | Sliver Sliver (film) Sliver is a 1993 film based on the Ira Levin novel of the same name about the mysterious occurrences in a privately owned New York highrise apartment building. Phillip Noyce directed the film, from a screenplay by Joe Eszterhas... |
Detective Ira | |
| Gunsmoke: The Long Ride | Traveling blacksmith | TV Film | |
| Geronimo: An American Legend Geronimo: An American Legend Geronimo: An American Legend is a 1993 film, starring Wes Studi as Geronimo, Jason Patric as 1st Lt. Charles B. Gatewood, Gene Hackman as Brig. Gen. George Crook, Robert Duvall as Chief of Scouts Al Sieber, and Matt Damon as 2nd Lt. Britton Davis. The film was directed by Walter Hill from a... |
Proclamation officer | ||
| 1994 | Twogether | Oscar | |
| Blue Chips Blue Chips Blue Chips is a 1994 drama film about basketball, directed by William Friedkin, written by Ron Shelton and starring Nick Nolte as a college coach and real-life basketball stars Shaquille O'Neal and Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway as talented finds.... |
Ricky's Father | ||
| Children of the Dark | Roddy Gibbons | Deliberately uncredited | |
| Bad Girls Bad Girls (film) Bad Girls is a 1994 western film starring Madeleine Stowe, Mary Stuart Masterson, Andie MacDowell and Drew Barrymore. It was directed by Jonathan Kaplan from a screenplay by Ken Friedman and Yolande Turner.-Plot:... |
Pinkerton Detective Graves | ||
| 1997 | Wounded | Agent Eric Ashton | |
| Divided by Hate | Danny Leland | TV Film | |
| 1998 | At Sachem Farm At Sachem Farm At Sachem Farm is a 1998 drama film.-Cast:*Minnie Driver*Rufus Sewell*Nigel Hawthorne*Amelia Heinle*Michael E. Rodgers*Keone Young*Gregory Sporleder... |
Foreman | |
| Mr. Murder | Agent Jason Reiling | TV Film | |
| 1999 | Impala | Sheriff Bert Davis | Short film |
| Ah! Silenciosa | Ambrose Bierce | Short film | |
| Magnolia Magnolia (film) Magnolia is a 1999 American drama film written, produced, and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, narrated by Ricky Jay, and starring Tom Cruise, Philip Baker Hall, Philip Seymour Hoffman, William H. Macy, Julianne Moore, John C. Reilly, and Jason Robards in his last feature film appearance... |
Smiling Peanut Patron #1 | ||
| 2000 | Fraud | Detective Mason | Short film |
| Where the Heart Is Where the Heart Is (2000 film) Where the Heart Is is a 2000 drama/romance film directed by Matt Williams and produced by Susan Cartsonis, David McFadzean, Patricia Whitcher and Matt Williams. Filmed in Austin, Texas, and Waco, Texas at Baylor University. The movie stars Natalie Portman and Ashley Judd... |
Clawhammer | Scenes deleted | |
| 2001 | Warden of Red Rock | Jefferson Bent | TV Film |
| Joy Ride | Sheriff Ritter | ||
| 2002 | Wheelmen | Agent Hammond | |
| Adaptation. | Ranger Tony | ||
| 2003 | The Life of David Gale The Life of David Gale The Life of David Gale is a 2003 American drama film directed by Alan Parker and written by Charles Randolph.Kevin Spacey stars as the eponymous character, a college Professor and longtime activist against capital punishment who is sentenced to death for killing a fellow capital punishment opponent... |
Duke Grover | |
| Wave Babes | Amos Nandy | ||
| The Commission | Howard L. Brennan | ||
| 2007 | Next | Wisdom | |
| Cooties | The Man | Short film | |
| 2008 | Reflections | Frank | Short film |
| The Silence of Bees | Parker Lam | Short film | |
| In the A.M. of Dec. 26th at Mickey's (on the Corner of Cunningham & Kongosak in Barrow) | Radio D.J. | Short film | |
| 2009 | Dark and Stormy Night | Jack Tugdon | |
| 2010 | The Legend of Hell's Gate: An American Conspiracy | J. Wright Mooar | |
| Television | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1978–1979 | 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... |
Diner/Julie's Gardener | "Black Market Baby", "The Red File: Part 1" |
| 1986 | Divorce Court Divorce Court Divorce Court is a judge show about cases which only involve divorcing couples. Out of the shows currently airing in the court-themed genre, Divorce Court is the oldest... |
Wrench McCoy | |
| 1987 | 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... |
Defense Attorney | "Fatal Attraction" |
| 1988 | 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... |
Barney Sutler | "The Umpire" |
| Paradise Paradise (TV series) Paradise is an American Western family television series, broadcast by CBS from 1988 to 1991. Created by David Jacobs and Robert Porter, the series presents the adventures of fictitious gunfighter Ethan Allen Cord, whose sister left her four children in his custody when she died.-Synopsis:Paradise... |
Frank Foster | "The Holstered Gun" | |
| 1989 | CBS Summer Playhouse CBS Summer Playhouse CBS Summer Playhouse is an American anthology series that ran from June 12, 1987 to August 22, 1989 on CBS. It aired unsold television pilots during the summer season.-Overview:... |
Wrong House Neighbor | "Elysian Fields" |
| The Young Riders The Young Riders The Young Riders is an American Western television series created by Ed Spielman that presents a fictionalized account of a group of young Pony Express riders based at the Sweetwater Station in the Nebraska Territory during the years leading up to the American Civil War... |
Johnson | "The Kid" | |
| 1990 | Midnight Caller Midnight Caller Midnight Caller is a dramatic NBC television series created by Richard DiLello, which ran from 1988 to 1991. It was one of the first television series to address the dramatic possibilities of the then-growing phenomenon of talk radio... |
Tom Barlow | "Ryder on the Storm" |
| Nasty Boys Nasty Boys (TV series) The Nasty Boys was a television action drama series based on the real life Narcotics Officers of the North Las vegas Police Department.-Background:... |
Wetstone | "Desert Run" | |
| Father Dowling Mysteries Father Dowling Mysteries Father Dowling Mysteries is an American television mystery series that appeared between November 30, 1987 and May 2, 1991. For its first season, the show was on NBC; it moved to ABC network for its last two seasons... |
Drake | "The Murder Weekend Mystery" | |
| 1991–1993 | Santa Barbara Santa Barbara (TV series) Santa Barbara is an American television soap opera, first broadcast in the United States on NBC on July 30, 1984, and last aired on January 15, 1993. The show revolved around the eventful lives of the wealthy Capwell family of Santa Barbara, California... |
Andy the Rapist/Motel man | "Episode #1.1740, 1741, 1746, 2037, 2113" |
| Reasonable Doubts Reasonable Doubts Reasonable Doubts is a police drama broadcast in the United States by NBC that ran from 1991 to 1993.-Synopsis:Reasonable Doubts is primarily about the working relationship between Assistant District Attorney Tess Kaufman , a prosecutor very sensitive to the rights of the accused, and... |
Detective Earl Gaddis | 13 episodes | |
| 1993 | Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman was a live-action American television series based on the Superman comic books... |
Henry Barnes | "I'm Looking Through You" |
| Thunder Alley Thunder Alley Thunder Alley is an American sitcom which aired from March 9, 1994 to July 4, 1995 on ABC.-Premise:The show stars Edward Asner as retired race-car driver Gil Jones. The unaired original pilot episode featured Felicity Huffman in the role of Bobbi Turner, Gil's daughter. When ABC picked up the... |
Leland DuParte | 28 episodes | |
| 1995 | Home Improvement | Duke Miller | "Doctor in the House" |
| Unsolved Mysteries Unsolved Mysteries Unsolved Mysteries is an American television program, hosted by Robert Stack, from 1987 until 2002, and later by Dennis Farina, starting in 2008... |
Himself | "Who Killed Superman?" | |
| 1996–97 | High Incident High Incident High Incident is a police drama series produced by DreamWorks Television for the ABC network. The show was created by Steven Spielberg, Michael Pavone, Eric Bogosian and Dave Alan Johnson... |
Father in Wreck | "Women & Children First" |
| Murder One Murder One (TV series) Murder One is an American legal drama series that first aired on the ABC network in the United States in 1995. The series was created by Steven Bochco, Charles H. Eglee, and Channing Gibson.-Premise:... |
Donald Cleary | "Chapter Four, Year Two", "Chapter Fourteen, Year Two" | |
| Bone Chillers Bone Chillers Bone Chillers is a formerly popular series of children's horror fiction novels and TV show created and authored by Betsy Haynes.-Synopsis:... |
Edgar Allan Poe | "Edgar Allan Poe-Session" | |
| 1996–2004 | Days of Our Lives Days of our Lives Days of our Lives is a long running daytime soap opera broadcast on the NBC television network. It is one of the longest-running scripted television programs in the world, airing nearly every weekday in the United States since November 8, 1965. It has since been syndicated to many countries around... |
Father Timothy Jansen | 26 episodes |
| 1997 | NYPD Blue NYPD Blue NYPD Blue is an American television police drama set in New York City, exploring the internal and external struggles of the fictional 15th precinct of Manhattan... |
Truck Driver / Jesus Christ | "Taillight's Last Gleaming" |
| Moloney | Detective Ashton | "The Ripple Effect" | |
| Spy Game Spy Game (TV series) Spy Game is a short-lived American action-adventure television series that aired on the ABC network for 13 episodes during the spring and summer of 1997... |
Thornbush | "Lorne and Max Drop the Ball" | |
| Total Security | Detective McKissick | "Das Bootie" | |
| 1998–99 | Melrose Place | Ranger Virgil | "Amanda's Back" |
| Pensacola: Wings of Gold Pensacola: Wings of Gold Pensacola: Wings of Gold is a syndicated American action/adventure drama series based at the Naval Air Station Pensacola in Pensacola, Florida. Episodes aired in several countries outside the US including Portugal, France, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Italy, Hungary and Australia... |
Actor | "Power Play" | |
| E! Mysteries & Scandals | Himself | "George Reeves", "John Garfield" | |
| 3rd Rock from the Sun 3rd Rock from the Sun 3rd Rock from the Sun is an American sitcom that aired from 1996 to 2001 on NBC. The show is about four extraterrestrials who are on an expedition to Earth, which they consider to be a very insignificant planet... |
Happy Doug | 7 episodes | |
| The X-Files The X-Files The X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s... |
Coroner | "Field Trip" | |
| 2000 | Biography Biography (TV series) Biography is a documentary television series. It was originally a half-hour filmed series produced for CBS by David Wolper from 1961 to 1964 and hosted by Mike Wallace. The A&E Network later re-ran it and has produced new episodes since 1987... |
Himself | "George Reeves: The Perils of a Superhero" |
| The Trouble with Normal | Gary | 8 episodes | |
| 2001 | That '70s Show That '70s Show That '70s Show is an American television period sitcom that centers on the lives of a group of teenage friends living in the fictional suburban town of Point Place, Wisconsin, from May 17, 1976, to December 31, 1979... |
Tony | "Who Wants It More?" |
| The Division The Division The Division is an American Lifetime Television original series about a team of women police officers in the San Francisco Police Department. The series premiered on January 7, 2001 and ended on June 28, 2004 after 88 episodes.-Synopsis:... |
Fred Zito | "High on the Hog" | |
| Enterprise | Admiral Daniel Leonard | "Broken Bow: Part 1" | |
| The West Wing | Carl | "Manchester: Part 1" | |
| Philly Philly (TV series) Philly is a television series created by Steven Bochco that focused on criminal defense attorney Kathleen Maguire . It lasted a full season and was canceled due to low ratings... |
Nelson Vanderhoff | "Loving Sons" | |
| 2003 | Andy Richter Controls the Universe Andy Richter Controls the Universe Andy Richter Controls the Universe is a sitcom which aired from 2002–2003 on the Fox network. The series was Andy Richter's first starring role after leaving Late Night with Conan O'Brien in 2000.... |
Craig | "Charity Begins in Cellblock D" |
| Six Feet Under | Prison Officer | "Twilight" | |
| Tremors | Sheriff Sam Boggs | "Water Hazard" | |
| The Lyon's Den The Lyon's Den The Lyon's Den is a 2003 television series set in Washington, D.C. The legal drama starred Rob Lowe as a lawyer called Jack Turner, newly appointed as partner of a long-established law firm that, as the plot revealed, harbored some dark secrets... |
Hank Ferris | "The Other Side of Caution" | |
| 2004–06 | Monk Monk (TV series) Monk is an American comedy-drama detective mystery television series created by Andy Breckman and starring Tony Shalhoub as the titular character, Adrian Monk. It originally ran from 2002 to 2009 and is primarily a mystery series, although it has dark and comic touches.The series debuted on July... |
Sheriff Mathis | "Mr. Monk Gets Married" |
| Crossing Jordan Crossing Jordan Crossing Jordan is an American television crime/drama series that aired on NBC from September 24, 2001 to May 16, 2007. It stars Jill Hennessy as Jordan Cavanaugh, M.D., a crime-solving forensic pathologist employed in the Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Medical Examiner's Office... |
Ranger Diggory | "Revealed" | |
| Deadwood Deadwood (TV series) Deadwood is an American Western drama television series created, produced and largely written by David Milch. The series aired on the premium cable network HBO from March 21, 2004, to August 27, 2006, spanning three 12-episode seasons. The show is set in the 1870s in Deadwood, South Dakota, before... |
Whitney Ellsworth | 36 episodes | |
| The Unit The Unit The Unit is an American action-drama television series that focuses on a top-secret military unit modeled after the real-life U.S. Army special operations unit commonly known as Delta Force... |
Lloyd Cole | "Manhunt" | |
| CSI: Crime Scene Investigation CSI: Crime Scene Investigation CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is an American crime drama television series, which premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000. The show was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer... |
Stanley Tanner | "Fannysmackin'", "Post Mortem" | |
| 2006–Present | Supernatural Supernatural (TV series) Supernatural is an American supernatural and horror television series created by Eric Kripke, which debuted on September 13, 2005 on The WB, and is now part of The CW's lineup. Starring Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester and Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester, the series follows the brothers as they... |
Bobby Singer | 40 episodes |
| 2007 | Day Break Day Break Day Break is a television program for which one 13-episode season was produced. The series starred Taye Diggs as Detective Brett Hopper, who is framed for the murder of Assistant District Attorney Alberto Garza. Due to a time loop, Hopper lives the same day over and over... |
'Uncle' Nick Vukovic | 5 episodes |
| John from Cincinnati John from Cincinnati John from Cincinnati is an American television drama, set against the surfing community of Imperial Beach, California, that aired on HBO from June 10, 2007 to August 12, 2007. It is the result of a collaborative effort between writer/producer David Milch and author Kem Nunn, whose novels have been... |
Vietnam Joe | 8 episodes | |
| Big Love Big Love Big Love is an American television drama that aired on HBO between March 2006 and March 2011. The show is about a fictional fundamentalist Mormon family in Utah that practices polygamy... |
Carter Reese | 3 episodes | |
| Criminal Minds Criminal Minds Criminal Minds is an American police procedural drama that premiered September 22, 2005, on CBS. The series follows a team of profilers from the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit based in Quantico, Virginia. The BAU is part of the FBI National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime... |
Sheriff Williams | "Identity" | |
| 2009 | Harper's Island | Sheriff Charlie Mills | 11 episodes |
| Psych | Stinky Pete Dillingham | "High Noon-ish" | |
| 2010 | Law & Order: Los Angeles Law & Order: Los Angeles Law & Order: LA, originally titled Law & Order: Los Angeles, is an American police procedural and legal drama television series set in Los Angeles, where it was produced... |
Frank Loomis | "Hollywood" |
| The Mentalist The Mentalist The Mentalist is an American police procedural television series which debuted on September 23, 2008, on CBS. The show was created by Bruno Heller, who is also the show's executive producer... |
Cobb Holwell | "The Red Ponies" | |
| Lie to Me Lie to Me Lie to Me is a 2009-2011 American television series.Lie to Me may also refer to:* Lie to Me , a South Korean drama series* "Lie to Me" , an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer... |
Gus | "Veronica | |
| Love Bites Love Bites (TV series) -Episodes:-Development:In January 2010, NBC announced Love Bites as one of many pilots on its early development slate. Becki Newton was cast in late February, followed quickly by Jordana Spiro. Marc Buckland was confirmed to be directing the pilot in early March. In May 2010, NBC announced it had... |
Trucker | "Keep On Truckin'" | |
| 2011 | Justified Justified (TV series) Justified is an American television drama series created by Graham Yost. It is based on Elmore Leonard's novels Pronto and Riding the Rap and his short story "Fire in the Hole". Its central character is Raylan Givens, a deputy U.S. Marshal. The series is set in the city of Lexington, Kentucky... |
Shelby | "Cottonmouth" |
| Breaking Bad Breaking Bad Breaking Bad is an American television drama series created and produced by Vince Gilligan. Set and produced in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Breaking Bad is the story of Walter White , a struggling high school chemistry teacher who is diagnosed with advanced lung cancer at the beginning of the series... |
Lawson | "Thirty-Eight Snub Thirty-Eight Snub "Thirty-Eight Snub" is the second episode of the fourth season of the American television drama series Breaking Bad, and the 35th overall episode of the series. It originally aired on AMC in the United States on July 24, 2011. In the episode, Walter plots to kill Gus for fear of... " |
|
Books
- John GarfieldJohn GarfieldJohn Garfield was an American actor adept at playing brooding, rebellious, working-class character roles. He grew up in poverty in Depression-era New York City and in the early 1930s became an important member of the Group Theater. In 1937 he moved to Hollywood, eventually becoming one of Warner...
: His Life and Films (1978) - Movie Blockbusters (with Steven Scheuer) (1982, revised edition 1983)
- Life's That Way: A Memoir (2009)
Plays
- The Cop and the Anthem (adapted from the short story by O. HenryO. HenryO. Henry was the pen name of the American writer William Sydney Porter . O. Henry's short stories are well known for their wit, wordplay, warm characterization and clever twist endings.-Early life:...
) (1973) - As You Like It, or Anything You Want To, Also Known as Rotterdam and Parmesan Are Dead (1975)
- Once Upon a Single Bound (1977)
- The Ox-Bow Incident (adapted from the novel by Walter Van Tilburg ClarkWalter Van Tilburg ClarkWalter Van Tilburg Clark was an American novelist, short story writer, and educator. He ranks as one of Nevada's most distinguished literary figures of the 20th century and is known primarily for his novels, his one volume of stories, as well as his uncollected short stories...
) (1978) - Verdigris (1979)
- Spades (1979)
- Sidekick (1981)
- Semper Fi (1982)
- Truth, Justice, and the Texican Way (1985)
- Pressing Engagements (1990)
- Mockingbird (2001)
- Night Riders (2006)
Magazine articles
- "John WayneJohn WayneMarion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
", Films in Review, May 1977 - "George RaftGeorge RaftGeorge Raft was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s...
", Films in Review, April 1978 - "John CarradineJohn CarradineJohn Carradine was an American actor, best known for his roles in horror films and Westerns as well as Shakespearean theater. A member of Cecil B DeMille's stock company and later John Ford's company, he was one of the most prolific character actors in Hollywood history...
", Films in Review, October 1979 - "James StewartJames Stewart (actor)James Maitland Stewart was an American film and stage actor, known for his distinctive voice and his everyman persona. Over the course of his career, he starred in many films widely considered classics and was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one in competition and receiving one Lifetime...
", Films in Review, October 1980 - "Steve McQueenSteve McQueenTerrence Steven "Steve" McQueen was an American movie actor. He was nicknamed "The King of Cool." His "anti-hero" persona, which he developed at the height of the Vietnam counterculture, made him one of the top box-office draws of the 1960s and 1970s. McQueen received an Academy Award nomination...
", Films in Review, August–September 1981 - "Frank PerryFrank PerryFrank J. Perry, Jr. was an American stage and film director, producer and screenwriter. His directorial debut, the 1962 film David and Lisa, earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Director....
", Films in Review, November 1981 - "Strother MartinStrother MartinStrother Martin was an American actor in numerous films and television programs. Martin is perhaps best known as the prison "captain" in the 1967 film Cool Hand Luke, where he uttered the line, "What we've got here is...failure to communicate."-Early life:Strother Martin Jr. was born in Kokomo,...
", Films in Review, November 1982 - "Ad Glib" (regular column). Films in Review, November 1981 – December 1983