David Strathairn | |
|---|---|
 Strathairn in 2022 | |
| Born | David Russell Strathairn (1949-01-26)January 26, 1949 (age 76) |
| Alma mater | Williams College |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1979–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
David Russell Strathairn (/strəˈθɛərn/;[1] born January 26, 1949)[2] is an American actor. Known for his leading roles on stage and screen, he has often portrayed historical figures such asEdward R. Murrow,J. Robert Oppenheimer,William H. Seward, andJohn Dos Passos. He has received various accolades including anIndependent Spirit Award, aPrimetime Emmy Award, and aVolpi Cup, and has been nominated for anAcademy Award, aBAFTA Award, twoGolden Globe Awards, and fourScreen Actors Guild Awards.
Strathairn made his acting debut in his fellowWilliams College graduateJohn Sayles' filmReturn of the Secaucus 7 (1980), and continued acting in multiple films by Sayles, such asMatewan (1987),Eight Men Out (1988),City of Hope (1991),Passion Fish (1992) andLimbo (1999). In the 1990s, he appeared in multiple box-office successes such asA League of Their Own (1992),Sneakers (1992),The Firm (1993),The River Wild (1995) andL.A. Confidential (1997) before gaining prominence for his portrayal of journalistEdward R. Murrow inGeorge Clooney'sGood Night, and Good Luck (2005), for which he was nominated for anAcademy Award for Best Actor. He is also recognized for his role asCIA Deputy Director Noah Vosen inThe Bourne Ultimatum (2007) andThe Bourne Legacy (2012). He appeared inSteven Spielberg'sLincoln (2012),Chloe Zhao'sNomadland (2020), andGuillermo del Toro'sNightmare Alley (2021).
Also known for his lengthy work on television, he made his debut in thesoap operaSearch for Tomorrow in 1984. He portrayedRobert Wegler in the acclaimedHBO drama seriesThe Sopranos (2004). He received aPrimetime Emmy Award win and aGolden Globe Award nomination for his performance in theHBO television filmTemple Grandin (2010). He portrayedJohn Dos Passos in the HBO filmHemingway & Gellhorn (2012). He's had recurring roles in theSyfy seriesAlphas (2011–2012), theNBC seriesThe Blacklist (2015–2016), theShowtime seriesBillions (2017–2019), and theSyFy, thenAmazon Prime Video, seriesThe Expanse (2018–2019).
Strathairn was born on January 26, 1949, inSan Francisco, California.[3] He is ofScottish descent through his paternal grandfather, Thomas Scott Strathairn, a native ofCrieff, and ofNative Hawaiian andChinese ancestry through his paternal grandmother, Josephine Lei Victoria Alana.[4][5][6] Strathairn attendedRedwood High School inLarkspur, California.[7] He graduated fromWilliams College inWilliamstown, Massachusetts, in 1970.[8] At Williams, he met fellow actorGordon Clapp; and (after graduation) another Williams alumnus, directorJohn Sayles,[9] with whom he has collaborated on a number of projects.
Strathairn studiedclowning at theRingling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Clown College inVenice, Florida,[10] and briefly worked as a clown in a travelingcircus.[11]
Strathairn is acharacter actor, appearing in supporting roles in many independent and Hollywood films. In this capacity, he has co-starred inTwisted as a psychiatrist; inThe River Wild as a husband; and inBlue Car as a teacher. Other notable film roles include his portrayals of baseball playerEddie Cicotte inEight Men Out (1988); Col. Craig Harrington inMemphis Belle (1990); Whistler, the wisecracking blind techie, inSneakers (1992); convict Ray McDeere in the legal thrillerThe Firm (1993); abusive husband Joe St. George inDolores Claiborne (1995); Pierce Patchett, a millionaire involved in the seedy side of 1950s Los Angeles inL.A. Confidential (1997);Theseus, Duke of Athens, in the1999 version ofA Midsummer Night's Dream; and the title character inHarrison's Flowers (2000)
He has frequently worked with hisWilliams College classmate and directorJohn Sayles. He made his film debut in Sayles'Return of the Secaucus 7, and appeared in his filmsEight Men Out,Passion Fish,Matewan,Limbo, andCity of Hope, for which he won theIndependent Spirit Award. Alongside Sayles, he played one of the "men in black" in Sayles' 1983 filmThe Brother from Another Planet.
Strathairn's television work also includes a wide range of roles: Moss, the bookselling nebbish on the critically acclaimedThe Days and Nights of Molly Dodd; Captain Keller, the father ofHelen Keller in the 2000 remake ofThe Miracle Worker;Capt. Frederick Benteen, a U.S. 7th Cavalry officer underGeneral Custer's command inSon of the Morning Star; and a far-out (both figuratively and literally) televangelist inParadise, the pilot episode for a TV series onShowtime that was not successful. Strathairn had a recurring role on the hit television dramaThe Sopranos. Strathairn starred in theMiami Vice episode "Out Where the Buses Don't Run."
Strathairn was nominated for anAcademy Award for his stirring portrayal ofCBS newsmanEdward R. Murrow in the 2005 biographical filmGood Night, and Good Luck. The film explored Murrow's clash with SenatorJoseph McCarthy over McCarthy'sCommunist witch-hunts in the 1950s. Strathairn also received Best ActorGolden Globe andScreen Actors Guild (SAG) nominations for his performance.
Strathairn appeared inWe Are Marshall, a 2006 film about the rebirth ofMarshall University's football program after the 1970 plane crash that killed most of the team's members; andCold Souls, starringPaul Giamatti as a fictionalized version of himself, who enlists a company's services to deep freeze his soul, directed bySophie Barthes. In 2006 he did a campaign ad for then congressional candidate (now Senator)Kirsten Gillibrand. He reprised his role as Edward R. Murrow in a speech similar to the one fromGood Night, and Good Luck, but was altered to reference Gillibrand's opponent John Sweeney.[12]
Strathairn plays the lead role in the 2007 independent film,Steel Toes, a film byDavid Gow (writer/co-director/producer) and Mark Adam (co-director/DOP/editor). The film is based on Gow's stage playCherry Docs, in which Strathairn starred for its American premiere at theWilma Theatre in Philadelphia.
He played a role inParamount Pictures' children's filmThe Spiderwick Chronicles (2008) as Arthur Spiderwick. Strathairn appeared in theAmerican Experience PBS anthology series documentary,The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer, a biography of the physicist. He first played Oppenheimer in the 1989 CBS TV movieDay One.
In 2009, Strathairn performed inThe People Speak, a documentary feature film that uses dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries, and speeches of everyday Americans. It was adapted from the historianHoward Zinn'sA People's History of the United States.[13]
In 2010, Strathairn won thePrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for his portrayal of Dr. Carlock in the HBO television filmTemple Grandin. For that role, he also won theSatellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film and was nominated for aGolden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film.
He played William Flynn, an FBI agent dealing with anarchism in 1920s New York City, inNo God, No Master. He starred as Dr. Lee Rosen onSyfy's seriesAlphas.[14]
In 2018–19, Strathairn appeared on the third and fourth seasons of SyFy'sThe Expanse[15][16] as Klaes Ashford.
In 2020, Strathairn was one of the few professional actors in the Oscar-winnerNomadland, directed byChloé Zhao. He appears alongside his son Tay, the first time they have acted together on screen since 1988'sEight Men Out when Tay was just eight years old.
Strathairn starred in the 2023 filmRemember This, based on the stage play about the life of Polish diplomat and war heroJan Karski who brought evidence of the Holocaust to Western governments during WW2. The film is executive-produced by Eva Anisko and directed by Jeff Hutchens and Derek Goldman.
The following year, he portrayedBill Carruthers, creator of the popular game showPress Your Luck inThe Luckiest Man in America, based on anactual incident involving a contestant on the show.
Strathairn is also a stage actor and has performed over 30 theatrical roles. He performed several roles in stage plays byHarold Pinter. He has played Stanley in two consecutive New YorkClassic Stage Company (CSC) productions of Pinter's 1957 playThe Birthday Party, directed byCarey Perloff (since 1992 artistic director of theAmerican Conservatory Theater), in 1988[17] and 1989;[18] the dual roles of prison Officer and Prisoner in Pinter's 1989 playMountain Language (in a double bill with the second CSC Rep production ofThe Birthday Party);[19]Edwin Booth in a workshop production ofBooth! A House Divided by W. Stuart McDowell alongsideMaryann Plunkett atThe Players in 1989;[20] Kerner, inTom Stoppard'sHapgood (1994); and Devlin, oppositeLindsay Duncan's Rebecca, in Pinter's 1996 two-handerAshes to Ashes in the 1999 New York premiere by theRoundabout Theatre Company.[21][22]
In 2015, Strathairn appeared in Anton Chekhov'sThe Cherry Orchard with Mary McDonnell at People's Light theater in Malvern, Pennsylvania.[23][24] He lent his voice talents to an adaptation in the form of a radio play ofSinclair Lewis'It Can't Happen Here by theBerkeley Repertory Theatre in October 2020.[25]
Strathairn playedJan Karski in the one-man playRemember This: The Lesson of Jan Karski, written by Clark Young and Derek Goldman. The play is an original production by The Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics at Georgetown University. In 2021, Strathairn garnered critical acclaim for a production ofRemember This at theChicago Shakespeare Theater.[26]
Strathairn narrated a biographical video to introduceBarack Obama before his acceptance speech at the2008 Democratic National Convention.[27]
Strathairn's son Tay Strathairn was keyboardist for the bandDawes.[28][29]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Search for Tomorrow | Dr. Robert Hand | 4 episodes |
| 1985 | Miami Vice | Marty Lang | Episode: "Out Where the Buses Don't Run" |
| 1987 | Broken Vows | Stuart Chase | Television movie |
| 1987 | Spenser: For Hire | Doggie Thorpe | Episode: "One for my Daughter" |
| 1988 | The Equalizer | Phillip Borchek | Episode: "Sea of Fire" |
| 1988–91 | The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd | Moss Goodman | 20 episodes |
| 1989 | Wiseguy | Matthew Stemkowsky | 2 episodes |
| 1989 | Day One | J. Robert Oppenheimer | Television movie |
| 1990 | Heat Wave | Bill Thomas | Television movie |
| 1990 | Judgment | Father Frank Aubert | Television movie |
| 1991 | Son of the Morning Star | Capt. Frederick W. Benteen | Television movie |
| 1991 | Without Warning: The James Brady Story | Doctor Art Kobrine | Television movie |
| 1992 | O Pioneers! | Carl Linstrum | Television movie |
| 1994 | April One | John McCowan | Television movie |
| 1996 | Beyond the Call | Russell Cates | Television movie |
| 1997 | In the Gloaming | Martin | Television movie |
| 1998 | Evidence of Blood | Jackson Kinley | Television movie |
| 2000 | Freedom Song | Peter Crowley | Television film |
| 2000 | The Miracle Worker | Captain Keller | Television film |
| 2001 | Big Apple | FBI Agent Will Preecher | 8 episodes |
| 2002 | Lathe of Heaven | Mannie | Television movie |
| 2002 | Master Spy: The Robert Hanssen Story | Jack Hoschouer | Television movie |
| 2004 | The Sopranos | Robert Wegler | 3 episodes |
| 2004 | Paradise | Reverend Bobby Paradise | Television movie |
| 2008 | The Trials of Oppenheimer | J. Robert Oppenheimer | BBC drama-documentary |
| 2008 | Monk | Patrick Kloster | Episode: "Mr. Monk and the Genius" |
| 2010 | Temple Grandin | Dr. Carlock | HBO Television movie |
| 2010 | House | Nash | Episode: "Lockdown" |
| 2011–12 | Alphas | Dr. Lee Rosen | 24 episodes |
| 2012 | Hemingway & Gellhorn | John Dos Passos | HBO Television movie |
| 2015–16 | The Blacklist | Peter Kotsiopulos (aka The Director) | 12 episodes |
| 2015–17 | Z: The Beginning of Everything | Judge Anthony Sayre | 5 episodes |
| 2015 | Axe Cop | Extincter | Voice Episode: "Night Mission: The Extincter" |
| 2017–19 | Billions | "Black Jack" Foley | 8 episodes |
| 2018 | McMafia | Semiyon Kleiman[31] | Miniseries; 7 episodes |
| 2018–19 | The Expanse | Klaes Ashford | 13 episodes |
| 2018 | My Dinner with Hervé | Marty Rothstein | Television movie |
| 2020 | Interrogation | Henry Fisher | 10 episodes |
| 2021 | Fairfax | Chet | Voice Episode: "Chernobylfest" |
| 2025 | A Man on the Inside | Dr. Benjamin Cole[32] | 4 episodes |
| Year | Title | Role | Playwright | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Einstein and the Polar Bear | Bobby Bullins | Tom Griffin | Cort Theatre, Broadway debut |
| 1997 | The Three Sisters | Vershinin | Anton Chekhov | Roundabout Theatre Company, Broadway |
| 2001 | Dance of Death | Kurt | August Strindberg | Broadhurst Theatre, Broadway |
| 2003 | Salome | Jokanaan | Oscar Wilde | Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Broadway |
| 2012 | The Heiress | Dr. Austin Sloper | Augustus &Ruth Goetz | Walter Kerr Theater, Broadway |
| Year | Title | Artist | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | "Oh Baby" | LCD Soundsystem |
