James Howard Woods was born on April 18, 1947, inVernal, Utah,[5] and had a brother ten years younger.[6] His father, Gail Peyton Woods, was aUnited States Army intelligence officer who died in 1960[7] after routine surgery. His mother, Martha A. (née Smith), ran a pre-school after her husband's death[8] and later married Thomas E. Dixon.[9] Woods grew up inWarwick, Rhode Island, where he attendedPilgrim High School, from which he graduated in 1965. He is of part Irish descent and was raisedCatholic, briefly serving as analtar boy.[10][11]
Woods was an undergraduate atMassachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).[12] He stated onInside the Actors Studio that he originally intended to become an eye surgeon. He pledged theTheta Delta Chi fraternity and was a member of the student theatre group Dramashop, acting in and directing a number of plays. He dropped out of MIT in 1969, one semester before graduating, to pursue an acting career.[13]
Woods has said that he owes his acting career to Tim Affleck, father of actorsBen andCasey Affleck. The senior Affleck was a stage manager at the Theatre Company of Boston, which Woods attended as a student.[14]
Woods took the starring role in theDavid Cronenberg written and directedscience-fictionbody horror filmVideodrome (1983). CriticJanet Maslin ofThe New York Times praised the film and the leading performance writing, "By far Mr. Cronenberg's most inspired touch is the casting of Mr. Woods, who brings an almost backhanded heroism to the horror genre. In villainous or sinister roles...Mr. Woods has been startling, but that kind of casting is almost a redundancy. Here, his offhand wisecracking gives the performance a sharply authentic edge. And his jittery, insinuating manner even begins to look like a kind of innocence, in comparison with the calm, soothing attitudes of the video-crazed megalomaniacs he's up against."[29]
He then took on the role of Maximillian "Max" Bercovicz, a Jewish gangster, inSergio Leone's epicOnce Upon a Time in America (1984) alongsideRobert De Niro,Tuesday Weld, andJoe Pesci. Woods considers his role in the film as one of his favorites.[30]The film premiered at the1984 Cannes Film Festival and received a 15-minute standing ovation.[31]Rotten Tomatoes reports an 86% approval rating with 51 reviews, the consensus reading, "Sergio Leone's epic crime drama is visually stunning, stylistically bold, and emotionally haunting, and filled with great performances from the likes of Robert De Niro and James Woods."[32] That same year, he also starred inAgainst All Odds as a nightclub owner who hires an aging football star, played byJeff Bridges, to find his missing girlfriend.
In 1988, Woods portrayed a man struggling withcocaine addiction inThe Boost. While the film received mixed reviews Woods' was praised for his performance with CriticRoger Ebert declaring that it was "one of the most convincing and horrifying portraits of drug addiction I've ever seen". He also added, "Woods is one of the most intense, unpredictable actors in the movies today. You watch his characters because they seem capable of exploding – not out of anger, but out of hurt, shame and low self-esteem. They're wounded, but they fight back by being smarter than anyone else and using jokes and sarcasm to keep people at arm's length."[37] On October 28, 1989, Woods hostedSaturday Night Live withDon Henley as the musical guest.[38] In 1989, Woods acted in the courtroom dramaTrue Believer withRobert Downey Jr. andYuji Okumoto and family dramaImmediate Family acting alongsideGlenn Close,Mary Stuart Masterson andKevin Dillon. Of the latter, criticRoger Ebert noted of his performance "Woods is toned down from his other recent performances. He is the best actor in Hollywood at playing manics, crazies, hyperactive schemers and intelligent con men, but here he simply plays a more or less normal husband with ordinary desires and passions. He and Close make a convincing couple."[39]
InRob Reiner's filmGhosts of Mississippi (1996), Woods appeared alongsideAlec Baldwin andWhoopi Goldberg. He portrayedByron De La Beckwith, awhite supremacist who assassinated civil rights leaderMedgar Evers in 1963. The film was not a box-office success and received mixed reviews, earning a critics' review of 43% onRotten Tomatoes. However, some critics praised Woods' performance.Janet Maslin, in herNew York Times review, states, "Woods's performance as the hateful old reprobate Beckwith is the film's chief sign of life".[49] TheLos Angeles Times published an article titled "James Woods is So Good at Being Bad". In the articles it describes Woods having aggressively lobbied director Rob Reiner for the role, which Reiner originally intended for an actor in his 70s, likePaul Newman.[21]"Beckwith's Mississippi accent, which Woods perfected by watching tapes and working with an accent coach, helped him distance himself from the character. 'I imagined I was speaking a foreign language'."[21] Woods earned aGolden Globe nomination[citation needed] as well as his second Oscar nomination forBest Supporting Actor.[50]
During the 2000s, Woods lent his voice to various films, video games, and television shows including anotherDisney film,Recess: School's Out (2001) as Dr. Phillium Benedict, the twisted former headmaster who attempts to abolish summer vacation. Woods would also voice Falcon inStuart Little 2 (2002). He appeared in theDenzel Washington thrillerJohn Q. (2002) and had a cameo inBe Cool (2005), featuring an all-star cast. In 2007, Woods voiced the role of Reggie Belafonte, a short-tempered sea otter, in the Sony Pictures Animation film,Surf's Up. The character is aDon King-like promoter for the main character's rival. The film went on to receive anAcademy Award nomination forBest Animated Feature losing toPixar'sRatatouille. From 2005 to 2016, Woods has played a recurring role as himself inSeth MacFarlane'sFamily Guy. He has continued to voiceHades in theKingdom Hearts video games. Since 2016, he has also voiced the role ofLex Luthor in the animated seriesJustice League Action. From 2006 to 2008, Woods starred in theCBS legal drama seriesShark. He played an infamousdefense lawyer who, after growing disillusioned when his client commits a murder, becomes a successful prosecutor with theLos Angeles County District Attorney's office.
He also appeared as a fictional version of himself in the episode ofThe Simpsons entitled "Homer and Apu" and in eight episodes ofFamily Guy, which is set in Woods' home state ofRhode Island. He is also the namesake for James Woods Regional High School inFamily Guy. The high school's name was later changed to Adam West High School to reflect the death ofAdam West, who was a character in the show. Woods has lent his voice to video games such asGrand Theft Auto: San Andreas. In 2012, Woods attended an anniversary screening of a restored cut ofOnce Upon a Time in America (1984) at the65th Cannes Film Festival. The screening was made possible byMartin Scorsese and hisFilm Foundation which digitally restored the film as well as included 40 additional minutes of footage.[61] Woods, Robert De Niro, Jennifer Connelly, andElizabeth McGovern attended the premiere and introduced the film.[62]
In 2024 he released the album “Hear The Thunder Crack”, where he wrote all the lyrics and words, whileShooter Jennings created and performed the music.[71]
In 1980, Woods married costume designer Kathryn Morrison-Pahoa. They divorced in 1983.[72] In 1989, he married 26-year-oldequestrian andboutique owner Sarah Owen, but they divorced four months later.[73] In 1992, Woods datedHeather Graham, his co-star in the filmDiggstown.[74]
Woods was raised asRoman Catholic and considers himself a practicing follower of the religion.[75]
On December 14, 2015, while he was driving alone westbound through an ice storm onInterstate 70 inGlenwood Canyon,Colorado, a speeding driver lost control and crashed into five other cars. Woods swerved hisJeep Grand Cherokee to avoid the accident and collided with a retaining wall, but slid backwards into a guard rail 100 feet (30 meters) above the Colorado River. He suffered a minor concussion.[76][77]
In 1988, Woods sued actressSean Young for $2 million, accusing her of stalking him after they appeared together in the filmThe Boost.[83] Young later countered that Woods had overreacted when she had spurned his on-set advances.[84] The suit was settled out of court in August 1989,[85][86] including a payment of $227,000 to Young to cover her legal costs.[87]
In 2006, Woods' younger brother Michael Jeffrey Woods died from cardiac arrest at the age of 49. Woods suedKent Hospital inWarwick, Rhode Island, alleging negligence. The lawsuit was settled in 2009.[88][89]
In July 2015, Woods sued an anonymous Twitter user known as Abe List, and ten other Twitter users, for $10 million over an allegedly libelous tweet accusing him of being a "cocaine addict".[90] Woods unsuccessfully sought to obtain the name of the Twitter user; theLos Angeles County Superior Court denied his motion fordiscovery in October 2015, holding that he could not "use legal process to pierce the anonymity of internet speakers unless [he] can make aprima facie case." However, in an unexpected later ruling, the user's Anti-SLAPP motion was denied and Woods was permitted to pursue his lawsuit against List, with the ten other defendants being dropped from the lawsuit.[91][92] In October 2016, the defendant's appeal was dismissed; attorneyLisa Bloom, who represented the anonymous Twitter user, revealed that the user had died.[93] The case wassettled out of court soon afterwards, with Woods receiving a letter from Bloom saying that her client "regretted making the tweet and further regrets any harm caused to Mr. Woods' reputation by the tweet."[94]
In 2017, shortly before the Abe List litigation was resolved, Portia Boulger sued Woods for misidentifying her as aNazi in an allegedly libelous tweet.[95] The tweet included a photo of a different woman giving aNazi salute while wearing aDonald Trump t-shirt at acampaign event.[96] Boulger sought $3 million in damages.[96] The court ruled in favor of Woods under the innocent construction rule. Boulger appealed, but theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upheld the ruling.[96]
Woods' name was in an advertisement in theLos Angeles Times (August 17, 2006) that condemnedHamas andHezbollah and supported Israel in the2006 Lebanon War.[104] On July 4, 2018,The Gersh Agency, Woods' long-time talent agency, notified him by email that they would no longer represent him. Woods stated that the agency dropped him due to his political views.[105][106][107] He has said that there were manyconservative actors who did not share their thoughts because "the blacklist against conservatives inHollywood is very real."[108]
Woods frequently expressed his conservative political views on Twitter and was locked out of his account multiple times for violations of the platform's terms of service.[109][110][111][112] In 2017, a Twitter debate between Woods andAmber Tamblyn escalated after Tamblyn accused Woods of inviting her to Las Vegas when she was underage, which Woods dismissed as a lie.[113]
In July 2017, Woods responded to a Twitter post of anOrange County family attending anLGBT pride event with their 10-year-old son by stating, "Wait until this poor kid grows up, realizes what you've done, and stuffs both of you dismembered into a freezer in the garage."Neil Patrick Harris, a friend of the family, condemned Woods’ comments as "utterly ignorant and classless."[114]
In 2018, Woods turned his Twitter feed into abulletin board for missing evacuees of theCalifornia wildfires, and was credited with saving lives and helping to reunite missing loved ones and pets with their families.[115] He provided aid to actressesHolly Marie Combs andAlyssa Milano, with the latter thanking him for his help saving her horses.[116][117]
In 2022, analysis conducted by researchers with theUniversity of Washington's Center for an Informed Public and theKrebsStamos Group found Woods was the top purveyor ofelection misinformation on Twitter during the late months of 2020.[118][119] That same year, Woods announced his intentions to sue theDemocratic National Committee followingElon Musk's release of theTwitter Files. JournalistMatt Taibbi reported that the Democratic National Committee requested a tweet made by Woods, related toHunter Biden, be removed from Twitter.[120][121] Critics of Woods defended Twitter's decision by pointing out that he posted images of Hunter Biden's genitals to his account.[122][123]
On August 1, 2001, Woods alleged noticing four men near him acting suspiciously on a flight from Boston to Los Angeles. Woods reported his suspicions to the co-pilot in flight, and he claimed that those concerns were passed on to theFederal Aviation Administration. On the evening of September 11, Woods called theFederal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and repeated his concerns; they interviewed him at his home the next morning. Woods believed that he had encountered four of the19 terrorists/hijackers responsible for theSeptember 11 attacks, who were on the flight to study it in preparation for the attacks.[131][132] Woods was interviewed by FBI agents regarding this incident. He has stated that he looked at pictures of the hijackers and identified two terrorists as being among the men that he had seen on his flight.[133]
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