David Strathairn

David Russell Strathairn (; born January 26, 1949) is an American actor. Known for his leading roles on stage and screen, he has often portrayed historical figures such as Edward R. Murrow, J. Robert Oppenheimer, William H. Seward, and John Dos Passos. He has received various accolades including an Independent Spirit Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Volpi Cup, and has been nominated for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Strathairn made his acting debut in his fellow Williams College graduate John Sayles' film '' Return of the Secaucus 7'' (1980), and continued acting in multiple films by Sayles, such as '' Matewan'' (1987), '' Eight Men Out'' (1988), '' City of Hope'' (1991), '' Passion Fish'' (1992) and ''Limbo'' (1999). In the 1990s, he appeared in multiple box-office successes such as '' A League of Their Own'' (1992), ''Sneakers'' (1992), '' The Firm'' (1993), '' The River Wild'' (1995) and '' L.A. Confidential'' (1997) before gaining prominence for his portrayal of journalist Edward R. Murrow in George Clooney's '' Good Night, and Good Luck'' (2005), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. He is also recognized for his role as CIA Deputy Director Noah Vosen in '' The Bourne Ultimatum'' (2007) and '' The Bourne Legacy'' (2012). He appeared in Steven Spielberg's '' Lincoln'' (2012), Chloe Zhao's '' Nomadland'' (2020), and Guillermo del Toro's '' Nightmare Alley'' (2021).

Also known for his lengthy work on television, he made his debut in the soap opera ''Search for Tomorrow'' in 1984. He portrayed Robert Wegler in the acclaimed HBO drama series ''The Sopranos'' (2004). He received a Primetime Emmy Award win and a Golden Globe Award nomination for his performance in the HBO television film '' Temple Grandin'' (2010). He portrayed John Dos Passos in the HBO film '' Hemingway & Gellhorn'' (2012). He's had recurring roles in the Syfy series '' Alphas'' (2011–2012), the NBC series '' The Blacklist'' (2015–2016), the Showtime series '' Billions'' (2017–2019), and the SyFy, then Amazon Prime Video, series '' The Expanse'' (2018–2019).

Early life and education

Strathairn was born in San Francisco, California. He is of Scottish descent through his paternal grandfather, Thomas Scott Strathairn, a native of Crieff, and of Native Hawaiian ancestry through his paternal grandmother, Josephine Lei Victoria Alana. Strathairn attended Redwood High School in Larkspur, California. He graduated from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, in 1970. At Williams, he met fellow actor Gordon Clapp; and (after graduation) another Williams alumnus, director John Sayles, with whom he has collaborated on a number of projects.

He studied clowning at the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Clown College in Venice, Florida,Full biography o
"David Strathairn"
''Yahoo! Movies'', Copyright 2007, accessed August 7, 2007. and briefly worked as a clown in a traveling circus.

Career

Strathairn was nominated for an Academy Award for his stirring portrayal of CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow in the 2005 biographical film '' Good Night, and Good Luck''. The film explored Murrow's clash with Senator Joseph McCarthy over McCarthy's Communist witch-hunts in the 1950s. Strathairn also received Best Actor Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild (SAG) nominations for his performance. In 2010, he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for his portrayal of Dr. Carlock in the HBO television film ''Temple Grandin''. For that role, he also won the Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film.

Other notable film roles include his portrayals of the title character in '' Harrison's Flowers'' (2000); Col. Craig Harrington in ''Memphis Belle'' (1990); Whistler, the wisecracking blind techie, in ''Sneakers'' (1992); convict Ray McDeere in the legal thriller '' The Firm'' (1993); abusive husband Joe St. George in '' Dolores Claiborne'' (1995); Pierce Patchett, a millionaire involved in the seedy side of 1950s Los Angeles in '' L.A. Confidential'' (1997); Theseus, Duke of Athens, in the 1999 version of ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''; and baseball player Eddie Cicotte in '' Eight Men Out'' (1988).

Strathairn is a character actor, appearing in supporting roles in many independent and Hollywood films. In this capacity, he has co-starred in '' Twisted'' as a psychiatrist; in '' The River Wild'' as a husband; and in '' Blue Car'' as a teacher.

He has worked with his Williams College classmate and director John Sayles. He made his film debut in '' Return of the Secaucus 7'', and worked in the films '' Passion Fish'', '' Matewan'', ''Limbo'' and '' City of Hope'', for which he won the Independent Spirit Award. Alongside Sayles, he played one of the "men in black" in the 1983 film '' The Brother from Another Planet''. Strathairn created the role of Edwin Booth with Maryann Plunkett in a workshop production of ''Booth! A House Divided'', by W. Stuart McDowell, at The Players in New York City.

Strathairn's television work also includes a wide range of roles: Moss, the bookselling nebbish on the critically acclaimed '' The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd''; Captain Keller, the father of Helen Keller in the 2000 remake of '' The Miracle Worker''; Capt. Frederick Benteen, a U.S. 7th Cavalry officer under General Custer's command in '' Son of the Morning Star''; and a far-out (both figuratively and literally) televangelist in ''Paradise'', the pilot episode for a TV series on Showtime that was not successful. Strathairn had a recurring role on the hit television drama ''The Sopranos''. Strathairn starred in the ''Miami Vice'' episode "Out Where the Buses Don't Run."

Strathairn appeared in '' We Are Marshall'', a 2006 film about the rebirth of Marshall University's football program after the 1970 plane crash that killed most of the team's members; and '' Cold Souls'', starring Paul Giamatti as a fictionalized version of himself, who enlists a company's services to deep freeze his soul, directed by Sophie 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 from '' Good Night, and Good Luck'', but was altered to reference Gillibrand's opponent John Sweeney.

Strathairn plays the lead role in the 2007 independent film, '' Steel Toes'', a film by David Gow (writer/co-director/producer) and Mark Adam (co-director/DOP/editor). The film is based on Gow's stage play ''Cherry Docs'', in which Strathairn starred for its American premiere at the Wilma Theatre in Philadelphia.

He played a role in Paramount Pictures' children's film ''The Spiderwick Chronicles'' (2008) as Arthur Spiderwick. Strathairn appeared in the ''American 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 movie '' Day One''. He plays William Flynn, an FBI agent dealing with anarchism in 1920s New York City, in ''No God, No Master''.

In 2009, Strathairn performed in '' The 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 historian Howard Zinn's '' A People's History of the United States''.

He starred as Dr. Lee Rosen on Syfy's series '' Alphas''.

In 2018–19, Strathairn appeared on the third and fourth seasons of SyFy's '' The Expanse'' as Klaes Ashford.

In 2020, Strathairn was one of the few genuine actors in the Oscar-winner '' Nomadland'', directed by Chloé Zhao. David appears alongside his son Tay, the first time they have acted together on screen since 1988's ''Eight Men Out'' when Tay was just eight years old.

Strathairn stars in the 2023 film '' Remember This'', based on the stage play about the life of Polish diplomat and war hero Jan 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.

Theater

Strathairn is also a stage actor and has performed over 30 theatrical roles. He performed several roles in stage plays by Harold Pinter. He played Stanley in two consecutive New York Classic Stage Company (CSC) productions of Pinter's 1957 play '' The Birthday Party'', directed by Carey Perloff (since 1992 artistic director of the American Conservatory Theater), in 1988Performance revs. by Susan Hollis Merritt, "The Birthday Party" ( CSC Repertory Theatre, New York, April 17, 1988, April 12, 1988 – May 22, 1988) and Bernard Dukore, "The Birthday Party" (CSC Repertory Theatre, New York, April–May 1988), ''The Pinter Review'' 2.1 (1988): 66–70; 71–73. (Cover photograph features Strathairn in his role as Stanley.) and 1989;1989 CSC production
''HaroldPinter.org'' (official site), accessed August 7, 2007. the dual roles of prison Officer and Prisoner in Pinter's 1989 play '' Mountain Language'' (in a double bill with the second CSC Rep production of ''The Birthday Party'');Susan Hollis Merritt, "A Conversation with Carey Perloff, Bill Moor, Peter Riegert, Jean Stapleton, and David Strathairn: After Matinee of '' Mountain Language'' and '' The Birthday Party'' by CSC Repertory Ltd., Bruno's, New York, Nov. 12, 1989", ''The Pinter Review: Annual Essays 1989'' (TPR) (Tampa: U of Tampa P, 1989) 59–84 (interview); cf. performance rev. by Francis Gillen, " Mountain Language, The Birthday Party" ''TPR'' 93–97. (Cover photograph features Strathairn and Stapleton in their roles as a prison Officer and the Elderly Woman in ''Mountain Language''; his other role, the Prisoner, is the Elderly Woman's son.) Edwin Booth in a workshop production by W. Stuart McDowell at The Players in 1989; Kerner, in Tom Stoppard's '' Hapgood'' (1994); and Devlin, opposite Lindsay Duncan's Rebecca, in Pinter's 1996 two-hander '' Ashes to Ashes'' in the 1999 New York premiere by the Roundabout Theatre Company.Performance revs. by Katherine H. Burkman, "'' Ashes to Ashes'' in New York: Roundabout Theatre Company at the Gramercy Theatre, March 30, 1999" and by Susan Hollis Merritt, "''Ashes to Ashes'' in New York: Roundabout Theatre Company, Gramercy Theatre, New York, April 3, 1999", ''The Pinter Review: Collected Essays 1997 and 1998'' (Tampa: U of Tampa P, 1999) 154-59.

In 2015, Strathairn appeared in Anton Chekhov's ''The Cherry Orchard'' with Mary McDonnell at People's Light theater in Malvern, Pennsylvania. He lent his voice talents to an adaptation in the form of a radio play of Sinclair Lewis' ''It Can't Happen Here'' by the Berkeley Repertory Theatre in October 2020.

Strathairn plays Jan Karski in the one-man play ''Remember 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 of ''Remember This'' at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater.

Strathairn narrated a biographical video to introduce Barack Obama before his acceptance speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

Personal life

Strathairn's son Tay Strathairn was keyboardist for the band Dawes.

Acting credits

Film

Television

Theatre

Music videos

Awards and nominations

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Strathairn, David
1949 births
Living people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American male film actors
American male stage actors
American male television actors
American people of Native Hawaiian descent
American people of Scottish descent
Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male winners
Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie Primetime Emmy Award winners
Male actors from San Francisco
Native Hawaiian male actors
Volpi Cup for Best Actor winners
Williams College alumni
Redwood High School (Larkspur, California) alumni