Scott Sowers
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Scott Nicolai Sowers (November 5, 1963 April 1, 2018) was an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Detective Parker in the late 1990s
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series ''
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'' and for his role as
Stanley Kowalski Stanley Kowalski is a fictional character in Tennessee Williams' play '' A Streetcar Named Desire''. In the play Stanley lives in the working-class Faubourg Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans with his wife, Stella ( DuBois), and is employe ...
on stage in ''
A Streetcar Named Desire ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is a play written by Tennessee Williams and first performed on Broadway on December 3, 1947. The play dramatizes the experiences of Blanche DuBois, a former Southern belle who, after encountering a series of pe ...
''. He established the Signature Theatre Company in 1991, and the following year he won the
Drama-Logue Award The Drama-Logue Award was an American theater award established in 1977, given by the publishers of Drama-Logue newspaper, a weekly west-coast theater trade publication. Winners were selected by the publication's theater critics, and would recei ...
for Performance for his role as the colonel in ''
A Few Good Men ''A Few Good Men'' is a 1992 American legal drama film based on Aaron Sorkin's 1989 play, produced by Castle Rock Entertainment, financed and distributed by Columbia Pictures. It was written by Sorkin, directed by Rob Reiner, and produced ...
'' at the Shubert Theatre. In films, he has played some notable minor roles, such as a mercenary in '' Under Siege 2: Dark Territory'' (1995), a prison guard in '' Dead Man Walking'' (1995), and a condemned man in '' True Grit'' (2010). Aside from numerous dramatic readings for audiobooks, Sowers provided his voice for videogames such as '' Batman: Dark Tomorrow'' (2003), ''
Manhunt 2 ''Manhunt 2'' is a 2007 stealth game by Rockstar Games. It was developed by Rockstar London for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 2, Rockstar Leeds for the PlayStation Portable, and Rockstar Toronto for the Wii. It is the sequel to 2003's '' ...
'' (2007) and '' Homefront'' (2011).


Early life

Sowers was born on November 5, 1963, in
Arlington County, Virginia Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county is located in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C., the nati ...
. There, he graduated from
Washington-Lee High School Washington-Liberty High School, formerly known as Washington-Lee High School, is a public high school in the Arlington Public Schools district in Arlington, Virginia, covering grades 9–12. Its attendance area serves the central third of Ar ...
in 1982 (along with friend
Sandra Bullock Sandra Annette Bullock (; born July 26, 1964) is an American actress and film producer. The List of highest-paid film actors, highest-paid actress of 2010 and 2014, Sandra Bullock filmography, Bullock's filmography spans both comedy and drama, ...
). Sowers went on to study at the
University of North Carolina School of the Arts The University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) is a public art school in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It grants a high school diploma, in addition to both undergraduate and graduate degrees. Founded in 1963 as the North Carolina Sc ...
before moving to New York City.


Background and stage work

Sowers began his career as a stage actor. In 1989, ''
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'' praised his "excellent" performance as Starns in the play ''Heathen Valley''. In 1991, he established the Signature Theater Company with James Houghton. In 1992, the ''
Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...
'' noted Sowers' "formidable colonel" in a stage production of ''
A Few Good Men ''A Few Good Men'' is a 1992 American legal drama film based on Aaron Sorkin's 1989 play, produced by Castle Rock Entertainment, financed and distributed by Columbia Pictures. It was written by Sorkin, directed by Rob Reiner, and produced ...
'' at the Shubert Theatre. The production later went on a national tour, which won him the Drama-Logue Award for Performance. In 1996, Sowers played Will Masters on stage in a Broadway production of ''
Bus Stop A bus stop is a place where Public transport bus service, buses stop for passengers to get on and off the bus. The construction of bus stops tends to reflect the level of usage, where stops at busy locations may have shelter (building), shelters ...
''. In 2004, he played
Stanley Kowalski Stanley Kowalski is a fictional character in Tennessee Williams' play '' A Streetcar Named Desire''. In the play Stanley lives in the working-class Faubourg Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans with his wife, Stella ( DuBois), and is employe ...
in ''
A Streetcar Named Desire ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is a play written by Tennessee Williams and first performed on Broadway on December 3, 1947. The play dramatizes the experiences of Blanche DuBois, a former Southern belle who, after encountering a series of pe ...
'' at
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in New York City; the following year,
John C. Reilly John Christopher Reilly (born May 24, 1965) is an American actor. He is known as a character actor taking leading and supporting roles in independent drama films and studio comedies. He gained exposure through his supporting roles in '' Days of ...
played the part and Sowers played the more minor part of Steve. In 2007, he appeared on Broadway in '' Inherit the Wind''. With the
Ensemble Studio Theatre The Ensemble Studio Theatre (EST) is a non-profit membership-based developmental theatre located in Hell's Kitchen, New York City. It has a dual mission of nurturing individual theatre artists and developing new American plays. Overview The E ...
, Sowers appeared in productions of ''Matthew and the Pastor’s Wife'', ''Lenin’s Embalmers'', ''Princes of Waco'', ''Lucy'' and ''Hand to God''. He has also appeared on stage in the Wilma Theater of
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
, the Long Wharf Theater of
New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...
in 2003, the Actor's Theater of Louisville, the Baltimore Center Stage, and the Oslo Festival in Norway. In September 2012, he appeared at the Valborg Theatre of
Appalachian State University Appalachian State University (), or App State, is a Public university, public research university in Boone, North Carolina, United States. It was founded as a normal school, teachers' college in 1899 by brothers B. B. and D. D. Dougherty and th ...
in ''Romulus Linney ... Back Home in the Mountains: A Tribute to Romulus Linney''.


Film and television roles

Sowers starred in the 1995
Steven Seagal Steven Frederic Seagal ( ; born April 10, 1952) is an American actor, producer, screenwriter, martial artist, and musician. A 7th-Dan (rank), dan Black belt (martial arts), black belt in aikido, he began his adult life as a martial arts instru ...
film '' Under Siege 2: Dark Territory'' as one of the mercenaries, and has played detectives and police officers in various films and television series, including ''
Cracker Cracker, crackers or The Crackers may refer to: Animals * ''Hamadryas'' (butterfly), or crackers, a genus of brush-footed butterflies * '' Sparodon'', a monotypic genus whose species is sometimes known as "Cracker" Arts and entertainment Films ...
'', where he played Detective Parker from 1997 to 1999, and a prison guard in the 1995 film '' Dead Man Walking''. He appeared in '' A Season for Miracles'' (1999), and several episodes of ''
Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment and Universal Television, launching the ''Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire ...
'' and its spinoffs, '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' and '' Law & Order: Criminal Intent''. He also made an appearance in ''
Erin Brockovich Erin Brockovich (née Pattee; born June 22, 1960) is an American paralegal, consumer advocate, and environmental activist who was instrumental in building a case against Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) involving groundwater contamination ...
'' in 2000. In 2009, he portrayed Uncle Drake in the TV series ''Get Hit''. This was followed by a role as Joseph Earl Dinler in the ''
Boardwalk Empire ''Boardwalk Empire'' is an American period crime drama television series created by Terence Winter for the premium cable channel HBO. The series is set chiefly in Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the Prohibition era of the 1920s. The series sta ...
'' episode "Anastasia" in 2010. In 2010 he also played an unrepentant condemned man in the acclaimed
Coen Brothers Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, together known as the Coen brothers (), are an American filmmaking duo. Their films span many genres and styles, which they frequently subvert or parody. Among their most acclaimed works are '' Blood Simple'' (198 ...
film '' True Grit'' opposite
Jeff Bridges Jeffrey Leon Bridges (born December 4, 1949) is an American actor. He is known for his Leading actor, leading man roles in film and television. In a career spanning over seven decades, he has received List of awards and nominations received by ...
. In 2013 he had a minor role as Russo in an episode of the
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
series ''
Blue Bloods ''Blue Bloods'' is an American police procedural drama (film and television), drama television series that aired on CBS from September 24, 2010, to December 13, 2024, across 14 seasons and 293 episodes. Its main characters were members of the fi ...
''.


Other work

Sowers has done dramatic readings for
audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sch ...
s, notably many of
Hunter S. Thompson Hunter Stockton Thompson (July 18, 1937 – February 20, 2005) was an American journalist and author, regarded as a pioneer of New Journalism along with Gay Talese, Truman Capote, Norman Mailer, Joan Didion, and Tom Wolfe. He rose to prom ...
's works, and provided voice characterization for the short documentary film ''An American Synagogue''. ''California Bookwatch'' praised Sowers' "dramatic prowess which translates well to audio as he tells of a police chief forced into identifying a dead woman". In 2003 he provided the voice of
Scarface Scarface may refer to: Gangster-related * Scarface, nickname for Al Capone (1899–1947), an American gangster and a businessman. * ''Scarface'' (novel), a novel by Armitage Trail, loosely based on Capone's rise to power ** ''Scarface'' (1932 ...
's men for the video game '' Batman: Dark Tomorrow'', and in 2011 he provided the voice of Arnie in the videogame '' Homefront''.


Death

On April 1, 2018, Sowers died of a heart attack at the age of 54, at a friend's home in New York City.


Filmography


References


External links

*
Scott Sowers audiobook titles at Amazon.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sowers, Scott American male stage actors American male film actors American male television actors 1963 births 2018 deaths American male voice actors American male video game actors 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors Male actors from Virginia Washington-Liberty High School alumni