Steve Railsback (born November 16, 1945) is an American theatre, film, and television actor. He is best known for his performances in the films '' The Stunt Man'' and ''Lifeforce'', and his portrayal of

Charles Manson Charles Milles Manson (; November 12, 1934 – November 19, 2017) was an American criminal, cult leader, and musician who led the Manson Family, a cult based in California in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Some cult members committed a Manson ...

in the 1976 television mini-series '' Helter Skelter''.

Career

Railsback was a student of

Lee Strasberg Lee Strasberg (born Israel Strassberg; November 17, 1901 – February 17, 1982) was an American acting coach and actor. He co-founded, with theatre directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre in 1931, which was hailed ...

and the

Actors Studio The Actors Studio is a membership organization for professional actors, theatre directors and playwrights located on West 44th Street in Hell's Kitchen in New York City. The studio is best known for its work refining and teaching method actin ...

and in the late 1960s and early 1970s spent 10 years working in

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He once said that he found Strasberg extremely difficult to work with. He made his film debut in '' The Visitors'', directed by

Elia Kazan Elias Kazantzoglou (, ; September 7, 1909 – September 28, 2003), known as Elia Kazan ( ), was a Greek-American film and theatre director, producer, screenwriter and actor, described by ''The New York Times'' as "one of the most honored and inf ...

. He portrayed two notorious murderers, appearing as

in the 1976 television

miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

'' Helter Skelter'' and as Ed Gein in the 2000 film '' In the Light of the Moon''. He also served as executive producer of the latter film. Other notable roles include the part of Cameron in '' The Stunt Man'' with Peter O'Toole, the astronaut Tom Carlsen in Tobe Hooper's '' Lifeforce,'' Duane Barry in two episodes of ''

The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The original series aired from September 10, 1993, to Ma ...

'', and Joseph Welch in the pilot episode of ''

Supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

''. In 2008, he appeared in the

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

/ horror movie film '' Plaguers''.Plaguers DVD Art and Specs
/ref>

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * * Living people American male film actors American male television actors Male actors from Dallas 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors 1945 births {{US-screen-actor-1940s-stub