James Cromwell

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James Cromwell
Image:Sheen Cromwell.jpg James Cromwell (far right)
Birth name	James Oliver Cromwell
Born	January 27 1940 (1940-01-27) (age 69) Los Angeles, Calif., U.S.
Other name(s)	Jamie Cromwell
Occupation	actor
Years active	1975 – present
Spouse(s)	Anne Ulvestad (1976 — 1986) Julie Cobb (1986 — 2006)
Parents	John Cromwell (1887-1979) Kay Johnson (1904-1975)

James Oliver Cromwell (born January 27, 1940), sometimes credited as Jamie Cromwell, is an Oscar-, Emmy- and Screen Actors Guild award-nominated American film and television actor.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 2.1 Early career 2.2 1990s 2.3 2000s 3 Personal life 3.1 Height 3.2 Controversies 4 Award nominations 5 Filmography 5.1 Films 5.2 Television 5.3 Theatre 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Early life

Cromwell was born in Los Angeles, California and was raised in Manhattan, New York. His mother was actress Kay Johnson and his father was actor, director and producer John Cromwell, who was blacklisted during the McCarthy era.^[1][2] He was educated at The Hill School, Middlebury College and the Carnegie Mellon University, where he studied engineering. Like both his parents, he was drawn to the theater, doing everything from Shakespeare to experimental plays.

[edit] Career

[edit] Early career

His first television performance was in a 1974 episode of The Rockford Files playing Terry.^[3] A few weeks later,^[4] he had a brief recurring role as Stretch Cunningham on All in the Family. In 1975 he took his first lead role on television as Bill Lewis in the short-lived Hot L Baltimore, and a year later made his film debut in Neil Simon's classic detective spoof Murder by Death.

While he continued with regular television work for the rest of the 1980's, 1984 saw him make real inroads in the movie business with roles in the James Garner-Shirley Jones film Tank, as a corrupt deputy sheriff and his first appearance as Mr. Skolnick, father of main character Lewis in the comedy film Revenge of the Nerds. He would reprise this role three more times in each of the "Nerds" sequels.

[edit] 1990s

His notable film roles in the 1990s include his Oscar nominated performance as Farmer Arthur Hoggett in Babe (1995) and Captain Dudley Liam Smith in Curtis Hanson's film adaptation of James Ellroy's L.A. Confidential (1997), which was a breakout role for him, and made him more bankable in Hollywood. He also played Dr. Zefram Cochrane in Star Trek: First Contact (1996) and the Star Trek: Enterprise pilot "Broken Bow" (the Star Trek: Enterprise episode "In a Mirror, Darkly" later reused some of the First Contact footage).^[5] He has appeared on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, though not as Cochrane (his appearances on these shows predated his role in First Contact), he guest starred in episodes including "The Hunted", "Birthright, Part I and II" and "Starship Down".

[edit] 2000s

He co-starred in the last two seasons of the HBO drama series Six Feet Under, where he portrayed George Sibley, Ruth Fisher's geologist husband and along with the rest of the his castmates, he was nominated for two consecutive Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2005 and 2006. He next co-starred alongside Oscar-winner Dame Helen Mirren who plays the lead role of Queen Elizabeth II in Stephen Frears' The Queen (2006) where he portrays Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. He guest starred in the sixth season of 24 where he portrayed Phillip Bauer, father of lead character Jack played by Kiefer Sutherland.

In early October 2007, he played the lead role of James Tyrone Sr. in the Druid Theatre Company's production of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night, at the Gaiety in Dublin as part of the Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival's 50th Anniversary.^[6]

[edit] Personal life

He has three children and has been married twice.

[edit] Height

Cromwell is known for his unusually tall stature; he stands at 6 ft 7 in (201 cm), making him the tallest person to ever be nominated for an Academy Award. His height, however, has not prevented him from becoming a prolific actor in a wide variety of leading and supporting roles.

[edit] Controversies

He has long been an advocate of leftist causes. In the late 1960s he was a member of "The Committee to Defend The Panthers", a group organized to defend 13 members of the Black Panther Party who had been imprisoned in New York on charges of conspiracy. All thirteen were eventually released. In a 2004 interview with CNN.com, Cromwell praised the Panthers.^[7] He became a vegetarian in 1974 after seeing a stockyard in Texas and experiencing the "smell, terror and anxiety."^[8] He became an ethical vegan while playing the character of Farmer Hoggett in the movie Babe in 1995. He frequently speaks out on issues regarding animal cruelty for PETA, largely the treatment of pigs.^[9]

[edit] Award nominations

• 1995 - Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Babe
• 1997 - Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Cast in a Motion Picture for L.A. Confidential
• 1999 - Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Cast in a Motion Picture for The Green Mile
• 2000 - Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for RKO 281
• 2001 - Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for ER
• 2005, 2006 - Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Ensemble in a Drama Series for Six Feet Under

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Films

Murder by Death (1976) The Cheap Detective (1978) The Man with Two Brains (1983) Revenge of the Nerds (1984) Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise (1987) The Rescue (1988) Miracle Landing (1990) (TV) The Babe (1992) Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation (1992) (TV) Revenge of the Nerds IV: Nerds in Love (1994) (TV) Babe (1995) Star Trek: First Contact (1996) The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996) Eraser (1996) L.A. Confidential (1997) The Education of Little Tree (1997) Babe: Pig in the City (1998) Deep Impact (1998) Species II (1998) The General's Daughter (1999)

The Green Mile (1999) Snow Falling on Cedars (1999) RKO 281 (1999) The Bachelor (1999) Space Cowboys (2000) The Sum of All Fears (2002) Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002) (voice) The Magnificent Ambersons (2002) (TV) RFK (2002) (TV) Snow Walker (2003) Angels in America (2003) Blackball (2003) I, Robot (2004) 'Salem's Lot (2004) (TV) The Longest Yard (2005) Pope John Paul II (TV) (2005) The Queen (2006) Becoming Jane (2007) Spider-Man 3 (2007) Dante's Inferno (2007) (voice)

[edit] Television Hot L Baltimore (1975) Three's Company (1977) Little House on the Prairie (1979) Star Trek: The Next Generation (1990 – 1993) Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1995) ER (2001) Star Trek: Enterprise (2001 – 2005) The West Wing (2004) Six Feet Under (2004 – 2005) 24 (2007)

[edit] Theatre Long Day's Journey into Night (2007)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• James Cromwell at the Internet Movie Database
• James Cromwell article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki

v • d • e Revenge of the Nerds Series
Films	Revenge of the Nerds (1984) • Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise (1987) Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation (1992) • Revenge of the Nerds IV: Nerds in Love (1994)
ΛΛΛ/ΩΜ	Robert Carradine (Lewis Skolnick) • Anthony Edwards (Gilbert Lowell) • Michelle Meyrink (Judy) • Timothy Busfield (Arnold Poindexter) • Curtis Armstrong (Dudley "Booger" Dawson) • Brian Tochi (Toshiro Takashi) • Larry B. Scott (Lamar Latrell) • Andrew Cassese (Harold Wormser) • Bernie Casey (U.N. Jefferson) • James Cromwell (Mr. Skolnick)
ΑΒ/ΠΔΠ	Ted McGinley (Stan Gable) • Donald Gibb (Fred "The Ogre" Palowakski) • Julia Montgomery (Betty Childs) • Matt Salinger (Burke) • John Goodman (Coach Harris)

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