About
| Birth Name: | Strathairn, David Russell |
| Birth Notes: | 26 January 1949, San Francisco, California, USA |
| Height: | 6' |
| Family: | * Logan Goodman (1980 - present); 2 children |
| Biography: | David Strathairn was born on January 26, 1949 in San Francisco, California. His father was a physician and he has two siblings, a brother Tom and a sister named Anne. He attended Williams College, where he demonstrated great interest in the theater, and first befriended John Sayles, with whom he would later frequently collaborate. Strathairn graduated college and traveled to Florida to visit with a grandfather, but the grandfather passed away while Strathairn was en route. Strathairn, finding himself freshly-arrived and without friends in Florida, decided instead to join the Ringling Brothers Clown College and subsequently worked as a clown for six months in a traveling circus. Relocating to New York State, he spent several years hitchhiking across America to work in local theaters during the summers. During one of these summers Strathairn reunited with Sayles, and this eventually resulted in his role in the highly regarded Return of the Secaucus Seven (1979), Sayle's directorial debut. Thereafter Strathairn developed an extensive resume of supporting roles, which have become increasingly substantial as his stature in the industry has grown. Only a few examples of his work include an off-beat patient of the psychiatrist played by Dudley Moore in the romantic comedy Lovesick (1983), in Silkwood (1983) as Welsey, in L.A. Confidential (1997) as the enigmatic millionaire Pierce Patchett, and in A Map of the World (1999) as Howard, the husband of Sigourney Weaver's character. Sayles frequently casts Strathairn, whose performances can be seen in Sayles' The Brother from Another Planet (1984), Matewan (1987), Eight Men Out (1988), City of Hope (1991), and Passion Fish (1992). Perhaps most notable of his collaborations with Sayles is his superb performance co-starring with Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio in Limbo (1999). He works in television occasionally and may be familiar to television viewers as Molly's boss in the series "The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd" (1987). Strathairn continues to be one of the most active male supporting actors in American film today, his work is highly regarded, and he can be counted on to deliver an understated yet powerful performance. His craggy, unorthodox good looks are perhaps attributable to his mixed Scottish and Hawaiian ancestry. |
Filmography
| A League of Their Own (1992) as Ira Lowenstein |
| A Map of the World (1999) as Howard Goodwin |
| A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999) as Theseus |
| At Close Range (1986) as Tony Pine |
| Cold Souls (2009) as Dr. Flintstein |
| Eight Men Out (1988) as Eddie Cicotte |
| Fracture (2007) as DA Joe Lobruto |
| Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005) as Edward R. Murrow |
| Harrison's Flowers (2000) as Harrison Lloyd |
| Heavens Fall (2006) as Judge James Horton |
| Home for the Holidays (1995) as Russell Terziak |
| Iceman (1984) as Dr. Singe |
| L.A. Confidential (1997) as Pierce Patchett |
| Losing Isaiah (1995) as Charles Lewin |
| Lost in Yonkers (1993) as Johnny |
| Simon Birch (1998) as Rev. Russell |
| Sneakers (1992) as Irwin 'Whistler' Emery |
| The Firm (1993) as Ray McDeere |
| The Notorious Bettie Page (2005) as Estes Kefauver |
| The People Speak (2009) as Himself |
| The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008) as Arthur Spiderwick |
| The Uninvited (2009) as Steven |
| Twisted (2004) as Dr. Melvin Frank |
| A Dangerous Woman (1993) as Getso |
| A Good Baby (2000) as Truman Lester |
| A Mother's Promise: Barack Obama Bio Film (2008) as Narrator |
| April One (1993) as John McCowan |
| Bad Manners (1997) as Wes |
| Ball in the House (2001) as Dr. Charlie |
| Big Girls Don't Cry... They Get Even (1992) as Keith |
| Blue Car (2002) as Auster |
| Bob Roberts (1992) as Mack Laflin |
| Boffo! Tinseltown's Bombs and Blockbusters (2006) as Edward R. Murrow |
| Call Me (1988) as Sam |
| Challenger (2010) |
| City of Hope (1991) as Asteroid |
| Dolores Claiborne (1995) as Joe St. George |
| Dominick and Eugene (1988) as Martin Chernak |
| Enormous Changes at the Last Minute (1983) as Jerry |
| Howl (2010) as Ralph McIntosh |
| Kisses Over Babylon (2009) as Minor |
| Limbo (1999) as 'Jumpin' Joe Gastineau |
| Lovesick (1983) as Marvin Zuckerman |
| Matewan (1987) as Police Chief Sid Hatfield |
| Matters of Life and Death (2007) as Mr. Jennings |
| Memphis Belle (1990) as Col. Craig Harriman |
| Meschugge (1998) as Charles Kaminski |
| Missing in America (2005) as Henry R. Hocknell Jr. |
| Mother Night (1996) as Lieutenant Bernard B. O'Hare |
| My Blueberry Nights (2007) as Ofcr. Arnie Copeland |
| No God, No Master (2010) as William Flynn |
| Odysseus in America (2010) as Narration |
| Passion Fish (1992) as Rennie |
| Racing Daylight (2007) as Henry/Harry |
| Return of the Secaucus Seven (1979) as Ron Desjardins |
| Silkwood (1983) as Wesley |
| Song of Hiawatha (1997) as Marcel |
| Speakeasy (2002) as Bruce Hickman |
| Stars and Bars (1988) as Charlie |
| Steel Toes (2006) as Danny Dunckelman |
| The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) as Noah Vosen |
| The Brother from Another Planet (1984) as Man In Black |
| The Climb (1998) as Earl Himes |
| The Feud (1989) as The Stranger |
| The River Wild (1994) as Tom Hartman |
| The Root (2003) |
| The Sensation of Sight (2006) as Finn |
| The Shovel (2006) as Paul Mullin |
| The Tempest (2010) as Alonso |
| The Victim (2001) as Mark Zingerline |
| The Whistleblower (2010) as Peter Ward |
| Them That Work (2010) as Himself |
| Trumbo (2007) as Himself |
| We Are Marshall (2006) as President Dedmon |
| When Nature Calls (1985) as Weejun |
| With Friends Like These... (1998) as Armand Minetti |
Trivia
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* Went to Williams College in Williamstown, MA. and Ringling Bros. Clown College, FL. * Has a brother, Tom, who is a teacher and a sister named Anne. * Attended Williams College with director John Sayles, who regularly casts Straithairn in his films. * Father of Tay Strathairn and Ebbe Strathairn (born 1987). * He is of Scottish and Hawaiian extraction * Invited to join AMPAS in 2006. * Recently filmed an Edward R. Murrow-esque campaign ad for Kirsten Gillibrand's congressional campaign in New York's 20th District, his Congressional District. * Last name is pronounced struh-THAIRN. * Has played Joseph Mazzello's father in two films: The River Wild and Simon Birch. |
Quotes
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* "Television and film are our libraries now, our history books." * "It feels as if you put on a many-pocketed coat with 100 cell phones, all on vibe alert, and they all start going off at random times, and you begin to think, 'This is pretty uncomfortable'. You can't possibly answer all these phones, nor should you. 'Buzz' - that's really a quite apropos word. They say it's great for the film. Well, if it's great for the film, that's great." [on the "buzz" surrounding him and his performance in Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005)] * "Artists, actors and performers are sometimes vilified for stepping outside of the workplace or using their work as a kind of bully pulpit." |
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