# Chris Ellis (actor)

Chris Ellis (born Memphis, Tennessee, 27 November 1949) is an American actor.

## Early life

Ellis grew up in Frayser, Tennessee, a suburb of Memphis, in a middle class/working class area. He always wanted to be an actor because of what he saw on television.
It took him seven years to finish college however, because "I have always been shiftless". During those years Chris became involved in community theatre in Memphis, Tennessee, where "I did and do still think the quality of the work has always been quite good". By the time he moved to New York, he had worked with many excellent actors in about two dozen plays, classical and contemporary. "I cannot imagine what might have supplanted that background for a newcomer in New York."

## Career

His first part in either television or film came in 1979, where he played a truck driver in the television movie The Suicide's Wife, which starred Angie Dickinson. The role resulted in little further work. After working in regional theater for a year or so, Ellis did not work for about ten years. During that time he lived in "bone-grinding poverty" in Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen. In one nine-month period of 1987, Ellis accepted 102 dinner invitations. "I don't know why they kept arriving, nor why I counted them, though I do know why I accepted them."
In 1990, a break came when he got a part in Days of Thunder. This seemed to jump-start Ellis's career as parts in My Cousin Vinny, Addams Family Values and Apollo 13 as former NASA Mercury Seven astronaut Deke Slayton. He began picking up credits on well-known television series including Melrose Place, NYPD Blue and The X-Files.
After working with Hanks on Apollo 13, the two worked together on That Thing You Do!, the television miniseries From the Earth to the Moon and Catch Me If You Can. Ellis played fictional NASA Mission Control when he played a flight director in 1998's Armageddon.
Ellis's additional appearances include Bean: The Movie, Home Fries, Jessabelle, Gospel Hill, October Sky, Live Free or Die Hard, Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes and Transformers. His television credits also include The West Wing, Ghost Whisperer, Chicago Hope, The Pretender, Alias, JAG, CSI: NY, Burn Notice, Cold Case, Veronica Mars and Political Animals.
He appeared in three season one episodes of Millennium as group member Jim Panseayres. He established a reputation for portraying Southern lawmakers or serious military or police-type characters. He played a priest in The Dark Knight Rises (2012).
He appeared in Criminal Minds as Sheriff Jimmy Rhodes. He had two guest appearances in NCIS as Gunnery Sergeant John Deluca. Ellis's appearance in the season 1 episode "The Curse" was uncredited while his second and final appearance in the season 2 episode "The Bone Yard" was credited.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1990 | Days of Thunder | Harlem Hoogerhyde | |
| 1992 | My Cousin Vinny | J.T. | |
| 1993 | Ghost in the Machine | Lieutenant | |
| 1995 | Apollo 13 | Deke Slayton | |
| 1996 | Sticks & Stones | Coach Osterman | |
| 1996 | That Thing You Do! | Phil Horace | |
| 1997 | Con Air | BOP Official Grant | |
| 1997 | Bean | Detective Butler | |
| 1997 | Sparkler | Buddy #1 | |
| 1997 | Wag the Dog | M.P. Officer | |
| 1998 | Max Q | Bob Matthews | |
| 1998 | Godzilla | General Hunter Anderson | |
| 1998 | Armageddon | Flight Director Clark | |
| 1998 | Home Fries | Henry Lever | |
| 1999 | October Sky | Principal Turner | |
| 2000 | The Watcher | Detective Hollis Mackie | |
| 2001 | Daddy and Them | Dewey | |
| 2001 | Domestic Disturbance | Detective Warren | |
| 2001 | Planet of the Apes | Commander Karl Vasich |
| 2002 | Love Liza | Patriot Model Aeronautics Clerk | |
| 2002 | Catch Me If You Can | Special Agent Witkins | |
| 2003 | The Bus Stops Here | Self-Centered Man At Bus Stop | Short film |
| 2005 | The Island | Aces & Spades Bartender | |
| 2005 | The Devil's Rejects | Coggs | |
| 2005 | Fun with Dick and Jane | Grand Cayman Bank Vice President | |
| 2006 | The Darkroom | Jackson | |
| 2006 | Believe in Me | Jim Stovall | |
| 2007 | Transformers | Admiral Brigham | |
| 2007 | Live Free or Die Hard | Scalvino | |
| 2008 | Crazy | Glen, Carousel Manager | Uncredited |
| 2008 | Gospel Hill | L. Donn Murray | |
| 2009 | G-Force | FBI Director | Credited as Chris Ellis, Jr. |
| 2012 | The Dark Knight Rises | Father Reilly | |
| 2013 | Grace Unplugged | Pastor Tim Bryant | |
| 2014 | The Guest | Hendricks | |
| 2014 | Jessabelle | Sheriff Pruitt | |
| 2015 | McFarland, USA | Coach Jenks | Credited as Chris Ellis, Jr. |
| 2016 | Trigger | Patrick | Short film |
| 2017 | The Show | Keller | |
| 2017 | Pitching Tents | Principal Don Bishop | |
| 2017 | Amelia 2.0 | Senator Thafdeus | |
| 2018 | What Still Remains | Harvey | |
| 2018 | The Oath | Hank Creason | |
| 2019 | Silo | Mr. Adler | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1979 | The Suicide's Wife | Truck Driver | Television movie |
| 1982 | Rascals and Robbers: The Secret Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn | Clown | Television movie |
| 1983 | Chiefs | Bobby Patrick | Episode: "Part 3" Television miniseries |
| 1993 | NYPD Blue | Marshal | Episodes: "Brown Appetit" and "Emission Accomplished" |
| 1994 | In the Line of Duty: The Price of Vengeance | News Vendor | Television movie |
| 1996 | Murder One | Mr. Switzer | Episode: "Chapter Eleven" |
| 1996 | Innocent Victims | Alan Hallis | Television movie |
| 1996 | The X-Files | Sheriff Lance Hindt | Episode: "Quagmire" |
| 1996 | Space: Above and Beyond | Admiral Stenner | Episode: "... Tell Our Moms We Done Our Best" |
| 1996 | If These Walls Could Talk | Crowd Leader | Segment: "1996" Television movie |
| 1996 | Her Costly Affair | Wes | Television movie |
| 1996 | Millennium | Jim Penseyres | 3 episodes |
| 1997 | The Pretender | Daniel Crockett | Episode: "Mirage" |
| 1997 | Chicago Hope | Secret Service Agent Bill Erskine | Episode: "The Day of the Rope" |
| 1998 | The Pentagon Wars | General Keane | Television movie |
| 1998 | From the Earth to the Moon | Bob Parker | Television miniseries Episode: "Le voyage dans la lune" |
| 2002 | First Monday | Mr. Patton | Episode: "Strip Search" |
| 2002 | The Practice | Mr. Blain, Zoning Board Chairman | Episode: "Neighboring Species" |
| 2002 | Alias | Agent Chapman | Episode: "The Counteragent" |
| 2003 | Lucky | Unknown | Episode: "The Tell" |
| 2003–2004 | NCIS | Gunnery Sergeant John DeLuca | Episodes: "The Curse" and "The Bone Yard" |
| 2004 | JAG | Detective Kush | Episode: "Good Intentions" |
| 2004 | Line of Fire | Vigs | Episode: "The Senator" |
| 2004 | Helter Skelter | Sergeant Whiteley | Television movie |
| 2004 | Tiger Cruise | Captain Anderson | Television movie |
| 2005 | CSI: NY | Vincent Williams | Episode: "Dancing with the Fishes" |
| 2006 | Criminal Minds | Sheriff Rhodes | Episode: "The Tribe" |
| 2006 | The West Wing | Congressman Fields | Episode: "Requiem" |
| 2006-2007 | The Unit | Congressman Bruce Gelber | Episodes: "Report by Exception" and "Pandemonium: Part 1" |
| 2006 | Ghost Whisperer | Captain Ken Nilsen | Episodes: "Free Fall" and "The One" |
| 2006 | Vanished | Shelton | Episode: "The Velocity of Sara" |
| 2007 | Veronica Mars | Reverend Ted Capistrano | Episode: "There's Got to Be a Morning After Pill" |
| 2007–2008 | Burn Notice | Virgil Watkins | Episodes: "Unpaid Debts" and "Rough Seas" |
| 2009 | Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles | Hayes | Episodes: "Today Is the Day: Part 1" and "Today Is the Day: Part 2" |
| 2009 | The Office | Former Congressman Chris O'Keefe | Episode: "Shareholder Meeting" |
| 2010 | The Mentalist | 'Sheriff Mullery' | Episode: "Red Moon" |
| 2010 | Zeke and Luther | 'Buzz' | Episode: "Rocket Men" |
| 2010 | Justified | Douglas Cooper | Episode: "Riverbrook" |
| 2011 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Warden Clinton Malton | Episode: "The List" |
| 2013 | Warehouse 13 | Colonel Arnold Cassell | Episode: "What Matters Most" |
| 2015 | Mad Men | Del Hill | Episode: "The Milk and Honey Route" |
| 2015 | Murder in the First | Judge Mitchell Ellis | 6 episodes |
| 2015 | K.C. Undercover | Christos | Episodes: "Runaway Robot: Parts 1 & 2" |
| 2017 | Hand of God | Principal Matt Wasser | Episode: "Telling Me Your Dreams" |
| 2018 | Young Sheldon | Marty Steinbecker | Episode: "Family Dynamics and a Red Fiero" |
| 2020 | 9-1-1: Lone Star | Derek Poole | Episode: "Studs" |