# William Forsythe (actor)

William Forsythe (born June 7, 1955) is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of tough-guy, criminal characters, and has starred in films such as American Me (1992), Raising Arizona (1987), Dick Tracy (1990), Gotti (1996), The Rock (1996), and The Devil's Rejects (2005). He has also played recurring characters in television series such as Boardwalk Empire (2010) and Justified (2010).
Forsythe was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male for his performance in the indie film The Waterdance.

## Early life

William Forsythe was born in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, and grew up in its Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood. He is of partial Italian descent.

## Career

Forsythe started out in minor film roles and guest appearances in high-rated TV shows including CHiPs (1977), Hill Street Blues (1981) and T. J. Hooker (1982). He appeared in Once Upon a Time in America (1984), co-starred with John Goodman in Raising Arizona (1987) and as a renegade soldier in Extreme Prejudice.
Forsythe also portrayed comic book villain "Flattop" in Dick Tracy (1990), co-starred with Steven Seagal in Out for Justice (1991) and appeared with former National Football League player Brian Bosworth in the biker action film Stone Cold (1991). He portrayed Al Capone in the short-lived '90s revival of the classic '60s TV crime show The Untouchables (1993), and also starred in The Waterdance (1992) and the film noir Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead (1995). Forsythe portrayed real-life mobster "Sammy The Bull" Gravano in Gotti (1996) and supported another ex-NFL player's foray into film acting when L.A. Raider Howie Long debuted in Firestorm (1998).
Forsythe portrayed serial killer John Wayne Gacy in Dear Mr. Gacy, a film adaptation of The Last Victim, the memoirs of Jason Moss, a college student who corresponded with Gacy during his last year on death row. The film was released in 2010.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1978 | Coach | Audience Member | |
| 1978 | Long Shot | Billy | |
| 1981 | King of the Mountain | Big Tom | |
| 1981 | Smokey Bites the Dust | Kenny | |
| 1981 | The Miracle of Kathy Miller | Mark | TV movie |
| 1983 | The Man Who Wasn't There | Pug Face Crusher | |
| 1984 | Once Upon a Time in America | Phil 'Cockeye' Stein | |
| 1984 | Cloak & Dagger | Morris | |
| 1985 | Command 5 | Hawk | TV movie |
| 1985 | The Lightship | Gene | |
| 1985 | Savage Dawn | Pigiron | |
| 1987 | Raising Arizona | Evelle | |
| 1987 | Extreme Prejudice | Sergeant Buck Atwater | |
| 1987 | Weeds | Burt The Booster | |
| 1988 | Baja Oklahoma | Tommy Earl Browner | TV movie |
| 1988 | Patty Hearst | Teko | |
| 1989 | Dead Bang | Arthur Kressler | |
| 1989 | Torrents of Spring | Prince Ippolito Polozov | |
| 1989 | Sons | Mikey | |
| 1990 | Dick Tracy | Flattop | |
| 1991 | Career Opportunities | Custodian | |
| 1991 | Out for Justice | Richie Madano | |
| 1991 | Stone Cold | 'Ice' Hensley | |
| 1992 | The Waterdance | Bloss | |
| 1992 | American Me | J.D. | |
| 1992 | The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag | Billy Beaudeen | |
| 1992 | Willing to Kill: The Texas Cheerleader Story | Terry Harper | TV movie |
| 1993 | Relentless 3 | Walter Hilderman | Video |
| 1993 | A Kiss to Die For | Detective Mike Stoller | TV movie |
| 1994 | Direct Hit | Hatch | Video |
| 1995 | Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead | Franchise | |
| 1995 | Beyond Desire | Ray Patterson | |
| 1995 | Virtuosity | William Cochran | |
| 1995 | Palookaville | Sid Dunleavy | |
| 1995 | The Immortals | Tim James | |
| 1995 | Thriller Zone | Marcus Deerfield | Video |
| 1996 | The Substitute | Holland | |
| 1996 | For Which He Stands | Johnny Rochetti | |
| 1996 | Stories from the Edge | | TV movie |
| 1996 | The Rock | FBI Agent Ernest Paxton | |
| 1996 | Gotti | Sammy Gravano | TV movie |
| 1996 | Rule of Three | Mitch | |
| 1997 | First Time Felon | Sorley | TV movie |
| 1997 | Big City Blues | Hudson | |
| 1998 | Firestorm | Randall Alexander Shaye | |
| 1998 | The Pass | Charles Duprey | |
| 1998 | Ambushed | Mike Organski | |
| 1998 | Soundman | Frank Rosenfeld | |
| 1998 | Hell's Kitchen | Lou | |
| 1998 | Dollar for the Dead | Dooley | TV movie |
| 1999 | Row Your Boat | Gil Meadows | |
| 1999 | The Last Marshal | DeClerc | |
| 1999 | Four Days | Milt | |
| 1999 | Blue Streak | Detective Hardcastle | |
| 1999 | Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo | Detective Chuck Fowler | |
| 1999 | 18 Shades of Dust | Tommy Cucci | |
| 1999 | Paradise Lost | Mike Stark | |
| 2000 | Luck of the Draw | Max Fenton | |
| 2000 | Civility | Andrew LeBretian | |
| 2000 | G-Men from Hell | Dean Crept | |
| 2001 | Camouflage | Alton Owens | |
| 2001 | Blue Hill Avenue | Detective Torrance | |
| 2001 | Sharkman | Tom Reed | |
| 2001 | Outlaw | Ted Castle | |
| 2002 | Coastlines | Fred Vance | |
| 2002 | Hard Cash | Bo Young | |
| 2002 | City by the Sea | Spyder | |
| 2003 | The Technical Writer | Joe | |
| 2003 | The Librarians | Simon | |
| 2004 | The Last Letter | Mr. Griffith | |
| 2005 | Larva | Jacob Long | TV movie |
| 2005 | The L.A. Riot Spectacular | George Holliday | |
| 2005 | Hammerhead: Shark Frenzy | Tom Reed | TV movie |
| 2005 | The Devil's Rejects | Sheriff John Quincy Wydell | |
| 2006 | Freedomland | Detective Boyle | |
| 2006 | Jam | Ted | |
| 2006 | Prone to Violence | Narration | TV movie |
| 2007 | 88 Minutes | FBI Agent Frank Parks | |
| 2007 | Southern Gothic | Pitt | |
| 2007 | Hack! | Willy | |
| 2007 | Halloween | Ronnie White | |
| 2007 | Final Approach | Silas Jansen | TV movie |
| 2008 | Stiletto | Alex | |
| 2008 | iMurders | Professor Uberoth | |
| 2009 | The Nail: The Story of Joey Nardone | Massimo | |
| 2009 | Happy in the Valley | Stewart | |
| 2010 | Dear Mr. Gacy | John Gacy | |
| 2010 | The Rig | Jim Fleming | |
| 2010 | To Hell with You | Smith | Short |
| 2011 | L.A., I Hate You | Uncle Rip | |
| 2011 | Born to Ride | Jack Steele | |
| 2011 | Slip & Fall | Jerry | |
| 2011 | Inkubus | Ret. Detective Gil Diamante | |
| 2011 | Loosies | Captain Tom Edwards | |
| 2011 | Jesse | Vince the Godfather | |
| 2012 | Infected | Dr. Ed Dennehey | |
| 2013 | Road to Juarez | Doug Hermann | |
| 2013 | The Ghost Club: Spirits Never Die | Stanley | |
| 2014 | Tom Holland's Twisted Tales | Mr. Smith | |
| 2014 | Hidden in the Woods | Uncle Costello | |
| 2015 | Echoes of War | Randolph McCluskey | |
| 2015 | Laugh Killer Laugh | Frank Stone | |
| 2015 | The Networker | Charles Mangano | |
| 2016 | The Midnight Man | Fairbanks | |
| 2016 | The Bronx Bull | Jake LaMotta | |
| 2016 | The Hollow | John 'Big John' Dawson | |
| 2016 | The Unlikely's | Jet Black | |
| 2017 | Check Point | The Sheriff | |
| 2019 | Cold Pursuit | Brock 'Wingman' Coxman | |
| 2019 | Vault | Buddy Providence | |
| 2019 | Awake | Roger Bower | |
| 2019 | Run with the Hunted | Augustus | |
| 2020 | Roe v. Wade | Potter Stewart | |
| 2020 | I Am Fear | Marco | |
| 2020 | A Perfect Plan | Grayson | |
| 2021 | Ida Red | Lawrence Twilley | |
| 2021 | God's Not Dead: We the People | Robert Benson | |
| 2023 | Open | Captain Edgar J. Steadman | |
| 2024 | 9 Windows | Detective Tim Boyle | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1982 | CHiPs | Thrasher | Episode: "Battle of the Bands" |
| 1982 | Tales of the Gold Monkey | Kurt | Episode: "Tales of the Gold Monkey: Part 1 & 2" |
| 1983 | Hill Street Blues | Richard Brady | Episode: "Moon Over Uranus: Part 1 & 2" |
| 1983 | T.J. Hooker | Wounded Assailant | Episode: "A Child Is Missing" |
| 1983 | Fame | Snake | Episode: "Break Dance" |
| 1985 | The Long Hot Summer | Isaac | Episode: "Part 1 & 2" |
| 1990 | Blind Faith | Ferlin L'Heureux | Episode: "Part 1 & 2" |
| 1992 | Cruel Doubt | Police Chief John Crone | Episode: "Part 1 & 2" |
| 1993–94 | The Untouchables | Al Capone | Main Cast |
| 1998 | Cybill | Bruce | Episode: "Dream Date" |
| 1999 | Dead Man's Gun | Harlan Riddle | Episode: "A Just Reward" |
| 2001 | Mysterious Ways | Luther Skoals | Episode: "Condemned" |
| 2001–02 | UC: Undercover | Sonny Walker | Main Cast |
| 2002–03 | John Doe | Digger | Main Cast |
| 2005 | Wild Card | Stuart Dresden | Episode: "Zoe's Phony Matrimony" |
| 2007 | Masters of Horror | Buster | Episode: "We All Scream for Ice Cream" |
| 2007 | Las Vegas | Uncle Luke | Recurring Cast: Season 5 |
| 2007–09 | Entourage | Eddie Kapowski | Guest Cast: Season 4 & 6 |
| 2010 | CSI: Miami | Captain Chris Sutter | Episode: "L.A." |
| 2011–12 | Boardwalk Empire | Munya "Manny" Horvitz | Recurring Cast: Season 2-3 |
| 2011–12 | The Mentalist | Steve Rigsby | Guest Cast: Season 3 & 5 |
| 2012–13 | Mob Doctor | Constantine Alexander | Main Cast |
| 2013 | Twisted Tales | Mr. Smith | Episode: "To Hell with You" |
| 2014 | Justified | Michael | Episode: "Whistle Past the Graveyard" |
| 2015–17 | Hawaii Five-0 | Private Investigator Harry Brown | Guest Cast: Season 5 & 7 |
| 2016 | Marvel's Daredevil | Dutton | Episode: "Seven Minutes in Heaven" |
| 2016 | The Making of the Mob: Chicago | Himself | Recurring Guest |
| 2017 | Chicago Justice | David Zachariah | Episode: "Double Helix" |
| 2017 | Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders | Oleg Antakov | Episode: "The Ripper of Riga" |
| 2018 | The Man in the High Castle | J. Edgar Hoover | Recurring Cast: Season 3-4 |
| 2019 | Magnum P.I. | Private Investigator Harry Brown | Crossover Cast: Season 2 |
| 2020 | Primitive | Caro Kann | Episode: "Blind Sighted" |
| 2021 | Gravesend | Santini Traffato | Recurring Cast: Season 2 |