# Robert Knepper

Robert Lyle Knepper (born July 8, 1959) is an American actor best known for his role as Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell in the Fox drama series Prison Break (2005–2009, 2017), Samuel Sullivan in the final season of the NBC series Heroes (2009–2010), Angus McDonough in The CW series iZombie (2015–2018) and Rodney Mitchum in Showtime's revival of Twin Peaks (2017). He has appeared in films such as Hitman (2007), Transporter 3 (2008) and Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016).

## Early life

Knepper was born in Fremont, Ohio, and raised in Maumee, Ohio, the son of Pat Deck and Donald Knepper, a veterinarian. He was interested in acting from an early age, due to his mother's involvement as a props-handler at a community theater. After graduating from Maumee High School in 1977, he attended Northwestern University; during this time, Knepper obtained professional roles in plays in Chicago. Nearing the completion of his degree, Knepper quit Northwestern and went to New York City, where he continued to work in theater.

## Career

Although Knepper did not intend to work in film and television projects, he began his television and film career in 1986 with The Paper Chase and That's Life!. Knepper went on to have larger roles in such films as Wild Thing, Young Guns II, When the Bough Breaks and Everyone Says I Love You. He made appearances on such television series as The Twilight Zone, Star Trek: The Next Generation, ER and Law & Order. In 2005, after a recurring role on the HBO series Carnivàle, Knepper was cast in his best-known role, as Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell in Prison Break. The series received positive reviews upon release, and "T-Bag" is often considered to be one of the greatest television villains of all time. During his time on Prison Break, Knepper starred in a number of films; Good Night, and Good Luck, Hitman, Transporter 3 and The Day the Earth Stood Still.
After Prison Break ended in 2009, Knepper was cast as villain Samuel Sullivan in the fourth and final season of Heroes. After this, he went on to have a recurring role in Stargate Universe in 2010. He guest-starred on season six of Criminal Minds as Rhett Walden, a serial killer. The same year he played the titular character in the film adaptation of Burning Daylight.
In addition, Knepper appeared as Honolulu Police Internal Affairs detective Rex Coughlin in two episodes of Hawaii Five-0.
In 2011, he reprised his role of T-Bag in one episode of the A&E series Breakout Kings. The next year, he played Frank Sinatra in My Way, a biopic of Claude François, a French pop singer who wrote the song "Comme d'habitude", the original version of Sinatra's song "My Way".
Knepper was cast in the 2013 television series Cult as Roger Reeves, an actor playing Billy Grimm on a show called Cult. The show was canceled after only one season. The same year, he appeared in R.I.P.D., Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters and guest starred on the television series The Blacklist (episode: "The Courier"). At the end of 2013, the TNT series Mob City premiered, in which Knepper played gangster Sid Rothman. In 2014, Knepper guest starred in episodes of Arrow and The Flash as master hacker and time-and-motion study expert William Tockman / Clock King.
Beginning in 2015, Knepper had a recurring role on iZombie as Angus McDonough, the estranged and abusive father of Blaine DeBeers (David Anders). It was announced in July 2017 that Knepper would be promoted to the show's main cast for season 4.
Knepper was cast in the reboot of David Lynch's Twin Peaks as gangster Rodney Mitchum. He later voiced the audiobook adaptation for the tie-in epistolary novel of the show called The Secret History of Twin Peaks.

## Personal life

Knepper has a son, Benjamin Peter (born 2002), with his first wife, Tory Herald. He married his second wife, Nadine Kary, in 2013.

### Sexual assault allegations

On November 8, 2017, costume designer Susan Bertram accused Knepper of sexual assault on the set of the film Gas Food Lodging in 1991. Knepper denied the allegations in a since-deleted Instagram post. On February 28, 2018, Bertram's lawyers announced she was filing a defamation lawsuit against Knepper in Los Angeles County Superior Court in the wake of his denials, seeking damages in a jury trial. Knepper's lawyers denied that he defamed Bertram. On June 1, 2021, Bertram's attorney announced that the lawsuit had been settled; the terms have not been publicized.
Four additional allegations taking place between 1983 and 2014 were made by women against Knepper on December 5, 2017, including an accusation of rape in Vancouver in 2010. All of the allegations were denied by Knepper.
Late in 2017, in the wake of these accusations, The CW Network conducted an internal inquiry. Finding no evidence of misconduct transpiring on the set, it was announced he would be remaining on iZombie. On January 12, 2018, it was announced that the studio had conducted a second investigation. The CW Network president Mark Pedowitz stated, "Again, the investigation related to the set and his behavior on the set. They found no wrongdoing on the set." Pedowitz elaborated that Knepper had signed on for a single season and that his exit from the series had already been planned.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1986 | That's Life! | Steve Larwin | |
| 1987 | Wild Thing | Wild Thing | |
| 1987 | Made in Heaven | Orrin | |
| 1988 | D.O.A. | Nicholas Lang | |
| 1989 | Renegades | Marino | |
| 1990 | Arduous Moon | Andrew | Short film |
| 1990 | Young Guns II | Deputy Carlyle | |
| 1991 | Session Man | Torrey Cole | Short film |
| 1991 | Where the Day Takes You | Rock Singer | |
| 1992 | Gas Food Lodging | Dank | |
| 1994 | When the Bough Breaks | Lt. Jimmy Creedmore | |
| 1994 | Under the Heat | Milo | |
| 1995 | Search and Destroy | Daniel Strong | |
| 1996 | Dead of Night | Christian | |
| 1996 | MugShot | Joe | |
| 1996 | Everyone Says I Love You | Greg | |
| 1996 | The Undercover Kid | Bo the Dog (voice) | |
| 1996 | The Hunchback of Notre Dame | Frollo's Soldiers (voice) | |
| 1997 | You Are Here | Jack | |
| 1998 | Phantoms | Agent Wilson | |
| 1998 | The Stringer | John | |
| 1998 | Jaded | Freddy | |
| 2000 | Love & Sex | Gerard Boussard | |
| 2001 | Lady in the Box | Chris Stark | |
| 2002 | Topa Topa Bluffs | Frank | |
| 2002 | Swatters | Daniel Steinberg | |
| 2004 | Species III | Dr. Bruce Abbot | |
| 2005 | Good Night, and Good Luck | Don Surine | |
| 2005 | Hostage | Will Bechler | |
| 2007 | Hitman | Yuri Marklov | |
| 2008 | Turok: Son of Stone | Chickak (voice) | Direct-to-DVD |
| 2008 | Transporter 3 | Johnson | |
| 2008 | The Day the Earth Stood Still | Colonel | |
| 2010 | Burning Daylight | Elam "Burning Daylight" Harnish | |
| 2011 | Earth's Final Hours | John Streich | |
| 2012 | My Way | Frank Sinatra | |
| 2012 | Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden | Lieutenant commander | |
| 2013 | R.I.P.D. | Stanley Nawlicki | |
| 2013 | Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters | Kronos (voice) | |
| 2014 | Ride | Peter | |
| 2014 | The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 | Antonius | |
| 2015 | The Hoarder | Vince | |
| 2015 | The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 | Antonius | |
| 2015 | Cold Deck | Turk | |
| 2016 | Hard Target 2 | Aldrich | Direct-to-DVD |
| 2016 | Jack Reacher: Never Go Back | General Harkness | |
| 2017 | Badsville | Mr. Gavin | |
| 2018 | Frat Pack | Kush | |
| 2018 | Edge of Fear | Victor Novak | |
| 2019 | 1st Born | Joe | |
| 2019 | Defended War | | |
| 2019 | Voice of the Nation | | |
| 2019 | S.W.A.T. | Sam | |
| 2019 | The Trapped | Victor | |
| 2020 | Battle of Defense | | |
| 2021 | Lena and Snowball | Percy | |
| 2021 | Redemption Day | Mr. K | |
| 2021 | The Retaliators | Otto | |
| 2022 | WarHunt | Sgt. Brewer | |
| 2022 | The Moderator | Agent John Ross | |
| 2022 | Mindcage | Lt. Owings | |
| 2025 | The Last Supper | Judas Iscariot | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1986 | The Paper Chase | Howard | Episode: "Graduation" |
| 1986–1993 | L.A. Law | George 'Georgia' Buckner / David Orcott | 3 episodes |
| 1987 | Tour of Duty | Racist Soldier | Episode: "Burn, Baby, Burn" |
| 1987 | The Twilight Zone | Alonzo | Episode: "Joy Ride" |
| 1987 | Tour of Duty | PV2 Allen | Episode: "Burn Baby, Burn" |
| 1987 | Star Trek: The Next Generation | Wyatt Miller | Episode: "Haven" |
| 1989 | Gideon Oliver | Paul Hecht | Episode: "Kennonite" |
| 1990 | E.A.R.T.H. Force | Dr. Peter Roland | 3 episodes |
| 1990–1991 | China Beach | Long / Vietnam Vet | 2 episodes |
| 1991 | Perry Mason: The Case of the Fatal Fashion | Kim Weatherly | Television film |
| 1991 | Civil Wars | Joey D'Amato | Episode: "Have Gun, Will Unravel" |
| 1992 | Tequila and Bonetti | Ren Philips | Episode: "Runt of the Litter" |
| 1992 | Red Shoe Diaries | Nick Willard | Episode: "You Have the Right to Remain Silent" |
| 1993 | Zelda | Wilson | Television film |
| 1993 | Doorways | Thane | Pilot |
| 1993–1996 | Murder, She Wrote | Charles George Drexler / Owen McLaglen / Robbie Dorow | 3 episodes |
| 1994 | Pointman | Johnny | Television film |
| 1994 | Getting Out | Carl | Television film |
| 1995 | Law & Order | Igor Smith | Episode: "Rebels" |
| 1995 | New York Undercover | David Carson | Episode: "Buster and Claudia" |
| 1995 | New York News | Ex-Con | Episode: "Fun City" |
| 1995 | Pointman | Ronnie McCusak | Episode: "Here She Comes, Miss Murder" |
| 1996 | Voice from the Grave | Milosh | Television film |
| 1996 | Central Park West | Randy Boyd | Episode: "Guess Who's Come to Annoy You?" |
| 1996 | The Big Easy | Jack Gentry | Episode: "The Gambler" |
| 1996 | Desert Breeze | — | Pilot |
| 1997 | The Visitor | Alex Burton | Episode: "Dreams" |
| 1998 | ER | Keith Reynolds | Episode: "My Brother's Keeper" |
| 1998 | Brimstone | Assistant D.A. Stewart Lambert | Episode: "Executioner" |
| 1999 | Strange World | Gil Sandifer | Episode: "Azrael's Breed" |
| 1999 | Kidnapped in Paradise | Renard | Television film |
| 1999 | Absence of the Good | Glenn Dwyer | Television film |
| 1999 | Star Trek: Voyager | Gaul | Episode: "Dragon's Teeth" |
| 2000 | Harsh Realm | Priest | Episode: "Camera Obscura" |
| 2000 | Profiler | Martin Lewis | Episode: "Tsuris" |
| 2000 | Seven Days | Major Gene Hastings | Episode: "Space Station Down" |
| 2000 | La Femme Nikita | Henry Collins | Episode: "Toys in the Basement" |
| 2001 | The West Wing | Morgan Ross | Episode: "Ellie" |
| 2001 | Jackie, Ethel, Joan: The Women of Camelot | Robert F. Kennedy | Television film |
| 2001 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Dr. Peter Kelmer | Episode: "The Good Doctor" |
| 2001 | Thieves | Special Agent Shue | 10 episodes |
| 2002 | Haunted | Henry | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 2002 | The Pennsylvania Miners' Story | Mark Popernack | Television film |
| 2002–2003 | Presidio Med | Sean | 5 episodes |
| 2003–2005 | Carnivàle | Tommy Dolan | 13 episodes |
| 2004 | Species III | Dr. Bruce Abbot | Television film |
| 2004 | CSI: Miami | Freddy Coleman | Episode: "Addiction" |
| 2005 | Point Pleasant | Demon Dance Host | Episode: "Last Dance" |
| 2005–2009; 2017 | Prison Break | Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell | 75 episodes |
| 2009 | Prison Break: The Final Break | Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell | Television film |
| 2009–2010 | Heroes | Samuel Sullivan | 19 episodes |
| 2010 | Stargate Universe | Simeon | 6 episodes |
| 2010 | Chase | Jack Druggan | Episode: "The Comeback Kid" |
| 2010 | Criminal Minds | Rhett Walden | Episode: "Reflection of Desire" |
| 2011 | Shameless | Rod | 2 episodes |
| 2011 | Breakout Kings | Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell | Episode: "The Bag Man" |
| 2012 | Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden | Lieutenant Commander | Television film |
| 2013 | Cult | Roger Reeves /Billy Grimm | 13 episodes |
| 2013 | The Blacklist | The Courier | Episode: "The Courier" |
| 2013 | Mob City | Sid Rothman | 6 episodes |
| 2014–2015 | Hawaii Five-0 | Internal Affairs Officer Coughlin | 2 episodes |
| 2014 | Arrow | William Tockman / Clock King | Episode: "Time of Death" |
| 2014 | The Flash | William Tockman / Clock King | Episode: "Power Outage" |
| 2015 | Chicago Fire | Adrian Gish / Trenton Lamont | Episode: "3 Bells" |
| 2015 | Chicago PD | Adrian Gish / Trenton Lamont | Episode: "A Little Devil Complex" |
| 2015 | Texas Rising | Empresario Buckley | 3 episodes |
| 2015 | Public Morals | Captain Johanson | 4 episodes |
| 2015 | NCIS | Benson Long | Episode: "Personal Day" |
| 2015 | American Horror Story: Hotel | Lieutenant | Episode: "Room Service" |
| 2015–2018 | iZombie | Angus McDonough | 17 episodes |
| 2016 | From Dusk till Dawn: The Series | Ranger Gary Willet | 2 episodes |
| 2016–2018 | Homeland | General Jamie McClendon | 5 episodes |
| 2017 | Twin Peaks | Rodney Mitchum | 6 episodes |
| 2017 | The Orville | Hamelac | Episode: "If the Stars Should Appear" |
| 2017 | Spirit Riding Free | Harlan Grayson | Voice 2 episodes |
| 2017 | Dating Game Killer | Detective Jim Hamell | Television film |
| 2021 | Nova Vita | Mr. Chinzano | 9 episodes |
| 2021 | Paper Empire | Konstantin | 6 episodes |
| 2022 | The Pact | Jay | Episode: "Death is the Only Release" |

### Video games

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2010 | Prison Break: The Conspiracy | Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell | |

### Music videos

| Year | Title | Artist |
| 2023 | "Honky Tonkin' About" | The Reklaws (featuring Drake Milligan) |

## Theatre

* A Little Night Music – Northwestern University (1977)
* The Ruling Class – Northwestern University (1979)
* The Merchant of Venice – Northwestern University (1979–1980)
* Ties – Chicago (1981)
* Class Enemy – Evanston, Illinois (1981)
* Lakeboat – Chicago (1982)
* The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby – Chicago (1982)
* Dark of the Moon – Sarasota (1983)
* Life Signals – Sarasota (1983)
* Sherlock Holmes – Sarasota (1983)
* The Philanthropist – New York (1983)
* Savage Amusement – New York (1984)
* Romance – New York (1984)
* The Person I Once Was – Louisville, Kentucky (1984)
* The Very Last Lover of the River Cane – Louisville, Kentucky (1985)
* Available Light – Louisville, Kentucky (1985)
* Groves of Academe – Cluj, Romania (1985)
* A Midsummer Night's Dream – New York (1987)
* Romeo and Juliet – New York (1988)
* The Legend of Oedipus – Williamstown, Massachusetts (1988)
* Les Liaisons Dangereuses – Williamstown, Massachusetts (1988)
* Nebraska – La Jolla (1989)
* Ice Cream With Hot Fudge – New York (1990)
* Bobby, Can You Hear Me? – Waterford, Connecticut (1990)
* Buster Comes Through – Waterford, Connecticut (1990)
* Lake No Bottom – New York (1990)
* Dinosaur Dreams – Waterford, Connecticut (1991)
* Home Grown – Waterford, Connecticut (1991)
* Orestes – Los Angeles (1992)
* Salomé – New York (1992)
* Pal Joey – Boston (1992)
* Sweet Bird of Youth – London (1994)
* Pride's Crossing – San Diego (1997)
* The Summer Moon – Seattle (1998)