# Powers Boothe

Powers Allen Boothe (June 1, 1948 – May 14, 2017) was an American actor known for his commanding character actor roles on film and television. He received a Primetime Emmy Award and nominations for two Screen Actors Guild Awards.
He won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for his portrayal of Jim Jones in Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones (1980). He also played saloon owner Cy Tolliver on Deadwood from 2004 to 2006, President Noah Daniels on 24 in 2007, and Lamar Wyatt in Nashville from 2012 to 2014. He also appeared in the limited series Hatfields & McCoys (2012).
He is also known for his performances as "Curly Bill" Brocius in the western Tombstone (1993) and Alexander Haig in historical drama Nixon (1995). Other notable film roles include Southern Comfort (1981), Red Dawn (1984), Blue Sky (1994), Sudden Death (1995), Frailty (2001), and Sin City (2005).
He portrayed Gideon Malick in the Marvel Cinematic Universe's The Avengers (2012), and in the ABC series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. from 2015 to 2016. He was also the voice of Gorilla Grodd in Justice League and Justice League Unlimited.

## Early life

Boothe, the youngest of three boys, was born June 1, 1948, at home on a cotton farm in Snyder, Texas, to Merrill Vestal Boothe, a rancher, and his wife Emily (née Reeves) Boothe. His father named him after his best friend, who had been killed in World War II.
Boothe attended Snyder High School, where he played football and appeared in school plays. He was the first in his family to go beyond high school, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos, and earning a Master of Fine Arts degree in Drama from Southern Methodist University in University Park, Texas.

## Career

After graduating from Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas, Boothe joined the repertory company of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, with roles in Henry IV, Part 2 (portraying Henry IV of England), Troilus and Cressida, and others. His New York City stage debut was in the 1974 Lincoln Center production of Richard III. Five years later, his Broadway theater debut came in a starring role in the one-act play Lone Star, written by James McLure.
Boothe first came to national attention in 1980, playing Jim Jones in the CBS TV film Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones. Boothe's portrayal of the crazed cult leader received critical acclaim. In Time's story on the production, Boothe was praised: "There is one extraordinary performance. A young actor named Powers Boothe captures all the charisma and evil of 'Dad', Jim Jones." Boothe won the Emmy Award for his role, beating out veterans Henry Fonda and Jason Robards. As the Screen Actors Guild were on strike in the fall of 1980, he was the only actor to cross picket lines to attend the ceremonies and accept his award, saying at the time, "This may be either the bravest moment of my career or the dumbest."
Boothe portrayed Philip Marlowe in a TV series based on Raymond Chandler's short stories for HBO in the 1980s. He appeared in such films as Southern Comfort, A Breed Apart, Red Dawn, The Emerald Forest, Rapid Fire and Extreme Prejudice, as well as the HBO films Into the Homeland and By Dawn's Early Light. In 1989, Boothe appeared in the Mosfilm production of "Stalingrad", in which he played the role of General Chuikov, commander of the Soviet 62nd Army. Additionally, he appeared in the 1990 CBS-TV film Family of Spies, in which he played traitor Navy Officer John Walker. Boothe portrayed Curly Bill Brocius in the hit 1993 Western Tombstone, the disloyal senior Army officer in Blue Sky (opposite Jessica Lange's Oscar-winning performance), and the sinister lead terrorist in Sudden Death. He was also part of the large ensemble casts for Oliver Stone's Nixon (as Chief of Staff Alexander Haig) and U Turn (as the town sheriff).
In 2001, he starred as Flavius Aëtius, the Roman general in charge of stopping the Hun invasion in the made-for-TV miniseries Attila. Boothe played a featured role as brothel-owner Cy Tolliver on the HBO series Deadwood, and the corrupt senator Ethan Roark in the motion picture Sin City (2005), as well as its sequel, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014). He is the voice of one of the characters in the 2005 video game Area 51 and of Gorilla Grodd, the hyper-intelligent telepathic supervillain in Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. He voiced the villain, Kane, in the 2008 video game Turok.
He was a special guest star on 24, where he played Vice President Noah Daniels. He returned in the prequel to the seventh season, 24: Redemption. Just after taking the role as acting President, Boothe is seen exiting Air Force Two with F-15s in the background. Boothe played a downed F-15 pilot in Red Dawn. In March 2008, he narrated a television campaign ad for Senator John McCain's presidential campaign.
In 2012, Boothe appeared in Joss Whedon's The Avengers as Gideon Malick, a shadowy governmental superior to S.H.I.E.L.D. From 2015 to 16, he reprised the role in the ABC series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Boothe appeared in the 2012 miniseries Hatfields & McCoys as Judge Valentine "Wall" Hatfield. Boothe was also cast as Lamar Wyatt in the ABC musical drama series Nashville. Boothe also lent his voice to Hitman: Absolution, a 2012 video game developed by IO Interactive, voicing the character of Benjamin Travis.

## Personal life

Boothe married his college sweetheart Pam Cole in 1969 and they remained married until his death. They had two children, Parisse and Preston.
Boothe was a member of the Friends of Abe.

## Death

Boothe died in Los Angeles, on the morning of May 14, 2017, from the effects of pancreatic cancer.
He was buried in Deadwood Cemetery in rural Deadwood, located in Panola County east of Carthage in east Texas.

## Theatre credits

| Year | Title | Role | Venue | Notes |
| 1974 | Richard III | Ensemble member | Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, Off-Broadeway | |
| 1978 | Othello | Roderigo | Roundabout Stage I, Off-Broadway | |
| 1979 | Pvt. Wars | Natwick (understudy) | Century Theatre, Broadway | Broadway debut |
| 1979 | Lone Star | Roy | Century Theatre, Broadway | |

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1977 | The Goodbye Girl | Richard III Cast | |
| 1980 | Cruising | Hankie Salesman | |
| 1980 | The Cold Eye (My Darling, Be Careful) | | |
| 1981 | Southern Comfort | Corporal Charles Hardin | |
| 1984 | A Breed Apart | Mike Walker | |
| 1984 | Red Dawn | Lt. Col. Andrew "Andy" Tanner | |
| 1985 | The Emerald Forest | Bill Markham | |
| 1987 | Extreme Prejudice | Cash Bailey | |
| 1988 | Sapphire Man | Ryan | Short film |
| 1989 | Stalingrad | General Vasily Chuikov | |
| 1992 | Rapid Fire | Lieutenant Mace Ryan | |
| 1993 | Tombstone | Bill "Curly Bill" Brocius | |
| 1993 | Angels of Death | | |
| 1994 | Blue Sky | Colonel Vince Johnson | |
| 1995 | Mutant Species | Frost | |
| 1995 | Sudden Death | Joshua Foss | |
| 1995 | Nixon | Alexander Haig | |
| 1997 | Con Air | Officer at leaving ceremony (voice) | Uncredited |
| 1997 | U Turn | Sheriff Virgil Potter | |
| 2000 | Men of Honor | Captain Pullman | |
| 2001 | Frailty | FBI Agent Wesley Doyle | |
| 2005 | Sin City | Senator Ethan Roark | |
| 2006 | Superman: Brainiac Attacks | Lex Luthor (voice) | Direct-to-video |
| 2007 | The Final Season | Jim Van Scoyoc | |
| 2008 | Edison and Leo | George T. Edison (voice) | |
| 2010 | MacGruber | Colonel Jim Faith | |
| 2012 | The Avengers | Gideon Malick | Credited as "World Security Council" |
| 2012 | Guns, Girls and Gambling | The Rancher | |
| 2013 | Straight A's | Father | |
| 2014 | Sin City: A Dame to Kill For | Senator Ethan Roark | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1980 | Skag | Whalen | 6 episodes |
| 1980 | The Plutonium Incident | Dick Hawkins | Television film |
| 1980 | Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones | Jim Jones | Television film |
| 1980 | A Cry For Love | Tony Bonnell | Television film |
| 1983–1986 | Philip Marlowe, Private Eye | Philip Marlowe | 11 episodes |
| 1987 | Into the Homeland | Jackson Swallow | Television film |
| 1990 | Family of Spies | John A. Walker Jr. | 2 episodes |
| 1990 | By Dawn's Early Light | Major Cassidy | Television film |
| 1992 | Eternal Enemies: Lions and Hyenas | The Narrator | Voice; documentary |
| 1992 | Wild Card | Preacher | Television film |
| 1993 | Marked for Murder | Mace "Sandman" Moutron | Television film |
| 1994 | Web of Deception | Dr. Philip Benesch | Television film |
| 1996 | Dalva | Sam | Television film |
| 1997 | True Women | Bartlett McClure | Television film |
| 1998 | The Spree | Detective Bram Hatcher | Television film |
| 1999 | Joan of Arc | Jacques d'Arc | 3 episodes |
| 1999 | A Crime of Passion | Dr. Ben Pierce | Television film |
| 2001 | Attila | General Flavius Aetius | 2 episodes |
| 2002–2003 | Justice League | Gorilla Grodd | Voice; 4 episodes |
| 2003 | Second Nature | Kelton Reed | Television film |
| 2004–2006 | Deadwood | Cy Tolliver | 34 episodes |
| 2005–2006 | Justice League Unlimited | Gorilla Grodd | Voice; 5 episodes |
| 2006 | National Geographic: Lions v. Hyenas | The Narrator | Voice; documentary |
| 2007 | 24 | Noah Daniels | 14 episodes |
| 2008 | 24: Redemption | Noah Daniels | Television film |
| 2009 | Ben 10: Alien Force | Sunder | Voice; episode: "Singlehanded" |
| 2010 | Ben 10: Ultimate Alien | Sunder | Voice; episode: "The Transmogrification of Eunice" |
| 2011 | Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated | Dead Justice (voice) | episode: "Dead Justice" |
| 2011 | The Looney Tunes Show | Leslie Hunt (voice) | 2 episodes |
| 2012 | Hatfields & McCoys | Judge Valentine "Wall" Hatfield | 3 episodes |
| 2012–2014 | Nashville | Lamar Wyatt | 26 episodes |
| 2015–2016 | Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. | Gideon Malick | 11 episodes |
| 2015 | Moonbeam City | Eo Jaxxon (voice) | Episode: "Glitzotrene: One Town's Seduction" |

### Video games

| Year | Title | Voice role |
| 2005 | Area 51 | Major Bridges |
| 2008 | Turok | Roland Kane |
| 2010 | Ben 10 Ultimate Alien: Cosmic Destruction | Sunder |
| 2012 | Hitman: Absolution | Benjamin Travis |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Project | Result |
| 1980 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie | Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones | Won |
| 1983 | CableACE Award | Best Actor in a Dramatic Presentation | Philip Marlowe, Private Eye | Nominated |
| 1987 | CableACE Award | Best Actor in a Movie or Miniseries | Into the Homeland | Nominated |
| 1995 | Screen Actors Guild Award | Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture | Nixon | Nominated |
| 2007 | Screen Actors Guild Award | Outstanding Ensemble in a Drama Series | Deadwood | Nominated |
| 2012 | Satellite Award | Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film | Nashville | Nominated |