William Mapother

**William Reibert Mapother, Jr.** (; born April 17, 1965) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Ethan Rom on the television series _Lost_.

## Early life

Mapother was born in Louisville, Kentucky. He is the son of Louisa (née Riehm) and William Reibert Mapother, Sr. He is of English, Irish, and mostly German ancestry.

He is a first cousin of actor Tom Cruise, whose real name is Thomas Cruise Mapother IV. Mapother has appeared in five movies starring Cruise. He had tiny roles in _Minority Report_ and _Vanilla Sky_, and supporting roles in _Mission: Impossible II_, _Born on the Fourth of July_ and _Magnolia_. Mapother has two sisters, Katherine and Amy. His father was a lawyer and judge in Louisville, between 1967 and 1970. His father died on June 22, 2006.

Mapother graduated from the University of Notre Dame. He majored in English. Then, he taught high school in East Los Angeles for three years before becoming an actor.

## Career

Mapother has become widely known as a character actor. He sometimes plays scary or otherwise dark characters. He played an important role in Todd Field's _In the Bedroom_. Mapother is more widely known as Ethan Rom in the TV show _Lost_. The character was killed early in the first season. Since then, however, he has appeared in seven episodes mainly through flashbacks, once due to time travel and another in an alternate timeline. In total, he appeared in eleven episodes of _Lost_.

Mapother has also had major roles in several independent movies, such as _The Lather Effect_, _Moola_, _Hurt_ and  _Another Earth_. Mapother starred in _The Burrowers_ as a Native American fighter who joins a posse to help find missing white settlers, only to discover that the hunters have become the hunted.

In September 2007, he was elected to a three-year term on the National Board of Directors for the Screen Actors Guild.

## Television and movie roles

- _American Horror Story_ (TV, 1 episode, 2012) .... Misogynist Driver
- _Justified_ (TV, 2 episodes, 2012) .... Delroy Baker
- _The Mentalist_ (TV, 2 episodes, 2011-2013) .... Richard Haibach
- _Edwin Boyd: Citizen Gangster_ (2011) .... Detective Rhys
- _Warrior_ (2011) .... David Milligan
- _Another Earth_ (2011) .... John Burroughs
- _A Warrior's Heart_ (2010)
- _Hurt_ (2008) .... Darryl Coltrane
- _Prison Break_ (TV, 2 episodes, 2009) .... FBI Agent Chris Franco
- _Lost_ (TV, 11 episodes, 2004–2010) .... Ethan Rom
- _Criminal Minds_ (TV, 1 episode, 2008) .... Ian Corbin
- _The Burrowers_ (Film, 2008) .... Will Parcher
- _Lost: Missing Pieces_ (TV, 1 episode, 2008) .... Ethan Rom
- _Skip Tracer_ (TV, 2008) .... Henry Hargrove Jr.
- _WordGirl_ (TV animation, 2007) ... Guy Rich (voice)
- _Viva Laughlin_ (TV, 1 episode, 2007) .... Sweet Lenny Collins
- _K-Ville_ (TV, 1 episode, 2007) .... Gordon Wix
- _Moving McAllister_ (2007) .... Bob
- _Moola_ (2007) .... Steve
- _Robot Chicken_ (TV, 2 episodes, 2006) .... Alien Bully / Leprechaun #2
- _World Trade Center_ (2006) .... Jason Thomas
- _The Lather Effect_ (2006) .... Jack
- _Ask The Dust_ (2006) .... Bill
- _Crossing Jordan_ (TV, 1 episode, 2005) .... Henry Bishop
- _Threshold_ (TV, 2 episodes, 2005) .... Gunneson
- _Chloe_ (2005) .... Doctor
- _The Zodiac_ (2005) .... Dale Coverling
- _Lords of Dogtown_ (2005) .... Donnie
- _The Inside_ (TV, 1 episode, 2005) .... Ronald Ewing
- _The Grudge_ (2004) .... Matthew Williams
- _NCIS_ (TV, 1 episode, 2004) .... Kyle Grayson
- _CSI: Miami_ (TV, 1 episode, 2004) .... Pete Keller
- _Suspect Zero_ (2004) .... Bill Grieves
- _Line of Fire_ (TV, 2 episodes, 2004) .... Larry
- _The Kiss_ (2003) .... Peter
- _Touched by an Angel_ (TV, 2 episodes, 2003) .... Eddie
- _Law & Order: Special Victims Unit_ (TV, 1 episode, 2003) .... Luke Edmunds
- _The Pennsylvania Miners' Story_ (TV, 2002) .... John 'Flathead' Phillippi
- _CSI: Crime Scene Investigation_ (TV, 1 episode, 2002) .... Douglas Sampson
- _Self Storage_ (2002) .... Graham
- _Minority Report_ (2002) .... Hotel Clerk
- _Swordfish_ (2001) .... Gabriel's Crew
- _In the Bedroom_ (2001) .... Richard Strout
- _Almost Famous_ (Scenes Deleted, 2000) .... Bartender
- _Mission: Impossible II_ (2000) .... Wallis
- _Magnolia_ (1999) .... WDKK Show Director's Assistant
- _The Unknown Cyclist_ (1998) .... By-Stander
- _Trickle_ (1998) .... Josh Riddell
- _Without Limits_ (1998) .... Bob Peters
- _Born on the Fourth of July_ (1989) .... Platoon Member – Vietnam

## Infobox (person)

- **name**: William Mapother
- **image**: WilliamMapother.jpg
- **imagesize**: 200px
- **caption**: Mapother at the South by Southwest festival in March 2007.
- **birth name**: William Reibert Mapother, Jr.
- **birth place**: Louisville, Kentucky, Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
- **occupation**: Actor
- **yearsactive**: 1989–present
- **relatives**: Tom Cruise (cousin)