F . Murray Abraham F . Murray Abraham is the actor who portrayed the villainous Ahdar Ru ' afo , a member of the Son ' a race , in the film . He is primarily a stage actor , though he has appeared in many films and several television productions . He is perhaps best known for his Academy Award - winning role as in the 1984 film . Personal life . Abraham was born in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania , and raised in El Paso , Texas , where he spent his teenage years as a member of local gangs . He attended the University of Texas at Austin , after which he studied acting under in New York City . Career . Films . Abraham has had a long and distinguished acting career in film , which began with small roles in classics such as " They Might Be Giants " ( 1971 , with Eugene Roche ) , " Serpico " ( 1973 ) , and " All the President ' s Men " ( 1976 , with Stephen Collins , Nicholas Coster , Gene Dynarski , Paul Lambert , and Richard Herd ) . He then had significant roles in such films as " The Big Fix " ( 1978 , with Fritz Weaver , Nicholas Coster , William Glover , and Jorge Cervera , Jr . ) and " Scarface " ( 1983 , with Harris Yulin and Mark Margolis ) . Perhaps Abraham ' s best - known film work is his Best Leading Actor Academy Award - winning performance as Antonio Salieri in the 1984 film " Amadeus " . He is one of only three " Star Trek " performers to have been nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Actor in a Leading Role ( the others being Frank Langella and Paul Winfield ) and the only one to have won the award . Whoopi Goldberg won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for " Ghost " ( 1990 ) . Abraham has acted with actor Christian Slater in three films : 1986 ' s " The Name of the Rose " ( with Ron Perlman ) , 1989 ' s " Beyond the Stars " ( with Olivia d ' Abo and Robert Foxworth ) , and 1991 ' s " Mobsters " ( with Seymour Cassel ) . In 1990 , Abraham made an uncredited appearance in the film " The Bonfire of the Vanities " . This film featured many other " Star Trek " alumni : Kim Cattrall , Saul Rubinek , Richard Libertini , and Kirsten Dunst . actress Terry Farrell also appeared uncredited in the film . In 1993 , Abraham played the villain in the fantasy action film " Last Action Hero " . He also made a cameo appearance as " Dr . Harold Leecher " ( a parody of Dr . Hannibal Lecter ) in the comedy " National Lampoon ' s Loaded Weapon 1 " . William Shatner co - starred in this latter film , while James Doohan ( as Montgomery Scott ) , Charles Napier , and Whoopi Goldberg made cameo appearances . In 1994 , Abraham appeared in the action thriller " Surviving the Game " , along with Jeff Corey . Abraham played gangster in two films released in 1995 , both of which co - starred Clint Howard : " Baby Face Nelson " , which also featured Leland Orser and Doug Wert ; and " Dillinger and Capone " , with Jeffrey Combs , Catherine Hicks , Jeffrey Dean Morgan , Bert Remsen , and Time Winters . Abraham then starred in Woody Allen ' s 1995 comedy " Mighty Aphrodite " . guest actor David Ogden Stiers and guest star Peter Weller had supporting roles in this film . Following roles in such films as the 1997 science fiction thriller " Mimic " and 1999 science fiction - oriented " Muppets from Space " , Abraham played literature professor Robert Crawford in the 2000 drama " Finding Forrester " . April Grace , Matt Malloy , and Michael Nouri also had roles in this film . Abraham ' s more recent film credits include the 2001 horror thriller " Thir13en Ghosts " , the 2004 drama " The Bridge of San Luis Rey " , and the 2008 biographical drama " Carnera : The Walking Mountain " , the last of which co - starred Paul Sorvino . Most recently , Abraham appeared in the 2014 film " The Grand Budapest Hotel " . Television . Abraham has worked less frequently in television than in film . He was a regular on the short - lived NBC soap opera " How to Survive a Marriage " in 1974 and has made guest - appearances on only four episodic television series , including " All in the Family " , two episodes of " Kojak " ( " A Question of Answers " featuring Richard Herd and " The Godson " directed by Russ Mayberry ) , and the pilot for " A . E . S . Hudson Street " ( starring Rosanna DeSoto ) . His television credits primarily consist of made - for - TV movies , including " A Season of Giants " ( 1991 , with Steven Berkoff and John Glover ) , " The First Circle " ( 1992 , with Robert Joy and Christopher Plummer ) , " Journey to the Center of the Earth " ( 1993 , co - starring Francis Guinan , Jeffrey Nordling , Tim Russ , and Carel Struycken ) , " Color Justice " ( 1997 , with Bruce Davison and Saul Rubinek ) . His more recent TV movie credits include 2008 ' s " Shark Swarm " , featuring Renie Rivas and Rick Scarry and directed by James A . Contner . Abraham also appeared in several TV mini - series . In 1982 , he co - starred in NBC ' s " Marco Polo " , in which guest actor Kenneth Marshall played the title role . This production also featured TOS star Leonard Nimoy and " Star Trek " movie and TNG veteran David Warner in the cast . Abraham next portrayed President Abraham Lincoln in the 1986 CBS mini - series " Dream West " , working alongside fellow " Star Trek " alumni Jeff Allin , Erich Anderson , John Anderson , Lee Bergere , William O . Campbell , James Cromwell , Michael Ensign , Stefan Gierasch , Alice Krige , Matt McCoy , Glenn Morshower , Fritz Weaver , and Noble Willingham . Abraham ' s " Insurrection " director and co - star , Jonathan Frakes , had a role in this mini - series , as well . Abraham also starred in the 1996 mini - series " Dead Man ' s Walk " , co - starring Keith Carradine . Recently Abraham appeared in four episodes of the drama series " The Good Wife " and in three episodes of the comedy series " Louie " , both between 2011 and 2014 . Between 2012 and 2015 he starred as Dar Adal in the Showtime series " Homeland " on which he worked with Maury Sterling and Mark Moses . For " Homeland " , Abraham received an OFTA Television Award nomination and Emmy Award nomination as Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series in 2015 as well as two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations as part of the Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2014 and 2016 . Theater . Abraham has amassed an extensive resume of stage plays . His first professional stage performance was in a Los Angeles production of Ray Bradbury ' s " The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit " . From 1966 through 1968 , he performed in the long - running off - Broadway musical , " The Fantasticks " . He has performed in many Broadway productions . He made his Broadway debut in the Tony Award - nominated " The Man in the Glass Booth " in 1968 , working with Lawrence Pressman . In June the following year , Abraham acted with Anthony Call in the off - Broadway production , " Tonight in Living Color " . In 1975 , Abraham co - starred with Stephen Collins in the Broadway farcical comedy " The Ritz " ( Abraham starred in the film adaptation of this film the following year ) . In 1978 , Abraham acted alongside Roy Brocksmith and Wallace Shawn in " The Master and Margarita " at the Joseph Papp Public Theater . In 1980 , Abraham was nominated by the Drama Desk Awards for his starring role in the Broadway production of " Teibele and Her Demon " , in which he acted alongside Ron Perlman . He received a second Desk Drama Award nomination in 1992 for his role in an off - Broadway production of David Mamet ' s " A Life in the Theater " . Abraham and regular Brent Spiner performed together in an off - Broadway production of " The Seagull " in 1980 . Abraham and Spiner again worked together on " Star Trek : Insurrection " eighteen years later . Abraham performed in many other off - Broadway productions throughout the 1980s , including " The Golem " in 1984 ( with Jordan Lund and Mark Margolis ) , " The Madwoman of Chaillot " in 1985 ( with Ivar Brogger ) , and " A Midsummer Night ' s Dream " in 1987 ( with Erick Avari and Richard Riehle ) . Both Abraham and guest actor Dan Butler played the role of Pozzo in the 1988 Lincoln Center Theater production of " Waiting for Godot " , which starred Robin Williams . Abraham returned to Broadway in 1994 to portray AIDS - inflicted attorney Roy Cohn in Tony Kushner ' s epic two - part masterpiece " Angels in America " , in which he worked with Megan Gallagher . More recent Broadway credits include " Triumph of Love " in 1997 and " Mauritius " in 2007 . He has also continued expanding his off - Broadway credits , with performances of " King Lear " ( 1996 ) , " Trumbo : Red White and Blacklisted " ( 2003 ) , and " The Merchant of Venice " ( 2007 ) .