Bob Gunton Bob Gunton is the actor who played the vengeful Captain Benjamin Maxwell in the fourth season episode . He is perhaps best known for his role as Warden Norton in the 1994 motion picture " The Shawshank Redemption " and for his role as United States Secretary of Defense ( and later Chief of Staff ) Ethan Kanin on the FOX television series , " 24 " . He has been nominated for two Tony Awards for his work in the Broadway musicals " Evita " and " Sweeney Todd : The Demon Barber of Fleet Street " . Career . Stage work and associated screen credits . In 1977 , Gunton stood in for Christopher Lloyd in the play " Happy End " during its Broadway debut . Lloyd was starring in the play as Bill Cracker but was unable to make the premiere performance due to a leg injury . Gunton went on in his place until Lloyd was able return to the role ( albeit on crutches ) . Gunton and Lloyd later co - starred together in the 1992 TV movie " Dead Ahead : The Exxon Valdez Disaster " ( also featuring Bruce Gray ) and the 1997 independent film " Changing Habits " ( with Teri Garr and Anne Haney ) . Gunton was nominated by the Drama Desk Awards for his performance in the 1978 Broadway musical , " King of Hearts " . In 1979 , Gunton starred in the Broadway musical " Evita " in the role of Argentine dictator Juan Perón , for which he received his first Tony Award nomination in addition to winning a Drama Desk Award . He later received Drama Desk nominations for his off - Broadway play " How I Got That Story " and for his performance as The King in the Broadway musical " Big River " . The latter also starred s Rene Auberjonois in the role of The Duke . Gunton and Auberjonois later worked together in the CBS TV movie " Ned Blessing : The True Story of My Life " , with Bill Bolender , Jeff Kober , and Jimmie F . Skaggs . In 1982 , Gunton worked with Robert Joy and John Vickery in the off - Broadway play " The Death of Von Richtofen as Witnessed From Earth " . He then played Claudius in an off - Broadway production of " Hamlet " which also starred James Cromwell as Horatio and Raphael Sbarge as Reynaldo . In 1983 , he co - starred with Frank Langella in the Broadway production of " Passion " . In 1988 , Gunton played the Governor and Caroline Lagerfelt his wife in " Phaedra Britannica " . Gunton received his second Tony nomination in 1990 for playing the title role in the revival of " Sweeney Todd : The Demon Barber of Fleet Street " . This role had previously been portrayed on Broadway first by Len Cariou and then by George Hearn . Film work . Gunton made his feature film debut in the 1981 drama " Rollover " . His film work continued in the late 1980s with roles in the 1987 historical drama " Matewan " ( with Gordon Clapp , Ken Jenkins , Kevin Tighe , and Tom Wright ) , the 1987 romantic comedy " The Pick - Up Artist " ( with Vanessa Williams ) , and the 1989 American Civil War epic " Glory " . The latter film also featured fellow " Star Trek " alumni J . D . Cullum , Cliff DeYoung , Mark Margolis , and Richard Riehle , as well as regular Ethan Phillips . In 1989 , Gunton made an appearance in Oliver Stone ' s acclaimed drama " Born on the Fourth of July " , as did Reg E . Cathey , Ed Lauter , Mark Moses , Richard Poe , and Mike Starr . Gunton again worked with Stone on 1991 ' s " JFK " , which also featured Bill Bolender and Tony Plana . In between these two films , Gunton shot a comedy entitled " Missing Pieces " , which co - starred Q actor John de Lancie . In 1992 and 1993 , Gunton was seen in " Patriot Games " ( with Ellen Geer ) , " The Public Eye " ( with Ian Abercrombie , Richard Riehle , and Nick Tate ) , " Jennifer Eight " ( with Kevin Conway ) , " Father Hood " ( co - starring Adrienne Barbeau and Brian Bonsall ) , and " Demolition Man " ( with Bill Cobbs ) . Perhaps Gunton ' s best - known film role is that of Warden Norton in the acclaimed 1994 prison drama " The Shawshank Redemption " . Fellow " Star Trek " veterans Dion Anderson , Bill Bolender , Brian Brophy , Jude Ciccolella , Don McManus , Mark Rolston , and William Sadler also had roles in this film . The following year , Gunton appeared in the mystery drama " Dolores Claiborne " , along with Christopher Plummer , and played Burton Quinn in the comedy sequel " Ace Ventura : When Nature Calls " . He then had supporting roles in the 1996 action thrillers " Broken Arrow " ( which starred Christian Slater and also featured Casey Biggs , Raymond Cruz , Vince Deadrick , Gary Epper , James MacDonald , and Kurtwood Smith ) and " The Glimmer Man " ( with fellow TNG guest star Nikki Cox ) . Gunton made an uncredited appearance in the 1997 drama " A Thousand Acres " , whose supporting cast included Keith Carradine , John Carroll Lynch , and Kenneth Tigar . Later that year , Gunton co - starred in Clint Eastwood ' s " Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil " , along with Anne Haney , Richard Herd , J . Patrick McCormack , Michael O ' Hagan , and Leon Rippy . Gunton afterward portrayed Dean Walcott in the hit 1998 comedy - drama " Patch Adams " , which starred Robin Williams and featured Ellen Albertini Dow , Harry Groener , Richard Kiley , Randy Oglesby and Harve Presnell . Gunton then co - starred with ' Dina Meyer in the 1999 horror - thriller " Bats " , which was written by " Nemesis " scribe John Logan . Gunton ' s next film role was that of Alexander McNally III , the owner of the yacht called the " Mistral " , in the 2000 blockbuster " The Perfect Storm " . Fellow TNG guest star Christopher McDonald also had a supporting role in this film . Gunton ' s more recent film credits have included the 2001 action thriller " Scenes of the Crime " ( with Mädchen Amick ) , the 2004 comedy " I Heart Huckabees " , the 2004 drama " Iron Jawed Angels " , the 2007 thrillers " Dead Silence " , " Fracture " , and " Rendition " , the 2007 comedy " Numb " ( with Brian George ) , the 2008 drama " The Lazarus Project " , and the 2011 legal thriller " The Lincoln Lawyer " . Television work . TV movies and mini - series . Gunton ' s earliest television acting role was that of Harry Gibbs in the 1982 made - for - TV movie " Lois Gibbs and the Love Canal " . Future " Voyager " actor Robert Picardo co - starred in the movie . Gunton ' s next TV movie was the 1985 HBO drama " Finnegan Begin Again " , which also featured David Huddleston and " Deep Space Nine " regular Avery Brooks . In 1990 , Gunton was seen in the TV movies " Judgment " ( co - starring with Keith Carradine , Robert Joy , and Mitchell Ryan ) and " The Bride in Black " ( directed by James Goldstone and co - starring Stephen Liska , David Soul , and Tony Todd ) . The following year , he appeared in the TV movie " Mission of the Shark : The Saga of the U . S . S . Indianapolis " , along with Vaughn Armstrong , Gordon Clapp , Jeffrey Nordling , Andrew Prine , and Cary - Hiroyuki Tagawa . This movie was directed by Robert Iscove . His other TV movie credits during the 1990s included the movies " Ladykiller " ( with Alice Krige and Bert Remsen ) , " Roswell " ( with Michael Bofshever , Richard Fancy , Bruce Gray , John Hostetter , James MacDonald , Warren Munson , Eugene Roche , and David Selburg ) , " In Pursuit of Honor " ( co - starring James B . Sikking ) , " Kingfish : A Story of Huey P . Long " ( co - starring Bill Cobbs ) , " The Siege at Ruby Ridge " ( with Kirsten Dunst , Gary Graham , Hal Landon , Jr . , Bradley Pierce , and Joel Swetow ) , and " Buffalo Soldiers " ( co - written by Frank Military ) . He also played Richard Nixon in the Showtime Network movie " Elvis Meets Nixon " , which featured an appearance by DS9 guest star Richard Beymer . Gunton also had a role in the 1991 mini - series " A Woman Named Jackie " , which featured actor Stephen Collins as John F . Kennedy . Gunton ' s subsequent mini - series include 1992 ' s " Sinatra " ( with Marc Adams , Brad Blaisdell , Christopher Carroll , Jeff Corey , Robin Gammell , Bruce Gray , Brian Markinson , Jay Robinson , Don Stark , and Todd Waring ) and 1994 ' s " Wild Palms " ( with Kim Cattrall , Brad Dourif , Bebe Neuwirth , Charles Rocket , and David Warner ) . Gunton , along with Teri Hatcher and Bruce McGill , had a supporting role in the 2000 TNT Network movie " Running Mates " . The following year , Gunton appeared in the movie " When Billie Beat Bobby " along with Michael Cavanaugh , Paul Collins , Patrick Kerr , Leonard Kelly - Young , and Scott Klace . He was also one of the many " Star Trek " performers to appear in the acclaimed 2001 HBO movie " 61 * " . Among his co - stars in this production were the aforementioned Robert Joy , Christopher McDonald , and Bruce McGill , as well as Seymour Cassel , Robert Costanzo , J . D . Cullum , Charles Esten , Michael Nouri , Dell Yount , and star Connor Trinneer . His more recent TV movie credits have included Paramount Television ' s 2004 production " Judas " and the 2007 horror film " Pandemic " . The latter also featured Robert Curtis Brown , Clyde Kusatsu , and Colby Paul in the cast . TV series . In 1988 , Gunton and fellow TNG guest star Susan Diol were regulars on the short - lived drama series " Hothouse " . Later that same year , Gunton appeared in a fifth season episode of the crime series " Miami Vice " along with Rosalind Chao and James Saito . In 1990 , he made guest appearances on the NBC shows " " ( in an episode with Richard Poe ) and " L . A . Law " ( with Corbin Bernsen , Larry Drake , and Jennifer Hetrick ) . In 1995 , Gunton was a main cast member on the short - lived CBS crime drama " Courthouse " . Fellow TNG guest actor Dan Gauthier and actress Jacqueline Kim were also regulars on this series . In 1998 , Gunton appeared on " Ally McBeal " , in an episode with Willie Garson and Albert Hall . This was followed by guest appearances on the drama " Family Law " ( starring Christopher McDonald , Salli Elise Richardson , and Julie Warner ) and the sitcom " Spin City " ( starring Alan Ruck ) . In 2002 , Gunton starred as " Junction Jack " in the short - lived Fox sitcom " Greg the Bunny " , on which Sarah Silverman was also a regular cast member . From 2004 through 2006 , Gunton was seen in the recurring role of Noah Taylor on the hit ABC drama " Desperate Housewives " . Starring in this series are one - time TNG guest actress Teri Hatcher , actress Alfre Woodard , and " Voyager " and " Enterprise " guest star Mark Moses ; Gunton also worked with Steven Culp on this series before the latter ' s character was killed off . In addition , Gunton had recurring roles on NBC ' s " Mister Sterling " ( working with Vaughn Armstrong , Art Chudabala , David Doty , Nicole Forester , Jim Jansen , Stanley Kamel , Randy Oglesby , Eric Pierpoint , George D . Wallace , and Harris Yulin ) , " Judging Amy " ( including one episode with Megan Cole and another episode directed by Andrew Robinson ) , " Nip / Tuck " ( including an episode with John Billingsley ) , " E - Ring " ( including one episode directed by Kenneth Biller and two others with Jack Kehler ) , and " Pepper Dennis " ( with Jason Brooks , Brett Cullen , James Read , and Tom Virtue ) . His recent one - off guest appearances have included " CSI : Crime Scene Investigation " ( with Raymond Cruz and Wallace Langham ) , " Monk " ( playing husband and wife with Rosemary Forsyth ) , and Linda Park ' s first episode of " First Wives Club " . In 2008 , Gunton appeared as an attorney on " Boston Legal " , the drama series which starred William Shatner and , at the time , John Larroquette . Jack Shearer also appeared in Gunton ' s episode as a Supreme Court Justice . Gunton played Secretary of Defense Ethan Kanin in three episodes of the sixth season of Fox ' hit series " 24 " . He reprised the role of Kanin as a regular cast member for the seventh season of " 24 " , as Chief of Staff to President Allison Taylor . This season also featured such " Trek " notables as John Billingsley , Jeffrey Nordling , Tony Todd , Connor Trinneer , and Annie Wersching . Gunton continued playing the role for the show ' s eighth and final season , which aired in January 2010 . Gunton was subsequently a series regular on the first series of the Netflix series " Daredevil " , which is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe .