John Heard (actor)

John Heard Jr.[1] (March 7, 1946 – July 21, 2017) was an American film and television actor. He had lead roles in several films, including Deceived, Chilly Scenes of Winter, Heart Beat, Cutter's Way, Cat People, and C.H.U.D., as well as supporting roles in After Hours, Big, Beaches, Awakenings, Rambling Rose, The Pelican Brief, My Fellow Americans, Snake Eyes, and Animal Factory. He also played Peter McCallister in Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, as well as George in Sharknado. Heard was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1999 for guest starring on The Sopranos.
== Early life ==
Heard was born on March 7, 1946 in Washington, D.C.;[2] he was the son of Helen (Sperling), who was involved in the arts and appeared in community theatre, and John Henry Heard, who worked for the office of the Secretary of Defense.[2][3][4] Heard was raised as a Catholic.[5]
Heard attended Gonzaga College High School, Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, and Catholic University of America, in Washington, D.C.[2] He grew up with two sisters, one of whom, Cordis, is also an actress, and a brother, Matthew, who died in 1975.[3]
== Acting career ==
In the 1970s, Heard appeared on the stage and in television and film. He appeared off-Broadway in 1974 in Mark Medoff's play The Wager and in 1975 as Guildenstern in HAMLET at the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park, where he also understudied Sam Waterston as Hamlet. That fall, the production moved to the Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center. Heard appeared at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in 1977 in a series of new plays. Heard won Obie Awardsfor his performances in Othello and Split in 1979–80. He was the male lead in the 1979 film Head Over Heels (which was renamed and re-released as Chilly Scenes of Winter in 1982).
In 1981, he had the starring role of Alex Cutter in the film Cutter's Way. In 1982, he played the lover of Nastassja Kinski, one of the main characters, in the remake of Cat People. He co-starred as photographer George Cooper in C.H.U.D. (Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers, 1984) alongside future Home Alone co-star Daniel Stern and in The Trip to Bountiful (1985). In the comedy-drama film Heaven Help Us (aka, Catholic Boys, 1985), Heard played a monk named Brother Timothy. In After Hours (also 1985), Heard was bartender Tom Schorr.
He was seen in the film The Milagro Beanfield War and had a significant role playing Paul, Tom Hanks's adult corporate competitor and jilted boyfriend of Elizabeth Perkins, in Big (both 1988). He co-starred with Bette Midler in Beaches (also 1988). In 1990 Heard starred in the philosophical film Mindwalk, in which three characters from different socialitical and poetical backgrounds express their opinions on the human experience, and around the same time, he was in Awakeningsalongside Robert De Niro and Robin Williams. starred in Deceived (1991), with Goldie Hawn, playing Jack Saunders, and had a supporting role in Gladiator (1992), with Cuba Gooding Jr.
He played Daugherty in the film Radio Flyer (1992) and FBI agent Gavin Vereek in The Pelican Brief (1993). He starred with Samuel L. Jackson in 1997's One Eight Seven and was featured in the 2000 miniseries Perfect Murder, Perfect Town.
=== Home Alone series ===
In 1990, Heard starred as Peter McCallister in the comedy Home Alone. He played the part of Kevin's father who unwittingly leaves his son at home when making a Christmas trip to France. Heard chose to characterize the role with a combination of concerned dramatic acting of a father missing his son along with more classical comedic tropes.[6] The film was one of the biggest hits of 1990, and Heard reprised the role of McCallister in the sequel Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.
=== Television work ===
Heard featured in a television production of The Scarlet Letter (1979) as Arthur Dimmesdale. He played real-life Ku Klux Klanleader D. C. Stephenson in the TV miniseries Cross of Fire (1989) and played the part of David Manning in the ABC miniseries adaptation of Shirley MacLaine's Out on a Limb, a memoir of her journey toward acceptance of spiritual and extraterrestrial realities. Heard also had roles on The Sopranos as the troubled corrupt detective Vin Makazian for which he received an Emmynomination as outstanding guest actor;as well as Mr.Detrolio father of Finn Detrolio one of Meadows' boyfriends, and later on Battlestar Galactica as Commander Barry Garner.
He had recurring roles on CSI: Miami (as Kenwall Duquesne, father of Calleigh Duquesne) and Prison Break (as Frank Tancredi, governor of Illinois and father of Sara Tancredi). Among other film and television roles in the 2000s and 2010s, he played the mayor of Chicago on two episodes of the Fox series The Chicago Code.
=== Legacy ===
In 2008, Heard was asked about his career and he replied,
“	I guess I went from being a young leading man to being just kind of a hack actor. ... When I came to Hollywood, I was pretty much a stage actor, and I expected everybody to be quiet. And they weren't. They were doing their job, and you're expected to do your job, and you're sort of this ongoing co-existence. I was a little bit of an arrogant jerk. Now, it's a little bit more like, 'Okay, I realize you have to pat me down with powder every three seconds.' And I stand there, and I'm a little more tolerant ... I think I had my time. I dropped the ball, as my father would say. I think I could have done more with my career than I did, and I sort of got sidetracked. But that's OK, that's all right, that's the way it is. No sour grapes. I mean, I don't have any regrets. Except that I could have played some bigger parts.[7]	”
== Personal life ==
Heard married actress Margot Kidder in 1979, but they separated after only six days.[8] In 1987, he had a son with ex-girlfriend Melissa Leo.[9] Heard was arrested in 1991 and charged with third-degree assault for allegedly slapping Leo.[10] In 1997, he was found guilty of trespassing at Leo's home but was acquitted of charges of trespassing at their son's school.[11]
In addition to Kidder, he was also married to Sharon Heard and Lana Pritchard. Sharon and Heard had two children together.[2]Heard and Pritchard married on May 24, 2010, in Los Angeles, and divorced about seven months later.[12] His estranged son Maxwell John Heard died on December 6, 2016, at age 22.
== Death ==
Heard died of a heart attack on July 21, 2017 at the age of 71. His body was found by staff in a Palo Alto, California hotel, where he was reportedly recovering after minor back surgery at Stanford University Hospital. His back surgery did not play a role in his death.[13][14] His death was confirmed by the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner's office. He was buried in South Side Cemetery in Ipswich, Massachusetts.[15][16][17][18]
== Awards and honors ==
Source unless otherwise noted:[2]
* 1977 Theatre World Award for his performance in G.R. Point
* 1976–77 Obie Award, Best Performance, G.R. Point
* 1979–80 Obie Award, Best Performance, Othello and Split
* 1999 Emmy Award nomination, Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series (1999)
In 2003, he was inducted into the Gonzaga College High School Theatre Hall of Fame.
== Filmography ==
Over an almost 40-year career, John Heard appeared in at least 105 films and 67 television series.
Film
Year	Title 	Role 	Notes
1977	Between the Lines 	Harry Lucas 	
1977	First Love 	David Bonner 	
1978	Rush It 	Byron 	
1978	On the Yard 	Juleson 	
1979	Chilly Scenes of Winter 	Charles 	
1980	Heart Beat 	Jack Kerouac 	
1981	Cutter's Way 	Alex Cutter 	
1982	Cat People 	Oliver Yates 	
1984	C.H.U.D. 	George Cooper 	
1984	Best Revenge 	Charlie 	
1984	Violated 	Skipper 	
1985	Too Scared to Scream 	Sid 	
1985	Heaven Help Us 	Brother Timothy 	
1985	After Hours 	Thomas 'Tom' Schorr 	
1985	The Trip to Bountiful 	Ludie Watts 	
1987	Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam	Johnny Boy 	Voice
1988	The Telephone 	Telephone Man 	
1988	The Milagro Beanfield War 	Charlie Bloom 	
1988	The Seventh Sign 	Reverend 	
1988	Big 	Paul Davenport 	
1988	Betrayed 	Michael Carnes 	
1988	Beaches 	John Pierce 	
1989	The Package 	Colonel Glen Whitacre 	
1990	Blown Away 	Charlie 	
1990	Mindwalk 	Thomas Harriman 	
1990	The End of Innocence 	Dean 	
1990	Home Alone 	Peter McCallister 	
1990	Awakenings 	Dr. Kaufman 	
1991	Rambling Rose 	Willcox Hillyer 	
1991	Deceived 	Jack Saunders 	
1992	Radio Flyer 	Daugherty 	
1992	Gladiator 	John Riley 	
1992	Waterland 	Lewis Scott 	
1992	Home Alone 2: Lost in New York 	Peter McCallister 	
1993	In the Line of Fire 	Professor Riger 	
1993	Me and Veronica 	Frankie 	
1993	The Pelican Brief 	Gavin Vereek 	
1996	Before and After 	Wendell Bye 	
1996	My Fellow Americans 	Ted Matthews 	
1997	Silent Cradle 	Dr. Brittain 	
1997	One Eight Seven 	Dave Childress 	
1997	Executive Power 	Walker 	
1997	Men 	George Babbington 	
1998	Snake Eyes 	Gilbert Powell 	
1998	Desert Blue 	Professor Lance Davidson	
1999	Jazz Night 	John Little 	Short film
1999	Freak Weather 	David 	
2000	Animal Factory 	James Decker 	
2000	Fish Out of Water 	Gregor 	
2000	The Photographer 	Marcello 	
2000	Pollock 	Tony Smith 	
2001	Dying on the Edge 	John Fuller 	
2001	The Boys of Sunset Ridge 	John Burroughs 	
2001	O 	Dean Bob Brable 	
2001	The Secret Pact 	Jerome Carver 	
2002	Researching Raymond Burke 	Raymond Burke 	Short film
2002	Fair Play 	Owen 	Short film
2004	Under the City 	Scova 	
2004	Mind the Gap 	Henry Richards 	
2004	White Chicks 	Warren Vandergeld 	
2004	My Tiny Universe 	Bobby 	
2005	The Chumscrubber 	Officer Lou Bratley 	
2005	The Deal 	Professor Roseman 	
2005	Tracks 	Prison Warden 	
2005	Edison 	Captain Brian Tilman 	aka Edison Force
2005	Sweet Land 	Minister Sorrensen 	
2006	Steel City 	Carl Lee 	
2006	Gamers: The Movie 	Gordon's Dad 	
2006	The Guardian 	Captain Frank Larson 	
2007	Dead Lenny 	Dr. Robert Hooker 	
2007	Brothers Three: An American Gothic 	Father 	
2007	The Great Debaters 	Sheriff Dozier 	
2008	P.J. 	Dr. Alan Shearson 	
2008	Justice League: The New Frontier 	Ace Morgan 	Voice
2008	The Lucky Ones 	Bob 	
2009	Red State Blues 	Fritz 	Short film
2009	Formosa Betrayed 	Tom Braxton 	
2009	Little Hercules in 3-D 	Coach Nimms 	
2010	The Truth 	Jonathan Davenport 	
2010	Ivan's House 	Ivan 	Short film
2011	Whisper Me a Lullaby 	Poppy 	
2012	Stealing Roses 	Walter 	
2012	The Legends of Nethiah 	Nethiah's Father 	
2012	A Perfect Ending 	Mason Westridge 	
2012	Would You Rather 	Conway 	
2013	The Insomniac 	Paul Epstein 	
2013	Assault on Wall Street 	Jeremy Stancroft 	
2013	Snake and Mongoose 	Wally Parks 	
2013	Runner Runner 	Harry Furst 	
2013	Torn 	Detective Kalkowitz 	
2013	Buoyancy 	Frank 	Short film
2014	Searching for Fortune 	Denton Sr. 	
2014	Warren 	Jack Cavanee 	
2014	Animals 	Albert 	
2014	Boys of Abu Ghraib 	Sam Farmer 	
2014	The Nurse 	Frank 	
2014	One More Day 	Tom 	Short film
2015	Boiling Pot 	Tim Davis 	
2015	Counting for Thunder 	Garrett Stalworth 	
2016	Is That a Gun in Your Pocket 	Sheriff Parsons 	
2016	After the Reality 	Bob 	
2016	Jimmy Vestvood: Amerikan Hero 	JP Monroe 	
2016	So B. It 	Thurman Hil 	
2017	Last Rampage 	Blackwell 	
2017	Pray for Rain 	Markus Gardener 	
2018	The Tale 	Bill - Older 	Posthumous
2018	Living Among Us 	Andrew 	Posthumous
=== Television ===
Year 	Title 	Role 	Notes
1975 	Valley Forge 	Mr. Harvie 	TV Movie
1979 	The Scarlet Letter 	Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale 	TV mini-series
1983 	Will There Really Be a Morning? 	Clifford Odets 	TV Movie
1983 	Legs 	Dan 	TV Movie
1984 	Kate & Allie 	Max McArdle 	Episode: "A Weekend to Remember"
1985 	Tender is the Night 	Abe North 	TV mini-series; 3 episodes
1985 	Tales from the Darkside 	Billy Malone 	Episode: "Ring Around the Redhead"
1985 	Alfred Hitchcock Presents 	Bill Callahan 	Episode: "Breakdown"
1986 	Miami Vice 	Laurence Thurmond 	Episode: "One Way Ticket"
1987 	The Equalizer 	Ron Parrish 	Episode: "In the Money"
1987 	Out on a Limb 	David Manning 	TV Movie
1988 	Necessity 	Charlie 	TV Movie
1989 	Screen Two 	Michael Johnson 	Episode: "Virtuoso"
1989 	Cross of Fire 	David Stephenson 	TV Movie
1992 	Dead Ahead: The Exxon Valdez Disaster	Dan Lawn 	TV Movie
1993 	There Was a Little Boy 	Gregg 	TV Movie
1994 	In Spite of Love 	Andrew 	TV Movie
1994 	Because Mommy Works 	Ted Forman 	TV Movie
1994–99 	Law & Order 	Mitch Burke / Walter Grobman 	2 episodes
1995 	American Masters 	Montresor 	Episode: Edgar Allan Poe: Terror of the Soul
1995 	The Outer Limits 	Paul Stein 	Episode: "Dark Matters"
1995–96 	The Client 	Roy Foltrigg 	21 episodes
1999–2004	The Sopranos 	Detective Vin Makazian 	5 episodes
2000 	Perfect Murder, Perfect Town 	Larry Mason 	TV Movie
2000 	The Wednesday Woman 	Bill Davidson 	TV Movie
2001 	Law & Order: Criminal Intent 	Larry Wiegert 	Episode: "The Pardoner's Tale"
2001 	The Big Heist 	Richard Woods 	TV Movie
2002 	Touched by an Angel 	Allen 	Episode: "Secrets and Lies"
2002 	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit 	Gregory Rossovitch / Peter Sipes	Episode: "Disappearing Acts"
2002 	Hack 	Paul Ballinger 	Episode: "Songs in the Night"
2002 	Monday Night Mayhem 	Roone Arledge 	TV Movie
2002 	The Pilot's Wife 	Jack Lyons 	TV Movie
2003 	Word of Honor 	Dr. Steven Brandt 	TV Movie
2003–05 	CSI: Miami 	Kenwall Duquesne 	4 episodes
2004–05 	Jack & Bobby 	Dennis Morgenthal 	5 episodes
2005 	Numb3rs 	Peter Houseman 	Episode: "Soft Target"
2005 	Locusts 	Dr. Peter Axelrod 	TV Movie
2005–06 	Prison Break 	Governor Frank Tancredi 	10 episodes
2006 	Battlestar Galactica 	Commander Barry Garner 	Episode: "The Captain's Hand"
2006 	Twenty Questions 	C. Colin Whitworth 	TV Movie
2006 	The Line-Up 	Walter Clark 	TV Movie
2007 	Cavemen 	Tripp 	Episode: "Her Embarrassed of Caveman"
2007–10 	Entourage 	Richard Wimmer 	2 episodes
2008 	My Own Worst Enemy 	Peter 	Episode: "Down Rio Way"
2008 	Skip Tracer 	Con Colbert 	TV Movie
2008 	Generation Gap 	Principal Winters 	TV Movie
2009 	The Beast 	Dr. Blake 	Episode: "Mercy"
2009 	Southland 	Ben Sherman Sr. 	2 episodes
2010 	Gravity 	B.C. 	3 episodes
2010 	The Quickening 	Ed Erlich 	TV Movie
2011 	The Chicago Code 	Mayor McGuinness 	2 episodes
2011 	Too Big to Fail 	Joe Gregory 	TV Movie
2013 	Perception 	Congressman Evan Rickford 	2 episodes
2013 	Adam DeVine's House Party 	Dregory 	Episode: "Dregory"
2013 	Tim & Eric's Bedtime Stories 	Lawyer 	Episode: "Haunted House"
2013 	Sharknado 	George 	TV Movie
2014 	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation 	Roger Ridley 	Episode: "Love for Sale"
2014 	Modern Family 	Gunther Thorpe 	Episode: "The Feud"
2014 	Person of Interest 	Roger McCourt 	Episode: "Death Benefit"
2014 	Mistresses 	Bruce Sappire 	Episode: "Coming Clean"
2014 	NCIS: Los Angeles 	Michael Thomas 	3 episodes
2015 	The Lizzie Borden Chronicles 	William Almy 	TV mini-series; 2 episodes
2015 	The Murder Pact 	John LaSalle 	TV Movie
2016 	Elementary 	Henry Watson 	Episode: "Miss Taken"
2017 	MacGyver 	Arthur Ericson 	Episode: "Pilers"
2017 	APB 	Joe Reeves 	Episode: "Daddy's Home"
2017 	Outsiders 	Lt. Governor of Kentucky 	Episode: "What Must Be Done"
2018 	The Last Sharknado: It's About Time 	George 	Archive footage