James Woods

**James Howard Woods** (born April 18, 1947) is an American actor. He is known for his work in various film, stage, and television productions. He started his career in minor roles on and off-Broadway. In 1972, he appeared in *The Trial of the Catonsville Nine* alongside Sam Waterston and Michael Moriarty on Broadway. In 1972 he won the Theatre World Award for his performance in *Moonchildren*. In 1978, he made his television breakthrough alongside Meryl Streep, playing her husband in the critically acclaimed four-part miniseries *Holocaust*, which received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Limited Series. After his film debut in Elia Kazan's *The Visitors*, he had supporting roles in films, including Sydney Pollack's *The Way We Were* and Arthur Penn's *Night Moves* (1975).

In 1979, he gained acclaim for his leading role as Gregory Powell in the crime thriller *The Onion Field*. Critic Roger Ebert praised Woods for this film, calling him "a special talent". Woods received a Golden Globe Award nomination for his performance.

Through the 1980s Woods appeared in films such as David Cronenberg's *Videodrome* (1983), Sergio Leone's *Once Upon a Time in America* (1984), and Oliver Stone's *Salvador* (1986), for which he received his first Academy Award nomination. Through the 1990s, he played character roles in Richard Attenborough's *Chaplin* (1992), Martin Scorsese's *Casino* (1995), Oliver Stone's *Nixon* (1995) and John Carpenter’s *Vampires* (1998). In 1997, Woods received his second Academy Award nomination for his performance as Byron De La Beckwith, the white supremacist murderer of civil rights leader Medgar Evers, in Rob Reiner's *Ghosts of Mississippi* (1996). Woods continued to act in supporting roles in Oliver Stone's *Any Given Sunday* (1999), Robert Zemeckis' *Contact* (1997), Clint Eastwood's *True Crime* and Sofia Coppola's *The Virgin Suicides* (1999).

He is also known for his roles in television films such as Bill W. in *My Name is Bill W.* (1989), Roy Cohn in *Citizen Cohn* (1992), and Rudy Giuliani in *Rudy: The Rudy Giuliani Story*. In May 20, 1995, Woods starred as Defense Attorney Danny Davis in *Indictment: The McMartin Trial*, a film made for television that originally aired on HBO. Based on the true story of the McMartin preschool trial, the film is cited as a watershed in the shift of opinion about satanic ritual abuse alleged to be widespread in daycare centers in the United States. In 2011, he made a career resurgence as Dick Fuld in *Too Big to Fail* on HBO. His performance received both a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for his performance. He is also known for his lead role in the CBS drama *Shark* (2006–2008), and his guest appearances in Showtime's *Ray Donovan* (2013). He is also known for his voice roles in the animated features *Hercules* (1997), *Recess: School's Out* (2001), *Stuart Little 2* (2002), and *Surf's Up* (2007) and for voice-acting as himself on various episodes of *Family Guy* and *The Simpsons*.

Woods has been nominated for two Academy Awards: one for Best Actor for his work in Oliver Stone's *Salvador* (1986) and another for Best Supporting Actor for Rob Reiner's *Ghosts of Mississippi* (1996). He is the recipient of two Primetime Emmy Awards for the television movies *Promise* (1987) and *My Name Is Bill W.* (1989). Woods has also received three Screen Actors Guild Award nominations and three Independent Spirit Award nominations. On October 15, 1998, Woods received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the Motion Pictures Category at 7021 Hollywood Blvd.

For Disney, he voiced one of Frollo's Soldiers in the 1996 animated film *The Hunchback of Notre Dame*.