Donald Moffat
| Donald Moffat | |
|---|---|
| Born |
26 December 1930 Plymouth, Devon, England, UK |
| Years active | 1956-2005 |
| Spouse(s) |
Anne Murray Ellsperman (1954-1968; divorced) 2 children Gwen Arner (1970-present); 2 children |
Donald Moffat (born 26 December 1930) is an English actor, long based in the United States.
Early life
Moffat was born in Plymouth, Devon, the only child of Kathleen Mary (née Smith) and Walter George Moffat, an insurance agent.[1] His parents ran a boarding house in Totnes. Completing his studies at the local King Edward VI School and national service in the Army, Moffat trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.
Career
Moffat began his career as a stage actor in London and New York. His first work was at the Old Vic Theatre Company in London. He joined APA (The Association of Producing Artists), a repertory company on Broadway, and was nominated for a Tony for Best Actor in a Play in 1967 for his roles in revivals of Henrik Ibsen's The Wild Duck and Pirandello's Right You Are If You Think You Are. He was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in the revival of Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh (1986) with Jason Robards. He won an Obie for Painting Churches. In 1998, he was nominated for a Gemini Award for his performance as attorney Joe Ruah in the CBC miniseries The Sleep Room. [2]
Among his best known film roles are as Lyndon B. Johnson in The Right Stuff (1983), the corrupt U.S. President in Clear and Present Danger, as well as Garry, the station commander in The Thing. He has appeared on television in Logan's Run, The West Wing, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman and Tales of the City, in which his performance as dying executive Edgar Halcyon earned him many new fans. He has also appeared in many Broadway and Off-Broadway plays, including the world premieres of John Guare's A Few Stout Individuals (as Ulysses S. Grant), Painting Churches, The Heiress, The Cherry Orchard, Much Ado About Nothing, The School for Scandal, The Affair and Hamlet. One of his last roles was as Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick in the HBO movie, 61*.
Selected TV and filmography
- The Battle of the River Plate (U.S. title Pursuit of the Graf Spee) (1956) as Swanston, Lookout, HMS Ajax (uncredited)
- Rachel, Rachel (1968) as Niall Cameron
- R. P. M. (1970) as Perry Howard
- The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid (1972) as Manning
- Showdown (1973) as Art Williams
- The Terminal Man (1974) as Dr. Arthur McPherson
- Earthquake (1974) as Dr. Harvey Johnson
- The Call of the Wild (1976) as Simpson
- Exo-Man (1977) as Wallace Rogers
- Logan's Run (TV series) (1977-1978) as Rem
- Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years (1977) as Harry Hopkins
- The Word (1978) as Henri Aubert
- Promises in the Dark (1979) as Dr. Walter McInerny
- On the Nickel (1980) as Sam
- Popeye (1980) as the Taxman
- The Long Days of Summer (1980) as Josef Kaplan
- The Chisholms CBS miniseries (1980) as Enos
- The Thing (1982) as Garry, the Station Commander
- The Right Stuff (1983) as U.S. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson
- License to Kill (1984) as Webster
- The Best of Times (1986) as the Colonel
- Monster in the Closet (1986) as General Franklin D. Turnbull
- The Bourne Identity (1988) as David Abbott; in the 2002 film version the role is re-imagined as Deputy Director Ward Abbott (played by Brian Cox)
- The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988) as Chief Surgeon
- Far North (1988) as Uncle Dane
- Music Box (1989) as Harry Talbot
- The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990) as Mr. McCoy
- Class Action (1991) as Quinn
- Regarding Henry (1991) as Charlie Cameron
- Housesitter (1992) as George Davis
- Love, Cheat & Steal (1993) as Frank Harrington
- Clear and Present Danger (1994) as the fictional President Bennett
- Trapped in Paradise (1994) as Clifford Anderson
- The Evening Star (1996) as Hector Scott
- The Sleep Room (1998) as Joe Ruah
- Cookie's Fortune (1999) as Jack Palmer
- 61* (2001) as Ford Frick
- The West Wing (2003) as Mr.Cregg (C.J.'s Father)
References
- ↑ Donald Moffat profile at FilmReference.com
- ↑ "The Sleep Room", The Canadian Historical Review, Volume 80, Number 4, December 1999 pp. 698-705
External links
- Donald Moffat at the Internet Movie Database
- Donald Moffat at the Internet Broadway Database
- Donald Moffat at the Internet Off-Broadway Database