Some actors just get a perfect start to their career. David Strathairn's first role was in John Sayles' Return Of The Secaucus 7 and he never looked back. His is a rare acting career that started in film without TV or theatre beforehand. Those came later. A very recognisable character actor who rarely snags a main role but always steals the screen. And one so skillful that when he does get head billing he also gets nominated for every acting award going including Oscar himself. He has the head of doctor/judge/lawyer and not surprisingly plays them often but his most interesting roles are the ones where he takes a different tact. David might be better known than most of the actors in this series but he's still an actor you rarely see mentioned.
He was one of the infamous Chicago Red Sox players banned forever after the mafia scandal of 1919 and he was used by Carmela Soprano for selfish purposes. He played a CIA director on the hunt for amnesiac super assassins and a navy admiral on the hunt for a gigantic city destroying Japanese nuclear lizard. Memorably took on the NSA as a visually impaired hacker and was great as a senator angered by bondage pics of Bettie Page. Played both scumbag criminals in John Grisham adaptions and scumbag fathers in Stephen King adaptions. He's been emasculated by Kevin Bacon in the wild and been John Sayle's muse turning up in no less than seven of his films. He's faced off against both Crockett & Tubbs and the Equalizer. Been a colonel in charge of a Memphis Belle led bombing mission in nazi Germany and been in charge of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during World War 2. I was about to say he's done everything except a western but nope, there's one in there too. In fact the only thing he hasn't done is lower his standards over the years. A glimpse through his career shows nothing but quality viewing. Good man. Long may he grace our screen with his presence.
Greatest hits
Sneakers. Whistler. The blind phone hacker entrusted with solving clues with his super hearing. Gets the funniest line in the whole film too.
L.A. Confidential. Pierce Patchett, smut peddlar and purveyor of women cut to look like movie stars. A respectable looking man hiding a venal and scummy centre.
The River Wild. Tom Hartman. Husband to Meryl Streep. You think he's going to be the hero but come on, it's Meryl Streep. She doesn't need saving. A great everyman character though.
Good Night And Good Luck. Edward R. Murrow an American broadcaster and one of the few people brave enough to take a stance against Joseph McCarthy and his communist witchhunt that tore American society apart in the 1950's. A brilliant part that should have won him every award he was nominated for.
Previous heroes
Frankie Faison
Conchata Ferrell
Dick Miller
Veronica Cartwright
Edie McClurg
Barry Shabaka Henley
Raymond Cruz
Reg E.Cathey
Elizabeth McGovern
John Amos
Bruce Greenwood
Mary McDonnell
Gerald McSorley
John Rothman
Margo Martindale
Kurtwood Smith
Paula Malcolmson
Luis Guzman
David Morse
Linda Hunt
Keith David
Zeljko Ivanek
Fiona Shaw
Xander Berkeley
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa
C.C.H Pounder
William Forsythe
Beth Grant
Sven-Ole Thorsen
Regina King
Ric Young
Mark Rolston
Illeana Douglas
Jeanette Goldstein
Al Leong
Allan Graf
Bill Nunn
Thomas Rosales Jr
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