Scott Wilson (actor)
| Scott Wilson | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 29, 1942 Atlanta, Georgia  |
| Years active | 1967-present |
| Spouse | Heavenly Wilson (1977 - present) |
Scott Wilson (born March 29, 1942) is an American film and television actor. Wilson has more than fifty film credits from the 1960s to the 2010s, including In the Heat of the Night, The Great Gatsby, Dead Man Walking, Pearl Harbor , and Junebug.[1] In 1980, Wilson received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture for his role in The Ninth Configuration.[2][3]
More recently, Wilson joined the second season cast of the AMC television series, The Walking Dead, in 2011.[4] He plays veterinarian and Greene family patriarch, Hershel Greene.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Wilson is a native of Atlanta, Georgia.[2] He hitchhiked from Atlanta to Los Angeles with a friend in 1961.[2] His friend eventually returned to Georgia, while Wilson enrolled in an acting class and pursued the craft as his profession.[2]
[edit] Career
In his first film, Wilson played a murder suspect in the 1967's In the Heat of the Night, which starred Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger.[2]
His follow up was the 1967 film, In Cold Blood, based on the book of the same name by Truman Capote.[3] Wilson portrays real life criminal, Richard Hickock, while Robert Blake plays murderer, Perry Smith.[3] Film director Richard Brooks cast Wilson and Blake in the starring roles specifically because they were unknown actors at the time.[3] The director passed over better known actors, including Steve McQueen and Paul Newman, for the parts.[3] Wilson later explained Brooks' casting motivations saying, "Brooks hired two 'unknowns' and he wanted to keep it that way. We were treated like two killers he had somehow run across."[3]
The film earned Wilson an appearance on the cover of Life Magazine, published on May 12, 1967.[3] Wilson was just 24-years old at the time.[3] The cover features author Truman Capote standing between Wilson and Blake on an empty highway in Kansas.[3] The caption, Nightmare Revisited, appears with them on the cover.[3]
Wilson appeared in The Great Gatsby in 1974 opposite Robert Redford.[2]
He received a 1980 Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Ninth Configuration by director and friend, William Peter Blatty.[2][3] He lost the Golden Globe to actor Timothy Hutton. In 1995, Wilson received attention for his role as a prison chaplain in Dead Man Walking, starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn, based on the book of the same name by Sister Helen Prejean.[2][3]
Wilson's long filmography also includes The Gypsy Moths, The Right Stuff, A Year of the Quiet Sun, Malone, The Grass Harp, Junebug, The Host, Monster, Young Guns II, Pearl Harbor, Big Stan, Judge Dredd, the Shiloh film series and Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon. Wilson has filmed on location in South Korea, Japan and Spain.[2]
Aside from film, Wilson has acquired a long television resume as well. Most recently, Wilson held a recurring role in several episodes of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as Sam Braun, father of crime-scene investigator Catherine Willows (portrayed by actress Marg Helgenberger).[5] Braun was killed off in the episode "Built to Kill, Part 2". In the Fall of 2011, he also made a guest appearance opposite Laura Dern in the HBO series, Enlightened.
Wilson was cast as Dr. Hershel Greene in the second season of The Walking Dead in June 2011.[4] The role has earned Wilson positive reviews, including a "cheer" from TV Guide, which wrote that he had contributed "subtle shades of humanity to the character of Hershel Greene."[5] Wilson was offered the opportunity to join the show while visiting his 97-year-old mother in Georgia.[2] He has described his mother as "a fan of the show."[2]
Wilson reflected on his career in a 2011 interview with Access Atlanta's Rodney Ho, "It’s been up and down...It’s always been. You have dry spells. At different times, you are starting over. If you love it, you stay with it. That’s what I’m doing...I’ve accomplished more than I would have hoped to have accomplished...I don’t want to be a big movie star. I can be someone who walks the streets and not get mobbed. Yet I want to be as fine an actor as I can be. I am still striving for that – to be as good as I can be."[2] Wilson was filming scenes for The Walking Dead in Senoia, Georgia, at the time the interview took place.[2]
[edit] Filmography
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1967 | In the Heat of the Night | Harvey Oberst | |
| In Cold Blood | Richard Hickock | ||
| 1969 | Castle Keep | Corporal Clearboy | |
| The Gypsy Moths | Malcolm Webson | ||
| 1971 | The Grissom Gang | Slim Grissom | |
| 1972 | The New Centurions | Gus Plebesly | |
| 1973 | Lolly-Madonna XXX | Thrush | |
| 1974 | The Great Gatsby | George Wilson | |
| 1976 | The Passover Plot | Judah | |
| 1979 | La Ilegal | Police Officer | |
| 1980 | The Ninth Configuration | Captain Billy Cutshaw | Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture in 1980 |
| 1983 | The Right Stuff | Scott Crossfield | |
| 1984 | A Year of the Quiet Sun | Norman | |
| Downstream | Mitch | ||
| 1985 | The Aviator | Jerry Stiller | |
| 1987 | Malone | Paul Barlow | |
| 1989 | Johnny Handsome | Mikey Chalmette | |
| 1990 | La Cruz de Iberia | Johnson | |
| The Exorcist III | Dr. Temple | ||
| Young Guns II | Governor Lew Wallace | ||
| 1991 | Femme Fatale | Dr. Beaumont | |
| Pure Luck | Frank Grimes | ||
| 1993 | Flesh and Bone | Elliott | |
| Geronimo: An American Legend | Redondo | ||
| 1995 | Tall Tale | Zeb | |
| Judge Dredd | Pa Angel | ||
| The Grass Harp | Eugene Fenwick | ||
| Dead Man Walking | Chaplain Farlely | ||
| 1996 | Shiloh | Judd Travers | |
| 1997 | Our God's Brother | Adam Chmielowski | |
| G.I. Jane | Captain Salem | ||
| 1998 | Puraido: Unmei no toki | Prosecutor Joseph B. Keenan | |
| Clay Pigeons | Sheriff Dan Mooney | ||
| 1999 | Shiloh 2: Shiloh Season | Judd Travers | |
| The Debtors | |||
| 2000 | South of Heaven, West of Hell | Clete Monroe | |
| The Way of the Gun | Hale Chidduck | ||
| 2001 | The Animal | Mayor | |
| Pearl Harbor | General George Marshall | ||
| 2002 | Bark! | Harold | |
| Coastlines | Pa Mann | ||
| Don't Let Go | Jimmy Ray Stevens | ||
| 2003 | Monster | Horton / Last "John" | |
| The Last Samurai | Ambassador Swanbeck | ||
| 2005 | Junebug | Eugene Johnsten | |
| 2006 | Come Early Morning | Lowell Fowler | |
| Open Window | Eddie | ||
| Saving Shiloh | Judd Travers | ||
| The Host | U.S. Military doctor | ||
| Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon | Eugene | ||
| The Sensation of Sight | Tucker | ||
| 2007 | The Heartbreak Kid | Boo | |
| Big Stan | Warden Gasque | ||
| 2009 | Saving Grace B. Jones | Reverend Potter | |
| Bottleworld | Murray | ||
| For Sale by Owner | Dr. Banks | ||
| 2010 | Radio Free Albemuth | President Fremont | |
| 2011 | Dorfman | Winston Cooke Sr. | |
| 2012 | B4TM | Eugene | Film announced |
[edit] References
- ^ "Scott Wilson". The New Georgia Encyclopedia. http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Multimedia.jsp?id=m-10721. Retrieved 2012-02-15.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Ho, Rodney (2011-10-25). "A talk with Atlanta native Scott Wilson, who plays Hershel on ‘The Walking Dead’". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. http://blogs.ajc.com/radio-tv-talk/2011/10/25/a-talk-with-atlanta-native-scott-wilson-who-plays-hershel-on-the-walking-dead/. Retrieved 2012-02-15.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Lovell, Glenn (1996-03-17). "Actor Anonymous : Scott Wilson hopes 'Dead Man Walking' will lead to the visibility that has long eluded him in films". Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/1996-03-17/entertainment/ca-47869_1_scott-wilson. Retrieved 2012-02-15.
- ^ a b Ayres, Tom (2011-06-26). "'The Walking Dead' cast expands by two". Digital Spy. http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/s135/the-walking-dead/news/a326891/the-walking-dead-cast-expands-by-two.html. Retrieved 2012-02-15.
- ^ a b Fretts, Bruce (2011-11-28). "Cheers & Jeers: The Walking Dead's Great Scott Wilson". TV Guide. http://www.tvguide.com/News/Cheers-Jeers-Walking-1040191.aspx. Retrieved 2012-02-15.
