Stephen Lang (actor)
| Stephen Lang | |
|---|---|
 Lang at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con International |
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| Born | July 11, 1952 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1984–present |
| Spouse | Kristina Watson (1980-present) |
Stephen Lang (born July 11, 1952) is an American actor and playwright. He started in theatre on Broadway but is well known for his film portrayals of Stonewall Jackson in Gods and Generals (2003) and George Pickett in Gettysburg (1993), as well as for his 2009 roles as Colonel Miles Quaritch in Avatar and as Texan lawman Charles Winstead in Public Enemies. His most recent notable role is Commander Nathaniel Taylor in the 2011 television series Terra Nova.
Lang was the co-artistic director (along with Carlin Glynn and Lee Grant) of the famed Actor's Studio at its headquarters in New York City from 2004 to 2006.
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[edit] Personal life
Lang was born in New York City, the son of Theresa (née Volmer) and Eugene Lang, a prominent entrepreneur and philanthropist who has reportedly given away $150 million.[1][2] Eugene has never left his son or his siblings an inheritance, believing they each needed to learn to become self-sufficient.[3] Lang's mother is Irish Catholic, and his father is Jewish (Lang's paternal grandparents were immigrants from Hungary).[4][2][5]
Lang attended the school PS 178 in Jamaica Estates, Queens.[6][7] For high school he attended George School, a Quaker boarding school in Newtown, PA. He graduated from Swarthmore College in 1973 with a degree in English Literature; on May 30, 2010, Swarthmore awarded him an Honorary Degree from College in recognition of his distinguished career in theatre, television, and film.[8] His youngest son, Noah, received his bachelor's degree during the same ceremony.[9]
Lang has been married to Kristina Watson, a costume designer and teacher, since June 1, 1980. They have four children: Lucy, Daniel, Noah, and Grace.[1][2]
[edit] Career
Lang played Harold (Happy) Loman in the 1984 Broadway revival of Death of a Salesman and the 1985 television movie with Dustin Hoffman as Willie Loman and appeared in the first Hannibal Lecter film, Manhunter (1986), as reporter Freddy Lounds.[10] He played attorney David Abrams in the television series Crime Story (1986–88). He played the title role in the NBC movie Babe Ruth (1991). He later played the "One Armed Man" in the 2000 revival of The Fugitive starring Tim Daly. The series was a modest success but lasted only one season because of its large production budget.
In 1992, he was nominated for a Tony Award for his lead role in The Speed of Darkness. His film role in Last Exit to Brooklyn (1989) garnered him universal acclaim and Oscar buzz, but its limited release prevented the film from reaching a wider audience. On stage, he was the first to play the role of Colonel Nathan Jessup in A Few Good Men, a role made famous on film (1992) by Jack Nicholson. He is the winner of over half a dozen theatre awards including the Drama Desk and Helen Hayes awards.
In films, he played Maj. Gen. George E. Pickett in Gettysburg (1993) and as the lead role of Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson in Gods and Generals (2003), both from director Ronald F. Maxwell. He considers Gods and Generals to be his finest performance. Arguably, his most famous film role, before Avatar, was his portrayal of the villainous Ike Clanton in the successful Western Tombstone (1993) with Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer.
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Shortly before Arthur Miller's death in February 2005, Lang appeared in his long-time friend's last play, titled Finishing the Picture. It premiered in 2004 at Chicago's Goodman Theatre, where Lang had the second run of his own play Beyond Glory, which had premiered in Arlington, Virginia, early in 2004, and his Tony-nominated portrayal for The Speed of Darkness. Lang also performed Beyond Glory, a one-man show, for troops deployed overseas.[11] In 2006, he played the role of Colonel Littlefield in John Patrick Shanley's play Defiance. He brought Beyond Glory to Roundabout's Off-Broadway Laura Pels Theatre in 2007.[12] Since its New York City premiere, Beyond Glory has been nominated for a Drama Desk Award and a Lucille Lortel Award both for outstanding solo performance.[13][14]
Recently, he filmed a key role in the ESPN mini-series The Bronx is Burning, as well as roles in independent features Save Me and From Mexico With Love. He plays a lead role in James Cameron's sci-fi epic Avatar as the villainous Colonel Quaritch.[15]
In 2009, he appeared in Michael Mann's film Public Enemies as Texas Ranger Charles Winstead,[16] the man widely considered to have fired the shots that killed John Dillinger[17][18] and in Grant Heslov's The Men Who Stare at Goats alongside Jeff Bridges, Kevin Spacey, Ewan McGregor and George Clooney.[19]
Also in 2009, he narrated the audiobook Road Rage—which combines the short stories Duel by Richard Matheson and Throttle by Stephen King and Joe Hill—and guest-starred in the Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 8 finale, "Revolution" in the role of Axel Kaspers. In 2010 he performed the narration for "The Gettysburg Story: Battlefield Auto Tour,"[20] the top-selling audio tour of the Gettysburg Battlefield at Gettysburg National Military Park in Gettysburg, PA. Based on works by historian Gabor Boritt it tells the story of the Battle of Gettysburg and Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address in Gettysburg National Cemetery. It is now being adapted into a documentary film for Public Television for release in 2013 by Maryland Public Television.
Lang played the villain Khalar Zym in the 2011 Conan the Barbarian reboot starring Jason Momoa.[21] He also plays one of the leads, Nathaniel Taylor, in the Steven Spielberg-produced[22] TV series, Terra Nova.[23]
[edit] Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Death of a Salesman | Happy | |
| 1985 | Twice in a Lifetime | Keith | |
| 1986 | Band of the Hand | Joe | |
| 1986 | Manhunter | Freddy Lounds | |
| 1987 | Project X | Watts | |
| 1989 | Last Exit to Brooklyn | Harry Black | |
| 1991 | The Hard Way | Party Crasher | |
| 1991 | Another You | Dibbs | |
| 1992 | Human Cargo | Aramco Contractor | |
| 1993 | Guilty as Sin | Phil Garson | |
| 1993 | Gettysburg | Maj. Gen. George E. Pickett | |
| 1993 | Tombstone | Ike Clanton | |
| 1995 | Tall Tale | Jonas Hackett | |
| 1995 | The Amazing Panda Adventure | Michael Tyler | |
| 1996 | Loose Women | Prophet Buddy | |
| 1996 | Gang in Blue | Moose Tavola | |
| 1996 | An Occasional Hell | Alex Laughton | |
| 1997 | Shadow Conspiracy | The Agent | |
| 1997 | Niagara, Niagara | Claude | |
| 1997 | Fire Down Below | Earl Kellogg | |
| 1999 | Story of a Bad Boy | Spygo | |
| 2000 | Trixie | Jacob Slotnick | |
| 2001 | The Proposal | Simon Bacig | |
| 2002 | D-Tox | Jack | |
| 2003 | The I Inside | Mr. Travitt | |
| 2003 | Code 11-14 | Justin Shaw | |
| 2003 | Gods and Generals | Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson | Winner — MovieGuide Awards Grace Award for Acting |
| 2006 | The Treatment | Coach Galgano | |
| 2007 | Save Me | Ted | |
| 2008 | From Mexico with Love | Big Al Stevens | |
| 2009 | Public Enemies | Charles Winstead | |
| 2009 | The Men Who Stare at Goats | General Hopgood | |
| 2009 | Avatar | Col. Miles Quaritch | Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Villain Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best Fight (shared with Sam Worthington) |
| 2010 | Christina | Inspector Edgar Reinhardt | Best Actor - Buffalo Niagara Film Festival, Outstanding Achievement in Acting - Visionfest[24] |
| 2010 | False Creek Stories | Narrator | |
| 2010 | White Irish Drinkers | Patrick | |
| 2011 | Conan the Barbarian | Khalar Zym | |
| 2011 | Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You | Barry Rogers | |
| 2011 | Terra Nova | Nathaniel Taylor[25] |
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Stephen Lang Biography (1952-)". Filmreference.com. http://www.filmreference.com/film/63/Stephen-Lang.html. Retrieved 2010-05-30.
- ^ a b c Stark, John (1990-05-28). "Forgoing His Father's Millions, Stephen Lang Bootstraps to Acting Fame with the Help of a Few Good Men". People.com. http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20117770,00.html. Retrieved 2010-05-30.
- ^ Breitman, Rachel; Jones, Del (2006-07-26). "Heirs not-so-apparent?". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/money/2006-07-25-heirs-usat_x.htm.
- ^ smashinginterviews.com/interviews/actors/stephen-lang-interview-avatar-star-on-his-current-role-in-the-fox-sci-fi-series-terra-nova
- ^ Panarello, Joseph. "The Multiple Personalities of Stephen Lang". broadwayworld.com. http://www.broadwayworld.com/printcolumn.cfm?id=20371. Retrieved 2009-08-12.
- ^ "Stephen Lang Biography - Yahoo! Movies". Movies.yahoo.com. 1952-07-11. http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800023697/bio. Retrieved 2010-05-30.
- ^ Klein, Alvin (1998-04-19). "Stephen Lang, 'An Actor's Actor'". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9401E5DA173CF93AA25757C0A96E958260. Retrieved 2010-04-03.
- ^ Attendee of the ceremony for his son Sergio's graduation, Ricardo V Rivas, EA, president of the Texas Society of Enrolled Agents and http://www.swarthmore.edu/x28750.xml
- ^ http://www.swarthmore.edu/x28750.xml
- ^ "STEPHEN LANG - Bing Afbeeldingen". Search.msn.com. http://search.msn.com/images/results.aspx?q=STEPHEN+LANG&FORM=MSNH&mkt=en-. Retrieved 2010-05-30.
- ^ "In Step With: Stephen Lang". Parade Magazine. June 5, 2005. http://www.parade.com/articles/editions/2005/edition_06-05-2005/in_step_with_0.
- ^ Daniel Henninger (2007-08-09). "Wonder Land - WSJ.com". Opinionjournal.com. http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/dhenninger/?id=110010444. Retrieved 2010-05-30.
- ^ Dziemianowicz, Joe (2008-04-28). "Drama Desk nominees announced". New York: Nydailynews.com. http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/arts/2008/04/28/2008-04-28_drama_desk_nominees_announced.html?page=1. Retrieved 2010-05-30.
- ^ Lucille Lortel Awards, Lucille Lortel Foundation, Off-Broadway database. "Lucille Lortel Awards, Off-Broadway Awards". Lortel.org. http://www.lortel.org/LLF_awards/index.cfm?page=nominees. Retrieved 2010-05-30.
- ^ Thompson, Anne (2007-08-02). "Lang, Rodriguez armed for 'Avatar'". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117969650.html?categoryid=13&cs=1.
- ^ By (2008-04-02). "Crudup to play Hoover in 'Public' - Entertainment News, Film News, Media". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117983380.html?categoryid=13&cs=1. Retrieved 2010-05-30.
- ^ Biffle, Kent (6 August 2005). "Who drilled Dillinger? Credit goes to Texan". The Dallas Morning News. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/fea/texasliving/columnists/all/stories/0807dnlivbiffle.229d4704.html. Retrieved 15 July 2009.
- ^ John Dillinger: The Life and Death ... - Google Books. Books.google.com. 1933-05-22. http://books.google.com/books?id=9E1t-2ER7QcC&pg=RA3-PA401&lpg=RA3-PA401&dq=charles+winstead+killed+john+dillinger&source=web&ots=gUN80kRurS&sig=4lIUgg3Qcanpn6edSOqXDzP_DXw&hl=en. Retrieved 2010-05-30.
- ^ Kit, Borys (2008-10-10). "Rebecca Mader joins 'Goats' herd". Hollywoodreporter.com. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3i39aca7c440d50caa4674abf14f47d382. Retrieved 2010-05-30.[dead link]
- ^ http://GettysburgStory.com
- ^ Frappier, Rob. "Stephen Lang Talks ‘Conan’ Remake" Screen Rant; June 29, 2010
- ^ Sweney, Mark. "Fox unveils Steven Spielberg's Terra Nova as it hunts for new Simon Cowell" The Guardian; May 18, 2010
- ^ Rice, Lynette. "Stephen Lang joins Fox's 'Terra Nova'" Entertainment Weekly; September 14, 2010
- ^ http://christinathemovie.com/news.html
- ^ Hibberd, James (May 16, 2011). "Fox unveils 2011-12 fall and midseason schedules". Entertainment Weekly. http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/05/16/fox-2011-12-fall-schedule/. Retrieved May 16, 2011.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Stephen Lang (actor) |
- Stephen Lang at the Internet Movie Database
- Stephen Lang at the Internet Broadway Database
- Interview on Beyond Glory at the Pritzker Military Library
| Preceded by Estelle Parsons Vacant (2003-2004) |
Artistic Director of the Actors Studio 2004-2006 With: Carlin Glynn and Lee Grant |
Succeeded by Carlin Glynn Lee Grant |
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