Peter Weller: Difference between revisions
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==Personal life== |
==Personal life== |
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Weller had a relationship with actress [[Ali MacGraw]] in the late 1970s and early 1980s.<ref>[http://www.broadway.com/buzz/11207/peter-weller/ Peter Weller]</ref> |
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In 2004, Weller completed a [[master's degree]] in Roman and Renaissance Art at [[Syracuse University]] and occasionally taught courses in ancient history at the university. In 2007, Weller began a [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.]] at [[University of California, Los Angeles|UCLA]], in Italian Renaissance art history.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theflorentine.net/articles/article-view.asp?issuetocId=2576 |title=An interview with Peter Weller |publisher=Theflorentine.net |date=2007-10-18 |accessdate=2010-10-07}}</ref> He expected to complete his dissertation in late 2013.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.vulture.com/2013/05/peter-weller-star-trek-into-darkness-interview.html | title = Peter Weller on Star Trek, Getting His Ph.D., and Defending J.J. Abrams | accessdate = 2013-08-21 | last = Ebiri | first = Bilge | date = 20 May 2013 | work = vulture.com | quote = When is your dissertation due? 'I file it in October.'}}</ref> |
In 2004, Weller completed a [[master's degree]] in Roman and Renaissance Art at [[Syracuse University]] and occasionally taught courses in ancient history at the university. In 2007, Weller began a [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.]] at [[University of California, Los Angeles|UCLA]], in Italian Renaissance art history.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theflorentine.net/articles/article-view.asp?issuetocId=2576 |title=An interview with Peter Weller |publisher=Theflorentine.net |date=2007-10-18 |accessdate=2010-10-07}}</ref> He expected to complete his dissertation in late 2013.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.vulture.com/2013/05/peter-weller-star-trek-into-darkness-interview.html | title = Peter Weller on Star Trek, Getting His Ph.D., and Defending J.J. Abrams | accessdate = 2013-08-21 | last = Ebiri | first = Bilge | date = 20 May 2013 | work = vulture.com | quote = When is your dissertation due? 'I file it in October.'}}</ref> |
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Revision as of 20:11, 28 May 2014
Peter Weller | |
|---|---|
 Peter Weller in September 2011 | |
| Born | June 24, 1947 Stevens Point, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, film director, lecturer |
| Years active | 1973–present |
| Spouse |
Sherri Stowe (m. 2006) |
Peter Weller (born June 24, 1947) is an American film and stage actor, director and history lecturer.
Weller has appeared in more than 50 films and television series, including turns as the title characters in blockbuster hits RoboCop and RoboCop 2, and the cult classic The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension.[1] He has also appeared in such critically acclaimed films as Woody Allen's Mighty Aphrodite, the Oliver Stone-produced The New Age and David Cronenberg's movie of William Burroughs's novel Naked Lunch. He received an Academy Award nomination for his direction of the 1993 short Partners, in which he also acted. In television, he hosted the show Engineering an Empire on the History Channel. He also played Christopher Henderson in the fifth season of 24 and Stan Liddy in the fifth season of the Showtime original series Dexter.
Early life
Weller was born in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, the son of Dorothy Jean (née Davidson), a homemaker, and Frederick Bradford Weller, a lawyer, federal judge, and career helicopter pilot for the United States Army.[2][3] Weller had a "middle-class Catholic" upbringing.[4] As a result of his father's army work, Weller spent many years abroad during his childhood. His family lived in Germany for several years before eventually moving to Texas, where he attended Alamo Heights High School in San Antonio. While enrolled at North Texas State University (now the University of North Texas), he played trumpet in one of the campus bands. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre[5] and began his acting career after attending the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.[citation needed]
Career
Stage
Weller's stage career began in the 1970s with appearances on Broadway in Full Circle, directed by Otto Preminger, and Summer Brave, William Inge's rewrite of his play Picnic. About this time, he became a member of the famed Actors Studio.[6]
In December 2006, Weller starred as architect Frank Lloyd Wright at Chicago's Goodman Theatre in Frank's Home, a new play by Richard Nelson.
Film
Weller was in the 1984 film Firstborn with Corey Haim, where he played the abusive boyfriend of Haim's mother (played by Teri Garr).
Weller has appeared in more than 50 films and television series, including turns as the title characters in the cult classic The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, and blockbuster hits RoboCop and RoboCop 2.[7] He has also appeared in such critically acclaimed films as Woody Allen's Mighty Aphrodite, the Oliver Stone-produced The New Age and David Cronenberg's movie of William Burroughs's novel Naked Lunch.
In 1995, he appeared in Screamers, a science-fiction film based on the short story "Second Variety" by Philip K. Dick and directed by Christian Duguay.
Television
In a 1977 episode of the television series Lou Grant, he plays Oberster SA-Führer Donald Sterner/Stryker, a tragically disillusioned Jewish-American Neo-Nazi leader who later committed suicide off-screen with his Colt 45 near the end of the episode when his heritage was discovered.
Duguay would later direct Weller in the 2005–2007 television series Engineering an Empire for the History Channel, which Weller hosted.
On television, he played the shuttle captain in the short-lived series Odyssey 5 and made guest appearances as Terran supremacist John Frederick Paxton in the Star Trek: Enterprise episodes "Demons", "Terra Prime" and in Fringe as the character Alistair Peck.
Weller is a contributor to the History Channel in several productions, credited as "Peter Weller, Syracuse University", where he is an adjunct faculty member. He is a graduate student in art history at UCLA, focusing on the Italian Renaissance. Weller also hosts the series Engineering an Empire for the network.
In 2005, Weller co-starred as the Captain in a made-for-television remake of The Poseidon Adventure.
In 2006, Weller joined the cast of 24 as terrorist collaborator Christopher Henderson.[8] Weller received a "cheer" in TV Guide's "Cheers & Jeers" section for his performance.
On April 15, 2010, Weller guest-starred in an episode of the science fiction drama Fringe. He also guest-starred on the Showtime original series Dexter,[9] and had a guest appearance in the December 22, 2010 episode of Psych; where he played villain "Yin"[10] In 2013, Weller returned to the Star Trek franchise, with a role in the film Star Trek Into Darkness.
In 2013, he played the part of the villain in the remake of the "Hookman" episode of the original Hawaii Five-O. The part was originally played in 1973 by J. J. Armes. In season six of Sons of Anarchy, he plays a ruthless ex-cop who is a boss at the Stockton port and has dealings with the SAMCRO motorcycle club.
On January 15, 2010, Weller was seen in a teaser trailer for the companion documentary God of War: Unearthing the Legend that was featured in the game God of War III which Weller also hosted.[11]
Directing
Weller has also directed various projects for television, including episodes of Homicide: Life on the Street, Monk and three episodes of the aforementioned Odyssey 5. He directed a 1997 adaptation of Elmore Leonard's Gold Coast starring David Caruso and Marg Helgenberger after previously starring in a version of Leonard's thriller Cat Chaser. He has directed five episodes of the series Sons of Anarchy, two in Season 4, titled "Dorylus" (air date 9/20/11) and "Hands" and three in Season 5, titled "Authority Vested", "Toad's Wild Ride" and "Darthy".
Voice acting
On May 23, 2012 it was announced that Weller would be the voice of Bruce Wayne/Batman in the two-part animated adaptation of The Dark Knight Returns.[12]
Antonioni's avid fan
Weller is a fan of Italian filmmaker Michelangelo Antonioni, who directed him in Beyond the Clouds. In an interview in Cigar Aficionado magazine, he was quoted as saying:
There is no director living except maybe Kurosawa, Bergman, or Antonioni that I would fall down and do anything for. I met Antonioni three years ago in Taormina at a film festival. I introduced myself and told him that I adored his movies, his contributions to film, because he was the first guy who really started making films about the reality of the vacuity between people, the difficulty in traversing this space between lovers in modern day... and he never gives you an answer, Antonioni – that's the beautiful thing."[4]
Personal life
In 2004, Weller completed a master's degree in Roman and Renaissance Art at Syracuse University and occasionally taught courses in ancient history at the university. In 2007, Weller began a Ph.D. at UCLA, in Italian Renaissance art history.[13] He expected to complete his dissertation in late 2013.[14]
On June 24, 2006, he married longtime girlfriend and actress Shari Stowe at the Santa Maria Assuna church in Positano, Italy. It was also Weller's 59th birthday. Guests among the wedding were Carrie Fisher and Marg Helgenberger.[15]
Filmography
Director
Films
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Gold Coast | Director | Television film |
Actor
Films
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | The Man Without a Country | Lt. Fellows | Television film |
| 1975 | The Silence | Red Sash | Television film |
| 1979 | Butch and Sundance: The Early Days | Joe Le Fors | |
| 1980 | Just Tell Me What You Want | Steven Routledge | |
| 1982 | Shoot the Moon | Frank Henderson | |
| 1983 | Kentucky Woman | Deke Cullover | Television film |
| Two Kinds of Love | Joe Farley | Television film | |
| Of Unknown Origin | Bart Hughes | Paris Film Festival for Best Actor | |
| 1984 | The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension | Buckaroo Banzai | |
| Firstborn | Sam | ||
| 1986 | A Killing Affair | Baston Morris | |
| Apology | Rad Hungate | Television film | |
| 1987 | RoboCop | Officer Alex J. Murphy/RoboCop | Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Actor |
| 1988 | The Tunnel | Juan Pablo Castel | |
| Shakedown | Roland Dalton | ||
| 1989 | Leviathan | Steven Beck | |
| Cat Chaser | George Moran | ||
| 1990 | Women and Men: Stories of Seduction | Hobie | Television film |
| RoboCop 2 | RoboCop | ||
| Rainbow Drive | Mike Gallagher | Television film | |
| 1991 | Road to Ruin | Jack Sloan | |
| Naked Lunch | Bill Lee | Nominated – Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role | |
| 1992 | Fifty/Fifty | Jake Wyer | |
| 1993 | Partners | Doctor | Short television film Nominated – Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film |
| Sunset Grill | Ryder Hart | ||
| 1994 | The Substitute Wife | Martin Hightower | Television film |
| The New Age | Peter Witner | ||
| Lakota Woman: Siege at Wounded Knee | Uncredited | Television film | |
| 1995 | Present Tense, Past Perfect | Charles | Short television film |
| Beyond the Clouds | Husband | ||
| Screamers | Joe Hendricksson | ||
| Mighty Aphrodite | Jerry Bender | ||
| Decoy | Baxter | ||
| 1997 | End of Summer | Theo Remmington | Television film |
| 1998 | Top of the World | Ray Mercer | |
| The Sands of Time | John Shannon | Television film | |
| 1999 | Diplomatic Siege | Steve Mitchell | |
| 2000 | Shadow Hours | Stuart Chappell | |
| Falling Through | Lou | ||
| Contaminated Man | Joseph Müller | ||
| Ivans Xtc | Don West | Nominated – Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male | |
| Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula | Father Stefan | Television film | |
| 2001 | Styx | Nelson | |
| 2003 | The Order | Driscoll | |
| 2005 | Man of God | Rabbi | |
| Undiscovered | Wick Treadway | ||
| The Poseidon Adventure | Captain Paul Gallico | Television film | |
| 2006 | The Hard Easy | Ed Koster | |
| 2007 | Prey | Tom Newman | |
| Dating Vietnam | Jack Newton | ||
| 2010 | Once Fallen | Eddie | |
| 2012 | Dragon Eyes | Mr. V | |
| The Dark Knight Returns | Bruce Wayne/Batman | Animated film | |
| 2013 | Star Trek Into Darkness | Alexander Marcus | |
| 2014 | Skin Trade | Costello |
TV series
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Lou Grant | Donald Stryker | Episode: 1.5 "Nazi" |
| 1978 | Mourning Becomes Electra | Peter | Miniseries |
| 1987 | Faerie Tale Theatre | The Soldier | Episode: 6.3 "The Dancing Princesses" |
| 2002–2003 | Odyssey 5 | Chuck Taggart | Season 1: Episodes 1-19 |
| 2003 | The Handler | Gerard | Episode: 1.4 "Body of Evidence" |
| 2005 | Star Trek: Enterprise | John Frederick Paxton | Episodes: 4.20 "Demons", 4.21 "Terra Prime" |
| 2005–2007 | Engineering an Empire | Host | Documentary series |
| 2006 | 24 | Christopher Henderson | Season 5: 11 Episodes |
| Monk | Actor Playing Stottlemeyer | Episodes: 5.1 "Mr. Monk and the Actor" | |
| 2010 | Fringe | Alistair Peck | Episode: 2.18 "White Tulip" |
| Dexter | Stan Liddy | Episodes: Season 5 (8 episodes) | |
| Psych | Professor Karl Rotmensen/Yin | Episode: 5.16 "Yang 3 in 2D" | |
| 2011–2013 | Sons of Anarchy (TV series) | Charles Barosky / Director | Season: 4,5,6 |
| 2012 | House | Surgeon (also directed) | Episode: 8.20 "Post Mortem" |
| 2012–2013 | Longmire | Lucien Connally | Episodes: 1.6 "The Worst Kind of Hunter", 2.12 "A Good Death Is Hard To Find" |
| 2013 | Hawaii Five-0 (TV series) | Curt Stoner / Director | Episode: 3.15 "Hookman" |
Awards and nominations
- (1988) Saturn Award for Best Actor – RoboCop
- (1992) Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role – Naked Lunch
- (1993) Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film – Partners
- (2002) Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male – Ivans XTC
References
- ^ "TV: 'RoboCop' Heads to Miami for 'Dexter'!".
- ^ "Peter Weller Biography (1947–)". Filmreference.com. 1947-06-24. Retrieved 2010-10-07.
- ^ "Obituaries". pcgazette.com. Archived from the original on 2003-03-20. Retrieved 2010-10-07.
- ^ a b "People Profile | Peter Weller". Cigar Aficionado. 1996-03-01. Retrieved 2010-10-07.
- ^ "2014 Emerald Eagle Honors Honorees". University of North Texas. Retrieved February 8, 2014.
- ^ "Movies & TV: Peter Weller". The New York Times. Retrieved May 9, 2012.
- ^ "TV: 'RoboCop' Heads to Miami for 'Dexter'!".
- ^ "Peter Weller Joins Showtime's 'Dexter'".
- ^ "Peter Weller Joins Showtime's Dexter".
- ^ "'Psych' Season Finale Recap: Who Was Yin?".
- ^ Chester, Nick. "Awesome: RoboCop to Host God of War Documentary".
- ^ "Animated THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS Cast Announced".
- ^ "An interview with Peter Weller". Theflorentine.net. 2007-10-18. Retrieved 2010-10-07.
- ^ Ebiri, Bilge (20 May 2013). "Peter Weller on Star Trek, Getting His Ph.D., and Defending J.J. Abrams". vulture.com. Retrieved 2013-08-21.
When is your dissertation due? 'I file it in October.'
- ^ "'Robocop' Star Weds in Italy". Zap2It. June 29, 2006. Retrieved February 8, 2014.
External links
- Peter Weller at IMDb
- Peter Weller at the Internet Broadway Database
- Peter Weller at the TCM Movie Database
- Peter Weller at AllMovie
- History Channel's Engineering an Empire site
- "RoboCop in Rome!" New York Daily News
- "RoboCop, PhD" Wired News
- "RoboCop speaks to Detroit" Funny Or Die
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
| Warning | Local parameters are deprecated. |
- 1947 births
- Male actors from Wisconsin
- Alamo Heights High School alumni
- American Academy of Dramatic Arts alumni
- American male film actors
- American male television actors
- American television directors
- Living people
- Military brats
- Male actors from San Antonio, Texas
- People from Stevens Point, Wisconsin
- Syracuse University alumni
- University of North Texas alumni
- 20th-century American male actors
- 21st-century American male actors
- University of California, Los Angeles alumni