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Peter Weller

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Peter Weller
Weller at Paradise City Comic Con in 2016
Born
Peter Frederick Weller

(1947-06-24) June 24, 1947 (age 77)
Stevens Point, Wisconsin, U.S.
EducationAlamo Heights High School
Alma materUniversity of North Texas (BA)
Syracuse University (MA)
University of California, Los Angeles (PhD)
Occupations
  • Actor
  • television director
Years active1973–present
Spouse
Shari Stowe
​
(m. 2006)​
Children1
Academic background
ThesisAlberti Before Florence: Early Sources Informing Leon Battista Alberti's De Pictura (2014)

Peter Frederick Weller (born June 24, 1947) is an American actor, art historian,[1] and television director.

He has appeared in more than 70 films and television series, including RoboCop (1987) and its sequel RoboCop 2 (1990), in which he played the titular character; The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984); and Star Trek Into Darkness (2013).[2] He appeared in such films as Woody Allen's Mighty Aphrodite (1995), the Oliver Stone-produced The New Age (1994), and David Cronenberg's adaptation of William Burroughs's novel Naked Lunch (1991).

In addition to a Saturn Award nomination for his RoboCop role, he received an Academy Award nomination for his 1993 short Partners, in which he also acted. In television, he hosted the program Engineering an Empire on the History Channel from 2005 to 2007. He played Christopher Henderson in the fifth season of 24, Stan Liddy in the fifth season of the Showtime original series Dexter, and Charles "Charlie" Barosky in 11 episodes in the sixth season of Sons of Anarchy. From 2012 to 2017, he was involved in the A&E (now Netflix) series Longmire as a director and actor. In 2017, he appeared on The Last Ship as Dr. Paul Vellek.

He holds a Ph.D. in Italian Renaissance Art History from UCLA.

Early life and education

Weller was born June 24, 1947, in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, the son of Dorothy Jean (née Davidson; 1924–2002),[3][4] a homemaker, and Frederick Bradford Weller (1922–1986),[5] a lawyer, federal judge, and career helicopter pilot for the United States Army.[6][7] Weller had a "middle-class Catholic" upbringing and is of English, German, French and Irish descent.[8][9] As a result of his father's army work, Weller spent many years abroad during his childhood. His family lived in West Germany for several years before eventually moving to Texas, where he attended Alamo Heights High School in San Antonio, graduating in 1965.

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 degree in Theatre in 1969,[10] and began his acting career after attending the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (Class of 1972).[11]

In 2004, Weller completed a Master of Arts degree in Roman and Renaissance Art at Syracuse University, and occasionally taught courses in ancient history at the university. In 2007, he began a Ph.D. at UCLA in Italian Renaissance Art History.[12] In October 2013 he filed his dissertation,[13] "Alberti Before Florence: Early Sources Informing Leon Battista Alberti’s De pictura", and was awarded his doctorate in 2014.[14][15]

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 Actors Studio.[16]

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.[citation needed]

Film

Weller appeared in the 1984 film Firstborn with Christopher Collet, 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 Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984), and blockbuster hits RoboCop (1987) and RoboCop 2 (1990),[2] he portrayed Starfleet Admiral Alexander Marcus in Star Trek Into Darkness in 2013. He has appeared in such critically acclaimed films as Woody Allen's Mighty Aphrodite (1995), the Oliver Stone-produced The New Age (1994) and David Cronenberg's movie of William Burroughs's novel Naked Lunch (1991).

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 played Donald Sterner/Stryker, a tragically disillusioned Jewish-American Neo-Nazi leader who later committed suicide off-screen when his heritage was discovered.

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 was a contributor to the History Channel in several productions, particularly as the host for the series Engineering an Empire. He was credited as "Peter Weller, Syracuse University", where he was an adjunct faculty member. He was later a graduate student in art history at UCLA, focusing on the Italian Renaissance.

In 2005, Weller co-starred as the Captain in a made-for-television remake of The Poseidon Adventure.

Weller at the Texas Theater in Dallas, Texas, in 2012

In 2006, Weller joined the cast of 24 as terrorist collaborator Christopher Henderson.[17] Weller received a "cheer" in TV Guide's "Cheers & Jeers" section for his performance.

On January 15, 2010, Weller appeared 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.[18]

On April 15, 2010, Weller guest-starred in an episode of the science fiction drama Fringe. He guest-starred on the Showtime original series Dexter,[19] and had a guest appearance in the December 22, 2010 episode of Psych where he played villain "Yin".[20]

Since 2012, he is appearing in a recurring role as Lucien Connally on the crime drama television series Longmire.

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 Jay J. Armes. In seasons six and seven of Sons of Anarchy, he plays the ruthless ex-cop Charles Barosky, a boss at the Stockton port and has dealings with the SAMCRO motorcycle club.

In 2017, Weller began appearing as Dr. Paul Vellek, a scientist, on The Last Ship.[21]

Directing

Weller has directed various projects for television, including episodes of Homicide: Life on the Street, Monk and three episodes of 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 (1989). He has directed eleven episodes of the series Sons of Anarchy, two in season 4, titled "Dorylus" and "Hands", three in season 5, titled "Authority Vested", "Toad's Wild Ride" and "Darthy", three in season 6, titled "One One Six", "Los Fantasmas" and "Aon Rud Pearsanta", and three in season 7, titled "Some Strange Eruption", "What a Piece of Work Is Man" and "Suits of Woe". He has directed one episode each season of Longmire since 2012.

Since 2018, Weller has directed episodes "Guts + Fuel + Hope" and "Banh Bao + Sterno + Drill + Burner + Mason" of MacGyver, and episodes "Cry Murder" and "Whispers of Death" of Magnum P.I..

Voice acting

Weller voiced the character of Bruce Wayne / Batman in the two-part 2012–13 animated adaptation of The Dark Knight Returns,[22] and the titular character in the video game Wilson's Heart.[23] He returned to voice RoboCop in a series of commercials for KFC in 2019 and Mortal Kombat 11.[24][25][26]

Personal life

In 1980, Weller met Ali MacGraw, during the making of Just Tell Me What You Want. They had an on-off relationship for several years.[27]

On June 24, 2006, on his 59th birthday, Weller married his longtime girlfriend, actress Shari Stowe, at the Santa Maria Assunta church in Positano, Italy. Among the guests attending the wedding were Carrie Fisher and Marg Helgenberger.[28]

Awards and nominations

Filmography

Feature film

Year Title Role Notes
1979 Butch and Sundance: The Early Days Joe LeFors
1980 Just Tell Me What You Want Steven Routledge
1982 Shoot the Moon Frank Henderson
1983 Of Unknown Origin Bart Hughes Paris Film Festival for Best Actor
1984 The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension Buckaroo Banzai
1984 Firstborn Sam
1986 A Killing Affair Baston Morris
1987 RoboCop Alex Murphy / RoboCop Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Actor
1988 The Tunnel Juan Pablo Castel
1988 Shakedown Roland Dalton
1989 Leviathan Steven Beck
1989 Cat Chaser George Moran
1990 RoboCop 2 Alex Murphy / RoboCop
1991 Road to Ruin Jack Sloan
1991 Naked Lunch William "Bill" Lee Nominated – Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
1992 Fifty/Fifty Jake Wyer
1993 Sunset Grill Ryder Hart
1994 The New Age Peter Witner
1995 Beyond the Clouds Husband
1995 Screamers Commander Joseph A. Hendricksson
1995 Mighty Aphrodite Jerry Bender
1995 Decoy Baxter
1998 Top of the World Ray Mercer
1999 Diplomatic Siege Steve Mitchell
2000 Shadow Hours Stuart Chappell
2000 Falling Through Lou
2000 Contaminated Man Joseph Müller
2000 Ivans Xtc Don West Nominated – Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male
2001 Styx Nelson Direct-to-video
2003 The Order Driscoll
2005 Man of God Rabbi
2005 Undiscovered Wick Treadway
2006 The Hard Easy Ed Koster
2007 Prey Tom Newman
2007 Dating Vietnam Jack Newton
2010 Once Fallen Eddie
2011 Forced to Fight Danny 'Danny G.'
2012 Dragon Eyes Police Chief Victor 'Mr. V' Swann
2012–2013 Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Bruce
Wayne /
Batman
(voice) 		Direct-to-video
2013 Repentance Meyer
2013 Star Trek Into Darkness Admiral Alexander Marcus
2015 Skin Trade Captain Costello
2017 Yamasong: March of the Hollows Brujt
2022 In Search of Tomorrow Himself Documentary

Television film

Year Title Role Notes
1973 The Man Without a Country Lieutenant Fellows
1975 The Silence 'Red' Sash
1983 Kentucky Woman Deke Cullover
1983 Two Kinds of Love Joe Farley
1986 Apology Rad Hungate
1990 Women & Men: Stories of Seduction Hobie
1990 Rainbow Drive Mike Gallagher
1994 Partners Doctor Short film; also Director and Writer
Nominated – Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film
1994 The Substitute Wife Martin Hightower
1994 Lakota Woman: Siege at Wounded Knee Uncredited
1995 Present Tense, Past Perfect Charles
1997 End of Summer Theo Remmington
1997 Gold Coast — Director and executive producer
1998 Tower of the Firstborn John Shannon
2000 Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula Father Stefan
2005 The Poseidon Adventure Captain Paul Gallico

Television series

Year Title Role(s) Channel Notes
1977 Lou Grant Donald Stryker CBS Episode: "Nazi"
1995–1996 Homicide: Life on the Street - NBC Director
Episodes: "Hate Crimes"
"White Lies"
1997 Michael Hayes - CBS Director
Episode: "The Doctor's Tale"
2002–2003 Odyssey 5 Chuck Taggart Space 19 (20) episodes
2005 Star Trek: Enterprise John Frederick Paxton UPN Episodes:
2005–2007 Engineering an Empire - History Channel Host (14 episodes)
2006 Monk – USA Network Director
Episode: "Mr. Monk, Private Eye"
2006 Monk Actor Playing Stottlemeyer USA Network Episode: "Mr. Monk and the Actor"
2006 24 Christopher Henderson Fox 11 episodes
2007 Las Vegas — NBC Director
Episode: "A Cannon Carol"
2010 Fringe Scientist Alistair Peck Fox Episode: "White Tulip"
2010 Psych Mr. Yin USA Network 2 episodes
2010 Dexter Stan Liddy Showtime 8 episodes
2013–2014 Sons of Anarchy Charlie Barosky FX 10 episodes
2012 House Dr. Penza Fox Episode: "Post Mortem"
Also director
2012 The Mob Doctor — Fox Director
Episode: "Confessions"
2012–2017 Longmire Lucian Connally A&E
Netflix 		Also director
4 episodes
2013 Hawaii Five-0 Curt Stoner CBS Episode: "Hookman"
2013–2018 Hawaii Five-0 — CBS Director
15 episodes
2014 The Strain — FX Director
3 episodes
2014–2015 Under the Dome — CBS Director
Episode: "The Red Door" (2014)
Episode: "But I'm Not" (2015)
2015–2018 The Last Ship Dr. Paul Vellek TNT 8 episodes as director
Recurring role in season 4
2015–2016 Tyrant — FX Director
Episode: "Zanjir"
Episode: "Bedfellows"
Episode: "How to Live"
2015 Sleepy Hollow — Fox Director
Episode: "I, Witness"
2015–2016 Salem — WGN America Director
Episode: "The Dark Wine Sea"
Episode: "Wednesday's Child"
2016 Rush Hour — CBS Director
Episode: "Two Days or The Number of Hours Within the Time Frame"
2016 Outsiders — WGN America Director
Episode: "Long Live the Bre'lin"
2016 Game of Silence — NBC Director
Episode: "Road Trip"
2017 Shades of Blue — NBC Director
Episode: "Fracture"
Episode: "House Divided"
2018–2021 MacGyver Elliot Mason CBS Director — 3 episodes
Actor — 3 episodes
2018 Forever The Traveler Amazon Prime 2 episodes
2018 Mr. Mercedes — Audience Director
Episode: "Andale"
2018–2019 Mayans MC — FX Director
Episode: "Rata/Ch'o"
Episode: "Tohil"
2018–2021 Magnum P.I. — CBS Director
5 episodes
2020 JJ Villard's Fairy Tales Sergeant Hardcop Adult Swim Voice; 2 episodes
2022 Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities Lionel Lassiter Netflix Episode: "The Viewing"
2023 Rabbit Hole Crowley Paramount+ 3 episodes

Video games

Year Title Voice role Note(s)
2005 Codename: Panzers – Phase Two Jeffrey S. Wilson
2014 Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff RoboCop
2016 Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare Caleb Thies "Know your enemy" trailer only, uncredited
2017 Wilson's Heart Robert Wilson
2020 Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath RoboCop
2023 RoboCop: Rogue City RoboCop

References

  1. ^ Dafoe, Taylor (2018-08-14). "The Actor Who Played Robocop Is Now an Art Historian, and He's Returning to Detroit to Face a New Threat: 'The Crisis of Beauty'". Artnet News. Retrieved 2023-09-08.
  2. ^ a b "TV: 'RoboCop' Heads to Miami for 'Dexter'!". 13 July 2010.
  3. ^ "Dorothy Jean Davidson". bigalke.biz. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  4. ^ "Jean Davidson Weller". Dallas Morning News. 7 December 2002. Archived from the original on 18 September 2022. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
  5. ^ "Frederick Bradford Weller". bigalke.biz. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  6. ^ "Peter Weller Biography (1947–)". Filmreference.com. 1947-06-24. Retrieved 2010-10-07.
  7. ^ "Obituaries". pcgazette.com. Archived from the original on 2003-03-20. Retrieved 2010-10-07.
  8. ^ "People Profile | Peter Weller". Cigar Aficionado. 1996-03-01. Archived from the original on 2010-07-01. Retrieved 2010-10-07.
  9. ^ "What Happened to Peter Weller- News & Updates". gazettereview.com. 18 September 2016. Retrieved 2022-12-04.
  10. ^ "2014 Emerald Eagle Honors Honorees". University of North Texas. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved February 8, 2014.
  11. ^ "Peter Weller, Class of 1972". AADA.edu. American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
  12. ^ "An interview with Peter Weller". theflorentine.net. 2007-10-18. Retrieved 2010-10-07.
  13. ^ 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.'
  14. ^ "Ph.D. Recipients". 2014. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
  15. ^ "STLV: Pegg: Scotty Not A 'Clown' – Talks Accent & Star Trek 2016 + Weller: Marcus Not 'Villain' + more". TrekMovie.com. 3 August 2014. Yes you read that sentence right: Dr. Peter Weller, who recently completed a PhD in Italian history. And he didn't let you forget it, including correcting one fan who addressed him as "Mister Weller."
  16. ^ "Movies & TV: Peter Weller". The New York Times. Retrieved May 9, 2012.
  17. ^ "Peter Weller Joins Showtime's 'Dexter'". 13 July 2010.
  18. ^ Chester, Nick (19 January 2010). "Awesome: RoboCop to Host God of War Documentary".
  19. ^ "Peter Weller Joins Showtime's Dexter". 15 October 2012.
  20. ^ "'Psych' Season Finale Recap: Who Was Yin?".
  21. ^ "The Last Ship Exclusive: Peter Weller Gets Tom Ready to Fight". 25 August 2017.
  22. ^ "Animated THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS Cast Announced". Archived from the original on 2012-05-27. Retrieved 2012-05-23.
  23. ^ "Wilson's Heart is a bold VR mash-up of game styles and film genres". 27 March 2017.
  24. ^ "Meet Colonel RoboCop, KFC's Latest Colonel Sanders - Extended Feature". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-12. Retrieved 2019-02-22.
  25. ^ "Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath – Official Reveal Trailer". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-12. Retrieved 2020-05-06.
  26. ^ Boon, Ed [@noobde] (May 6, 2020). "Also FYI: That IS Peter Weller's voice as Robocop. :) #MortalKombat11Aftermath" (Tweet). Retrieved May 6, 2020 – via Twitter.
  27. ^ "Once in Love with Ali". Zap2It. February 3, 2010. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  28. ^ "'Robocop' Star Weds in Italy". Zap2It. June 29, 2006. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved February 8, 2014.
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