Jump to content

Ken Howard

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Floanne (talk | contribs) at 03:55, 25 September 2009 (added SAG election result). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

For other uses, see Ken Howard (disambiguation).
Ken Howard
Born
Kenneth Joseph Howard Jr.

Kenneth Joseph "Ken" Howard, Jr. (born March 28, 1944) is an Emmy- and Tony Award-winning American actor, best known for his roles as Thomas Jefferson in 1776 and the television show The White Shadow as basketball coach and former Chicago Bulls player Ken Reeves. He was elected to be the president of the Screen Actor's Guild in September 2009.

Early life

Howard was born in El Centro, California, the son of Martha Carey (née McDonald) and Kenneth Joseph Howard, Sr.[1] His younger brother, the late Don Howard, was also an actor. He stands approximately 6'6" (1.98 m) which in high school earned him the nickname "Stork."

He grew up in the Long Island community of Manhasset, New York,[2] He attended Manhasset High School, where he started on the basketball team.[3] He turned down several offers of basketball scholarships after high school in favor of a more focused academic education.[4] He is a graduate of Amherst College where he was a member of the a capella singing group, "The Zumbyes". He attended Yale School of Drama[5] but left to make his Broadway debut before completing his master's degree.

Career

Howard began his career on Broadway in Promises, Promises with Jerry Orbach. In 1970, he won a Tony Award as Best Supporting or Featured Actor (Dramatic) for Child's Play. Howard later starred on Broadway as Thomas Jefferson in 1776 (a role he reprised in the 1972 film) and in Seesaw in 1973 andThe Norman Conquests in 1975. He is known for his portrayal of US Presidents, including the Broadway musical 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in 1976, and as Warren G. Harding in Camping with Harry and Tom in 1995. He has appeared in legitimate theater all over the country, most recently as Tip O'Neill in a one-man show in Boston, According to Tip, at the New Repertory Theater in Watertown.[6]

On television, he appeared was as Ken Reeves, a Los Angeles high school basketball coach, in The White Shadow produced by Bruce Paltrow in 1978. (The nickname was given to him in 1961 by the Long Island press when he was the only Caucasian starter on the Manhasset High School varsity basketball team.) In 1981 he won a Daytime Emmy Award for his performance as the ideal father in the CBS afternoon special The Body Human: Facts for Boys. Additional credits include "Sidney Sheldon's Rage of Angels, 1983" and the 2000 miniseries Perfect Murder, Perfect Town and the feature film Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story, both co-starring Kris Kristofferson. Howard has had starring roles in the 1973 TV series Adam's Rib with his good friend, Blythe Danner and The Manhunter in 1974. He played the title character in the 1984 American Playhouse production of Mark Twain's Pudd'nhead Wilson. He was a regular on the television series Murder, She Wrote as guest sleuth with Angela Lansbury and later in Crossing Jordan as Jill Hennessey's father in 2001. Later, he starred as Garrett Boydston in Dynasty and its spin-off The Colbys. He was guest villain in Hart to Hart Returns with Stephanie Powers and Robert Wagner a 1993 made for TV movie. Howard appeared in season one of The West Wing as President Bartlett's first choice for U.S. Supreme Court Justice in the episode "The Short List". He has guest starred in The Practice, Boston Legal and in an episode of The Golden Girls as one of Blanche's many lovers. In 2007, he appeared as the primary villain in the critically acclaimed series Cane with Jimmy Smits.

He made his movie debut in 1970 in Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon opposite Liza Minnelli. He has appeared in numerous movies since, in both dramatic and comedy roles, including: Oscar with Sylvester Stallone in 1991, Clear and Present Danger with Harrison Ford in 1994, and The Net with Sandra Bullock in 1995, In Her Shoes in 2005. In 2007, Howard appeared in Rambo again with Sylvester Stallone, and Michael Clayton as the villain to George Clooney's hero.

He gave an acclaimed performance as Phelan Beale in the 2009 HBO film Grey Gardens playing opposite Jessica Lange, for which he received an Emmy Award.[7]

Howard is the author of Act Natural: How to Speak to Any Audience,[8] based on the drama courses he has taught at Harvard University. He is a popular reader of books on cassette.

Personal life

He has been married to Linda Fetters, a stuntwoman, since 1992 and they reside in the Los Angeles, California area. Prior to that he was married to Margo Coleman, known professionally as Margo Howard, the daughter of Ann Landers, from 1977 - 1991, and before that to TV soap opera actress, Louise Sorel, from 1973 - 1976, when they divorced.

Howard is very active and supportive of the National Kidney Foundation, serving as its Chancellor.[9] He had a kidney transplant in 2000.

Ken Howard is the owner of two popular restaurants in the Boston area, Rustic Kitchen and Mario's Place.

Stage Productions

Filmography

References

  1. ^ Ken Howard Biography (1944-)
  2. ^ Tarshis, Alex. "Hanging Out in the NBA TV Green Room With ... Ken Howard", NBA.com. Accessed November 23, 2007. "A native of Manhasset, N.Y., Howard had basketball in his blood well before the "The White Shadow" debuted, having played in both high school and college, serving as the captain on his Amherst College team before he attended the Yale School of Drama."
  3. ^ Ken Howard profile, The New York Times. Accessed November 23, 2007.
  4. ^ http://www.starpulse.com/Actors/Howard,_Ken/
  5. ^ http://drama.yale.edu/
  6. ^ http://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/2008/06/14/tipping_point/?page=1
  7. ^ http://cdn.emmys.tv/awards/primetimeawards.php
  8. ^ http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9781588363039
  9. ^ http://www.kidney.org/about/board.cfm


Template:Persondata

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ken_Howard&oldid=316059505"