Everett McGill
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Everett McGill | |
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| Born | October 21, 1945 |
| Occupation | Actor |
Everett McGill (born October 21, 1945) is an American actor, best known for mostly playing supporting roles in films like Licence to Kill, Silver Bullet, Dune, Yanks and Under Siege 2: Dark Territory.
Life and career
McGill was born Charles Everett McGill III in Miami Beach, Florida. He graduated from Rosedale High School in Kansas City, Kansas, in 1963.
McGill has a relatively short filmography, but has managed to garner some level of fame by appearing in films and television series with cult followings, including a stint as Chad Richards on the soap opera The Guiding Light in 1975 and 1976. After coming into the public eye in 1981 for his role as the rugged caveman leader Naoh in Quest for Fire, McGill appeared in Silver Bullet, a 1985 werewolf movie inspired by a Stephen King short story; the Korean War battle epic Field of Honor and the Clint Eastwood war film Heartbreak Ridge in 1986; and in the 1989 installment of the James Bond franchise, Licence to Kill.
While McGill is a great actor, some of his roles have not been good choices; Field of Honor was delayed for a year after its release due to its bad reception at Cannes. McGill would later redeem himself in other films like Licensed to Kill and The People Under The Stairs, where he plays an insanely racist, incestuous, and murderous cannibalistic landlord. His last performance in the silver screen would be in David Lynch's The Straight Story, where he plays Tom, a John Deere dealer/mechanic with calmness, gentleness, and dignity.
The actor is most widely recognized for his work with director David Lynch. McGill first worked with Lynch in the 1984 adaptation of Frank Herbert's Dune, in which he played Fremen leader Stilgar. McGill later appeared as a major character on the TV series Twin Peaks, in which he played Ed Hurley, a sensitive mechanic torn between his high school sweetheart, Norma Jennings, and his shrewish, one-eyed wife, Nadine. Ed and Norma's troubled romance was one of the show's major storylines. Subsequently, McGill also appeared in Lynch's 1999 film, The Straight Story, again as a mechanic.
In 1991, McGill and his Twin Peaks costar Wendy Robie appeared as the villains of the Wes Craven feature, The People Under the Stairs. He appeared in My Fellow Americans as Colonel Paul Tanner, and in Under Siege 2: Dark Territory as Marcus Penn, a mercenary.
Babylon 5 producer J. Michael Straczynski originally intended for McGill to play the role of Major Ryan in the episode "Severed Dreams". He did not know McGill's first name, however, so when he asked to have McGill contacted, Straczynski was asked if he meant Bruce McGill, to which he replied, "yes". Even though it became apparent to Straczynski when Bruce McGill met him for lunch that this was not the McGill he expected, Straczynski decided to use Bruce McGill anyway.[citation needed] The movie "O Brother Where Art Thou" features a character Ulysses Everett Mcgill played by George Clooney. The name was inspired by the actor Everett Mcgill, born Charles Everett Mcgill, who played in several movies, notably "Heartbreak Ridge" with Clint Eastwood.