Stephen Lang
Stephen Lang | |
|---|---|
 Lang in February 2014. | |
| Born | July 11, 1952 New York City, New York, United States |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, playwright |
| Years active | 1984–present |
| Spouse |
Kristina Watson (m. 1980) |
| Children | 4 |
| Parent(s) | Eugene Lang Theresa Volmer |
| Relatives | Jane Lang (sister) |
Stephen Lang (born July 11, 1952) is an American actor and playwright. He started in Broadway theatre, but is more widely known for his film roles in Gods and Generals (2003) and Avatar (2009). From 2004 to 2006, he was a co-artistic director of the Actors Studio.
Personal life
Lang was born in New York City, the youngest child of Theresa (née Volmer, d. 2008) and Eugene Lang, a prominent entrepreneur and philanthropist.[1] He has two elder siblings - Jane, an attorney and activist, and David, who served as an executive at REFAC, the company their father founded in 1952.[2] Lang's father has donated much of his net worth (in excess of $150 million) to charity and will not leave an inheritance to his children, believing they each needed to learn to become self-sufficient.[3] Lang's mother was of German-Irish Catholic descent, and his father is Jewish (Lang's paternal grandparents were immigrants from Hungary).[2][4]
Lang attended school in Jamaica Estates, Queens.[5][6] 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.[7] His youngest son, Noah, received his bachelor's degree during the same ceremony.[7] He also holds an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Jacksonville University and was an artist in residence at Northeastern University in 2011.[8] In the fall of 2015, Lang served as a Jury Member for the Woodstock Film Festival.[1]
Lang has been married to Kristina Watson, a costume designer and teacher, since June 1, 1980. They have four children.[1][2]
Career
Lang played Harold (Happy) Loman in the 1984 Broadway revival of Death of a Salesman and the 1985 television film with Dustin Hoffman as Willy Loman, and appeared in the first Hannibal Lecter film Manhunter (1986), as reporter Freddy Lounds.[9] 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 widespread critical acclaim, 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 the lead role of Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson in the Gettysburg prequel 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.[10] 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.[11] 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.[12][13]
Lang has a 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.[14]
In 2009, he appeared in Michael Mann's film Public Enemies as Texas Ranger Charles Winstead,[15] the man widely considered to have fired the shots that killed John Dillinger[16][17] and in Grant Heslov's The Men Who Stare at Goats alongside Jeff Bridges, Kevin Spacey, Ewan McGregor and George Clooney.[18]
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,"[19] the top-selling audio tour of the Gettysburg Battlefield at Gettysburg National Military Park in Gettysburg, PA. Written and produced by filmmaker Jake Boritt and 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. Lang is also the narrator of the companion Public Television documentary The Gettysburg Story presented by Maryland Public Television.
Lang played the villain Khalar Zym in the 2011 Conan the Barbarian reboot starring Jason Momoa.[20] He also played one of the leads, Nathaniel Taylor, in the Steven Spielberg-produced[21] TV series Terra Nova.[22]
In February 2012, he signed on to play Mary Shannon's estranged father in a three episode arc on the final season of the USA television series In Plain Sight.[23]
In 2013 Lang appeared in The Monkey's Paw for Chiller TV.
Lang has been confirmed as reprising his role as Colonel Miles Quaritch in the upcoming sequels to Avatar.[24]
He plays Increase Mather, in a recurring role, on WGN America's first original scripted series, Salem.[25]
Recently, Lang joined the cast of AMC's martial arts drama Into the Badlands as well as Fede Alvarez's currently untitled upcoming thriller.[26][27]
In Feb 2016, Lang was reportedly lobbying for the role of Cable in the Deadpool sequel through captioned instagram pictures.[28]
Filmography
Film
| 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 | The Making of Gettysburg | Himself/Maj. Gen. George E. Pickett | Video Documentary |
| 1993 | Tombstone | Ike Clanton | |
| 1994 | Baseball | Himself | Documentary Mini series by Ken Burns |
| 1995 | Tall Tale | Jonas Hackett | |
| 1995 | The Amazing Panda Adventure | Michael Tyler | |
| 1996 | Loose Women | Prophet Buddy | |
| 1996 | The West | Himself | Documentary mini-series by Ken Burns |
| 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 | |
| 1998 | Escape: Human Cargo | Dennis McNatt | TV movie produced by Showtime. |
| 1999 | Story of a Bad Boy | Spygo | |
| 2000 | Trixie | Jacob Slotnick | |
| 2000 | Running Mates | Ron Noble (Financier) (uncredited) | TV movie Shown on the TNT Network. |
| 2001 | The Proposal | Simon Bacig | |
| 2002 | D-Tox | Jack | |
| 2002 | The Making of Tombstone | Himself/Ike Clanton | |
| 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 |
| 2003 | Gods and Generals: Journey to the Past | Himself/Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson | |
| 2006 | The Treatment | Coach Galgano | |
| 2007 | Save Me | Ted | |
| 2008 | From Mexico with Love | Big Al Stevens | |
| 2008 | Medal of Honor | Narrator | PBS documentary |
| 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—Teen Choice Award Choice Movie Villain Nominated—Teen Choice Award Choice Movie Fight (shared with Sam Worthington) Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Villain Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Fight (shared with Sam Worthington) Nominated—Scream Award for Best Villain |
| 2010 | Christina | Inspector Edgar Reinhardt | |
| 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 | |
| 2013 | Officer Down | Lieutenant Jake LaRussa | Direct-to-video |
| 2013 | Pawn | Charlie | Direct-to-video |
| 2013 | The Gettysburg Story | Himself/Narrator | Documentary |
| 2013 | Pioneer | Ferris | |
| 2013 | The Monkey's Paw | Tony Cobb | |
| 2013 | 23 Blast | Coach Farris | |
| 2014 | The Nut Job | King | |
| 2014 | Gutshot Straight | Duffy | Direct-to-video |
| 2014 | In the Blood | Casey | Direct-to-video |
| 2014 | Jarhead 2: Field of Fire | Major James Gavins | Direct-to-video |
| 2014 | A Good Marriage | ||
| 2015 | Beyond Glory: Tour of Duty | Himself | Documentary |
| 2015 | Exeter | Father Conway | |
| 2015 | Gridlocked | Korver | Post-production |
| 2016 | A Man in the Dark | The Blind Man | Post-production |
| 2017 | Solar Eclipse - Depth of Darkness | Raina | (filming) |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986–1988 | Crime Story | Attorney David Abrams | 26 episodes |
| 1995 | The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air | Criminal Gun Shooter | Episode: "Bullets Over Bel-Air" |
| 1997 | The Outer Limits | Dr. James Houghton | Episode: "New Lease" |
| 1997 | Liberty! The American Revolution | George Washington | 6 episodes |
| 2000–2001 | The Fugitive | Ben Charnquist | 5 episodes |
| 2002 | Ed | Jack Foster | Episode: "Wheel of Justice" |
| 2003 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Michael Baxter | Episode: "Escape" |
| 2005 | Johnny Zero | Officer Tanner | Episode: "To Serve and to Protect" |
| 2005 | Law & Order | Terry Dorn | Episode: "New York Minute" |
| 2007 | The Bronx Is Burning | Inspector Dowd | 3 episodes |
| 2009 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Axel Kaspers | Episode: "Revolution" |
| 2009 | Psych | Mr. Salamatchla | Episode: "Shawn Gets the Yips" |
| 2011 | Terra Nova | Commander Nathaniel Taylor | 13 episodes |
| 2012 | In Plain Sight | James Wiley Shannon | 3 episodes |
| 2014–2015 | Salem | Increase Mather | 9 episodes |
| 2015 | To Appomattox | John Brown | Upcoming series |
| 2015 | Into the Badlands | Waldo | 5 episodes |
Video games
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Call of Duty: Ghosts | Elias Walker[29] |
References
- ^ a b "Stephen Lang Biography (1952-)". Filmreference.com. 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. Vol. 33. № 21.". People.com. Retrieved 2010-05-30.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ Breitman, Rachel; Jones, Del (2006-07-26). "Heirs not-so-apparent?". USA Today.
- ^ Panarello, Joseph. "The Multiple Personalities of Stephen Lang". broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 2009-08-12.
- ^ "Stephen Lang Biography - Yahoo! Movies". Movies.yahoo.com. 1952-07-11. Archived from the original on 13 October 2007. Retrieved 2010-05-30.
- ^ Klein, Alvin (1998-04-19). "Stephen Lang, 'An Actor's Actor'". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-04-03.[failed verification]
- ^ a b 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
- ^ Stephen Lang
- ^ "STEPHEN LANG - Bing Afbeeldingen". Search.msn.com. Retrieved 2010-05-30.
- ^ "In Step With: Stephen Lang". Parade Magazine. June 5, 2005.
- ^ Daniel Henninger (2007-08-09). "Wonder Land - WSJ.com". Opinionjournal.com. Retrieved 2010-05-30.
- ^ Dziemianowicz, Joe (2008-04-28). "Drama Desk nominees announced". New York: Nydailynews.com. Retrieved 2010-05-30.
- ^ Lucille Lortel Awards, Lucille Lortel Foundation, Off-Broadway database. "Lucille Lortel Awards, Off-Broadway Awards". Lortel.org. Archived from the original on February 6, 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-30.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Thompson, Anne (2007-08-02). "Lang, Rodriguez armed for 'Avatar'". Variety.
- ^ "Crudup to play Hoover in 'Public' - Entertainment News, Film News, Media". Variety. 2008-04-02. Retrieved 2010-05-30.
- ^ Biffle, Kent (6 August 2005). "Who drilled Dillinger? Credit goes to Texan". The Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on July 12, 2009. Retrieved 15 July 2009.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ John Dillinger: The Life and Death ... - Google Books. Books.google.com. 1933-05-22. Retrieved 2010-05-30.
- ^ Kit, Borys (2008-10-10). "Rebecca Mader joins 'Goats' herd". Hollywoodreporter.com. Archived from the original on October 13, 2008. Retrieved 2010-05-30.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "Home - The Gettysburg Story". The Gettysburg Story.
- ^ 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
- ^ Hmybrd. "Stephen Lang Cast as Mary's Father on In Plain Sight". TV Fanatic.
- ^ Mike Fleming Jr. "James Cameron Books Stephen Lang For Next 3 Avatar Films - Deadline". Deadline.
- ^ The Deadline Team. "Stephen Lang Joins WGN America's 'Salem'". Deadline.
- ^ Rebecca Ford (18 June 2015). "Stephen Lang, Jane Levy Join Fede Alvarez's Thriller (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter.
- ^ Jeff Sneider (12 May 2015). "'Avatar's' Stephen Lang Joins AMC's 'Into the Badlands,' Returns to 'Salem' (Exclusive)". TheWrap.
- ^ MICHAEL MARTIN. DEADPOOL 2: AVATAR'S STEPHEN LANG LOBBIES FOR CABLE ROLE http://uk.ign.com/articles/2016/02/14/deadpool-2-avatars-stephen-lang-lobbies-for-cable-role.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ "Brandon J. Routh and Stephen Lang confirmed as one of voice actors for Ghosts". Charlie INTEL.
External links
- Stephen Lang at IMDb
- Stephen Lang at the Internet Broadway Database
- Interview on Beyond Glory at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library
