John Heard (actor)

Not to be confused with John Hurt.

John Heard Jr.^[1] (March 7, 1946 – July 21, 2017) was an American actor. Heard made his debut appearance in film with the ensemble Between the Lines (1977). He appeared in a number of successful films, including Heart Beat (1980), Cutter's Way (1981), Cat People (1982), Beaches (1988), and Deceived (1991). Other films include The Trip to Bountiful (1985), Big (1988), The Pelican Brief (1993), White Chicks (2004), and his role as Kevin McCallister's father, Peter, in Home Alone (1990) and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992). From 1995 to 1996, he played the role of Roy Foltrigg in the television series The Client. From 2005 to 2006, Heard played the role of Governor Frank Tancredi in Prison Break. He was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1999 for guest-starring as Vin Makazian on The Sopranos (1999–2004).

John Heard
Heard in 2010
Born	John Heard Jr. (1946-03-07)March 7, 1946 Washington, D.C., U.S.
Died	July 21, 2017(2017-07-21) (aged 71) Palo Alto, California, U.S.
Resting place	Old South Cemetery, Ipswich, Massachusetts, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1975–2017
Known for	Big (1988) Home Alone (1990) Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) The Sopranos (1999)
Spouses	Margot Kidder ​ ​ (m. 1979; div. 1980)​ Sharon Heard ​ ​ (m. 1988; div. 1996)​ Lana Pritchard ​ ​ (m. 2010; div. 2010)​
Children	3

Early life and education

Heard was born on March 7, 1946,^[1] in Washington, D.C.^[2] a son of Helen (née Sperling), who was involved in the arts and appeared in community theatre, and John Heard, who worked for the office of the Secretary of Defense.^[2][3][4] He was raised as a Roman Catholic,^[5] and attended Gonzaga College High School, Clark University (in Worcester, Massachusetts), and Catholic University of America.^[2] He grew up with two sisters, Lise and Cordis (an actress), and a brother, the late Matthew Heard, who predeceased his mother and father.^[3]

Acting career

In the 1970s, Heard appeared on the stage and in television and film. He appeared off-Broadway in 1974 in Mark Medoff's play The Wager and in 1975 as Guildenstern in Hamlet at the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park, where he also understudied Sam Waterston as Hamlet. That fall, the production moved to the Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center. Heard appeared at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in 1977 in a series of new plays. Heard won Obie Awards for his performances in Othello and Split in 1979–80. He was the male lead in the 1979 film Head Over Heels (which was renamed and re-released as Chilly Scenes of Winter in 1982).^{[citation needed]}

In 1981, he had the starring role of Alex Cutter in the film Cutter's Way. In 1982, he played the lover of Nastassja Kinski, one of the main characters, in the remake of Cat People. He co-starred as photographer George Cooper in C.H.U.D. (Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers, 1984) alongside future Home Alone co-star Daniel Stern and in The Trip to Bountiful (1985). In the comedy-drama film Heaven Help Us (aka, Catholic Boys, 1985), Heard played a monk named Brother Timothy. In After Hours (also 1985), Heard was bartender Tom Schorr.

He was seen in the film The Milagro Beanfield War and had a significant role playing Paul, Tom Hanks's adult corporate competitor and jilted boyfriend of Elizabeth Perkins, in Big (both 1988). He co-starred with Bette Midler in Beaches (also 1988). In 1990 Heard starred in the philosophical film Mindwalk, in which three characters from different sociopolitical and cultural backgrounds express their opinions on the human experience, and around the same time, he was in Awakenings alongside Robert De Niro and Robin Williams, and The End of Innocence with Dyan Cannon. He starred in Deceived (1991), with Goldie Hawn, playing Jack Saunders, and had a supporting role in Gladiator (1992), with Cuba Gooding Jr.

He played Daugherty in the film Radio Flyer (1992) and FBI agent Gavin Vereek in The Pelican Brief (1993). He starred with Samuel L. Jackson in 1997's One Eight Seven and was featured in the 2000 miniseries Perfect Murder, Perfect Town.

Home Alone and sequel

In 1990, Heard starred as Peter McCallister in the comedy Home Alone. He played the part of Kevin's (played by Macaulay Caulkin) father who unwittingly leaves his son at home when making a Christmas trip to France. Heard chose to characterize the role with a combination of concerned dramatic acting of a father missing his son along with more classical comedic tropes.^[6] The film was one of the biggest hits of 1990, and Heard reprised the role of McCallister in the sequel Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.

Television work

Heard featured in a television production of The Scarlet Letter (1979) as Arthur Dimmesdale. He played real-life Ku Klux Klan leader D. C. Stephenson in the TV miniseries Cross of Fire (1989) and played the part of David Manning in the ABC miniseries adaptation of Shirley MacLaine's Out on a Limb, a memoir of her journey toward acceptance of spiritual and extraterrestrial realities. Heard also had roles on The Sopranos as the troubled corrupt detective Vin Makazian for which he received an Emmy nomination as outstanding guest actor; as well as Mr. Detrolio, father of Finn Detrolio, one of Meadows' boyfriends, and later on Battlestar Galactica as Commander Barry Garner.

He had recurring roles on CSI: Miami (as Kenwall Duquesne, father of Calleigh Duquesne) and Prison Break (as Frank Tancredi, governor of Illinois and father of Sara Tancredi). Among other film and television roles in the 2000s and 2010s, he played the mayor of Chicago on two episodes of the Fox series The Chicago Code.

Legacy

In 2008, Heard was asked about his career and he replied,

I guess I went from being a young leading man to being just kind of a hack actor. ... When I came to Hollywood, I was pretty much a stage actor, and I expected everybody to be quiet. And they weren't. They were doing their job, and you're expected to do your job, and you're sort of this ongoing co-existence. I was a little bit of an arrogant jerk. Now, it's a little bit more like, "Okay, I realize you have to pat me down with powder every three seconds." And I stand there, and I'm a little more tolerant ... I think I had my time. I dropped the ball, as my father would say. I think I could have done more with my career than I did, and I sort of got sidetracked. But that's OK, that's all right, that's the way it is. No sour grapes. I mean, I don't have any regrets. Except that I could have played some bigger parts.^[7]

Personal life

Heard married actress Margot Kidder in 1979, but the marriage was dissolved after only six days.^[8]

In 1987, he had a son, John Matthew Heard, with actress and former girlfriend Melissa Leo.^[9] Heard was arrested in 1991 and charged with third-degree assault for allegedly slapping Leo.^[10] In 1997, he was found guilty of trespassing at Leo's home but was acquitted of charges of trespassing at their son's school.^[11]

By his marriage to Sharon Heard, he had two children, Annika Rose and Maxwell John.^[2] Maxwell died on December 6, 2016, aged 22.^[12]

On May 24, 2010, Heard married Lana Pritchard in Los Angeles. The couple divorced seven months later.^[13]

Death

Heard died of cardiac arrest due to atherosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease on July 21, 2017, at the age of 71. His body was found by staff in a hotel in Palo Alto, California, where he was reportedly recovering from minor back surgery which he had just undergone at Stanford University Hospital. The back surgery did not play a role in his death.^[14][15] His cause of death was confirmed by the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner's office. He was buried in South Side Cemetery in Ipswich, Massachusetts.^{[16][17][18][19]}

Awards and honors

Source unless otherwise noted:^[2]

• 1977 Theatre World Award for his performance in G.R. Point
• 1976–77 Obie Award, Best Performance, G.R. Point
• 1979–80 Obie Award, Best Performance, Othello and Split
• 1999 Emmy Award nomination, Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series (1999)

In 2003, he was inducted into the Gonzaga College High School Theatre Hall of Fame.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1977	Between the Lines	Harry Lucas
1977	First Love	David Bonner
1978	Rush It	Byron
1978	On the Yard	Juleson
1979	Chilly Scenes of Winter	Charles
1980	Heart Beat	Jack Kerouac
1981	Cutter's Way	Alex Cutter
1982	Cat People	Oliver Yates
1984	C.H.U.D.	George Cooper
1984	Best Revenge	Charlie
1984	Violated	Skipper
1985	Too Scared to Scream	Sid
1985	Heaven Help Us	Brother Timothy
1985	After Hours	Tom Schorr
1985	The Trip to Bountiful	Ludie Watts
1987	Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam	Johnny 'Johnny Boy'	Voice
1988	The Telephone	Telephone Man
1988	The Milagro Beanfield War	Charlie Bloom
1988	The Seventh Sign	Reverend
1988	Big	Paul Davenport
1988	Betrayed	FBI Agent Mike Carnes
1988	Beaches	John Pierce
1989	The Package	Colonel Glen Whitacre
1990	Blown Away	Charlie
1990	Mindwalk	Thomas Harriman
1990	The End of Innocence	Dean
1990	Home Alone	Peter McCallister
1990	Awakenings	Dr. Kaufman
1991	Rambling Rose	Willcox Hillyer
1991	Deceived	Frank Sullivan / Jack Saunders / Dan Sherman
1992	Radio Flyer	Officer Jim Daugherty
1992	Gladiator	John Riley
1992	Waterland	Lewis Scott
1992	Home Alone 2: Lost in New York	Peter McCallister
1993	In the Line of Fire	Professor Riger
1993	Me and Veronica	Frankie
1993	The Pelican Brief	Gavin Verheek
1996	Before and After	Wendell Bye
1996	My Fellow Americans	Vice President Ted Matthews
1997	One Eight Seven	Dave Childress
1997	Executive Power	Walker
1997	Men	George Babbington
1997	Silent Cradle	Dr. Brittain
1998	Snake Eyes	Gilbert Powell, Defense Contractor
1998	Desert Blue	Professor Lance Davidson
1999	Jazz Night	John Little	Short
1999	The Secret Pact	Jerome Carver
1999	Fish Out of Water	Gregor
1999	Freak Weather	David
2000	Animal Factory	James Decker
2000	The Photographer	Marcello
2000	Pollock	Tony Smith
2001	The Boys of Sunset Ridge	John Burroughs
2001	O	Dean Bob Brable
2001	Dying on the Edge	John Fuller
2002	Researching Raymond Burke	Raymond Burke	Short
2002	Fair Play	Owen	Short
2004	Mind the Gap	Henry Richards
2004	White Chicks	Warren Vandergeld
2004	My Tiny Universe	Bobby
2004	Under the City	Scova
2005	The Chumscrubber	Officer Lou Bratley
2005	Edison	Captain Brian Tilman
2005	The Deal	Professor Roseman
2005	Tracks	Prison Warden
2005	Sweet Land	Minister Sorrensen
2006	Steel City	Carl Lee
2006	Gamers: The Movie	Gordon's Dad
2006	The Guardian	Captain Frank Larson
2007	Dead Lenny	Dr. Robert Hooker
2007	The Great Debaters	Sheriff Dozier
2007	Brothers Three: An American Gothic	Father
2008	P.J.	Dr. Alan Shearson
2008	Justice League: The New Frontier	Ace Morgan	Voice
2008	The Lucky Ones	Bob
2009	Red State Blues	Fritz	Short
2009	Formosa Betrayed	Tom Braxton
2009	Little Hercules in 3-D	Coach Nimms
2010	The Truth	Jonathan Davenport
2010	Ivan's House	Ivan	Short
2011	Whisper Me a Lullaby	Poppy
2012	The Legends of Nethiah	Nethiah's Father
2012	A Perfect Ending	Mason Westridge
2012	Stealing Roses	Walter
2012	Would You Rather	Conway
2013	The Insomniac	Paul Epstein
2013	Assault on Wall Street	Jeremy Stancroft
2013	Snake and Mongoose	Wally Parks
2013	Runner Runner	Harry Furst
2013	Torn	Detective Kalkowitz
2013	Buoyancy	Frank	Short
2014	Warren	Jack Cavanee
2014	Animals	Albert
2014	Boys of Abu Ghraib	Sam Farmer
2014	The Nurse	Frank
2014	One More Day	Tom	Short
2015	Boiling Pot	Tim Davis
2016	Is That a Gun in Your Pocket?	Sheriff Parsons
2016	After the Reality	Bob
2016	Jimmy Vestvood: Amerikan Hero	J.P. Monroe
2016	So B. It	Thurman Hil
2017	Searching for Fortune	Denton Sr.
2017	Counting for Thunder	Garrett Stalworth
2017	Pray for Rain	Markus Gardener
2017	Last Rampage	Blackwell
2018	The Tale	Bill (Older)	Posthumous
2018	Living Among Us	Andrew	Posthumous
2019	Imprisoned	Police Chief^[20]	Posthumous

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1975	Valley Forge	Mr. Harvie	Television film
1979	The Scarlet Letter	Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale	Television miniseries
1983	Will There Really Be a Morning?	Clifford Odets	Television film
1983	Legs	Dan	Television film
1984	Kate & Allie	Max McArdle	Episode: "A Weekend to Remember"
1985	Tender is the Night	Abe North	Television miniseries; 3 episodes
1985	Tales from the Darkside	Billy Malone	Episode: "Ring Around the Redhead"
1985	Alfred Hitchcock Presents	Bill Callahan	Episode: "Breakdown"
1986	Miami Vice	Laurence Thurmond	Episode: "One Way Ticket"
1987	The Equalizer	Ron Parrish	Episode: "In the Money"
1987	Out on a Limb	David Manning	Television film
1988	Necessity	Charlie	Television film
1989	Screen Two	Michael Johnson	Episode: "Virtuoso"
1989	Cross of Fire	David Stephenson	Television film
1992	Dead Ahead: The Exxon Valdez Disaster	Dan Lawn	Television film
1993	There Was a Little Boy	Gregg	Television film
1994	In Spite of Love	Andrew	Television film
1994	Because Mommy Works	Ted Forman	Television film
1994–1999	Law & Order	Mitch Burke / Walter Grobman	2 episodes
1995	American Masters	Montresor	Episode: Edgar Allan Poe: Terror of the Soul
1995	The Outer Limits	Paul Stein	Episode: "Dark Matters"
1995–1996	The Client	District Attorney Roy "Reverend Roy" Foltrigg	21 episodes
1999–2004	The Sopranos	Detective Vin Makazian	5 episodes
2000	Perfect Murder, Perfect Town	Larry Mason	Television film
2000	The Wednesday Woman	Bill Davidson	Television film
2001	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Larry Wiegert	Episode: "The Pardoner's Tale"
2001	The Big Heist	Richard Woods	Television film
2002	Touched by an Angel	Allen	Episode: "Secrets and Lies"
2002	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Gregory Rossovitch / Peter Sipes	Episode: "Disappearing Acts"
2002	Hack	Paul Ballinger	Episode: "Songs in the Night"
2002	Monday Night Mayhem	Roone Arledge	Television film
2002	The Pilot's Wife	Jack Lyons	Television film
2003	Word of Honor	Dr. Steven Brandt	Television film
2003–2005	CSI: Miami	Kenwall Duquesne	4 episodes
2004–2005	Jack & Bobby	Dennis Morgenthal	5 episodes
2005	Numb3rs	Peter Houseman	Episode: "Soft Target"
2005	Locusts	Dr. Peter Axelrod	Television film
2005–2006	Prison Break	Governor Frank Tancredi	10 episodes
2006	Battlestar Galactica	Commander Barry Garner	Episode: "The Captain's Hand"
2006	Twenty Questions	C. Colin Whitworth	Television film
2006	The Line-Up	Walter Clark	Television film
2007	Cavemen	Tripp	Episode: "Her Embarrassed of Caveman"
2007–2010	Entourage	Richard Wimmer	2 episodes
2008	My Own Worst Enemy	Peter	Episode: "Down Rio Way"
2008	Skip Tracer	Con Colbert	Television film
2008	Generation Gap	Principal Winters	Television film
2009	The Beast	Dr. Blake	Episode: "Mercy"
2009	Southland	Ben Sherman Sr.	2 episodes
2010	Gravity	B.C.	3 episodes
2010	The Quickening	Ed Erlich	Television film
2011	The Chicago Code	Mayor McGuinness	2 episodes
2011	Too Big to Fail	Joe Gregory	Television film
2013	Perception	Congressman Evan Rickford	2 episodes
2013	Adam DeVine's House Party	Dregory	Episode: "Dregory"
2013	Tim & Eric's Bedtime Stories	Lawyer	Episode: "Haunted House"
2013	Sharknado	George	Television film
2014	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Roger Ridley	Episode: "Love for Sale"
2014	Modern Family	Gunther Thorpe	Episode: "The Feud"
2014	Person of Interest	Roger McCourt	Episode: "Death Benefit"
2014	Mistresses	Bruce Sappire	Episode: "Coming Clean"
2014	NCIS: Los Angeles	Michael Thomas	3 episodes
2015	The Lizzie Borden Chronicles	William Almy	Television miniseries; 2 episodes
2015	The Murder Pact	John LaSalle	Television film
2016	Elementary	Henry Watson	Episode: "Miss Taken"
2017	MacGyver	Arthur Ericson	Episode: "Pliers"
2017	APB	Joe Reeves	Episode: "Daddy's Home"
2017	Outsiders	Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky	Episode: "What Must Be Done"

References

1. Correal, Annie (July 22, 2017). "John Heard, the Frazzled Father in 'Home Alone,' Dies at 71". The New York Times. Retrieved July 23, 2017.
2. "John Heard Biography". TV Guide. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
3. "John Heard, actor who played an absent-minded father in 'Home Alone,' dies at 71". The Washington Post. July 23, 2017.
4. "Helen Heard Obituary (2015)". The Washington Post – via Legacy.com.
5. "John Heard on The Lizzie Borden Chronicles, The Sopranos, Sharknado, and more". The A.V. Club. April 4, 2015. Retrieved July 23, 2017.
6. "Actor John Heard, who played dad in "Home Alone" movies, dies at 72". NJToday.net. July 22, 2017. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
7. . 411Mania.com. February 27, 2008. Archived from the original on December 19, 2013. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
8. Roberts, Chris (April 9, 2005). "No Kidding". The Guardian. London. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
9. "Heard Pleads Not Guilty to Harassing Ex-Girlfriend". Spartanburg Herald-Journal. Associated Press. March 20, 1997. p. A13 – via Google News.
10. "'Home Alone' Actor Arrested". The Buffalo News. November 6, 1991 – via NewsBank.
11. Tan, Cheryl L. (March 21, 1997). . The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on July 24, 2012 – via ProQuest Archiver.
12. Sblendorio, Peter (July 24, 2017). "John Heard preceded in death by estranged son, who faced 'deep grief' over their relationship". New York Daily News. Retrieved August 12, 2019 – via nydailynews.com.
13. . The Monterey County Herald. June 14, 2010. Archived from the original on October 15, 2013. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
14. "'Home Alone' Dad John Heard Died of Cardiac Arrest". The Hollywood Reporter. Associated Press. August 16, 2017.
15. "John Heard dead at 71; Home Alone actor death not considered suspicious, says police official". The Financial Express. July 23, 2017. Retrieved July 23, 2017.
16. Saperstein, Pat (July 22, 2017). "John Heard, 'Home Alone' Dad, Dies at 72". Variety.
17. Willingham, AJ (July 22, 2017). "'Home Alone' actor John Heard dies". CNN. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
18. "John Heard: Home Alone actor dies aged 71". BBC. July 22, 2017. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
19. Glenza, Jessica (July 22, 2017). "John Heard, star of Home Alone, Cutter's Way and The Sopranos, dies at 71". The Guardian. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
20. Scheck, Frank (September 12, 2019). "'Imprisoned': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 12, 2020.

External links

• John Heard at IMDb
• at the TCM Movie Database
• John Heard at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• John Heard at the Internet Broadway Database
• John Heard at Find a Grave