Powers Boothe
Powers Allen Boothe (June 1, 1948 – May 14, 2017) was an American actor. He won an Emmy in 1980 for his portrayal of Jim Jones in Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones. He also played saloon owner Cy Tolliver on Deadwood, "Curly Bill" Brocius in Tombstone, President Noah Daniels on 24, and Lamar Wyatt in Nashville. He was also the voice of Gorilla Grodd in the DC Animated Universe shows Justice League and Justice League Unlimited.
Powers Boothe | |
|---|---|
Boothe in 2005 | |
| Born | Powers Allen Boothe June 1, 1948 |
| Died | May 14, 2017 (aged 68) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Education | |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1977–2016 |
| Spouse | Pamela Cole (m. 1969) |
| Children | 2 |
| Signature | |
Early life
Boothe, the youngest of three boys, was born June 1, 1948, at home on a cotton farm in Snyder, Texas, to Merrill Vestal Boothe (1924–1985), a rancher, and his wife Emily (née Reeves) Boothe (1924–1999). His father named him after his best friend, who had been killed in the Second World War.[1]
Boothe attended Snyder High School, where he played football and appeared in school plays. He was the first in his family to go beyond high school, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos, and earning a Master of Fine Arts degree in Drama from Southern Methodist University in University Park, Texas.[2][3]
Career
After graduating from Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas, Boothe joined the repertory company of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, with roles in Henry IV, Part 2 (portraying Henry IV of England), Troilus and Cressida, and others. His New York stage debut was in the 1974 Lincoln Center production of Richard III. Five years later, his Broadway theater debut came in a starring role in the one-act play Lone Star, written by James McLure.
Boothe first came to national attention in 1980, playing Jim Jones in the CBS-TV movie Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones. Boothe's portrayal of the crazed cult leader received critical acclaim. In Time's story on the production, Boothe was praised: "There is one extraordinary performance. A young actor named Powers Boothe captures all the charisma and evil of 'Dad', Jim Jones." Boothe won the Emmy Award for his role, beating out veterans Henry Fonda and Jason Robards. As the Screen Actors Guild were on strike in the fall of 1980, he was the only actor to cross picket lines to attend the ceremonies and accept his award, saying at the time, "This may be either the bravest moment of my career or the dumbest."[4]
Boothe portrayed Philip Marlowe in a TV series based on Raymond Chandler's short stories for HBO in the 1980s. He appeared in such films as Southern Comfort, A Breed Apart, Red Dawn, The Emerald Forest, Rapid Fire and Extreme Prejudice, as well as the HBO films Into the Homeland and By Dawn's Early Light. Additionally, he appeared in the 1990 CBS-TV film Family of Spies, in which he played traitor Navy Officer John Walker. Boothe portrayed Curly Bill Brocius in the hit 1993 Western Tombstone, the disloyal senior Army officer in Blue Sky (opposite Jessica Lange's Oscar-winning performance), and the sinister lead terrorist in Sudden Death. He was also part of the large ensemble casts for Oliver Stone's Nixon (as Chief of Staff Alexander Haig) and U Turn (as the town sheriff).
In 2001, he starred as Flavius Aëtius, the Roman general in charge of stopping the Hun invasion in the made-for-TV miniseries Attila. Boothe played a featured role as brothel-owner Cy Tolliver on the HBO series Deadwood, and the corrupt senator Ethan Roark in the motion picture Sin City (2005), as well as its sequel, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014). He is the voice of one of the characters in the 2005 video game Area 51 and of Gorilla Grodd, the hyper-intelligent telepathic supervillain in Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. He voiced the villain, Kane, in the 2008 video game Turok.
He was a special guest star on 24, where he played Vice President Noah Daniels. He returned in the prequel to the seventh season, 24: Redemption. Just after taking the role as acting President, Boothe is seen exiting Air Force Two with F-15s in the background. Boothe played a downed F-15 pilot in Red Dawn. In March 2008, he narrated a television campaign ad for Senator John McCain's presidential campaign.[5]
In 2012, Boothe appeared in Joss Whedon's The Avengers in a secretive role as a shadowy governmental superior to S.H.I.E.L.D. In 2015–16, he reprised the role, now named Gideon Malick, in ABC's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.[6]
Boothe appeared in the 2012 miniseries Hatfields & McCoys as Judge Valentine "Wall" Hatfield. Boothe was also cast as Lamar Wyatt in the ABC musical drama series Nashville.[7] Boothe also lent his voice to Hitman: Absolution, a 2012 video game developed by IO Interactive, voicing the character of Benjamin Travis.
Personal life
Boothe married his college sweetheart Pam Cole in 1969 and they remained married until his death.[8] They had two children, Parisse and Preston.[9]
Death
Boothe died in Los Angeles, on the morning of May 14, 2017, 18 days short of his 69th birthday, from the effects of pancreatic cancer.[10][11][12]
His body was buried in Deadwood Cemetery in rural Deadwood, located in Panola County east of Carthage in east Texas.[13]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | The Goodbye Girl | Richard III Cast | |
| 1980 | Cruising | Hankie Salesman | |
| 1980 | The Cold Eye (My Darling, Be Careful) | ||
| 1981 | Southern Comfort | Hardin | |
| 1984 | A Breed Apart | Mike Walker | |
| 1984 | Red Dawn | Lt. Col. Andrew 'Andy' Tanner | |
| 1985 | The Emerald Forest | Bill Markham | |
| 1987 | Extreme Prejudice | Cash Bailey | |
| 1988 | Sapphire Man | Ryan | Short film |
| 1989 | Stalingrad | General Vasily Chuikov, hero of the Battle of Stalingrad | |
| 1990 | By Dawn's Early Light | Major Cassidy, USAF – pilot of the B-52 bomber "Polar Bear 1" | |
| 1992 | Rapid Fire | Mace Ryan | |
| 1993 | Tombstone | Curly Bill Brocius | |
| 1993 | Angely smerti | ||
| 1994 | Blue Sky | Vince Johnson | |
| 1995 | Mutant Species | Frost | |
| 1995 | Sudden Death | Joshua Foss | |
| 1995 | Nixon | Alexander Haig | Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture |
| 1997 | Con Air | Officer at Leaving Ceremony | Uncredited voice |
| 1997 | U Turn | Sheriff Potter | |
| 2000 | Men of Honor | Captain Pullman | |
| 2001 | Frailty | FBI Agent Wesley Doyle | |
| 2003 | Second Nature | Kelton Reed | |
| 2005 | Sin City | Senator Roark | |
| 2006 | Superman: Brainiac Attacks | Lex Luthor | Voice, direct-to-video |
| 2007 | The Final Season | Jim Van Scoyoc | |
| 2008 | Nick Nolte: No Exit | Himself | Documentary |
| 2008 | Edison and Leo | George T. Edison | Voice |
| 2010 | MacGruber | Col. Jim Faith | |
| 2012 | The Avengers | Gideon Malick | Credited as "World Security Council" |
| 2012 | Guns, Girls and Gambling | The Rancher | |
| 2013 | Straight A's | Father | |
| 2014 | Sin City: A Dame to Kill For | Senator Roark |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Skag | Whalen | 6 episodes |
| 1980 | The Plutonium Incident | Dick Hawkins | TV movie |
| 1980 | Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones | Jim Jones | TV movie Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie |
| 1980 | A Cry For Love | Tony Bonnell | TV movie |
| 1983–1986 | Philip Marlowe, Private Eye | Philip Marlowe | 11 episodes Nominated—CableACE Award for Best Actor in a Dramatic Presentation (1983) |
| 1987 | Into the Homeland | Jackson Swallow | TV movie Nominated—CableACE Award for Best Actor in a Movie or Miniseries |
| 1990 | Family of Spies | John A. Walker Jr. | 2 episodes |
| 1990 | By Dawn's Early Light | Maj. Cassidy | TV movie |
| 1992 | National Geographic: Eternal Enemies: Lions and Hyenas | Narrator | TV documentary |
| 1992 | Wild Card | Preacher | TV movie |
| 1993 | Marked for Murder | Mace 'Sandman' Moutron | TV movie |
| 1994 | Web of Deception | Dr. Philip Benesch | TV movie |
| 1996 | Dalva | Sam | TV movie |
| 1997 | True Women | Bartlett McClure | TV movie |
| 1998 | The Spree | Det. Bram Hatcher | TV movie |
| 1999 | Joan of Arc | Jacques d'Arc | 3 episodes |
| 1999 | A Crime of Passion | Dr. Ben Pierce | TV movie |
| 2001 | Attila | Flavius Aetius | 2 episodes |
| 2003 | Second Nature | Kelton Reed | TV movie |
| 2002–2003 | Justice League | Gorilla Grodd | Voice, 4 episodes |
| 2004–2006 | Deadwood | Cy Tolliver | 34 episodes Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (2007) |
| 2005–2006 | Justice League Unlimited | Gorilla Grodd / Red Tornado | Voice, 5 episodes |
| 2006 | National Geographic: Lions v. Hyenas | Narrator | TV documentary |
| 2007 | 24 | Vice President Noah Daniels | 14 episodes |
| 2008 | 24: Redemption | President Noah Daniels | TV movie |
| 2009 | Ben 10: Alien Force | Sunder | Voice, Episode: "Singlehanded" |
| 2010 | Ben 10: Ultimate Alien | Sunder | Voice, Episode: "The Transmogrification of Eunice" |
| 2011 | Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated | Dead Justice | Voice, Episode: "Dead Justice" |
| 2011 | The Looney Tunes Show | Leslie Hunt | Voice, 2 episodes |
| 2012 | Hatfields & McCoys | Judge Valentine 'Wall' Hatfield | 3 episodes |
| 2012–2014 | Nashville | Lamar Wyatt | 26 episodes Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film (2012) |
| 2015–2016 | Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. | Gideon Malick | 11 episodes (final live-action appearance) |
| 2015 | Moonbeam City | Eo Jaxxon | Voice, Episode: "Glitzotrene: One Town's Seduction" |
Video games
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Area 51 | Major Bridges | Voice |
| 2008 | Turok | Roland Kane | Voice |
| 2010 | Ben 10 Ultimate Alien: Cosmic Destruction | Sunder | Voice |
| 2012 | Hitman: Absolution | Benjamin Travis | Voice |
References
- ^ Carlson, Michael (May 16, 2017). "Powers Boothe obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved May 23, 2017.
- ^ Victor, Daniel (May 17, 2017). "Actor Powers Boothe, 68, known for 'Deadwood' and other dark roles". The Boston Globe. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
- ^ Bethel, Brian (May 15, 2017). "Actor Powers Boothe, Snyder native, dies". Abilene Reporter-News. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
- ^ Wells, Jane (December 13, 2007). "Writers' Strike: Any One Gonna Cross Picket Line To Get A GG?". CNBC. Retrieved May 28, 2016.
- ^ "TRAIL BLAZERS Blog: The Dallas Morning News". Trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com. March 28, 2008. Retrieved August 26, 2012.
- ^ Strom, Marc (October 15, 2015). "'Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' Adds Powers Boothe". Marvel.com. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
- ^ Matt Webb Mitovich, Fall TV First Impression: ABC's Nashville Sings, TVLine, August 14, 2012
- ^ "Powers Boothe Obituary". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
- ^ "Powers Boothe Reflects on Texas Upbringing, Life in Nashville". americanprofile.com. September 16, 2012. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
- ^ "Powers Boothe Died of Heart Attack Due to Pancreatic Cancer, According to Death Certificate". TMZ.com. May 30, 2017. Retrieved June 3, 2017.
- ^ Nordyke, Kimberly; Rahman, Abid (May 14, 2017). "Powers Boothe, 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' and 'Sin City' Actor, Dies at 68". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 14, 2017.
- ^ "Powers Boothe, Emmy-Winning Character Actor, Dead at 68". The Wrap. May 14, 2017. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
- ^ "Memorial page for Powers Boothe (1 Jun 1948 – 14 May 2017)". Find A Grave. May 14, 2017.
External links
- Powers Boothe at IMDb
- at the TCM Movie Database
- Powers Boothe at AllMovie
- Biography from HBO
- Powers Boothe(Aveleyman)