From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Powers Boothe
Born	June 1, 1948 (1948-06-01) (age 59) Snyder, Texas

Powers Allen Boothe (born June 1, 1948) is an American television and film actor. He is known for his Emmy-winning 1980 portrayal of Jim Jones.

Boothe was born in Snyder, Texas to Merrill Vestal Boothe and Emily Kathryn Reeves. He attended Texas State University (then Southwest Texas State College) as an undergraduate and received his Master of Fine Arts from Southern Methodist University in 1972. After graduation, 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. During the Screen Actors Guild strike in the fall of 1980, he was one of the few who showed up at the ceremonies to claim their prizes. He said at the time, "This may be either the bravest moment of my career or the dumbest."

Boothe joined the ranks of Humphrey Bogart and other actors when he portrayed Philip Marlowe in a series of short films for HBO in the 1980s. He appeared in films like Southern Comfort, A Breed Apart, Red Dawn, The Emerald Forest, Oliver Stone's Nixon (where he played Chief of Staff Alexander Haig), U-Turn, and Extreme Prejudice, as well as HBO films like Into The Homeland and By Dawn's Early Light. He also appeared in the 1990 CBS-TV film Family of Spies, in which he played traitor Navy Officer John Walker. Boothe also portrayed Curly Bill Brocius in Tombstone, as well as the disloyal senior Army officer in Blue Sky (opposite Jessica Lange's Oscar-winning performance).

In 2001, he starred as Flavius Aëtius, the Roman general in charge of stopping the Hun invasion in the made-for-TV mini-series Attila. Most recently, Boothe has played a featured role as brothel-owner Cy Tolliver on the HBO series Deadwood, and the seedy Senator Roark in the motion picture Sin City. He is the voice of one of the characters in the 2005 video game Area 51 and Gorilla Grodd, the hyper-intelligent telepathic supervillain in Justice League and Justice League Unlimited.

He was a special guest star on 24, where he played Vice President Noah Daniels. Just after taking the role as acting President, Boothe is seen exiting Air Force 2 with F-15s in the background. Boothe played a downed F-15 pilot in Red Dawn.

Boothe is the father of actress Parisse Boothe.

• The Goodbye Girl (1977) as a member of Richard III's Court
• The Cold Eye (My Darling, Be Careful) (1980)
• Skag (1980 TV series) as Whalen
• Cruising (1980) as Hanky salesman
• The Plutonium Incident (1980 TV) as Dick Hawkins
• Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones (1980 TV) as Rev. Jim Jones
• A Cry for Love (1980 TV) as Tony Bonnell
• Southern Comfort (1981) as Cpl. Charles Hardin
• A Breed Apart (1984) as Mike Walker
• Red Dawn (1984) as Lt. Col. Andrew Tanner
• The Emerald Forest (1985) as Bill Markham
• Philip Marlowe, Private Eye (1986 TV) as Philip Marlowe
• Extreme Prejudice (1987) as Cash Bailey
• Into the Homeland (1987 TV) as Jackson Swallow
• Sapphire Man (1988)
• Stalingrad (1989)
• Family of Spies (1990 TV) as John A. Walker Jr
• By Dawn's Early Light (1990 HBO Original Movie) as Maj. Cassidy
• Rapid Fire (1992) as Mace Ryan
• Wild Card (1992 TV) as Preacher
• Angely Smerti (1993)
• Marked for Murder (1993 TV) as Mace 'Sandman' Moutron
• Tombstone (1993) as "Curly Bill" Brocious
• Web of Deception (1994 TV) as Dr. Philip Benesch
• Blue Sky (1994) as Vince Johnson
• Mutant Species (1995) as Frost
• Sudden Death (1995) as Joshua Foss
• Nixon (1995) as Alexander Haig
• Dalva (1996 TV) as Sam
• True Women (1997 TV) as Bartlett McClure
• U Turn (1997) as Sheriff Virgil Potter
• The Spree (1998 TV) as Det. Bram Hatcher
• Joan of Arc (1999 TV miniseries) as Jacques D'Arc
• A Crime of Passion (1999 TV) as Dr. Ben Pierce
• Men of Honor (2000) as Captain Pullman
• Attila (2001 TV miniseries) as Flavius Aetius
• Frailty (2001) as FBI Agent Wesley Doyle
• Justice League (2001-2004 TV series, voice) as Gorilla Grodd
• Second Nature (2003 TV) as Kelton Reed
• Area 51 (2005 video game, voice) as Major Bridges
• Sin City (2005) as Senator Roark
• Deadwood (2004-2006 HBO TV series) as Cy Tolliver
• Justice League Unlimited (2005-2006 TV series, voice) as Gorilla Grodd
• Ottoman Empire: The War Machine (2006 History Channel voice-over)
• Superman: Brainiac Attacks (2006, voice) as Lex Luthor
• The Final Season (2007) as Jim Van Scoyoc
• 24 (2007 TV) as Vice President Noah Daniels
• Sin City 2 (2008) as Senator Roark

• Powers Boothe at the Internet Movie Database

• Biography from HBO