Powers Allen Boothe (born June 1, 1948) is an American television and film actor. Some of his most notable roles include his Emmy-winning 1980 portrayal of Jim Jones in Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones and his turns as TV detective Phillip Marlowe in the 1980s, as Cy Tolliver on Deadwood, as "Curly Bill" Brocious in Tombstone, as well as Vice-President Noah Daniels on 24 and as the voice of Gorilla Grodd in the DC Animated Universe. From 2012 to 2014 he starred as Lamar Wyatt in the ABC musical drama series Nashville.
Personal life
The youngest of three boys, Boothe was born on a farm in Snyder, the seat of Scurry County, Texas, to Emily Kathryn (Reeves) and Merrill Vestal Boothe, a rancher. Boothe is the father of actress Parisse Boothe.
He resides in Los Angeles, where he raises racing quarter horses. He attended Texas State University (then Southwest Texas State College) in San Marcos as an undergraduate, where he joined Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity and received his Master of Fine Arts from Southern Methodist University in Dallas in 1972.
Career
After graduating from college, 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. He said at the time, "This may be either the bravest moment of my career or the dumbest."
Powers Boothe made an appearance during the 1987 Celebrity Golf Challenge for Charity where he made the current long drive record for celebrities of 490 yards. For these efforts, Boothe was awarded the Golden Pumpkin, but, because of scheduling conflicts, he could not receive the award in person.
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 such films as Southern Comfort, A Breed Apart, Red Dawn, The Emerald Forest, 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 mini-series Attila. 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 (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. He maintains a private art collection which includes Western paintings of his friend and fellow actor Buck Taylor.
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. Boothe appeared in the 2012 mini-series Hatfields and McCoys as Judge Valentine "Wall" Hatfield. Boothe was also cast as Lamar Wyatt in the ABC musical drama series Nashville. Boothe also lent his voice to Hitman: Absolution, a 2012 video game developed by IO Interactive, voicing the character of Benjamin Travis.
Filmography
Film
Television
Video games
References
External links
- Powers Boothe at the Internet Movie Database
- Powers Boothe at AllMovie
- Biography from HBO