Bruce Greenwood

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Bruce Greenwood

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Biography

Canadian character actor Bruce Greenwood spent the 1970s working in regional Vancouver theater, and appeared in many Canadian TV shows during the '80s. His first American film was a walk-on role in Rambo: First Blood. In the U.S., he fared much better with television pilots, miniseries, and made-for-TV movies. His first big role was Dr. Seth Griffin on St. Elsewhere from 1986-1988. Other TV projects included The FBI Murders, The Servants of Twilight, and Summer Dreams: The Story of the Beach Boys. By the '90s, he had found a home for himself on television. Greenwood played Pierce Lawson in 1991 on the evening soap opera Knots Landing, earned a Gemini (the Canadian Emmy) nomination for The Little Kidnappers, and then took home an award for his role in Road to Avonlea. He also starred as Thomas Veil on the UPN dramatic series Nowhere Man and guest starred as Roger Bingham on the HBO comedy series The Larry Sanders Show. He did quite well on NBC, as well, appearing in many TV movies (including Naomi & Wynonna: Love Can Build a Bridge) and starring in the sci-fi mystery show Sleepwalkers as Dr. Nathan Bradford.

Greenwood made the leap to the big screen with a fellow Canadian, Egyptian-born filmmaker Atom Egoyan. In Exotica, he played the troubled Francis, a tax collector obsessed with a stripper. The film was a hit at the Cannes Film Festival, and Greenwood re-teamed with the director for his next film, The Sweet Hereafter, which won a special jury prize at Cannes, while Greenwood was nominated for a Genie award for his supporting role of mourning father Billy Ansell. By contrast, he played bad guys in mainstream thrillers in the '90s, with starring roles in Disturbing Behavior, Hide and Seek, Double Jeopardy, and Rules of Engagement He may be most well known, however, for playing President John F. Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis in the political thriller Thirteen Days, for which he won a Golden Satellite Award. With this role under his belt, Greenwood moved into more dramatic territory with the A&E miniseries The Magnificent Ambersons as well as a dual role in Egoyan's Ararat. In 2003, he produced fellow Canadian Deepa Mehta's film The Republic of Love and appeared in the action comedy Hollywood Homicide and the sci-fi thriller The Core. Projects for 2004 include Being Julia, I, Robot, and Racing Stripes. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
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Bruce Greenwood

Greenwood at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival
Born Stuart Bruce Greenwood
(1956-08-12) August 12, 1956 (age 55)
Noranda, Quebec, Canada
Occupation Actor, Musician
Years active 1977–present
Spouse Susan Devlin (1985-present)

Bruce Greenwood (born August 12, 1956, known as Stuart Bruce Greenwood) is a Canadian actor and musician. He is generally known for his roles as U.S. presidents in Thirteen Days and National Treasure: Book of Secrets and for his role as Captain Christopher Pike in the 2009 Star Trek film. He has appeared in several supporting roles, such as Hollywood Homicide, Double Jeopardy, Déjà Vu, I, Robot, Dinner for Schmucks, Capote and most recently as the motion capture alien dubbed "Cooper" in Super 8. He has also dabbled in voice acting, contributing to the Canadian animated series Class of the Titans as Chiron and the voice of Bruce Wayne/Batman in Young Justice.

Contents

Personal life

Greenwood was born Stuart Bruce Greenwood in Noranda, Quebec,[1] the son of Mary Sylvia (née Ledingham), a nurse who worked in an extended care unit, and Hugh John Greenwood, a Vancouver-born geophysicist and teacher who taught at Princeton University.[2] He is married to Susan Devlin[2] and lives in Los Angeles.[3]

Career

Greenwood is known in the United States for his appearances in Star Trek, I, Robot, Double Jeopardy, The Core, Thirteen Days (in which he played president John F. Kennedy), Capote (in which he played Jack Dunphy, Truman Capote's lover), Eight Below (in which he played Professor Davis McClaren) and Firehouse Dog.

He had prominent roles in the award winning Atom Egoyan films Exotica, The Sweet Hereafter, and Ararat. He appeared in the 1980s teen cult film The Malibu Bikini Shop and starred in Mee-Shee: The Water Giant. He played a role in The World's Fastest Indian and also featured in the Bob Dylan biopic I'm Not There. He recently appeared in Dinner for Schmucks as a cruel finance executive who hosts a dinner for "idiots".

On television, Greenwood had roles on St. Elsewhere (Dr. Seth Griffin, 1986–1988), Knots Landing (Pierce Lawton, 1991–1992) and a starring role in the UPN series Nowhere Man (Thomas Veil, 1995–1996). He also guest starred on the popular Canadian show Road to Avonlea for one episode. He won a Gemini Award for this role as "Best Guest Performance in a Series by an Actor".

On June 10, 2007, HBO's John from Cincinnati premiered, starring Greenwood. Greenwood also appears as the President of the United States in National Treasure: Book of Secrets. He played the Beach Boys drummer, Dennis Wilson, in Summer Dreams: Story of the Beach Boys. In 2009, he worked with Australian director Bruce Beresford he played the part of Ben Stevenson (Artistic Director of Houston Ballet) in the critically acclaimed film, Mao's Last Dancer.

Greenwood voiced Batman in the animated film, Batman: Under the Red Hood. He also voices the character in the Young Justice animated series.[4][5]

Greenwood played the lead role in the horror thriller Cell 213.[6] He is the lead for the Steven Spielberg produced 2012 ABC series The River and will reprise his role as Admiral Christopher Pike for the next J. J. Abrams Star Trek feature film.

Filmography

Greenwood at the 39th Primetime Emmy Awards, 1987
Actor
Year Title Role Notes
1982 First Blood Guardsman
1984 Legmen Jack Gage Starring role
1986 The Malibu Bikini Shop Todd
1988 In the Line of Duty: The F.B.I. Murders Jerry Dove
1989 Wild Orchid Jerome McFarland
1990 The Little Kidnappers Willem Hooft
1990 Summer Dreams: The Story of the Beach Boys Dennis Wilson
1991 The Servants of Twilight Detective Charlie Harrison
1992 Passenger 57 Stuart Ramsey
1994 Exotica Francis Brown
1994 Heart of a Child Fred Schouten TV Movie
1994 Treacherous Beauties Jason Hollister
1995-6 Nowhere Man Thomas Veil Star in main role
1997 Fathers' Day Bob Andrews
1997 The Sweet Hereafter Billy
1998 Thick as Thieves Bo
1998 Disturbing Behavior Dr. Edgar Caldicott
1999 Double Jeopardy Nick
1999 The Soul Collector Zacariah
2000 Here on Earth Earl Cavanaugh
2000 Cord Jack
2000 Rules of Engagement National Security Advisor Bill Sokal
2000 Thirteen Days John F. Kennedy
2002 Ararat Clarence Ussher / Martin
2002 Swept Away Tony
2002 Below Brice
2003 The Core Cmdr. Robert Iverson
2003 Hollywood Homicide Lt. Bennie Macko
2004 I, Robot Lawrence Robertson
2004 The Republic of Love Tom Avery
2004 Being Julia Lord Charles
2005 Racing Stripes Nolan Walsh
2005 Mee-Shee: The Water Giant Sean Cambell
2005 The World's Fastest Indian Jerry
2005 Capote Jack Dunphy
2006 Eight Below Davis McClaren
2006 Deja Vu Agent Jack McCready
2006 The Mermaid Chair Hugh Sullivan
2007 Firehouse Dog Connor Fahey
2007 I'm Not There Keenan Jones / Garrett
2007 National Treasure: Book of Secrets The President
2008 Cyborg Soldier Simon Hart
2009 Star Trek Christopher Pike
2009 Mao's Last Dancer Ben Stevenson
2009 A Dog Named Christmas George McCray
2010 Batman: Under the Red Hood Bruce Wayne/Batman (voice)
2010 Cell 213 the Warden
2010 Meek's Cutoff Stephen Meeks
2010 Barney's Version Blair
2010 Dinner for Schmucks Lance Fender
2010 Young Justice Bruce Wayne/Batman, Wotan, The Flaming C (voice) TV series
2011 Cristiada Ambassador Dwight Morrow
2011 Super 8 Cooper Motion Capture Role
2011 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Overlord Voice Role
2012 The River Dr. Emmet Cole Main role
2013 Flight Main role
2013 Untitled Star Trek sequel Christopher Pike filming

Awards and nominations

Year Association Category Result
1992 Gemini Awards Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role - The Little Kidnappers Nominated
1995 Gemini Awards Best Guest Performance in a Series by an Actor - Avonlea Won
1997 Genie Awards Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role - The Sweet Hereafter Nominated
2000 Blockbuster Entertainment Awards Favorite Supporting Actor - Suspense: Double Jeopardy Nominated
2001 Satellite Awards Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role: Drama - Thirteen Days Won
Gemini Awards Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series - Haven Nominated
2005 Genie Awards Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role - Being Julia Nominated
2006 Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture - Capote Nominated
2009 Boston Society of Film Critics Awards Best Ensemble Cast - Star Trek Won
2010 Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards Best Acting Ensemble - Star Trek Nominated
Gemini Awards Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series - The Summit Nominated

References

External links


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Mentioned in

The Servants of Twilight (1991 Thriller Film)
Heart of a Child (1994 Drama Film)
Spy (1989 Action Film)