James Robert Rebhorn (born September 1, 1948) is an American character actor who has appeared in over one hundred television shows, feature films, and plays.
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Rebhorn moved to Anderson, Indiana as a child. A devout Lutheran, he attended the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, where he studied political science. While there, he was a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. After graduating in 1970, Rebhorn moved to New York City, where he earned a Masters of Fine Arts in acting from Columbia University's School of the Arts and joined the metropolitan theater scene.
Rebhorn is known for portraying lawyers, politicians, doctors, and military men, and often plays the bad guy. He has delivered equally notable performances in a variety of other roles, including that of a brutal serial killer on NBC's Law & Order and a shipping magnate in The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999). He acted against Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman (1992), and was also in the final scene of My Cousin Vinny (1992) with Marisa Tomei; thus, he acted in scenes with the 1993 Oscar winners for both best actor and best supporting actress. He also appeared again with Al Pacino in Carlito's Way (1993) the following year.
On television, he played several daytime roles, including an abusive stepfather, Bradley Raines, on the soap opera Guiding Light from 1983 to 1985, and an abusive father, Henry Lange, on sister soap As The World Turns from 1988-91. An earlier daytime role was as John Brady in Texas from 1981 to 1982.
In 1998, he played District Attorney in the series finale of Seinfeld. His most recent role, in the short-lived and controversial NBC drama The Book of Daniel, cast him as the father of the title character, played by Aidan Quinn. His second most recent appearance was as Principal Burdock (A.K.A. "Boilerhead") in How To Eat Fried Worms.
