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James Woods Biography
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| Name : | James Woods |
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Date of birth :
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18 April 1947
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Place of birth :
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Vernal, Utah, USA
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Birth name :
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James Howard Woods
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Height :
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6' (1.83 m)
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James Woods Trivia
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- Received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame [15 October 1998]
- Alleged to have an IQ of 180. Scored a perfect 800 on his verbal SATs and a 779 on the math section.
- He plays a character who works for Richard Nixon in the movie Nixon (1995) and played one of a band of men who wore Nixon masks when they robbed a police depository in Best Seller (1987).
- Reserve Los Angeles Police Officer. Anti-Capital Punishment.
- He appeared in the music video and sang in the choir on the song "Voices That Care."
- Fired his agent for not telling him of Quentin Tarantino's offer to star as Mr. Orange/Freddie in Reservoir Dogs (1992).
- Dated actress Heather Graham
- Majored in Political Science at M.I.T.
- Brother of actor Michael Jeffrey Woods.
- Felt victimized by Sean Young, who allegedly stalked and harrassed him after their dating relationship ended.
- Member of Theta Delta Chi Fraternity.
- Was engaged to actress Missy Crider in 1997; they met when she played his daughter in the TV movie Jane's House (1994) (TV).
- While on a commercial flight from Boston to LA in August, he noticed a group of men acting suspiciously on the plane and informed a flight attendant that he felt the men were planning to hijack the plane. He has thus been in several interviews with FBI agents since the September 11 attacks. [2001]
- Providing the voice of Carl, the straight-laced rabbit in the pet store across the street from a rental station, in a series of Blockbuster commercials.
- Is ambidextrous (as seen in The Virgin Suicides (1999), writes on chalkboard with both hands).
- Is the son of a U.S. Army intelligence officer
- The high school in the animated show "Family Guy" (1999) was named after him (James Woods High School). James grew up in Rhode Island, where the show took place.
- Visits his family in Rhode Island frequently.
- Actor James Woods observed and reported four hijackers making a trial run on an airline flight before the September 11 terrorist attacks on America.
- Loves cooking and is an excellent chef.
- Enjoys playing golf.
- Quit smoking cigarettes in 1993.
- Loves photography.
- He was accepted into the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on a full scholarship, majoring not in the physical sciences, but in political science. He also pursued acting, appearing in 36 plays at MIT, Harvard and the Theater Company of Boston, and performed in summer stock at the Provincetown Playhouse. He dropped out of MIT during his last year to move to New York and pursue acting full-time.
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James Woods Detailed Biography
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James Woods was nominated for an Academy Award for his starring role in Oliver Stone's Salvador and also co-starred in the filmmaker's Nixon as White House Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman.
Woods has proven himself one of the most varied and active of the entertainment industry's award-winning stars. His recent leading role in John Carpenter's Vampires challenged him with perhaps the only assignment he had not previously essayed, the action hero. Most recently, Woods' films have included his first teaming with actor/director Clint Eastwood in True Crime, a pairing with John Travolta in The General's Daughter and performances opposite Kathleen Turner and Melanie Griffith in, respectively, Sofia Coppola's first directorial film, The Virgin Suicides, and Larry Clark's Another Day in Paradise, the latter a critically acclaimed festival success.
During Wood's two decades as a star, he has received two Oscar nominations (Salvador and Ghosts of Mississippi) and two Best Actor Emmys among numerous stage, screen and television awards. His versatility is reflected in his roles as a sleazy Las Vegas pimp in Martin Scorsese's Casino, a gangster in Sergio Leone's Once Upon A Time in America, a murderer in The Onion Field (for which he received a Golden Globe Award), a murderer in Killer - A Journal of Murder, and his creation of Hades in Disney's Hercules, as well as his acclaimed television performances: as a schizophrenic in Promise, for which he received an Emmy and a Golden Globe Award, in Indictment - The McMartin Trial, his Emmy winning work in which he captured the ruthless essence of McCarthy Committee Counsel Roy Cohn in HBO's Citizen Cohn, and his Emmy winning work in My Name is Bill W. Both Killer - A Journal of Murder and Indictment - The McMartin Trial were produced or executive produced by Oliver Stone.
In Ghosts of Mississippi, Woods portrayed Byron De La Beckwith, the bigot who murdered civil rights activist Medgar Evers, to great acclaim and an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor. He then starred in two of the summer of 1997's $100-million box office winners, providing the voice of Hades in Hercules, and teaming with Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey in Robert Zemeckis' Contact.
Woods' other awards include a Golden Satellite Award for Killer - A Journal of Murder, and Golden Globe nominations for both the Hallmark Hall of Fame television movie The Summer of Ben Tyler and Ghosts of Mississippi. Citizen Cohn earned him the first American Television Award Best Actor Trophy and a Peabody Award.
Woods' numerous features have included The Specialist, The Getaway, Curse of the Starving Class, Diggstown, The Hard Way, Immediate Family, The Boost, Best Seller, True Believer, Against All Odds, Joshua Then and Now, Videodrome, The Black Marble, Cop, The Choirboys, Stephen King's Cat's Eye, Fastwalking, Distance, Split Image, Eyewitness, Night Moves and Alex and the Gypsy. He made his film debut in Elia Kazan's The Visitors" and then played a small but memorable role as Barbra Streisand's college boyfriend in The Way We Were.
On television, Woods has starred in the telefilms Jane's House and In Love and War, for which he received yet another Golden Globe nomination.
Woods began his acting career while studying at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. While majoring in political science on full scholarship, Woods appeared in some 36 plays at MIT, Harvard and the Theatre Company of Boston. Summer stock at the Provincetown Playhouse completed his preparation to move to New York and become a professional actor.
Woods made his Broadway debut in Brendan Behan's Borstal Boy, followed by the lead in Saved (for which he won the Obie Award and the Clarence Derwent Award for Most Promising Actor). Other New York credits include The Trial of the Catonsville Nine, Finishing Touches, Green Julia and Michael Weller's Moonchildren, for which he won the Theatre World Award.
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