David Strathairn

Born: 1949-01-26 in San Francisco, California, USA

Known For: Acting

Biography

David Russell Strathairn (born January 26, 1949) is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of journalist Edward R. Murrow in the feature film Good Night, and Good Luck (2005), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award. He also starred in L.A. Confidential (1997), Godzilla (2014), and the Bourne franchise (2007–2012). Strathairn appeared in supporting roles in many notable films such as A League of Their Own (1992), Sneakers (1992), The Firm (1993), The River Wild (1995), Lincoln (2012), Nomadland (2020), and Nightmare Alley (2021). He is a frequent collaborator with director John Sayles, who is a fellow graduate of Williams College. On television, Strathairn is known for his recurring roles in The Sopranos (2004), Alphas (2011–2012), The Blacklist (2015–2016), Billions (2017–2019), and The Expanse (2018–2019). He received a Primetime Emmy Award win and a Golden Globe Award nomination for his performance in the HBO television film Temple Grandin (2010).

Filmography

2026

By Any Means
Stages as Porter Gates
O Horizon as Warren

2025

Zootopia 2 as Milton Lynxley (voice)
The Luckiest Man in America as Bill
The Gettysburg Address as Ralph Waldo Emerson (voice)
This Ordinary Thing as Self (voice)
A Little Prayer as Bill

2024

A Man on the Inside as Dr. Benjamin Cole

2023

Remember This as Jan Karski

2022

Where the Crawdads Sing as Tom Milton

2021

Nightmare Alley as Pete
Nomadland as Dave

2020

Interrogation as Henry Fisher
The Oedipus Project as Messenger 1
Walkaway Joe as Joe Haley

2019

Godzilla: King of the Monsters as Admiral William Stenz
The Devil Has a Name as Fred Stern
Fast Color as Ellis
Them That Work as Self

2018

McMafia as Semiyon Kleiman
UFO as Franklin Ahls
An Interview with God as God
My Dinner with Hervé as Marty Rothstein

2017

Darkest Hour as President Roosevelt (voice)
November Criminals as Theo

2016

Billions as Black Jack Foley
American Pastoral as Nathan Zuckerman
He Does Not Want Peace as Richard Englebright

2015

The Expanse as Commander Klaes Ashford
Z: The Beginning of Everything as Anthony Sayre
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel as Ty Burley
Louder Than Bombs as Richard Weissman
The Debt as Nathan

2014

Godzilla as Admiral William Stenz
No God, No Master as William Flynn

2013

The Blacklist as Peter Kotsiopulos
Love, Marilyn as Self
Lincoln@Gettysburg as Self - Narrator (voice)

2012

The Bourne Legacy as Noah Vosen
Lincoln as William Seward
Hemingway & Gellhorn as John Dos Passos
Maladies as Delmar

2011

Alphas as Lee Rosen

2010

Temple Grandin as Professor Carlock
The Tempest as King Alonso
The Whistleblower as Peter Ward
Howl as Ralph McIntosh
Matadors as Roman Lodari
Area 51 Declassified as Himself - Narrator
Inside Area 51's Secrets as Narrator

2009

The Uninvited as Steven
Cold Souls as Dr. Flintstein
The People Speak as Self

2008

The Spiderwick Chronicles as Arthur Spiderwick
Sunlight and Shadow: The Visual Style of 'L.A. Confidential' as Self
Whatever You Desire: Making 'L.A. Confidential' as Self
The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer as J. Robert Oppenheimer

2007

The Bourne Ultimatum as Noah Vosen
Fracture as Joe Lobruto
My Blueberry Nights as Arnie
Trumbo as Self
Steel Toes as Danny Dunkelman
Matters of Life and Death as Mr. Jennings
Racing Daylight as Henry / Harry
The Supreme Court as Narrator

2006

We Are Marshall as President Dedmon
The Notorious Bettie Page as Estes Kefauver
Heavens Fall as Judge James Horton
The Sensation of Sight as Finn
The Shovel as Paul Mullin
The Human Behavior Experiments as Narrator

2005

Good Night, and Good Luck. as Edward R. Murrow
Missing in America as Henry R. Hocknell Jr.
Willa Cather: The Road Is All as Narrator

2004

House as Nash
Twisted as Dr. Melvin Frank
Los Angeles Plays Itself as Pierce Patchett in L.A. Confidential (archive footage)
Paradise as Reverend Bobby Paradise

2003

Blue Car as Auster
The Making of ‘Sneakers’ as Self

2002

Monk as Patrick Kloster
Lathe of Heaven as Mannie
Speakeasy as Bruce Hickman
Master Spy: The Robert Hanssen Story as Jack Hoschouer

2001

Relative Evil as Dr. Charlie
The Victim as Mark Zingerline

2000

The Miracle Worker as Captain Keller
Harrison's Flowers as Harrison Lloyd
Freedom Song as Peter Crowley
A Good Baby as Truman Lester

1999

The Sopranos as Robert Wegler
A Midsummer Night's Dream as Theseus
A Map of the World as Howard Goodwin
The Giraffe as Charles Kaminski
Limbo as Joe Gastineau

1998

Simon Birch as Rev. Russell
With Friends Like These as Armand Minetti
Evidence of Blood as Jackson Kinley
The Climb as Earl Himes
Bad Manners as Wes Westlund

1997

L.A. Confidential as Pierce Patchett
Song of Hiawatha as Marcel
In the Gloaming as Martin

1996

Mother Night as Bernard B. O'Hare
Beyond the Call as Russel Gates

1995

Dolores Claiborne as Joe St. George
Home for the Holidays as Russell Terziak
Losing Isaiah as Charles Lewin

1994

The River Wild as Tom Hartman
April One as John McCowan

1993

The Firm as Ray McDeere
A Dangerous Woman as Getso
The American Clock as Young Arthur Huntington
Lost in Yonkers as Johnny

1992

Sneakers as Whistler
A League of Their Own as Ira Lowenstein
Bob Roberts as Mack Laflin
Passion Fish as Rennie
Big Girls Don't Cry... They Get Even as Keith
O Pioneers! as Carl Linstrum

1991

City of Hope as Asteroid
Without Warning: The James Brady Story as Dr. Arthur Kobrine

1990

Memphis Belle as Craig Harriman
Judgment as Father Frank Aubert
Heat Wave as Bill Thomas

1989

Day One as J. Robert Oppenheimer
The Feud as The Stranger

1988

Eight Men Out as Eddie Cicotte
Call Me as Sam
Stars & Bars as Charlie
Dominick and Eugene as Martin Chernak

1987

Wiseguy
The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd as Moss Goodman
Matewan as Police Chief Sid Hatfield
Broken Vows as Stuart Chase

1986

At Close Range as Tony Pine

1985

The Equalizer as Phillip Borchek
Spenser: For Hire
When Nature Calls as Weejun

1984

Miami Vice as Marty Lang
Iceman as Dr. Singe
The Brother from Another Planet as Man In Black