Pruitt Taylor Vince
Born: 1960-07-05 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA
Known For: Acting
Biography
Pruitt Taylor Vince (born July 5, 1960) is an American character actor. He had roles in the films Mississippi Burning (1988), Jacob's Ladder (1990), JFK (1991), Identity (2003), and Constantine (2005). He played J.J. Laroche in The Mentalist (2008–2015). Vince has also appeared on many television series. In 1997, he won a Primetime Emmy Award for his guest role as Clifford Banks in the second season of the television series Murder One. Vince was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on July 5, 1960. He attended Louisiana State University. For most of his life, Vince has had a condition called nystagmus, the involuntary movement of the eye. Vince made his film debut in Jim Jarmusch's Down by Law, but his scenes were edited out. He had prominent supporting roles in several major films, including a turn as a dimwitted Ku Klux Klan member in Mississippi Burning (1988), Lee Bowers in JFK (1991), and the main character's best friend in Nobody's Fool (1994). His first lead role was in James Mangold's independent film Heavy (1995), playing a sweet, silent, overweight cook harbouring a crush on a waitress played by Liv Tyler. He starred in Giuseppe Tornatore's film The Legend of 1900 (1998). Vince often alternates between heroic and villainous characters. Vince played a Southern policeman in the neo-noir psychological horror film Angel Heart (1987), a kidnapper's assistant in the crime thriller film Trapped (2002), and a deputy prison warden in Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers (1994). He played a lovable, small-town pub owner in Beautiful Girls (1996); a mentally ill serial killer in the 2003 mystery thriller film Identity (a second collaboration with director Mangold); a pompous sheriff in Nurse Betty (2000); a gossip columnist in Simone (2002); and a dissolute Roman Catholic priest with psychic abilities in the 2005 supernatural horror film Constantine. He can also be seen in the dramatic film Love from Ground Zero (1998), playing as Walter. Other film titles include the psychological horror film Jacob's Ladder (1990), the neo-noir film China Moon (1994), the action thriller film Homefront (2013), and the supernatural horror film The Devil's Candy (2015). Guest appearances on TV shows include Deadwood, Alias, The X-Files, Miami Vice, Quantum Leap, Chicago Hope, In the Heat of the Night, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Highlander: The Series, and the American remake of Touching Evil. In 2011, he appeared as Otis in the AMC television series The Walking Dead. He also had a guest role playing a 600-lb. patient in Fox's medical drama House. From 2010 to 2014, he had a multi-episode appearance in The Mentalist. In 2012, he appeared in a full episode of Justified. He took a comic role as "Jelly" in Flypaper. In 2018, he appeared on an episode of The Blacklist as Lawrence Devlin. Vince received an Emmy Award in 1997 for Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his role as serial killer Clifford Banks during the second season of the television series Murder One.
Filmography
2025
- Superman as Pa Kent
2024
- Lady in the Lake as Bob Bauer
- F.U.A.I. ... (Producer)
2021
- Crime Story as Tommy
2018
- Bird Box as Rick
- Gotti as Angelo Ruggiero
- 59 Seconds as Robert
- ASIA A as Noah
2016
- Stranger Things as Ray
- The Devil's Candy as Ray
2015
- Heroes Reborn as Casper Abraham
2014
- 13 Sins as Vogler
2013
- The Blacklist as Lawrence Devlin
- Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as Grill
- Homefront as Werks
- Beautiful Creatures as Mr. Lee
- The Grief Tourist as Carl Marznap
- Broken Blood as Earl Wayne
2012
- Butter as Ned Eaten
- Brake as Driver / Boss Terrorist (voice)
- Mysterious Island as Gideon Spilett
- Bending The Rules as Happy
2011
- The Cape as Goggles
- Drive Angry as Roy
- Flypaper as Jelly
- Creature as Grover
- The Smell of Success as Cleveland Clod
- On the Inside as Ben Marshal
2010
- The Walking Dead as Otis
- Hawaii Five-0 as Richard Branch
- Justified as Glen Fogle
2009
- In the Electric Mist as Lou Girard
- Leaves of Grass as Big Joe Sharpe
- Don McKay as Mel
2008
- The Mentalist as J.J. LaRoche
- True Blood as Finn
- Canterbury's Law
- The Echo as Joseph
2007
- Captivity as Ben Dexter
- When A Man Falls In The Forest as Travis Gilmore
2005
- Bones as Haze Jackson
- Medium as Peter Winant
- Constantine as Father Hennessy
- Drop Dead Sexy as Spider
- Nobody Wants Your Film as Self
2003
- Identity as Malcolm Rivers
- Monster as Gene / Stuttering "John"
- The Handler
- L.A. Confidential as Sid Hudgens
2001
- Alias as Campbell / Schapker
2000
- CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as Marty Gleason
- The Cell as Dr. Reid
- Nurse Betty as Ballard
1999
- Mumford as Henry Follett
1998
- The Legend of 1900 as Max Tooney
- Doctor Dolittle as Patient at Hammersmith (uncredited)
- Love from Ground Zero as Walter
1997
- The End of Violence as Frank Cray
- Cold Around the Heart as Johnny 'Cokebottles' Costello
- A Further Gesture as Scott
- Murder One: Diary of a Serial Killer as Clifford Banks
1996
- Beautiful Girls as Stanley "Stinky" Womack
- The Cottonwood as Mark Salli
1995
- Murder One
- Heavy as Victor Modino
- Under the Hula Moon as Bob
1994
- Chicago Hope as Walter Platt
- Natural Born Killers as Deputy Warden Kavanaugh
- Nobody's Fool as Rub Squeers
- China Moon as Daryl Jeeters
- City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold as Bud
1993
- The X-Files as Gerry Schnauz
1992
- Highlander: The Series as Mikey
- Till Death Us Do Part as Michael Brockington
1991
- JFK as Lee Bowers
- Sweet Poison as Coyle
- Dead in the Water as Lou Rescetti
1990
- Wild at Heart as Buddy
- Jacob's Ladder as Paul
- Come See the Paradise as Augie Farrell
- Fear as Jay Anthony Lapedes ("Shadow Man")
1989
- Quantum Leap as Hank Pilcher
- K-9 as Benny the Mule
- I Know My First Name Is Steven as Irving Murphy
- Homer and Eddie as Cashier
1988
- Red Heat as Night Clerk
- Mississippi Burning as Lester Cowens
1987
- Angel Heart as Det. Deimos
- Barfly as Joe
- Shy People as Paul
1984
- Miami Vice as Cruz