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
- Adventures in the Making of Superman as Self
2024
- Lady in the Lake as Bob Bauer
- F.U.A.I. ... (Producer)
2021
- Crime Story as Tommy
2018
- Bird Box as Rick
- 59 Seconds as Robert
- ASIA A as Noah
- Gotti as Angelo Ruggiero
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
2012
- Brake as Driver / Boss Terrorist (voice)
- Butter as Ned Eaten
- Bending The Rules as Happy
2011
- Drive Angry as Roy
- Creature as Grover
- The Cape as Goggles
- On the Inside as Ben Marshal
- The Smell of Success as Cleveland Clod
- Flypaper as Jelly
2010
- The Walking Dead as Otis
- Hawaii Five-0 as Richard Branch
- Justified as Glen Fogle
- Mysterious Island as Gideon Spilett
2009
- In the Electric Mist as Lou Girard
- Don McKay as Mel
- Leaves of Grass as Big Joe Sharpe
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
- Monster as Gene / Stuttering "John"
- Identity as Malcolm Rivers
- L.A. Confidential as Sid Hudgens
- The Handler
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
- Murder One: Diary of a Serial Killer as Clifford Banks
- Cold Around the Heart as Johnny 'Cokebottles' Costello
- A Further Gesture as Scott
- The End of Violence as Frank Cray
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
- China Moon as Daryl Jeeters
- Natural Born Killers as Deputy Warden Kavanaugh
- Nobody's Fool as Rub Squeers
- 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
- Jacob's Ladder as Paul
- Fear as Jay Anthony Lapedes ("Shadow Man")
- Wild at Heart as Buddy
- Come See the Paradise as Augie Farrell
1989
- Quantum Leap as Hank Pilcher
- K-9 as Benny the Mule
- Homer and Eddie as Cashier
- I Know My First Name Is Steven as Irving Murphy
1988
- Mississippi Burning as Lester Cowens
- Red Heat as Night Clerk
1987
- Barfly as Joe
- Shy People as Paul
- Angel Heart as Det. Deimos
1984
- Miami Vice as Cruz