
David Strathairn
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).
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Known For
Acting History
2025
This Ordinary Thing as Voice
2025Zootopia 2 as Milton Lynxley (voice)
2025The Gettysburg Address as Ralph Waldo Emerson (voice)
2025A Little Prayer as Bill
2025The Luckiest Man in America as Bill
2025O Horizon as Warren
2024A Man on the Inside as Dr. Benjamin Cole
2023Remember This as Jan Karski
2022Where the Crawdads Sing as Tom Milton
2021Nightmare Alley as Pete
2021Nomadland as Dave
2020The Oedipus Project as Messenger 1
2020Walkaway Joe as Joe Haley
2020Interrogation as Henry Fisher
2019Them That Work as Self
2019The Devil Has a Name as Fred Stern
2019Godzilla: King of the Monsters as Admiral William Stenz
2019Fast Color as Ellis
2018My Dinner with Hervé as Marty Rothstein
2018UFO as Franklin Ahls
2018An Interview with God as God
2018McMafia as Semiyon Kleiman
2017Darkest Hour as President Roosevelt (voice)
2017November Criminals as Theo
2016American Pastoral as Nathan Zuckerman
2016He Does Not Want Peace as Richard Englebright
2015The Expanse as Commander Klaes Ashford
2015The Expanse as Klaes Ashford
2015Z: The Beginning of Everything as Anthony Sayre
2015Louder Than Bombs as Richard Weissman
2015The Debt as Nathan
2015The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel as Ty Burley
2014Godzilla as Admiral William Stenz
2014No God, No Master as William Flynn
2013Lincoln@Gettysburg as Narrator (voice)
2013The Blacklist as Peter Kotsiopulos
2013Love, Marilyn as Self
2012Lincoln as William Seward
2012Hemingway & Gellhorn as John Dos Passos
2012The Bourne Legacy as Noah Vosen
2012Maladies as Delmar
2011Alphas as Lee Rosen
2010The Whistleblower as Peter Ward
2010The Tempest as King Alonso
2010Howl as Ralph McIntosh
2010Inside Area 51's Secrets as Narrator
2010Area 51 Declassified as Himself - Narrator
2010Temple Grandin as Professor Carlock
2010Matadors as Roman Lodari
2009The People Speak as Self
2009Cold Souls as Dr. Flintstein
2009The Uninvited as Steven
2008Whatever You Desire: Making 'L.A. Confidential' as Self
2008Sunlight and Shadow: The Visual Style of 'L.A. Confidential' as Self
2008The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer as J. Robert Oppenheimer
2008The Spiderwick Chronicles as Arthur Spiderwick
2007My Blueberry Nights as Arnie
2007Trumbo as Self
2007Matters of Life and Death as Mr. Jennings
2007The Bourne Ultimatum as Noah Vosen
2007Racing Daylight as Henry / Harry
2007Steel Toes as Danny Dunkelman
2007Fracture as Joe Lobruto
2007The Supreme Court as Narrator
2006We Are Marshall as President Dedmon
2006The Sensation of Sight as Finn
2006Heavens Fall as Judge James Horton
2006The Human Behavior Experiments as Narrator
2006The Shovel as Paul Mullin
2005Good Night, and Good Luck. as Edward R. Murrow
2005The Notorious Bettie Page as Estes Kefauver
2005Willa Cather: The Road Is All as Narrator
2005Missing in America as Henry R. Hocknell Jr.
2004House as Nash
2004Los Angeles Plays Itself as Pierce Patchett in L.A. Confidential (archive footage)
2004Twisted as Dr. Melvin Frank
2004Paradise as Reverend Bobby Paradise
2003The Making of ‘Sneakers’ as Self
2003Blue Car as Auster
2002Master Spy: The Robert Hanssen Story as Jack Hoschouer
2002Lathe of Heaven as Mannie
2002Monk as Patrick Kloster
2002Speakeasy as Bruce Hickman
2001Relative Evil as Dr. Charlie
2001The Victim as Mark Zingerline
2000A Good Baby as Truman Lester
2000The Miracle Worker as Captain Keller
2000Harrison's Flowers as Harrison Lloyd
2000Freedom Song as Peter Crowley
1999A Map of the World as Howard Goodwin
1999Limbo as Joe Gastineau
1999A Midsummer Night's Dream as Theseus
1999The Sopranos as Robert Wegler
1998Bad Manners as Wes Westlund
1998The Giraffe as Charles Kaminski
1998Simon Birch as Rev. Russell
1998With Friends Like These as Armand Minetti
1998Evidence of Blood as Jackson Kinley
1998The Climb as Earl Himes
1997L.A. Confidential as Pierce Patchett
1997Song of Hiawatha as Marcel
1997In the Gloaming as Martin
1996Mother Night as Bernard B. O'Hare
1996Beyond the Call as Russel Gates
1995Home for the Holidays as Russell Terziak
1995Dolores Claiborne as Joe St. George
1995Losing Isaiah as Charles Lewin
1994The River Wild as Tom Hartman
1994April One as John McCowan
1993A Dangerous Woman as Getso
1993The Firm as Ray McDeere
1993Lost in Yonkers as Johnny
1993The American Clock as Young Arthur Huntington
1992Passion Fish as Rennie
1992Sneakers as Whistler
1992Bob Roberts as Mack Laflin
1992A League of Their Own as Ira Lowenstein
1992Big Girls Don't Cry... They Get Even as Keith
1992O Pioneers! as Carl Linstrum
1991City of Hope as Asteroid
1991Without Warning: The James Brady Story as Dr. Arthur Kobrine
1990Judgment as Father Frank Aubert
1990Memphis Belle as Craig Harriman
1990Heat Wave as Bill Thomas
1989The Feud as The Stranger
1989Day One as J. Robert Oppenheimer
1988Eight Men Out as Eddie Cicotte
1988Call Me as Sam
1988Dominick and Eugene as Martin Chernak
1988Stars & Bars as Charlie
1987Wiseguy
1987Matewan as Police Chief Sid Hatfield
1987The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd as Moss Goodman
1987Broken Vows as Stuart Chase
1986At Close Range as Tony Pine
1985Spenser: For Hire
1985The Equalizer as Phillip Borchek
1985When Nature Calls as Weejun
1984Miami Vice as Marty Lang
1984The Brother from Another Planet as Man In Black
1984Iceman as Dr. Singe
1983Silkwood as Wesley
1983Lovesick as Marvin Zuckerman
1983Enormous Changes at the Last Minute as Jerry
1980Return of the Secaucus Seven as Ron
1953The Oscars as Self
1951Hallmark Hall of Fame as Carl Linstrum
1949The Emmy Awards as Self
—The Bard
—By Any Means
—Babies








