William James "Bill" Pullman (born December 17,
1953) is an American film, television, and stage actor.
Early life
Pullman
was born in Hornell, New
York
, the son of Johanna (née Blaas), a nurse, and James Pullman, a physician. His
father's family descends from England and his maternal grandparents
were immigrants from
Netherland.
After
graduating from Hornell High School in 1971, he attended the
State University
of New York at Delhi and the State
University of New York at Oneonta
in the 1970s. He eventually received his
Masters of Fine Arts from the
University of
Massachusetts at Amherst.
Pullman taught theater at SUNY Delhi and Montana State
University
(where he was convinced by his students to attempt
film). When he was 40, he moved to Hornell to pursue an
acting career.
Career
During the
1980s, he primarily worked with theatre companies around New York
and Los Angeles,
California
. His first prominent movie role was in the
film
Ruthless People (which
starred
Danny DeVito and
Bette Midler). Other notable films included the
lead in
Spaceballs (1987),
The Serpent and
the Rainbow (opposite
Zakes
Mokae),
While You Were
Sleeping (1995),
Independence Day (1996), and
Lost Highway (1997). Pullman
continues to act in both
theatre and in
movies, independent and big budget. His more recent films have been
The Grudge and
Scary Movie 4 (the latter ironically
heavily spoofing
The Grudge though Pullman's part spoofed
The Village).
From
February 2001 until February 2002, Pullman starred with Mercedes Ruehl, in Edward Albee's play The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?
on Broadway
. The
play won several awards: 2002
Tony Award
for Best Play; 2002 Drama Desk Award Outstanding New Play; 2003
Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Pullman was nominated, but did not win,
the 2002 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Actor in a Play. He starred
as Dr. Richard Massey in the End of Days miniseries,
Revelations.He may co-star with
Val Kilmer in the new
Lewis and Clark movie, if it ever
materializes. Pullman starred in
Edward
Albee's Peter and Jerry, at
Off-Broadway's
Second Stage Theatre in New York.
Pullman received a second Drama Desk Award nomination for
Outstanding Actor in a Play for Peter and Jerry in 2008.
In addition to acting, Pullman is a creative writer. His first
play,
Expedition 6, is about the
International Space Station
mission
Expedition 6 that was in orbit
at the time that the
Space
Shuttle Columbia was
destroyed on reentry,
grounding the U.S. space shuttle program, which was to provide the
vehicle for the crew's return to earth.
The play opened at
San
Francisco
's Magic
Theater in September 2007.
Most recently, Pullman joined the cast of
Peacock starring
opposite
Susan Sarandon,
Cillian Murphy,
Ellen
Page and
Josh Lucas.
Filming will take
place in Des Moines,
Iowa
. He will appear on Broadway in a production
of David Mamet's
Oleanna,
co-starring
Julia Stiles.
Pullman is also a Jury Member for the digital studio Filmaka, a
platform for undiscovered filmmakers to show their work to industry
professionals.
Personal life
Pullman is married to Tamara Hurwitz, and has three children,
daughter Maesa (born 1988), and sons Jack (born 1989), and Lewis
(born 1993).
Jack
Pullman, a student at Warren
Wilson College near Asheville
, was arrested for assault and possessing moonshine on October 27, 2008.
He
lost his sense of smell in college after
an injury left him in a coma for two days.
Pullman is an avid bird watcher and co-owns a resort in Paradise
Valley, AZ with Mike Tyson to house Tyson's 350 pigeons.
Pullman
co-owns a cattle ranch with his brother in Montana, near the town
of Whitehall
, where he lives part-time.
American cultural critic
Greil Marcus
used Pullman as a major piece of his argument in the book
The
Shape of Things to Come: Prophecy and the American Voice. In
the chapter entitled "American Berserk: Bill Pullman's Face",
Marcus argued that many different aspects of American culture could
be clearly seen in Pullman's facial expressions in various
films.
On May 24, 2008, Pullman was awarded an honorary doctorate at the
University of
Massachusetts, Amherst, where he received his graduate
degree.
Filmography
References
- 1
- The American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards - Official Website
by IBM
- Bill Pullman's theatrical space
odyssey, www.collectspace.com, September 20, 2007
- Pullman and Stiles Will Star in Mamet's Oleanna
on Broadway, Opening Oct. 11, www.playbill.com, June 30,
2009
-
http://www.filmaka.com/profile_jury_favfilms.php?profile_id=5682
- Biography. - BillPullman.org.
-
http://www.wlos.com/shared/newsroom/top_stories/wlos_vid_1573.shtml
- Associated Press (October 20, 2002). -
Entertainment: "Yeltsin visits Armenian brandy distillery". - c/o
Amarillo Globe-News.
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