Powers Boothe

Powers Boothe Headshot

Actor

Birth Date: June 1, 1948

Death Date: May 14, 2017

Birth Place: Snyder, Texas

A dependable character actor for over three decades, Emmy winner Powers Boothe lent grit to powerful men on both sides of the moral fence in a variety of diverse projects from "Red Dawn" (1984) and "Nixon" (1995) to "Deadwood" (HBO, 2004-06), "24" (Fox, 2001-2010) and "The Avengers" (2012) and "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." (ABC 2013- ). Boothe made an indelible impression on audiences with his first major screen role as the deranged Reverend Jim Jones in "Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones" (CBS, 1980) before making the leap to features with Walter Hill's "Southern Comfort" (1981).

He soon became a favorite for directors like Hill and Oliver Stone, who cast Boothe as flinty bad guys in "Extreme Prejudice" (1987), "U Turn" (1990) and "Nixon" (1995). "Deadwood" brought him back to prominence with his complex turn as a brutal but emotionally wounded brothel owner, which in turn led to high-profile parts on "24" and country music drama "Nashville" (ABC/CMT 2012- ), as well as significant supporting roles in "Sin City" (2005) and "The Avengers" (2012). Boothe's tough exterior and talent for intimate drama made him one of the most in-demand character actors in Hollywood. His death at the age of 68 on May 14, 2017 brought to an end a compelling career.

Born June 1, 1948 on a farm in Snyder, TX, Powers Allen Boothe was the youngest of three sons by Merrill Vestal Boothe and his wife, Emily Reeves. He attended Texas State University, where he earned a degree in theater. Unsure if he could make a living as an actor, Boothe considered teaching before being encouraged by fellow members in a summer stock troupe to audition for the graduate program at Southern Methodist University. After receiving his Master of Fine Arts degree in 1972, Boothe was a member of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, then made his stage debut in New York in a 1974 production of "Richard III" at Lincoln Center. He would return to the play for his screen debut in 1977's "The Goodbye Girl," which featured him as a cast member in a doomed, off-off-Broadway production of the play.

Boothe made his Broadway debut in 1980 with the comic one-act "Lone Star," but his stage work was overshadowed by his performance as the Reverend Jim Jones, the fanatical leader of the People's Temple who led his followers to commit mass suicide, in "Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones" (CBS, 1980). For his formidable turn as the messianic madman, Boothe received not only critical praise but also the Emmy for Best Actor in 1980. He was the only actor in any category to attend the ceremony that year, which was under boycott by the Screen Actors Guild due to a strike. In his acceptance speech, Boothe admitted that his appearance at the ceremony was either the bravest moment of his career or the most foolish.

Blessed with considerable height (6'5") and a strong jaw, he was a natural to play men of action, as he did for Walter Hill in "Southern Comfort" (1981) and John Milius in cult favorite "Red Dawn" (1984). But Boothe brought more than brawn to his tough guy roles; there was also an all-too-evident humanity that made him both vulnerable and appealing to audiences. These traits were put to excellent use in John Boorman's "The Emerald Forest" (1985), with Boothe as an engineer in Brazil whose son was abducted by and inducted into a primitive tribe. Boothe also possessed the right mix of brass and world-weariness to play Philip Marlowe, Raymond Chandler's iconic detective, in the cable series "Philip Marlowe, Private Eye" (ITV/HBO, 1983-86).

By the end of the 1980s, Boothe's movie career seemed stuck in conventional action roles, playing heavies or cops in Hill's ultra-violent "Extreme Prejudice" (1987) and Brandon Lee's sidekick in "Sudden Death" (1990). He found more substantive work on the small screen, where he essayed Navy officer and convicted spy John A. Walker, Jr. in "Family of Spies" (CBS, 1990), and "By Dawn's Early Light" (HBO, 1990), as a B-52 bomber pilot who refused to honor orders to drop nuclear weapons on the Soviet Union. In 1993, he played real-life outlaw "Curly Bill" Brocious in the all-star "Tombstone" (1993), about the events leading up to and after the famed gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

In the mid-1990s, Boothe settled into character roles, often as imposing authority figures, ruthless villains or some combination of both attributes. He faced off against Jean-Claude Van Damme as a terrorist holding the vice president hostage at a hockey game in Peter Hyams' "Sudden Death" (1995), then shifted gears to play the hawkish Alexander Haig, White House chief of staff in Oliver Stone's "Nixon" (1995). Boothe reunited with Stone in 1997 to play a corrupt Southwestern sheriff in the neo-noir "U Turn." His gravely voice also found frequent employment on animated series like "Justice League" (Cartoon Network, 2001-04) and full-length animated features like "Superman: Brainiac Attacks" (2006), for which he voiced the DC Comics supervillains Gorilla Grodd and Lex Luthor, respectively.

In 2004, he enjoyed something of a revival with a recurring role on "Deadwood" as Cy Tolliver, a polished brothel owner whose dandified veneer hid both an iron hand in business dealings, as well as a damaged heart over Joanie Stubbs (Kim Dickens), a former prostitute made madam under Tolliver's aegis. The exposure afforded by the critically acclaimed but short-lived "Deadwood" led to small parts in major features like "Sin City" (2005) and steady work on television, most notably as the duplicitous Vice President Noah Daniels on "24" (Fox, 2001-2010).

Boothe worked steadily over the next few years in projects ranging from the wildly popular animated series "Ben 10: Alien Force" (Cartoon Network, 2008-2010) to Will Forte's action comedy "MacGruber" (2010). However, 2012 proved to be a banner year for Boothe, with a bit role as the World Security Council Leader in the box office blockbuster "The Avengers" (2012) landing shortly before his appearance as judge Valentine "Wall" Hatfield, whose decision in a case involving stolen livestock leads to a bloody feud in "Hatfields & McCoys" (A&E, 2012), one of the highest-rated made-for-cable miniseries in history. Along with reprising his role in the Marvel Universe in "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." (ABC 2013- ), Boothe co-starred in the first season of Callie Khouri's music drama "Nashville" (ABC/CMT 2012- ) as the disapproving father of series lead Rayna James (Connie Britton). Boothe also co-starred in the Anna Paquin romantic comedy "Straight A's" (2013) and reprised his role as Senator Roark in "Sin City: A Dame To Kill For" (2014). Powers Boothe died at his home in Los Angeles on May 14, 2017. He was 68 years old.

By Paul Gaita

Credits

Hatfields & Mccoys

Actor
Judge Valentine Hatfield
Movie
2016

Sin City: A Dame to Kill ForStream

Actor
Senator Roark
Movie
2014
43%

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.Stream

Guest Star
Series
2013
95%

Straight A's

Actor
Father
Movie
2013

NashvilleStream

Actor
Lamar Wyatt
Series
2012
91%

NashvilleStream

Guest Star
Lamar Wyatt
Series
2012
91%

Hatfields & McCoysStream

Actor
Wall Hatfield
Miniseries
2012
71%

The Looney Tunes ShowStream

Guest Voice
Leslie Hunt
Series
2011

Guns, Girls and Gambling

Actor
The Rancher
Movie
2011

Scooby-Doo: Mystery IncorporatedStream

Guest Voice
Dead Justice
Series
2010

MacGruberStream

Actor
Col. Faith
Movie
2010
47%

24: RedemptionStream

Actor
President Noah Daniels
Movie
2008
80%

Edison and Leo

Voice
George T. Edison
Movie
2008

Nick Nolte: No Exit

Self
Movie
2008

The Final Season

Actor
Jim Van Scoyoc
Movie
2007

Superman: Brainiac Attacks

Voice
Movie
2006

Sin CityStream

Actor
Senator Rourk
Movie
2005
76%

DeadwoodStream

Actor
Cy Tolliver
Series
2004
92%

Second Nature

Actor
Kelton Reed
Movie
2003

FrailtyStream

Actor
Agent Wesley Doyle
Movie
2002
75%

24Stream

Guest Star
Vice President Noah Daniels
Series
2001
87%

Attila

Actor
Flavius Aetius
Miniseries
2001

Atila, el Azote de Dios

Actor
Movie
2001

Eternal Enemies: Lions and Hyenas

Narrator
Show
2000

Men of HonorStream

Actor
Captain Pullman
Movie
2000
42%

Joan of Arc

Actor
Show
1999

A Crime of Passion

Actor
Movie
1999

Joan of Arc

Actor
Jacques D'Arc
Miniseries
1999

The Spree

Actor
Det. Bram Hatcher
Movie
1998

True Women

Actor
Show
1997

U-Turn

Actor
Sheriff Potter
Movie
1997

Dalva

Actor
Sam
Movie
1996

Mutant Species

Actor
Frost
Movie
1995

Sudden Death

Actor
Joshua Foss
Movie
1995

NixonStream

Actor
Alexander Haig
Movie
1995
75%

Web of Deception

Actor
Dr. Philip Benesch
Movie
1994

Blue SkyStream

Actor
Vince Johnson
Movie
1994
80%

Marked for Murder

Actor
Mace `'Sandman'` Moutron
Movie
1993

TombstoneStream

Actor
Curly Bill Brocious
Movie
1993
72%

Rapid Fire

Actor
Mace Ryan
Movie
1992

Wild Card

Actor
Preacher
Movie
1992

Le Prédicateur

Actor
Movie
1992

Family of Spies: The Walker Spy Ring

Actor
Show
1990

Familia de Espías

Actor
Movie
1990

By Dawn's Early LightStream

Actor
Cassidy
Movie
1990

Les Lâches

Actor
Movie
1988

Le Crépuscule des lâches

Actor
Movie
1988

Into the Homeland

Actor
Jackson Swallow
Movie
1987

Extreme Prejudice

Actor
Cash Bailey
Movie
1987

The Emerald Forest

Actor
Bill Markham
Movie
1985

La Forêt d'émeraude

Actor
Movie
1985

Red DawnStream

Actor
Lt. Col. Andrew 'Andy' Tanner
Movie
1984
52%

A Breed Apart

Actor
Mike Walker
Movie
1984

Pesadilla de Guerra

Actor
Movie
1981

Southern Comfort

Actor
Hardin
Movie
1981

Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones

Actor
Show
1980

Un Grito de Amor

Actor
Movie
1980

A Cry for Love

Actor
Tony Bonnell
Movie
1980

The Cold Eye (My Darling, Be Careful)

Actor
Movie
1980