- Donald Moffat
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Donald Moffat Born December 26, 1930
Plymouth, Devon, England, United KingdomDonald Moffat (born December 26, 1930) is an English-born actor, now a naturalized American citizen.
Contents
Early life
Moffat was born in Plymouth, Devon, the only child of Kathleen Mary (née Smith) and Walter George Moffat, who was an insurance agent.[1] His parents ran a boarding house in Totnes. Completing his studies at the local King Edward VI School and national service in the Army, Moffat trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.
Career
Moffat began his career as a stage actor in London and New York. His first work was at the Old Vic Theatre Company in London. He joined APA (The Association of Producing Artists), a repertory company on Broadway, and was nominated for a Tony for Best Actor in a Play in 1967 for his roles in revivals of Henrik Ibsen's The Wild Duck and Pirandello's Right You Are If You Think You Are. He was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in the revival of Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh (1986) with Jason Robards. He won an Obie for Painting Churches.
His best known film role is probably the corrupt U.S. President in Clear and Present Danger. He has appeared on television in Logan's Run, The West Wing, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman and Tales of the City, in which his performance as dying executive Edgar Halcyon earned him many new fans. He has also appeared in many Broadway plays, including the world premieres of John Guare's A Few Stout Individuals (as Ulysses S. Grant), Painting Churches, The Heiress, The Cherry Orchard, Much Ado About Nothing, The School for Scandal, The Affair, and Hamlet.
Selected Filmography
- 61* (2001) as Ford Frick
- Cookie's Fortune (1999) as Jack Palmer
- The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1998) as Chief Surgeon
- The Evening Star (1996) as Hector Scott
- Trapped in Paradise (1994) as Clifford Anderson
- Clear and Present Danger (1994) as the fictional President Bennett
- Housesitter (1992) as George Davis
- Regarding Henry (1991) as Charlie Cameron
- Class Action (1991) as Quinn
- The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990) as Mr. McCoy
- The Bourne Identity (1988) as David Abbott[2]
- The Best of Times (1986) as the Colonel
- The Right Stuff (1983) as U.S. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson
- The Thing (1982) as Garry, the Station Commander
- The Chisholms CBS miniseries (1980) as Enos
- The Long Days of Summer (1980) as Josef Kaplan
- Popeye (1980) as the Taxman
- On the Nickel(1980) as Sam
- Tartuffe (1978) as Tartuffe
- Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years (1977) as Harry Hopkins
- Logan's Run (TV series) (1977-1978) as Rem
- Earthquake (1974) as Dr. Harvey Johnson
- The Battle of the River Plate (U.S. title Pursuit of the Graf Spee) (1956) as Swanston, Lookout, HMS Ajax (uncredited)
References
- ^ Donald Moffat Film Reference bio
- ^ in 2002 film version the role is re-imagined as Deputy Director Ward Abbott (played by Brian Cox)
External links
Categories:- 1930 births
- English film actors
- English stage actors
- English television actors
- English emigrants to the United States
- Living people
- Naturalized citizens of the United States
- People from Totnes
- English people of Scottish descent
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