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James Todd Spader ( ; born February 7, 1960) is an American actor. He is known for often portraying eccentric and morally ambiguous characters. He began his career in critically acclaimed independent films before transitioning into television, where he has received acclaim and many awards, including three Primetime Emmy Awards and nominations for three Golden Globe Awards, and ten Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Spader began acting in youth-oriented films such as Tuff Turf, The New Kids (both 1985), Pretty in Pink (1986), and Mannequin (1987). His breakthrough role came with the Steven Soderbergh drama Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989), for which he received the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor. He then starred in films such as White Palace (1990), True Colors (1991), Stargate (1994), 2 Days in the Valley (1996), and Secretary (2002). Spader took supporting roles in Bob Roberts (1992), Wolf (1994), Lincoln (2012), and The Homesman (2014). He also played the role of Ultron in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film (2015).
His television roles include the attorney Alan Shore in the last season of The Practice (2003–2004) and its spin-off Boston Legal (2004–2008), which earned him three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. He portrayed Robert California in the sitcom The Office (2011–2012). He then starred as Raymond Reddington in the NBC crime thriller series The Blacklist (2013–2023), for which he received two Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actor – Television Series Drama.
During his early education, he attended many private schools, including The Pike School in Andover where his mother taught art, and the Brooks School in North Andover where his father was a teacher. He later transferred to Phillips Academy, befriended President John F. Kennedy's son John F. Kennedy Jr., dropped out at the age of seventeen, and moved to New York City to pursue his acting career. While studying to become a full-time actor, Spader undertook jobs including bartending, teaching yoga, driving a meat truck, loading railroad cars, and being a stable boy.
Spader's roles in the early 1990s included a young, affluent widower opposite Susan Sarandon in the romantic drama White Palace (1990), a yuppie who meets the mysterious Rob Lowe in the Noir drama Bad Influence (1990), John Cusack's best friend in the drama True Colors (1991), and a poker-playing drifter in The Music of Chance (1993). In 1994, he starred as Egyptologist Daniel Jackson in the sci-fi film Stargate. In 1996, he played car accident fetishist James Ballard in the controversial Canadian film Crash and assassin Lee Woods in 2 Days in the Valley. In 1997, Spader guest starred in the Seinfeld episode "The Apology", as an angry recovering alcoholic who refuses to apologize to George Costanza for making fun of him. In 2000, he played a drug-addicted detective tracking a serial killer in The Watcher. In 2002, he starred as a sadomasochistic boss in Secretary.
From 2004 to 2008, Spader starred as Alan Shore in the series Boston Legal, in which he reprised his role from the television series The Practice (2003). Longtime writer-producer David E. Kelley said there was resistance when he first tried to cast Spader in the role, "I was told that no one would ever welcome James Spader into their living room". During a TV Game Changers interview Kelley noted, "People will watch him (Spader) in the movies, but they will never let him in their own home."
He won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2004 for his portrayal on The Practice and won it again in 2005 and 2007 for Boston Legal. James Spader at the Primetime Emmy Award Database With the 2005 win, he became one of only a few actors to win an Emmy Award while playing the same character in two series. Even rarer, he won a second consecutive Emmy while playing the same character in two series. He also won the Satellite Award for Best Actor in a Series, Comedy or Musical for Boston Legal in 2006.
In October 2006, Spader narrated "China Revealed", the first episode of Discovery Channel's documentary series Discovery Atlas. He also did voice-over in several television commercials for Acura. He starred in Race, a play written and directed by David Mamet, which opened on December 6, 2009, at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on Broadway. The show closed on August 21, 2010, after 297 performances. In March 2011, he was named to star in the film By Virtue Fall, written and to be directed by Sheldon Turner. , the movie was in pre-production.
Spader guest-starred as Robert California in "Search Committee", the season 7 finale of The Office. He then joined the cast as a regular member for the eighth season. While the original plan was just to do a guest appearance, executive producer Paul Lieberstein later said, "Those two scenes became a season".
Spader starred in the television series, The Blacklist, which premiered on NBC September 23, 2013, and which had its series finale on July 13, 2023, a total of ten seasons. He portrayed Raymond "Red" Reddington, one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives.
He also played the villainous robot Ultron in (2015), and will reprise the role in the upcoming Disney+ series VisionQuest (2026).
In an interview with Rolling Stone in 2014, Spader revealed he has obsessive–compulsive disorder.
Acting career
Spader's first major film role was in the film Endless Love (1981), and his first starring role was in Tuff Turf (1985). He rose to stardom in 1986, when he played the rich, arrogant playboy Steff in Pretty in Pink. He co-starred in Mannequin (1987) and the film adaptation of Less than Zero (1987), in which he played a drug dealer named Rip. Supporting roles in films such as Baby Boom (1987) and Wall Street (1987) followed until his breakthrough in Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989), in which he played a sexual voyeur who complicates the lives of three Baton Rouge, Louisiana residents. For this performance he received the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival.
Personal life
Spader met his wife, decorator Victoria Kheel, while she was working in a yoga studio after he moved to New York City in the 1980s. They married in 1987 and had two sons. Spader filed for divorce from Kheel in 2004. He began dating his former Alien Hunter (2003) co-star, Leslie Stefanson, in 2002. They have one son together.
Filmography
Film
Acting debut Credited as Jimmy Spader Short film Voice and motion-capture
Television
Television short 6 episodes Television film Donny Tison Lowell Everall Joey Callaghan Voice; episode: "Slow Tango in South Seattle" Episode: "The Apology" Television film 22 episodes 101 episodes Voice; episode: "China Revealed" 20 episodes 218 episodes; also executive producer Voice and motion-capture; Post-production
Awards and nominations
External links
Categories: 1960 Births, Living People, 20th-century American Male Actors, 21st-century American Male Actors, American Male Film Actors, American Male Television Actors, American Male Voice Actors, Brooks School Alumni, Cannes Film Festival Award For Best Actor Winners, Male Actors From Boston, People With Obsessive–compulsive Disorder, Phillips Academy Alumni
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