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