David Strathairn

Manages to consistently illuminate the screen with his rich acting talent, spirit, and charisma, David Russell Strathairn easily stands up as one of the most prominent character actors whom critics can laud of. The son of a physician, he was born on January 26, 1949 in San Francisco, California and spent his early years primarily in Marin County before headed for Massachusetts to enroll in Williams College following his graduation from Redwood High School in 1966. Unexpectedly found himself deeply attracted to acting there, the teen thus began to develop his skills through the institution's theater, taking parts in its stage productions of Shakespearean plays also that of “Of Mice and Men.” Unable to stay away from performing upon finishing his study, he then tried to look for another place to nurture his interest in and ended up at Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Clown College when landed his feet in Florida.

Afterwards joined a New Hampshire summer stock playhouse, David's life started to change its course when he stumbled into his college acquaintance named John Sayles who eagerly included him in his directorial debut, “Return of the Secaucus 7” (1980). With the help of Sayles, he slowly built his way in film industry through the man's works, like “The Brother from Another Planet” (1984), “Matewan” (1987), and “Eight Men Out” (1988), all provided him enough experience to finally secure a regular role in NBC hit series, “The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd” (1988-1990), which delightfully elevated the tall guy to become a familiar figure to U.S audience. Even so, he kept maintained his bond with Sayles as he next appeared in his 1991 effort of “City of Hope” (1991) alongside Chris Cooper also Angela Bassett.

Delivering excellent portrayal of a homeless man called Asteroid in the fine dramatic work, David satisfyingly made his way to stun both critics and moviegoers alike to receive wider attention from public that subsequently led him to more roles. The rest of 1990s therefore saw him popping up finely in a series of film features, including “Sneakers” (1992), “The Firm” (1993), “Losing Isaiah” (1995), “L.A. Confidential” (1997), and “A Midsummer Night's Dream” (1999). These high-profile projects unquestionably raised his status in Hollywood considerably, but this lean actor surprisingly preferred to rather be involved in independent productions instead, taking parts in those of “A Good Baby” (2000), “Relative Evil” (2001), plus “Blue Car” (2002) among others.

Continued to deliver more than decent performances in “Twisted” (2004) and “Heavens Fall” (2005), David eventually came to the highlight of his career when he wonderfully earned an Academy Award nomination in the category of Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in year 2006 for his brilliant turn in George Clooney's highly acclaimed picture of “Good Night And Good Luck” (2005). Also received nods at 3 other prestigious award events of Golden Globe Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards, and BAFTA Awards, the attainment certainly has shown that the star still firmly maintained his superb knack in acting. Kept moving on smoothly, 2006 is likely to be another prolific year for the actor as there was a handful of films of him slated to be released which included “Matters of Life and Death”, “Fracture”, and “The Sensation of Sight” to be named few.