Biography
One of America's most recognizable character actors, James Rebhorn is a veteran of over 100 television shows, feature films, and plays. While best known for portraying lawyers, politicians, doctors, and military men, he has delivered equally notable performances in a variety of other roles, including that of a brutal serial killer on NBC's Law & Order, a shipping magnate in
Anthony Minghella's The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), and a comically doomed restaurateur in Billy Morrisette's Scotland, PA (2001).
Born in Philadelphia, PA, on September 1, 1948, Rebhorn moved to Anderson, IN, as a child. A devout Lutheran, he attended the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Wittenburg University in Ohio, where he studied political science. After graduating in 1970, Rebhorn moved to New York City, where he earned a Master's of Fine Arts in acting from Columbia University's School of the Arts and joined the metropolitan theater scene.
After making his television debut on the NBC soap opera
The Doctors in 1977, Rebhorn starred on Another World: Texas and The Guiding Light, as well as earned a 1989 Soap Opera Digest Award for his performance as Henry Lange on
As the World Turns. He displayed his comic talents during a recurring role on
Kate and Allie, and in an unforgettable turn as the district attorney who jails the
Seinfeld gang in the show's final episode. He also garnered recurring roles on some of television's most heralded dramas -- including Law & Order,
Third Watch,
Now and Again, and
The Practice -- and memorable telefilms -- including Sarah, Plain and Tall (1981),
North and South (1985),
Skylark (1993),
From the Earth to the Moon (1998), and
A Bright Shining Lie (1998).
Rebhorn's feature-film career began in the early '80s with roles such as "Lawyer" in
Soup for One (1982), "Los Alamos Doctor" in
Silkwood (1983), and "Drunken Business Man" in
Cat's Eye (1985). As the decade progressed, his parts increased in importance and he emerged in the '90s as an established supporting actor with roles in several high-profile films. After appearing in 1991's
Regarding Henry with
Harrison Ford and
Annette Bening, Rebhorn gave stand-out performances opposite
Marisa Tomei and
Joe Pesci in
My Cousin Vinny (1992),
Sharon Stone and
Michael Douglas in
Basic Instinct (1992),
Chris O'Donnell and
Al Pacino in
Scent of a Woman (1992), and
Susan Sarandon and
Nick Nolte in
Lorenzo's Oil (1992). He went on to earn prominent roles in
Carlito's Way (1993),
Guarding Tess (1994),
I Love Trouble (1994), Up Close & Personal (1996),
Independence Day (1996),
If Lucy Fell (1996), and
My Fellow Americans (1996). Rebhorn rounded out the '90s by playing the mysterious Consumer Recreation Services representative in
The Game (1997), the prosecuting attorney in
Snow Falling on Cedars (1999), and
Jude Law's shipping magnate father in the above-mentioned The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999). The new millennium saw him starring as
Robert De Niro's future in-law in
Meet the Parents (2000) and a modern-day version of Macbeth's Duncan in the above-mentioned Scotland, PA, before gearing up for the
Eddie Murphy sci-fi vehicle
The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002), and
Todd Haynes' long-awaited return to directing,
Far From Heaven (2002).
While juggling his film and television work, Rebhorn frequently returns to the stage. He has appeared at the Manhattan Theater Club, Playwright's Horizons, the New York Shakespeare Festival, the LaJolla Playhouse, the Ensemble Studio Theater, and Lincoln Center. In 2002, he earned rave reviews for his performance in the Roundabout Theater's production of Arthur Miller's first play, The Man Who Had All the Luck, with
Chris O'Donnell and
Samantha Mathis. ~ Aubry Anne D'Arminio, All Movie Guide