Whether playing a hero or a villain, Woods is a master at making sleaziness seem sexy, and vice versa. Armed with a skinny frame, craggy features and explosive energy, this charismatic player dropped out of MIT to pursue acting. After moving to New York, he dabbled in stage work and debuted on Broadway in a 1970 production of
Borstal Boy. As he launched his acting career on the stage, he won a Theatre World Award for his role in the play
Moonchildren and an Obie for his performance in an Off-Broadway production of
Saved. Although he spent the '70s in small roles, he broke through as a psychotic criminal in the harrowing 1979 drama
The Onion Field. It was a testament to his talent that he got typecast as a big-screen baddy: an obsessive cable TV operator in
Videodrome (1983), a manipulative drug dealer in
Against All Odds (1984), and a Jewish gangster in
Once Upon a Time in America (1984). He earned his first Oscar nod for
Salvador (1986), as a reckless American journalist caught up in the title country's civil unrest. Yet despite his critical accolades, Hollywood didn't view Woods as leading-man material in films. In 1989, he tried to soften up on the silver screen for leading man roles as an adoptive dad in
Immediate Family and as a lawyer in
True Believer. Neither film drew large audiences, and he spent the next few decades turning in excellent supporting performances on the big screen — a hustler in
Diggstown (1992), Sharon Stone's lowlife ex in
Casino (1995), and a key player in the Watergate scandal in
Nixon (1995). His turn as an unrepentant racist killer in
Ghosts of Mississippi (1996) earned him a second Academy Award nomination, and he continued to play scheming types on the silver screen with roles as a calculating commanding officer in
The General's Daughter (1999), a football team doctor in
Any Given Sunday (1999), and a father in
The Virgin Suicides (2000). Concurrently, he essayed larger and less conniving roles on the small screen. He won two Emmys in a pair of TV-movies opposite James Garner — as a schizophrenic in
Promise and as the cofounder of Alcoholics Anonymous in
My Name Is Bill W. — and he also played New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani in an eponymous, post-9/11 telepic. In 2006, he took on his first series-regular role as a crusading defense lawyer in
Shark, but the CBS drama ended and he returned to feature films as the voice of a surf enthusiast in the kid-friendly animated feature
Surf's Up (2007). Next, he was cast in the thriller
Straw Dogs. Off screen, Woods' personal life has always seemed as intense as his roles. A twice-married ladies' man, he engaged in a very public war with Sean Young, his ex-girlfriend and costar in
The Boost, whom he accused of harassment. At age 59, he dated 20-year-old starlet Ashley Madison, the daughter of one of his golfing buddies. In his spare time, he is an avid poker player.
James Woods Fast Facts:
- Said he scored a near-perfect 1579 on his SATs.
- Fired his longtime agent for not informing him that director Quentin Tarantino wanted him for the lead in 1992's Reservoir Dogs.
- Was inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame in 1998.
- Made the final table of the World Poker Tour championship in 2004.
- The local school on Family Guy is named James Woods Memorial High School; he has voiced himself in episodes of the animated sitcom.
- In 2006, he appeared as an over-embellished version of himself in an episode of the HBO series Entourage.
- Lent his voice to the video games Kingdom Hearts (2002), Kingdom Hearts II (2005), and Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep (2010).
- James Woods Relationships:
- Gail Woods - Father
- Heather Graham - Ex-significant Other
- Kathryn Morrison - Ex-wife
- Martha Dixon - Mother
- Michael Woods - Brother
- Missy Crider - Ex-fiancée
- Sarah Owen - Ex-wife
- Sean Young - Ex-significant Other
- Julie Wright - Ex-significant Other
- James Woods Awards:
- 2003 Emmy: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie - Nominee
- 1987 Emmy: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Special - Winner
- 1989 Emmy: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Special - Winner
- 1993 Emmy: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Special - Nominee
- 1995 Emmy: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Special - Nominee
- 1987 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television - Winner
- 1986 Oscar: Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role - Nominee
- 1996 Oscar: Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role - Nominee
- 1989 Emmy: Outstanding Performance in Informational Programming - Nominee
- 1988 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television - Nominee
- 1990 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television - Nominee
- 1993 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television - Nominee
- 1996 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television - Nominee
- 1997 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television - Nominee
- 2001 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television - Nominee
- 1980 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama - Nominee
- 2000 Screen Actors Guild Awards: Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries - Nominee
- 1995 Screen Actors Guild Awards: Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture - Nominee
- 1997 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture - Nominee
- 2011 Emmy: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie - Nominee
- 2011 Screen Actors Guild Awards: Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries - Nominee
- 2006 Emmy: Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series - Nominee
- College:
- Attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA