James Gammon
James Gammon ( born April 20, 1940 in Newman, Illinois, † July 16, 2010 in Costa Mesa, California ) was an American actor.
Life
He grew up in Orlando ( Florida), where the family Gammon was established over decades. Until his death, he had next to his home in California has his main residence in Ocala, Marion County ( Florida). His father was a musician. Before he became an actor, he worked as a cameraman for the television.
His film debut was in 1967 in a small role in the prison film Cool Hand Luke by Stuart Rosenberg, along with Paul Newman. In the following years, he was mostly occupied in supporting roles as a rough character in numerous films, television series and television movies, especially in Western. He became a known face by guest roles in Western series like Gunsmoke, Bonanza and The Men from Shiloh Ranch, but also in crime series such as Charlie's Angels, Cannon and Petrocelli. In the family series The Waltons he was eight episodes long the " Zach Ross Well". In addition to Whoopi Goldberg he played in the series Bagdad Café about 15 episodes long the " Rudy ". His trademarks were his rugged, rough- appearance and its distinctive " whiskey voice".
Most famous are his roles as "Coach Lou Brown" in the The Cleveland Indians movies with Charlie Sheen and Tom Berenger and " Nick Bridges", father of "Nash Bridges" ( played by Don Johnson), the title character from the eponymous TV series. Several times he got together with Kevin Costner in front of the camera, so 1985 in the Western Silverado and most recently in 2009 in The New Daughter. Overall, he has appeared in over 130 productions.
He also took speaking roles in animated films, as in 1999 no less than three ( " Marv Loach ", "Floyd Turbeaux " and "General Sudokoff " ) in the U.S. stock of The Iron Giant.
Gammon was a friend of the theater: In the 1970s, he founded a small private theater in Hollywood. In the 1990s, he made a name for himself as a stage actor with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago. In the city theater of his place of residence Ocala, he stood in 2002 as King Lear by William Shakespeare on stage.
Gammon was married to theater producer and manager Jane Kapusta, with whom he had two children. Aside from acting, he devoted himself to the horse breeding for English thoroughbred. He died after prolonged suffering from cancer.