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Will Patton

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Will Patton
Patton in Blood On Her Name (2019)
Born
William Rankin Patton

(1954-06-14) June 14, 1954 (age 70)[not verified in body]
Occupations
  • Actor
  • narrator
Years active1981–present

William Rankin Patton (born June 14, 1954) is an American actor and audiobook narrator. He starred as Colonel Dan Weaver in the TNT science fiction series Falling Skies.[1] He also appeared in the films The Client (1994), Armageddon (1998), Gone in 60 Seconds (2000), Remember the Titans (2000), The Punisher (2004), American Honey (2016), Halloween (2018), and Minari (2020).[2] He appeared opposite Kevin Costner in four films: No Way Out (1987), The Postman (1997), and Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 (both 2024), as well as having a guest role in seasons 3 and 4 of Costner's Paramount Network series Yellowstone (2020–2022). Patton played Deputy Marnes in season one of the 2023 TV series Silo.

Patton was nominated alongside castmates for his ensemble work in Minari and Yellowstone at the Screen Actors Guild Awards in 2020 and 2021,[3][4] and won two Obie Awards for Best Actor in Sam Shepard's play Fool for Love and the Public Theater production of What Did He See?.[5]

Early life

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William Rankin Patton was born on June 14, 1954 in Charleston, South Carolina,[6] the eldest of three children. His father, Bill Patton, was a playwright and acting/directing instructor who was a Lutheran minister and served as a chaplain at Duke University.[7][8] Patton was raised on a farm, where his parents ran a foster home for wayward teenagers.[7]

Career

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Theater

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Patton had lead roles in Sam Shepard's play Fool for Love and in the Public Theater production of What Did He See?.[5]

Film and television

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Patton portrayed the evil antagonist in Desperately Seeking Susan (1985) and had a significant role in No Way Out (1987) opposite Kevin Costner,[7] his first major film. He went on to play the role of General Bethlehem, again opposite Kevin Costner, in the 1997 The Postman.[9] He portrayed coach Bill Yoast in Remember the Titans (2000),[10] and FBI agent Melvin Purvis in the 1991 made-for-television film Dillinger,[11] before a supporting actor performance in Armageddon (1998). Patton performed the role of Alan Wilson for five episodes on the TV show 24 (2009).

Patton also appeared in Silkwood (1983), The Client (1994), Copycat (1995), Entrapment (1999), Gone in 60 Seconds (2000),[12] The Mothman Prophecies (2002), The Punisher (2004),[13] The Fourth Kind (2009), Brooklyn's Finest (2010), Minari (2020) and The Forever Purge (2021). Patton had a guest role in seasons 3 and 4 of Costner's Paramount Network series Yellowstone (2020-2022).[14]

Patton portrayed the character of Sam Conroy in the film American Violet (2008).[15] From 2011 to 2015, he starred as Colonel Weaver in the TNT sci-fi television series Falling Skies, executive-produced by Steven Spielberg. In 2018, Patton portrayed Officer Frank Hawkins in the horror reboot of Halloween,[16] and reprised his role in its two Halloween sequels, Halloween Kills (2021)[17] and Halloween Ends (2022).[18] He also portrayed Avery Sunderland in the DC Universe TV series Swamp Thing in 2019.[19]

Patton's Yellowstone lead, Kevin Costner, identified Patton in May 2023 as an actor that will join him again, this time in Horizon, a "Civil War saga" based on four scripts which Costner intends to write, direct, and act in, covering a 15-year period of "pre- and post-Civil War... settlement of the American west".[20]

Audiobooks

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Patton provided the voice for the audio version of Al Gore's 2007 The Assault on Reason.[when?][citation needed] He recorded the audio version for 22 books[clarification needed] written by best-selling mystery writer James Lee Burke.[when?][citation needed] He has recorded more than 45 audiobooks.

Critical reception

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Patton's acting work has been noted, critically and by colleagues. Speaking with regard to Patton's presence in the Yellowstone cast, executive producer and fellow cast member Kevin Costner "praise[d]" Patton as "very dynamic in his own way, formidable and detailed", adding that he was "a fantastic actor" and that "[i]t was good to see Will on the set."[21]

Awards and recognition

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Patton won two Obie Awards for best actor for his theatrical performances in Fool for Love[22] and What Did He See?.[23] He was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for his work in The Postman (1997).[citation needed]

More recently, Patton was nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture at the 27th SAG Awards alongside his fellow cast members, for their work in Minari (2020),[3] and for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series at the 28th SAG Awards alongside his fellow cast members, for their work in Yellowstone (in 2021).[4]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1983 Variety Mark
King Blank Bar Customer
Silkwood Joe
1985 The Beniker Gang Forest Ranger
Desperately Seeking Susan Wayne Nolan
After Hours Horst
1986 Chinese Boxes Lang Marsh
Belizaire the Cajun Matthew Perry
1987 No Way Out Scott Pritchard
1988 Wildfire Mike
Stars and Bars Duane Gage
1989 Signs of Life Mr. Coughlin
1990 Everybody Wins Jerry
A Shock to the System Lieutenant Laker
Bright Angel Woody Uncredited[24]
1991 The Rapture Deputy Foster
Cold Heaven Father Niles
1992 In the Soup 'Skippy'
1993 The Paint Job Wesley
Midnight Edition Jack Travers
Romeo Is Bleeding Martie
1994 Tollbooth Dash Pepper
Natural Causes Michael Murphy
Judicial Consent Alan Warwick [25]
The Client Sergeant Hardy
The Puppet Masters Dr. Graves
1995 Copycat Inspector Nicoletti
1996 Plain Pleasures
The Spitfire Grill Nahum Goddard [26]
Fled Detective Matthew 'Gib' Gibson [27]
1997 Inventing the Abbotts Lloyd Abbott
Hounddogg
This World, Then the Fireworks Lieutenant Morgan
The Postman General Bethlehem Nominated — Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor[citation needed]
1998 OK Garage Sean
Armageddon Charles 'Chick' Chapple
I Woke Up Early the Day I Died Preacher
1999 Breakfast of Champions 'Moe' The Truck Driver
Entrapment Hector Cruz
Jesus' Son John Smith
2000 Gone in 60 Seconds Atley Jackson
Trixie W. 'Red' Rafferty
Remember the Titans Coach Bill Yoast
2002 The Mothman Prophecies Gordon Smallwood
2004 The Punisher Quentin Glass
2006 Road House 2 Nate Tanner
2007 Code Name: The Cleaner Riley
A Mighty Heart DSS Special Agent Randall Bennett
The List Michael Harriston
Dog Days of Summer Eli Cottonmouth
2008 Wendy and Lucy The Mechanic
American Violet Sam Conroy
Lucky Days J.C.
2009 Barbarian Princess Sanford B. Dole
Looking at Animals Raymond
The Canyon Henry [28]
The Fourth Kind Sheriff August
Waking Madison Madison's Father
The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond Old Man Dobyne
2010 Brooklyn's Finest Lieutenant Bill Hobarts
Meek's Cutoff Solomon Tetherow
Knucklehead Vic Sullivan [29]
2012 The Girl Tommy
Abigail Harm The Visitor / Narrator
2014 The November Man Perry Weinstein
2016 American Honey Backseat Cowboy
2017 The Scent of Rain and Lightning Senior
Megan Leavey Jim
2018 Boarding School Dr. Sherman
An Actor Prepares Wisdom
Halloween Deputy Frank Hawkins
2019 Blood on Her Name Richard Tiller
Hammer Stephen Davis
Radioflash Frank
2020 Minari Paul Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture[3]
2021 The Devil Below Schuttmann
The Forever Purge Caleb Tucker
Halloween Kills Deputy Frank Hawkins
2022 Halloween Ends
2023 Janet Planet Wayne
2024 Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 Owen Kittredge
Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2
TBA Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 3 Filming
You Can't Win Foot and A Half George Post-production

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1981 Kent State Peter Television film
1982 CBS Library Ben Moody Episode: "Robbers, Rooftops and Witches"
1982–1983 Ryan's Hope 'Ox' Knowles Contract role
1984–1985 Search for Tomorrow Kentucky Bluebird 26 episodes
1985 The Equalizer Officer Nick Braxton Episode: "Lady Cop"
1987 A Gathering of Old Men Lou Dimes Television film
1990 Nasty Boys Raymond Batiste Episode: "Flesh and Blood"
1991 Dillinger FBI Agent Melvin Purvis Television film
Deadly Desire Giles Menteer Television film
1992 Lincoln and the War Within Ward Lamon Television film
In the Deep Woods Eric Gaines Television film
A Child Lost Forever: The Jerry Sherwood Story Frank Maxwell Television film
1993 Taking the Heat Hadley Television film
1995–1997 VR.5 Dr. Frank Morgan 5 episodes
1997 The Protector Jeff Unknown episodes
2001–2003 The Agency Jackson Haisley Main role
2004 Family Sins Philip Rothman Television film
The Last Ride Aaron Purnell Television film
2005 Into the West James Fletcher Episode: "Wheel to the Stars"
2006–2007 Numbers Lieutenant Gary Walker 4 episodes
2009 24 Alan Wilson 5 episodes
American Experience John Wilkes Booth (voice) Episodes: "The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln"
2010 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Craig Haliday Episode: "Unshockable"
2011–2015 Falling Skies Captain Dan Weaver Main role
2016 The Good Wife Mike Tascioni 4 episodes
2017 Shots Fired Sheriff Daniel Platt Main role
2019 Swamp Thing Avery Sunderland[30] Main role
2020–2022 Yellowstone Garrett Randall Recurring role; nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series[4]
2022–present Outer Range Wayne Tillerson Main role
2023 Silo Deputy Marnes 4 episodes

Voice work

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Audio books

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Title Author Year Notes
You Like It Darker Stephen King 2024 [31]
The Demon of Unrest Erik Larson 2024
Flags on the Bayou James Lee Burke 2023
Every Cloak Rolled in Blood James Lee Burke 2022
Greywaren Maggie Stiefvater 2022
Another Kind of Eden James Lee Burke 2021
Mister Impossible Maggie Stiefvater 2021
If It Bleeds Stephen King 2020 [32]
Tales of Ordinary Madness Charles Bukowski 2017
Call Down The Hawk Maggie Stiefvater 2019
The Outsider Stephen King 2018
Robicheaux James Lee Burke 2018
The Mist Stephen King 2017
Killers of the Flower Moon David Grann 2017
End of Watch Stephen King 2016 [33]
The Raven King Maggie Stiefvater 2016
House of the Rising Sun James Lee Burke 2015
Finders Keepers Stephen King 2015 [34]
Blue Lily, Lily Blue Maggie Stiefvater 2014
Mr. Mercedes Stephen King 2014
Doctor Sleep Stephen King 2013 [35]
The Dream Thieves Maggie Stiefvater 2013
The Son Philipp Meyer 2013
My Cross to Bear Gregg Allman 2012
The Raven Boys Maggie Stiefvater 2012
Creole Belle James Lee Burke 2012
Deliverance James Dickey 2011
Feast Day of Fools James Lee Burke 2011
The Glass Rainbow James Lee Burke 2010
Alas, Babylon Pat Frank 2010
Light in August William Faulkner 2010
Chasing Lincoln's Killer James L. Swanson 2009
Jesus' Son Denis Johnson 2009
Swan Peak James Lee Burke 2008
On the Road Jack Kerouac 2007
The Tin Roof Blowdown James Lee Burke 2007
The Assault on Reason Al Gore 2007
Fine Just the Way It Is: Wyoming Stories 3 Annie Proulx 2008
Tree of Smoke Denis Johnson 2007
Last Car to Elysian Fields James Lee Burke 2007
Thirteen Moons Charles Frazier 2006
Pegasus Descending James Lee Burke 2006
Crusader's Cross James Lee Burke 2006
Jolie Blon's Bounce James Lee Burke 2006
The President Has Been Shot! James L. Swanson 2006
The Thomas Berryman Number James Patterson 2006
To Have and Have Not Ernest Hemingway 2006
A Dave Robicheaux Audio Collection James Lee Burke 2006
A Stained White Radiance (#5)
In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead (#6)
Dixie City Jam (#7)
Burning Angel (#8)
Cadillac Jukebox (#9)
When Zachary Beaver Came to Town Kimberly Willis Holt 2006
Cosmopolis Don DeLillo 2005
In the Moon of Red Ponies James Lee Burke 2004
Cimarron Rose James Lee Burke 2004
White Doves at Morning James Lee Burke 2003
Bitterroot James Lee Burke 2001
Cadillac Jukebox James Lee Burke 2001
Purple Cane Road James Lee Burke 2000
Boone's Lick Larry McMurtry 2000
Burning Angel James Lee Burke 1999
Heaven's Prisoners James Lee Burke 1999
Heartwood James Lee Burke 1999
Primal Fear William Diehl 1999
Dixie City Jam James Lee Burke 1999
A Stained White Radiance James Lee Burke 1998
Sunset Limited James Lee Burke 1998
The Sea-Wolf Jack London 1997
Dead Man's Walk Larry McMurtry 1996
Dirty White Boys Stephen Hunter 1995
The Water Is Wide Pat Conroy 1995
The Fermata Nicholson Baker 1995
Gump and Co. Winston Groom 1995
Gone South Robert R. McCammon 1994
Lila – An Inquiry into Morals Robert M. Pirsig 1991
The Neon Rain James Lee Burke 1987
The Lost Get-Back Boogie James Lee Burke 1986

References

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  1. ^ "Kindly Keep Your Mitts Off My Planet" by Katrina Onstad at nytimes.com
  2. ^ "‘Minari’ Wins Big With North Carolina Film Critics Association, Chloé Zhao’s Directing Winning Streak Continues" by Clayton Davis at variety.com
  3. ^ a b c SAG Staff (February 4, 2021). "Nominations Announced for the 27th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards". SAGAwards.org. Retrieved May 28, 2023.
  4. ^ a b c SAG Staff (January 12, 2022). "Nominations Announced for the 28th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards". SAGAwards.org. Retrieved May 28, 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Seasoned actor takes on diversity of roles" by Bill Thompson, The Post and Courier (21 Dec, 1997) Retrieved from ProQuest 373812714
  6. ^ "Revisionist with a cause" by Jim Schembri, The Age (2 Feb, 2001) [Late Edition] Retrieved from ProQuest 363443347
  7. ^ a b c Elias, Justine (July 5, 1998). "Emerging as a Leading Man of Supporting Actors". The New York Times. p. 9. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
  8. ^ Harrington, Douglas (2010). "Bill Patton Returns To The Hamptons With A New Play". Hamptons.com. Bridgehampton, NY. Archived from the original on May 10, 2010. Retrieved May 28, 2023. The original posting of the date of this article was May 7, 2010, which cannot be substantiated from the archived article.
  9. ^ The Postman review by Todd McCarthy at variety.com
  10. ^ Remember the Titans review by Todd McCarthy at variety.com
  11. ^ "Dillinger shot in Milwaukee! TV moviemakers give Wisconsin the rights to a Chicago legend" by Charles Leroux, Chicago Tribune (18 July, 1990) Retrieved from ProQuest 282789524
  12. ^ Gone In 60 Seconds review by Roger Ebert at www.rogerebert.com
  13. ^ The Punisher review by Roger Ebert at www.rogerebert.com
  14. ^ "Yellowstone season 4 reveals new cast members and teaser ahead of fall premiere" by Nick Romano at ew.com
  15. ^ American Violet review by Todd McCarthy at variety.com
  16. ^ "Film Review: ‘Halloween’" by Peter Debruge at variety.com
  17. ^ "‘Halloween Kills’ Review: It Will Feed Your Nostalgia…for Mediocre Slasher Sequels" by Owen Gleiberman at variety.com
  18. ^ "‘Halloween Ends’ Review: Michael Myers Gets a Disciple, and Jamie Lee Curtis Mopes, as the Series Ends…But Not Really (Rinse, Slash, Repeat)" by Owen Gleiberman at variety.com
  19. ^ "‘Swamp Thing’ Casts Andy Bean, Derek Mears in Lead Roles" by Margeaux Sippell at variety.com
  20. ^ Hubbard, Lauren (May 24, 2023). "Everything We Know So Far About Kevin Costner's Horizon". TownandCountryMag.com. Retrieved May 28, 2023.
  21. ^ Stahulak, Leanne (December 28, 2021). "'Yellowstone' Star Kevin Costner Praises 'Formidable, 'Very Dynamic' Will Patton". Outsider.com. Retrieved May 28, 2023.
  22. ^ Winners 1984 at www.obieawards.com
  23. ^ Winners 1989 at www.obieawards.com
  24. ^ "Bright Angel - Full Cast & Crew" at www.tvguide.com
  25. ^ Judicial Consent review by Caren Weiner Campbell at ew.com
  26. ^ "Care of the Spitfire Grill" by Leonard Klady at variety.com
  27. ^ Fled review by Ty Burr at ew.com
  28. ^ The Canyon review by Rob Nelson at variety.com
  29. ^ Knucklehead review by John Anderson at variety.com
  30. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (November 5, 2018). "'Swamp Thing': Will Patton Cast As Avery Sunderland In DC Universe Series". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
  31. ^ [https://stephenking.com/news/you-like-it-darker-readers-announced-750.html[
  32. ^ "Read an exclusive excerpt from Stephen King's newest book If It Bleeds" by Seija Rankin at ew.com
  33. ^ "Will Patton reads Stephen King's 'End of Watch' -- exclusive" by Isabella Biedenharn at ew.com
  34. ^ "Hear Will Patton read Stephen King's 'Finders Keepers' -- exclusive" by Isabella Biedenharn at ew.com
  35. ^ "On The Books: Murakami novel; audiobooks with Neil Gaiman, Roald Dahl" by JoJo Marshall at ew.com
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