JAMES CROMWELL received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his performance as Farmer Hoggett in the international smash, Babe, and went on to play the role in the hit sequel Babe: Pig in the City. Cromwell’s other memorable motion picture work includes The Longest Yard, I, Robot, Space Cowboys, Frank Darabont’s critically acclaimed The Green Mile, The General’s Daughter, Snow Falling on Cedars, The Bachelor, The Sum of All Fears, Star Trek: First Contact, The People vs. Larry Flynt, DreamWorks SKG’s Spirit: Stallion of The Cimarron, Stephen Frears’ Oscar nominated The Queen, Becoming Jane, The Education of Little Tree, Secretariat, Spiderman 3, and as Police Captain, Dudley Smith, in L.A. Confidential. He played a pivotal role in The Artist, which received the Oscar for Best Picture. He was the first recipient of the Canadian Screen Best Actor Award for his role in the film Still Mine.
Cromwell recently won an Emmy for his portrayal of Dr. Arden on American Horror Story: Asylum. He earned multiple Emmy nominations for his work on the HBO original series, Six Feet Under, the HBO movie, RKO 281, and the NBC drama, ER. His body of work encompasses dozens of miniseries and movies-of-the-week, including a starring role in TNT’s A Slight Case of Murder, ABC's Betrayal, a cameo appearance in HBO’s Angels in America, West Wing, Picket Fences, Home Improvement, L.A. Law, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and is now shooting a new series, Murder in The First.
Cromwell has also performed in many revered plays, including Hamlet, The Iceman Cometh, Devil’s Disciple, All’s Well That Ends Well, Beckett, and Othello in many of the country’s most distinguished theaters, including the South Coast Repertory, the Goodman Theatre, the Mark Taper Forum, the American Shakespeare Festival, Center Stage, the Long Wharf Theatre, and the Old Globe. He recently played A. E. Houseman in the American premiere of Tom Stoppard’s The Invention of Love at ACT in San Francisco. Cromwell has directed at resident theaters across the country and was the founder and Artistic Director of his own company, Stage West, in Springfield, Massachusetts. He also co-directed a short film, which was shown at the London Film Festival.
Born in Los Angeles, Cromwell grew up in New York and Waterford, Connecticut, and studied at Carnegie Mellon University (then Carnegie Tech). His father, John Cromwell, an acclaimed actor and director, was one of the first presidents of the Screen Directors Guild. His mother, Kay Johnson, was an actress of stage and film. (photo by Ryan Rogers)