Brion James

Brion Howard James (February 20, 1945 – August 7, 1999) was an American character actor. He portrayed Leon Kowalski in Blade Runner and appeared in Southern Comfort, 48 Hrs., Another 48 Hrs., Silverado, Tango & Cash, Red Heat, The Player, and The Fifth Element. James was frequently cast as an antagonist, appearing more frequently in lower-budget horror and action films and TV shows throughout the 1980s and 1990s. James appeared in more than 100 films before his death in 1999 at the age of 54.

Brion James
Born	Brion Howard James (1945-02-20)February 20, 1945 Redlands, California, U.S.
Died	August 7, 1999(1999-08-07) (aged 54) Malibu, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1973–1999
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)

Early life and education

James was born in Redlands, California.^[1] He spent his early years in Beaumont, California, where his parents owned and operated a theater; James said, "My story is like Cinema Paradiso. Every night in my life since I was two years old... I ran movies".^[2] After graduating from high school in 1964,^{[citation needed]} James attended San Diego State University as a Theater Arts major. Migrating to New York, James immersed himself in the theatre scene, taking on bit roles here and there.

Career

In 1975, James landed a small role in the made-for-television film, The Kansas City Massacre, playing John Dillinger gang member Homer Van Meter. Higher profile roles followed in 1976, with his casting in Nickelodeon and Harry and Walter Go to New York. James also appeared in the television miniseries Roots and popular 1970s shows such as Gunsmoke, The Incredible Hulk, Mork and Mindy, Chico and the Man, CHiPs, and The Rockford Files.

James's career took a sudden upturn in the early 1980s with roles in Southern Comfort and 48 Hrs. (which were both directed by Walter Hill), but it was his performance as Leon Kowalski in the 1982 film Blade Runner that gave him his greatest, most lasting fame. James followed this up with roles in Enemy Mine, Flesh + Blood, A Breed Apart, Silverado, Armed and Dangerous, Red Heat, Steel Dawn, Red Scorpion, Tango & Cash, and Showdown. James had guest spots in the television shows Benson, Quincy, M.E., The A-Team, Little House on the Prairie, The Dukes of Hazzard, Matlock, Miami Vice, Hunter, along with the Hunter take off Sledge Hammer!, and Dynasty. In the 1990s, he appeared in Highlander: The Series, and as Sheriff Bowman in the Millennium season 2 episode "Luminary". He lent his voice to the character of Parasite in Superman: The Animated Series. In 1982, he was in the television film Hear No Evil as Billy Boy Burns.^[3][4][5]

James starred in the low-budget 1989 supernatural horror film The Horror Show (aka House III), where he played serial killer "Meat Cleaver Max" Jenke. In 1994, he played a grouchy sponsor who became a victim of the gruesome goings-on during a 1939 radio show in the film Radioland Murders. Near the end of his career, he appeared as the amiable General Munro in The Fifth Element (1997), a rare non-villainous role. Two months before his death, James reprised his role as Parasite in Superman 64, a video game based on Superman: The Animated Series.

Concerning his talent for playing villains in films, he stated in an interview in Fangoria magazine, "I consider myself a classical character actor like Lon Chaney, Wallace Beery, Charles Laughton. I always like to play bad guys. I'm real good at psychotic behavior."^[6]

Death

James died in 1999 after suffering a heart attack at his home in Malibu, California.^[7] He appeared in eight feature films that were released posthumously. The last of these was Phoenix Point (2005). The motion picture The King Is Alive (2000) was dedicated to him.^[8]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1975	Hard Times		Uncredited
1976	Harry and Walter Go to New York	"Hayseed"
	Treasure of Matecumbe	Roustabout
	Bound for Glory	Pick-Up Truck Driver At Border
	Nickelodeon	Bailiff
1977	Blue Sunshine	Tony
1978	Corvette Summer	Jeff, Wayne's Carwash Henchman
1979	KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park	Guard
1980	Wholly Moses!	Guard At Banquet
	The Jazz Singer	Man In Bar
1981	The Postman Always Rings Twice	Crapshooter
	Southern Comfort	Cajun Trapper
	Soggy Bottom, U.S.A.	Defalice
1982	Blade Runner	Leon Kowalski
	48 Hrs.	Inspector Ben Kehoe
	The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez	Captain Rogers
1984	A Breed Apart	Peyton
1985	Crimewave	Arthur Coddish
	Flesh & Blood	Karsthans
	Silverado	Hobart	Uncredited
	Enemy Mine	Stubbs
1986	Armed and Dangerous	Tony Lazarus
1987	Steel Dawn	Tark
	Cherry 2000	Stacy
1988	Dead Man Walking	Decker
	D.O.A.	Detective Ulmer
	The Wrong Guys	Glen Grunski
	Red Heat	"Streak"
	Nightmare at Noon (aka: Death Street USA)	The Albino
	Red Scorpion	Sergeant Miroslav Krasnov
1989	The Horror Show	Max Jenke
	Mutator	David Allen
	Circles in a Forest	Mr. Patterson
	Tango & Cash	Requin
1990	Enid Is Sleeping	Trucker
	Street Asylum	Reverend Mony
	Another 48 Hrs.	Inspector Ben Kehoe / "The Iceman"
1991	Mom	Nestor Duvalier
	Ultimate Desires	Wolfgang Friedman
1992	The Player	Joel Levison
	Wishman	Jack "Staten Jack" Rose
	Nemesis	Maritz
	Return to Frogtown	Professor Tanzer
1993	Time Runner	US Senator John Neila
	Brainsmasher... A Love Story	Detective Brown	Video
	Striking Distance	Detective Eddie Eiler
	Showdown	Vice Principal Kowalski
	The Dark	Paul Buckner
1994	Cabin Boy	Teddy "Big Teddy"
	Future Shock	Jack Porter
	F.T.W.	Sheriff Rudy Morgan
	Savage Land	Cyrus
	Art Deco Detective	Jim Wexler
	Radioland Murders	Bernie King
	The Soft Kill	Ben McCarthy
	Hong Kong '97	Simon Alexander
1995	Spitfire	Tough Guy	Uncredited
	The Nature of the Beast	Sheriff Gordon
	Steel Frontier	General Julius "J.W." Quantrell
	Dominion	Lynwood
	Cyberjack (aka: Virtual Assassin)	Nassim
	The Marshal	Chief Marshal Ollie Mathers
	Indecent Behavior III	Mr. Cowed	Uncredited
1996	The Lazarus Man	Tom Halloran
	Precious Find	Sam Horton
	American Strays	Oris
	Evil Obsession	Stavinski
	Billy Lone Bear	Walsh
1997	The Killing Jar	Dr. Vincent Garret
	Back in Business	Emery Ryker
	The Fifth Element	General Munro
	Snide and Prejudice	Hermann Goering
	The Setting Son	Junior
	Pterodactyl Woman from Beverly Hills	Salvador Dalí, Sam
	The Underground	Captain Hilton
	Bombshell	Donald
1998	Jekyll Island	Lawton Goodyear
	Deadly Ransom	Bobby Rico
	In God's Hands	Captain
	Border to Border	Card Shark
	Heist	"Caz"
	Brown's Requiem	Cathcart
	Kai Rabe gegen die Vatikankiller	Mönch
	Joseph's Gift	Frank Childress
	Black Sea 213	Captain Killick
	A Place Called Truth	Hank
1999	Malevolence	Warden Walker
	Foolish	Ruben Reyes, Talent Scout	Uncredited
	Diplomatic Siege	General Stubbs	Posthumous release
	Dirt Merchant	Detective Harry Ball
	Arthur's Quest	Trent
2000	Farewell, My Love	Renault
	The Operator	Vernon Woods
	The King Is Alive	Ashley
	The Thief & the Stripper	"Shoe"
2005	Phoenix Point	"Spider" Rico	Posthumous release Final film role

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1974	Get Christie Love!	Trenton	Television film
	The Waltons	Henry Ferris Jr.	Episode: "The Birthday"
1975	Gunsmoke	Joe Barnes	Episode: "Manolo"
1977	Roots	Slaver	Miniseries
	The Rockford Files	"Clamshell"	Episode: "The Battle of Canoga Park"
1978	Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park	Second-In-Command Park Security Guard	Television film
	The Incredible Hulk	Al	Episode: "Alice in Disco Land"
	Mork & Mindy	George	Episode: "Mork's Greatest Hit"
	Chico and the Man	"Hog"	Episode: "Waiting for Chongo"
1979	B. J. and the Bear	Bomber, Patrol Officer	2 episodes
1979–1981	CHiPs	Ackerman, Monk	3 episodes
1980	Galactica 1980	Willy	Episode: "Galactica Discovers Earth: Part 1"
	The Jeffersons	"Dirty Dog"	Episode: "The Arrival: Part 2"
1981	Benson	Axe-Man	Episode: "The Grass Ain't Greener"
1982	Little House on the Prairie	Amos	Episode: "A Faraway Cry"
	Quincy, M.E.	Henry Muller	Episode: "Sleeping Dogs"
	Hear No Evil	Billy "Billy Boy" Burns	Television film
1982–1984	The Dukes of Hazzard	Captain Slater, Jenkins	2 episodes
1983	The Gambler: The Adventure Continues	Reece	Television film
1983–1985	The A-Team	David Plout, Ryder	2 episodes
1985	The Fall Guy	Unknown	Episode: "The King of the Stuntmen"
	Amazing Stories	Willie Joe	Episode: "Mummy Daddy"
1986	Dynasty	Hawkins	2 episodes
	Annihilator	Alien Leader	Television film
1986–1988	Sledge Hammer!	Don Merrill, Felix Ridel	2 episodes
1987	Matlock	Mr. Grock	Episode: "The Author"
	The Hitchhiker	Lionel	Episode: "Best Shot"
1988	Miami Vice	Edward Reese	Episode: " Borrasca"
1988–1991	Hunter	Thomas Duffy, Lieutenant Jeff Wadsworth	2 episodes
1991	Tales from the Crypt	Steve Dixon	Episode: "Split Second"
1992	Batman: The Animated Series	Irving	Voice, episode: "Joker's Wild"[9]
1993	Renegade	Eli Starke	Episode: "Moody River"
	Rio Diablo	Jake Walker	Television film
1994	Silk Stalkings	Rupert Tarlow	Episode: "T.K.O."
	Knight Rider 2010	Jared	Television film
	Highlander: The Series	Armand Thorne	Episode: "The Cross of St. Antoine"
1996	Aaahh!!! Real Monsters	Big Orderly, Chimera	Voice, 2 episodes[9]
	Assault on Dome 4	Chairman	Television
1996–1997	Superman: The Animated Series	Rudy Jones / Parasite	Voice, 3 episodes[9]
1997	Walker, Texas Ranger	Rafer Cobb	2 episodes
1997–1999	Todd McFarlane's Spawn	Unknown	Voice, 6 episodes
1998	Millennium	Sheriff Bowman	Episode: "Luminary"
	The Sentinel	Warren Chapel	Episode: "Mirror Image"
	Men in White	General	Television film
	Men in Black: The Series	Drekk	Voice, 2 episodes
1998–1999	The Magnificent Seven	Stuart James	2 episodes

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	Blade Runner	Leon Kowalski
1999	Superman 64	Rudy Jones / Parasite

Bibliography

• Craig Edwards (Spring 1995). "Brion James; Interview by Craig Edwards". Psychotronic Video. 20: 60–64.