David Strathairn facts for kids

Quick facts for kids David Strathairn
Strathairn in 2022
Born	David Russell Strathairn (1949-01-26) January 26, 1949 (age 76) San Francisco, California, U.S.
Alma mater	Williams College
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1979–present
Spouse(s)	Logan Goodman ​ (m. 1980)​
Children	2

David Russell Strathairn (/strəˈθɛərn/; born January 26, 1949) is an American actor. He is well-known for playing important roles in movies and on stage. He has often played real-life people, like the famous journalist Edward R. Murrow and scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer.

David Strathairn has won many awards, including an Independent Spirit Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. He was also nominated for an Academy Award, which is one of the biggest honors in movies.

He started his acting career in 1980 in the film Return of the Secaucus 7. He has appeared in many popular movies like A League of Their Own (1992), Sneakers (1992), and The Firm (1993). He became very famous for playing Edward R. Murrow in the movie Good Night, and Good Luck (2005). He also played Noah Vosen in the action movies The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) and The Bourne Legacy (2012). More recently, he appeared in Lincoln (2012), Nomadland (2020), and Nightmare Alley (2021).

On television, he has been in many shows. He won an Emmy Award for his role in the TV movie Temple Grandin (2010). He also had recurring roles in shows like Alphas (2011–2012), The Blacklist (2015–2016), and The Expanse (2018–2019).

Early Life and School

David Strathairn was born in San Francisco, California. His family background includes Scottish and Native Hawaiian roots. He went to Redwood High School in California.

After high school, he studied at Williams College in Massachusetts. There, he met other actors and the director John Sayles. They later worked together on many movies.

Interestingly, David Strathairn also studied to be a clown at the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Clown College. For a short time, he even worked as a clown in a traveling circus!

Acting Career

David Strathairn is known as a character actor. This means he often plays many different kinds of supporting roles, rather than always being the main hero. He has been in many independent films and big Hollywood movies.

Movies

He played a husband in The River Wild and a teacher in Blue Car. Some of his other memorable movie roles include:

• Baseball player Eddie Cicotte in Eight Men Out (1988).
• Whistler, a clever blind tech expert, in Sneakers (1992).
• Ray McDeere, a lawyer, in The Firm (1993).
• Joe St. George in Dolores Claiborne (1995).
• Pierce Patchett in L.A. Confidential (1997).
• Theseus in A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999).
• The main character in Harrison's Flowers (2000).

He has worked often with director John Sayles, who he met in college. Their movies together include Return of the Secaucus 7, Eight Men Out, Passion Fish, and Matewan. He won an Independent Spirit Award for his role in Sayles' film City of Hope.

In 2005, David Strathairn was nominated for an Academy Award for his amazing performance as CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow in Good Night, and Good Luck. This movie was about Murrow's brave stand against Senator Joseph McCarthy during the 1950s.

He also appeared in We Are Marshall (2006), a film about a college football team. In 2008, he played Arthur Spiderwick in the children's movie The Spiderwick Chronicles. He also played J. Robert Oppenheimer in a documentary about the physicist.

In 2010, he won a Primetime Emmy Award for his role as Dr. Carlock in the HBO movie Temple Grandin. He also played Dr. Lee Rosen in the TV series Alphas. From 2018 to 2019, he was Klaes Ashford in The Expanse.

In 2020, David Strathairn was one of the few professional actors in the Oscar-winning movie Nomadland. He acted alongside his son, Tay, in this film. In 2023, he starred in Remember This, a movie about the Polish war hero Jan Karski. In 2024, he played Bill Carruthers in The Luckiest Man in America, which was based on a real event from a game show.

Stage Plays

David Strathairn is also a talented stage actor. He has performed in over 30 plays. He has acted in plays by famous writers like Harold Pinter and Anton Chekhov. In 2015, he was in The Cherry Orchard.

He also played Jan Karski in a special one-man play called Remember This: The Lesson of Jan Karski. This play received great reviews.

Personal Life

David Strathairn's son, Tay Strathairn, is a musician. He was the keyboardist for the band Dawes.

Acting Roles

Movies

Television Shows

Stage Plays

Awards and Nominations

See also

In Spanish: David Strathairn para niños