James Remar facts for kids

Quick facts for kids James Remar
James Remar at the 2010 Screen Actors Guild Awards
Born	William James Remar (1953-12-31) December 31, 1953 (age 71) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1978–present
Spouse(s)	Atsuko Remar ​ (m. 1984)​
Children	2

William James Remar (born December 31, 1953) is an American actor. He has acted in many movies and TV shows for over 45 years. Some of his most famous roles include Ajax in The Warriors (1979) and Albert Ganz in 48 Hrs. (1982). He also played Dutch Schultz in The Cotton Club (1984) and Jack Duff in Miracle on 34th Street (1994). On television, he was known as Richard Wright in ... and the City (2001–2004) and Harry Morgan in Dexter (2006–2013). Since 2009, he has also done voice-over work for Lexus car commercials. Remar studied acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City.

More recently, Remar played Frank Gordon in Gotham (2016–2019) and Peter Gambi in Black Lightning (2018–2021). In 2023, he appeared as Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson in the film Oppenheimer.

About James Remar's Early Life

William James Remar was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on December 31, 1953. His mother, Elizabeth, worked in mental health, and his father, Roy, was a lawyer. His father had Russian Jewish roots, and his mother was from England with Irish family. James has three sisters and two brothers. He grew up with his family in Newton, Massachusetts.

Remar left high school at 15. He then attended an "alternative school" for a year. After that, he traveled around the United States. For a short time, he played guitar in a rock band. He eventually returned home and finished high school. However, he decided not to go to college. Remar shared that he chose to become an actor when he was 20. After losing his job as a roofer, he remembered enjoying performing at a summer camp. He decided to try acting for three years before trying something else.

In Florida, Remar got a part in a play called Cross and Sword. Later, he studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. He was not asked back after his first year, which he found very upsetting. Remar kept looking for acting jobs. He eventually got the role of Kenickie in a touring show of Grease. He also performed at the Ensemble Studio Theatre. His first movie role was in On the Yard.

James Remar's Acting Career

Roles in Movies

James Remar has often played characters who are tough or challenging in movies. He played Ajax, a strong gang member, in the popular film The Warriors (1979). He also played Albert Ganz in the hit movie 48 Hrs. (1982). Both of these films were directed by Walter Hill. Remar also took on the role of the real-life 1930s gangster Dutch Schultz in The Cotton Club (1984).

However, Remar has also played different kinds of roles. In the film Windwalker (1980), he played a young Cheyenne man. For this role, he spoke his lines in the Cheyenne language. He also played a gay character in the film Cruising (1980). In the same year, Remar had a small part in the Western movie The Long Riders (1980). He was in a bar fight scene with David Carradine.

He was the main actor in the film Quiet Cool (1986). He was also chosen to play Corporal Hicks in the science-fiction horror film Aliens (1986). However, he was replaced by Michael Biehn soon after filming started. Some parts of the movie still show Remar. For example, when the Marines enter a station and the camera looks down from an Alien nest, you can see him. He is also filmed from behind when the Marines first enter a compound. This makes it hard to tell it's Remar and not Michael Biehn.

He played Quill, one of the main bad guys, in The Phantom (1996). In 1994, he had a supporting role in Renaissance Man. He also appeared in Mortal Kombat Annihilation (1997). This was the sequel to Mortal Kombat (1995). He took over the role of Raiden from Christopher Lambert. After this, he was in the science fiction movie Robo Warriors (1996). Other films include Psycho (1998), where he played a patrolman. He was also in Drugstore Cowboy (1989) and Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990). Other roles were in Wedlock (1991), Boys on the Side (1995), and The Quest (1996). He also appeared in Rites of Passage (1999) and Inferno (2000). His filmography also includes 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003), Fear X (2003), Blade: Trinity (2004), and The Girl Next Door (2004). He had a brief role as General Bratt in Pineapple Express (2008). He also appeared in the horror film The Unborn (2009). In 2017, he played the father of Olivia Grey in Feed.

Remar was in the film X-Men: First Class (2011). He also voiced the Autobot Sideswipe in Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011). He was cast in the heist film Setup (2011). He also starred in Arena (2011).

In Quentin Tarantino's film Django Unchained (2012), Remar played two different characters: Ace Speck and Butch Pooch. He also starred in the thriller film The Blackcoat's Daughter (2015). In this movie, he acted alongside Emma Roberts, Lucy Boynton, and Lauren Holly.

Television Appearances

Remar has appeared in many TV series. These include Miami Vice, Hill Street Blues, and ... and the City. In ... and the City, he played the on-again, off-again boyfriend of Kim Cattrall's character. He was also in Tales from the Crypt, Jericho, and Third Watch. Other shows include Justice League Unlimited and Battlestar Galactica. He also appeared in The X-Files as a mental patient in the episode "Dæmonicus". He played Tiny Bellows in the TV series The Huntress (2000–2001). In the miniseries The Grid (2004), he played Hudson "Hud". He had a recurring role in the 2006 series Jericho. Remar also guest-starred in the crime drama Numbers. In this show, he played a weapons dealer who later helped the FBI.

From 2006 to 2013, Remar was a main actor in Dexter on Showtime. He played Dexter Morgan's adoptive father, Harry Morgan. He was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for this role.

In 2010, he had guest roles in The Vampire Diaries as Giuseppe Salvatore. He also played James Ermine, a general for a military contractor, on FlashForward.

He also provided the voice for Vilgax in the animated series Ben 10: Alien Force and Ben 10: Ultimate Alien. He guest-starred in Private Practice in 2010. He played a doctor named Gibby who worked with Doctors Without Borders. On July 23, 2017, Remar was cast as Peter Gambi in the superhero drama Black Lightning. This series ran for four seasons, from January 2018 to May 2021. Remar's character, Gambi, was a regular throughout the series. He was later cast in a recurring role on The Rookie as Tom Bradford, Tim’s father. He was also cast in It: Welcome to Derry, a TV series that is a prequel to the 2017 horror film It. This series is expected to debut on HBO in 2025. In December 2024, it was reported that he would play Harry Morgan again in Dexter: Resurrection, which is also set to premiere in 2025.

James Remar's Personal Life

In 1984, James Remar married Atsuko Remar. They have two children together. He can speak some Japanese.

Filmography

Film

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Reference(s)
1981	Hill Street Blues	Cooper	Episode: "Rites of Spring"
1984	The Mystic Warrior	Pesla	Television film
1985	Miami Vice	Robbie Cann	Episode: "Buddies"
1987	The Equalizer	Tremayne	Episode: "High Performance"
	The Hitchhiker	Ron	Episode: "Homebodies"
	Crime Story	Smilin' Jack	Episode: "Blast from the Past"
1989	Desperado: The Outlaw Wars	John Sikes	Television film
1990	Kojak: None So Blind	Wolfgang Reiger
	Night Visions	Sergeant Thomas Mackey
1991	Session Man	McQueen
	Tales from the Crypt	Red Buckley	Episode: "Dead Wait"
	Brotherhood of the Gun	Frank Weir	Television film
1992	Strangers	Bernard
	Indecency	Mick Clarkson
1996	Cutty Whitman	Cutty Whitman
1997	Total Security	Frank Cisco	13 episodes
1998	Inferno	Dr. Coleman West	Television film
1999	Walker, Texas Ranger	Keith Bolt	Episode: "The Principal"
2000	18 Wheels of Justice	Mitch Davis / "Gabriel"	Episode: "Wages of Sin"
2000–2001	The Huntress	Tiny Bellows	28 episodes
2001	Nash Bridges	Mark Lee Page	Episode: "Fair Game"
	7th Heaven	James Carver	2 episodes
	Strong Medicine	Guy Falls	Episode: "Systemic"
	The X-Files	Professor Josef Kobold	Episode: "Dæmonicus"
	Justice League	Lead Manhunter	Voice, episode: "In Blackest Night"
2001–2004	... and the City	Richard Wright	12 episodes
2002	The Twilight Zone	Alois Hitler	Episode: "Cradle of Darkness"
	Third Watch	Detective Madjanski	4 episodes
2003	Peacemakers	Cole Hawkins	Episode: "Legend of the Gun"
	Without a Trace	Lucas Vohland	Episode: "Confidence"
2004	The Grid	Hudson "Hud" Benoit	Miniseries
	The Survivors Club	Roan Griffin	Television film
	Ike: Countdown to D-Day	General Omar Bradley
	Meltdown	Colonel Boggs
	North Shore	Vincent Colville	21 episodes
2005	Battlestar Galactica	Meier	2 episodes
2005–2006	Justice League Unlimited	Hawkman, Shadow Thief	Voice, 2 episodes
2006	CSI: Miami	Capt. Quentin Taylor	Episode: "Open Water"
	Thief	Agent Patterson	Miniseries
2006–2007	Jericho	Jonah Prowse	5 episodes
2006–2008	The Batman	Black Mask	Voice, 3 episodes
2006–2013	Dexter	Harry Morgan	96 episodes
2007	Sharpshooter	Dillon	Television film
2008	Eli Stone	Salinsky	Episode: "Praying for Time"
2009	The Unit	Reece	Episode: "Hero"
	Criminal Minds	Tom Benton	Episode: "Demonology"
	The Spectacular Spider-Man	Walter Hardy	Voice, episode: "Opening Night"
	The Christmas Hope	Mark Addison	Television film
2009–2010	Batman: The Brave and the Bold	Harvey Dent / Two-Face	Voice, 2 episodes
	Ben 10: Alien Force	Vilgax	Voice, 7 episodes
2010	D.R.E.A.M. Team	Shawn Murphy	Television film
	Numb3rs	Randall Priest	Episode: "Arm in Arms"
	FlashForward	James Ermine	Episode: "Blowback"
	The Vampire Diaries	Giuseppe Salvatore	2 episodes
	Private Practice	Gibby	Episode: "Playing God"
2011	Human Target	Warden Cole	Episode: "Cool Hand Guerrero"
	Hawaii Five-0	Elliott Connor	Episode: "Ua Hiki Mai Kapalena Pau"
	Young Justice	Joar Mahkent / Icicle Sr., Wilcox	Voice, episode: "Terrors"
	Pound Puppies	Sarge	Voice, episode: "The K9 Kid"
2011–2012	Ben 10: Ultimate Alien	Vilgax	Voice, 5 episodes
2012	Hatfields & McCoys	Joe Hatfield	Miniseries
2013–2014	Beware the Batman	Silver Monkey	Voice, 3 episodes
	The Legend of Korra	Tonraq	Voice, 14 episodes
	Grey's Anatomy	James Evans	6 episodes
	Wilfred	Henry Newman	5 episodes
2014	From Dusk till Dawn: The Series	Ray Gecko	Episode: "Boxman"
2014–2015	State of Affairs	Syd Vaslo	9 episodes
2016	The Shannara Chronicles	Cephalo	7 episodes
2017	Gotham	Frank Gordon	3 episodes
	NCIS: Los Angeles	Admiral Sterling Bridges	3 episodes
	The Path	Kodiak	9 episodes
2018–2021	Black Lightning	Peter Gambi	58 episodes Main role
2018–2023	Magnum P.I.	Captain Buck Greene	6 episodes
2019	Animal Kingdom	Detective Andre	4 episodes
	City on a Hill	Richy Ryan	5 episodes Recurring role
2021	Creepshow	Raymond Bateman	Episode: "Skeletons in the Closet"
	The Rookie	Tom Bradford	Episode: "Breakdown"
2022	Yellowstone	Kyle Fremont	Episode: "The Sting of Wisdom"
2023	Paul T. Goldman	Lieutenant Newman	2 episodes
2024	Dexter: Final Cut	Himself	Aftershow Episode: "Dexter: Original Sin 104 Jamie Chung & James Remar"
2025	Dexter's Kill Room		Episode: "Harry's Code Begins — James Remar Revisits Popping Cherry"
	Dexter: Resurrection	Harry Morgan	2 episodes
	It: Welcome to Derry	TBA	Main role

Video Games

Awards and Nominations

In 2024, James Remar won a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Ensemble for his work in Oppenheimer.

See also

In Spanish: James Remar para niños