Bruce Davison is an American actor and director.
Early life Davison was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
the son of Marian E., a secretary, and Clair W. Davison, a musician, architect, and draftsman
for the Army Engineers.
His parents divorced when he was three years old.
He was raised by his mother, and also spent weekends with his father.
He graduated in 1964 at Marple Newtown Senior High School, and entered Penn State as an
art major but stumbled into acting when he accompanied a friend to an audition.
He attended NYU's Graduate Acting Program, graduating in 1969.
Career Davison made his Broadway debut in Tiger at
the Gates in 1968.
He also appeared as John Merrick in The Elephant Man and in The Glass Menagerie opposite Jessica
Tandy.
Davison was one of a quartet of newcomers including Barbara Hershey, Richard Thomas,
and Catherine Burns when he made his film debut in Last Summer in 1969.
In 1970 he played opposite Kim Darby in the film about peaceful student protest and its
violent outcome The Strawberry Statement.
Two years later he portrayed the title role in Willard.
He also appeared in Ulzana's Raid, Peege, Mame, Mother, Jugs & Speed, Short Eyes,The
Lathe of Heaven, and Six Degrees of Separation.
In 1978 he appeared as Dean Torrence opposite Richard Hatch in the made-for-TV biopic Deadman's
Curve.
The same year, he played the title role in the TV movie adaptation Summer Of My German
Soldier.
In 1981 he had the lead role in The Wave, based on real events, starring as a history
teacher who conducts an experiment in Nazi philosophy on his students.
Davison also starred in Tales from the Darkside, Season 1, Episode 8 and played the role of
the father in the short-lived Harry and the Hendersons TV series.
In 1983, Davison was cast by Joseph Papp in the Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival
production of King Richard III.
Additional Off-Broadway credits include Love Letters, The Cocktail Hour, and Paula Vogel's
Pulitzer Prize-winning play How I Learned To Drive.
He also played the role of Ruby in the 1985 comedy Spies Like Us starring Dan Aykroyd
and Chevy Chase.
In 1990 he portrayed a gay man whose lover is dying of AIDS, in Longtime Companion.
The role earned Davison a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Davison went on to appear in other movies addressing AIDS: in 1995's The Cure, he portrayed
a physician sought by a young boy with AIDS in search of medical help.
In 1996, Davison appeared in the film It's My Party, which chronicled the true events
of a man dying with AIDS who decides to hold a farewell party for family and friends before
taking his own life.
Davison's website states he is a spokesperson for many AIDS-related groups and is a board
member of the industry AIDS organization Hollywood Supports.
In Los Angeles, Davison has appeared on stage in Streamers and The Normal Heart, winning
the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award and Drama-Logue Award for his performances.
Other LA theatre credits include The Caine Mutiny Court Martial and a stage adaptation
of To Kill a Mockingbird.
He is familiar to movie audiences from his roles in Runaway Jury, Apt Pupil, and his
role as Senator Robert Kelly in the X-Men movie franchise.
Though his character died in the first film, Davison appeared in X2 as a shapeshifting
impostor of Kelly.He was the fanatical Reverened Samuel Parris in Arthur Miller's screen adaptation
of his play The Crucible.
Davison also portrayed a rich philanthropist in the movie Christmas Angel.
Davison's many television credits include Hunter, Marcus Welby, M.D., Love, American
Style, The Waltons, Lou Grant, Murder, She Wrote, Designing Women, Seinfeld, Chicago
Hope, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, V: The Series, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek:
Enterprise, Battlestar Galactica, Lost, CSI: Miami, Ghost Whisperer, Castle, Hawaii Five-0,
the Stephen King mini-series Kingdom Hospital, and a recurring role on The Practice.
Davison also had the recurring role of defense attorney Doug Hellman in the CBS drama Close
to Home.
In 2001, Davison directed the TV film Off Season, which starred his Lovelife co-star
Sherilyn Fenn, Rory Culkin, Hume Cronyn, and Adam Arkin.
In 2007, Davison returned to the big screen, playing Eric O'Neill's father in Breach.
Also in that year, Davison was cast in the role of Charles Graiman, creator of the Knight
Industries Three Thousand in NBC's revival of the television series Knight Rider.
Davison also played the role of Dr. Silberman, the psychiatrist who once tormented Sarah
Connor, in the seventh episode of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
In May 2010, Davison was cast to portray art dealer Wilhelm Van Schlagel for several episodes
on ABC's General Hospital to begin airing in July, 2010.
In 2010 he starred in the TV movie Titanic II.
In 2011 he starred as Police Chief Kirkhoven in the movie "Munger Road".
He is currently filming for Rob Zombie's The Lords of Salem set for release in 2012.
In addition, he played Secretary of State William H. Seward in the movie Saving Lincoln.
He played the role of Rear Admiral Arthur Shepard, Lieutenant Grace Shepard's father,
in the short-stint TV series Last Resort.
Personal life Davison married Michele Correy on April 30,
2006, and they have a daughter, Sophia Lucinda Davison, born May 29, 2006.
They reside in Los Angeles, California.
Davison also has a son, Ethan, born April 5, 1996, from a previous marriage to fellow
actor Lisa Pelikan.
Filmography Film
Television Awards
Academy Awards (1991) Nominated – Best Supporting Actor
/ Longtime Companion Golden Globe Awards
(1991) Won – Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture / Longtime Companion
(1993) Won – Best Ensemble Cast / Short Cuts
Independent Spirit Awards (1991) Won – Best Supporting Male / Longtime
Companion Primetime Emmy Awards
(1998) Nominated – Outstanding Guest Actor – Drama Series / Touched by an Angel
Daytime Emmy Awards (2002) Nominated – Outstanding Directing
in a Children's Special / Off Season National Society of Film Critics' Awards
(1991) Won – Best Supporting Actor / Longtime Companion
New York Film Critics Circle Awards (1991) Won – Best Supporting Actor / Longtime
Companion References
External links Bruce Davison at the Internet Broadway Database
Bruce Davison at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
Bruce Davison at the Internet Movie Database