Bruce William Boxleitner is an American actor, and science fiction and suspense
writer. He is known for his leading roles in the television series How the
West Was Won, Bring 'Em Back Alive, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, and Babylon 5.
He is also known for his dual role as the characters Alan Bradley and Tron in
the 1982 Walt Disney Pictures film Tron, a role which he reprised in the 2010
sequel, Tron: Legacy and the animated series Tron: Uprising.
Early life Boxleitner was born in Elgin, Illinois,
the son of a certified public accountant. He attended Prospect High
School in Mount Prospect, Illinois, and the Goodman Theater School of Drama of
the Art Institute of Chicago. Career
= Television= Boxleitner is best known for his leading
roles in the television series How the West Was Won, Bring 'Em Back Alive,
Scarecrow and Mrs. King, and Babylon 5. He also starred in The Gambler TV film
series and Danielle Steels 'Zoya' alongside his then wife Melissa Gilbert
in the title role In 2005, he co-starred as Captain Martin Duvall in Young
Blades. He has also starred in several films within the Babylon 5 universe,
including Babylon 5: In the Beginning, Babylon 5: Thirdspace, Babylon 5: A Call
to Arms and the direct-to-DVD Babylon 5: The Lost Tales and on CHAOS.
He has made appearances in many other TV shows, such as The Mary Tyler Moore
Show, Gunsmoke, Judith Krantz's Till We Meet Again, Tales from the Crypt,
Touched by an Angel, The Outer Limits and She Spies, and in 1982, he played
Chase Marshall in the TV film Bare Essence, with Genie Francis. He also was
a member of the cast of Heroes for seasons three and four, playing New York
Governor Robert Malden in three episodes. He also appears on the
television series Chuck as the father of Devon Woodcomb.
He has also been in the made-for-television films The Secret,
Hope Ranch, Falling in Love with the Girl Next Door, Pandemic, The Bone
Eater, Sharpshooter Aces 'n Eights "The Last Convertible" and "Bare Essence"(TV
mini-series 1982) . Boxleitner was a guest-star on NCIS in
the fall of 2010. He played Vice Admiral C. Clifford Chase, a high-ranking Navy
official. Boxleitner also lends his voice to the animated version of his
iconic character Tron in the animated series Tron: Uprising. The series
premiered on Disney XD on June 7, 2012. He also reprises the character Alan
Bradley/Tron from the films Tron and Tron: Legacy. In 2012 he had a recurring
role on the ABC series GCB as Burl Lourd, Gigi's, Annie Potts, love
interest. = Film=
He has also appeared in several films, including Tron and The Baltimore Bullet
with James Coburn. He reprised his role in the Tron sequel Tron: Legacy and in
the video game Tron: Evolution which was released alongside the film Tron:
Legacy, as he did for sequel video game named Tron 2.0, and Disney/Square Enix
crossover video game Kingdom Hearts II. Boxleitner also voice as Col. John
Konrad in video game Spec Ops: The Line. He also starred as Confederate General
James Longstreet in the 2003 film Gods and Generals. He provides the voice of
Colin Barrow in the animated science fiction horror film Dead Space:
Downfall, based on the video game Dead Space. Other films he has been in
include Kuffs, The Babe, Brilliant, Snakehead Terror, Legion of the Dead,
King of the Lost World, Shadows in Paradise and Transmorphers: Fall of Man.
In 2011 he officially announced that he will reprise his role as Alan
Bradley/Tron in Tron 3. July 2015 Boxleitner said that he is done with the
franchise, as "it's been too up and down for me. I would rather not just keep
going. I don’t want to repeat my career anymore."
= Modeling= From 1986–1989, Boxleitner appeared in
advertisements for Estee Lauder's "Lauder For Men".
= Novels= Boxleitner has written two science
fiction novels with a Western setting: Frontier Earth and Searcher.
= Audio books= Boxleitner played a major role in the
audio dramatization of The Great Secret, part of the Golden Age of Fiction series
by L. Ron Hubbard. He also played Captain Gavin Blaire in the unabridged
version of World War Z. Personal life
Boxleitner's first marriage was to American actress Kathryn Holcomb, who
had previously co-starred with him on How The West Was Won. They had two sons
together: Sam and Lee. Holcomb went on to marry English actor Ian Ogilvy.
Ogilvy also guest-starred on Boxleitner's series Babylon 5.
Boxleitner's second marriage was to American actress Melissa Gilbert. They
had one son together: Michael. Gilbert also guest-starred as Boxleitner's
on-screen wife, Anna Sheridan, during Season 3 of Babylon 5.
In 2003, Boxleitner was appointed to the Board of Governors of the National Space
Society, a nonprofit, educational space advocacy organization founded by Dr.
Wernher von Braun. On March 1, 2011, Gilbert announced that
she and Bruce had separated after 16 years of marriage. On August 25 of the
same year the Associated Press reported that, based on court records, Gilbert
had filed for divorce. He was best friends with Beverly Garland
for nearly 30 years. He met her on an episode of How The West Was Won, and
later co-starred alongside her on Scarecrow & Mrs. King, though he had
very few scenes with her. Then, in 1986, Boxleitner presented Garland the Golden
Boot Award, for which she won that honor. After the cancellation of
Scarecrow, Boxleitner remained close to Garland, contacting her consistently,
until her death, on December 5, 2008. He said in an interview, "I used to keep up
with Beverly Garland until she passed. There was actually a hotel named after
her. She was such a trip. She was a great lady."
Filmography References
Bruce also appeared on stage in a play in Chicago in the 1970s called "Status
Quo Vadis" in theater in the round. External links
Bruce Boxleitner on Twitter Bruce Boxleitner at the Internet Movie
Database Bruce Boxleitner at AllMovie
Bruce Boxleitner at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database