Peter Weller Peter Weller is an American film and stage
actor, director and history lecturer. Weller has appeared in more than 50 films
and television series, including turns as the title characters in blockbuster hits RoboCop
and RoboCop 2, and the cult classic The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension.
He has also appeared in such critically acclaimed films as Woody Allen's Mighty Aphrodite, the
Oliver Stone-produced The New Age and David Cronenberg's movie of William Burroughs's
novel Naked Lunch. He received an Academy Award nomination for his direction of the
1993 short Partners, in which he also acted. In television, he hosted the show Engineering
an Empire on the History Channel. He also played Christopher Henderson in the fifth
season of 24 and Stan Liddy in the fifth season of the Showtime original series Dexter.
Early life Weller was born in Stevens Point, Wisconsin,
the son of Dorothy Jean (née Davidson), a homemaker, and Frederick Bradford Weller,
a lawyer, federal judge, and career helicopter pilot for the United States Army. Weller had
a "middle-class Catholic" upbringing. As a result of his father's army work, Weller spent
many years abroad during his childhood. His family lived in Germany for several years
before eventually moving to Texas, where he attended Alamo Heights High School in San
Antonio. While enrolled at North Texas State University (now the University of North Texas),
he played trumpet in one of the campus bands. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre
and began his acting career after attending the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
Career Stage
Weller's stage career began in the 1970s with appearances on Broadway in Full Circle, directed
by Otto Preminger, and Summer Brave, William Inge's rewrite of his play Picnic. About this
time, he became a member of the famed Actors Studio.
In December 2006, Weller starred as architect Frank Lloyd Wright at Chicago's Goodman Theatre
in Frank's Home, a new play by Richard Nelson. Film
Weller was in the 1984 film Firstborn with Corey Haim, where he played the abusive boyfriend
of Haim's mother (played by Teri Garr). Weller has appeared in more than 50 films
and television series, including turns as the title characters in the cult classic The
Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, and blockbuster hits RoboCop and
RoboCop 2. He has also appeared in such critically acclaimed films as Woody Allen's Mighty Aphrodite,
the Oliver Stone-produced The New Age and David Cronenberg's movie of William Burroughs's
novel Naked Lunch. In 1995, he appeared in Screamers, a science-fiction
film based on the short story "Second Variety" by Philip K. Dick and directed by Christian
Duguay. Television
In a 1977 episode of the television series Lou Grant, he plays Oberster SA-Führer Donald
Sterner/Stryker, a tragically disillusioned Jewish-American Neo-Nazi leader who later
committed suicide off-screen with his Colt 45 near the end of the episode when his heritage
was discovered. Duguay would later direct Weller in the 2005–2007
television series Engineering an Empire for the History Channel, which Weller hosted.
On television, he played the shuttle captain in the short-lived series Odyssey 5 and made
guest appearances as Terran supremacist John Frederick Paxton in the Star Trek: Enterprise
episodes "Demons", "Terra Prime" and in Fringe as the character Alistair Peck.
Weller is a contributor to the History Channel in several productions, credited as "Peter
Weller, Syracuse University", where he is an adjunct faculty member. He is a graduate
student in art history at UCLA, focusing on the Italian Renaissance. Weller also hosts
the series Engineering an Empire for the network. In 2005, Weller co-starred as the Captain
in a made-for-television remake of The Poseidon Adventure.
In 2006, Weller joined the cast of 24 as terrorist collaborator Christopher Henderson. Weller
received a "cheer" in TV Guide's "Cheers & Jeers" section for his performance.
On April 15, 2010, Weller guest-starred in an episode of the science fiction drama Fringe.
He also guest-starred on the Showtime original series Dexter, and had a guest appearance
in the December 22, 2010 episode of Psych; where he played villain "Yin" In 2013, Weller
returned to the Star Trek franchise, with a role in the film Star Trek Into Darkness.
In 2013, he played the part of the villain in the remake of the "Hookman" episode of
the original Hawaii Five-O. The part was originally played in 1973 by J. J. Armes. In season six
of Sons of Anarchy, he plays a ruthless ex-cop who is a boss at the Stockton port and has
dealings with the SAMCRO motorcycle club. On January 15, 2010, Weller was seen in a
teaser trailer for the companion documentary God of War: Unearthing the Legend that was
featured in the game God of War III which Weller also hosted.
Directing Weller has also directed various projects
for television, including episodes of Homicide: Life on the Street, Monk and three episodes
of the aforementioned Odyssey 5. He directed a 1997 adaptation of Elmore Leonard's Gold
Coast starring David Caruso and Marg Helgenberger after previously starring in a version of
Leonard's thriller Cat Chaser. He has directed five episodes of the series Sons of Anarchy,
two in Season 4, titled "Dorylus" (air date 9/20/11) and "Hands" and three in Season 5,
titled "Authority Vested", "Toad's Wild Ride" and "Darthy".
Voice acting On May 23, 2012 it was announced that Weller
would be the voice of Bruce Wayne/Batman in the two-part animated adaptation of The Dark
Knight Returns. Antonioni's avid fan
Weller is a fan of Italian filmmaker Michelangelo Antonioni, who directed him in Beyond the
Clouds. In an interview in Cigar Aficionado magazine, he was quoted as saying:
Personal life Weller had a relationship with actress Ali
MacGraw in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In 2004, Weller completed a master's degree
in Roman and Renaissance Art at Syracuse University and occasionally taught courses in ancient
history at the university. In 2007, Weller began a Ph.D. at UCLA, in Italian Renaissance
art history. He expected to complete his dissertation in late 2013.
On June 24, 2006, he married longtime girlfriend and actress Shari Stowe at the Santa Maria
Assuna church in Positano, Italy. It was also Weller's 59th birthday. Guests among the wedding
were Carrie Fisher and Marg Helgenberger. Filmography
Director Films
Actor TV series
Awards and nominations (1988) Saturn Award for Best Actor – RoboCop
(1992) Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role – Naked Lunch
(1993) Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film – Partners
(2002) Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male – Ivans XTC