James Norman "Jim" Beaver, Jr. (born August 12, 1950 in Laramie, Wyoming) is an American stage, film, and television actor, playwright, screenwriter, director, and film historian. He is most familiar to worldwide audiences as the gruff but tenderhearted prospector Whitney Ellsworth on the HBO Western drama series Deadwood, a starring role which brought him acclaim and a Screen Actors Guild Awards nomination for Ensemble Acting after three decades of supporting work in films and TV. He portrayed Bobby Singer in the CW television series Supernatural and Sheriff Shelby Parlow on the FX series Justified. His memoir Life's That Way was published in April 2009.
Beaver is generally beloved by fandom due to his role as a fan favourite on Supernatural and due to his warm interactions with his fans.
Roles in Film:
- 1992 Sister Act as Detective Clarkson
- 1993 Silver as Detective Ira
- 2001 Joy Ride as Sheriff Ritter
- 2002 Adaptation. as Ranger Tony
- 2003 The Life of David Gale as Duke Grover
- 2007 Next as Wisdom
- 2015 Crimson Peak as Carter Cushing
Roles in Television:
- 1996–2004 Days of Our Lives as Father Timothy Jansen
- 1998–1999 3rd Rock from the Sun as Happy Doug
- 2000 The Trouble With Normal as Gary
- 2004–2006 Deadwood as Whitney Ellsworth
- 2006–2020 Supernatural as Bobby Singer
- 2007 Day Break as 'Uncle' Nick Vukovic
- 2007 John from Cincinnati as Vietnam Joe
- 2007 Big Love as Carter Reese
- 2009 Harper's Island as Sheriff Charlie Mills
- 2011-2012 Breaking Bad as Lawson
- 2011-2013 Justified as Shelby Parlow
- 2012 Dexter as Clint McKay
- 2013 Revolution as John Franklin Fry
- 2016 Better Call Saul as Lawson
- 2017–2019 The Ranch as Chuck Phillips
- 2019-present The Boys as Robert "Bob" Singer
- 2019 Watchmen as Andy
- 2021-present B Positive as Spencer