James Howard Woods (born April 18, 1947 in Vernal, Utah) is an American actor.
His best known roles are TV station president Max Renn in Videodrome (1983), domineering gangster Max Bercovicz in Once Upon a Time in America (1984), hustler Lester Diamond in Casino (1995), White House Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman in Nixon (1995), National Security Council head Michael Kitz in Contact (1997), and as the voice of Hades in Disney's animated classic Hercules (1997). Additionally, Woods has also been nominated for two Academy Awards, one for Best Actor category for Salvador (1986) and the other as Best Supporting Actor for Ghosts of Mississippi (1996). On television, he is known for his lead role in Shark (2006–08), his guest appearances in Showtime's Ray Donovan (2013) and for voice-acting as himself on various episodes of Family Guy and The Simpsons.
Filmography:
Live-action:
- 1973 The Way We Were: Frankie McVeigh
- 1975 Night Moves: Quentin
- 1979 ...And Your Name Is Jonah: Danny Corelli
- 1983 Videodrome: Max Renn
- 1984 Once Upon a Time in America: Maximilian Bercovicz
- 1985 Cat's Eye: Dick Morrison
- 1986 Salvador: Richard Boyle
- 1987 Best Seller: Cleve
- 1988 Cop: Lloyd Hopkins
- 1989 True Believer: Eddie Dodd
- 1991 The Hard Way: John Moss
- 1992 Straight Talk: Jack Russell
- 1992 Chaplin: Joseph Scott
- 1992 Diggstown: Gabriel Caine
- 1994 The Getaway: Jack Benyon
- 1994 The Specialist: Ned Trent
- 1995 Casino: Lester Diamond
- 1995 Nixon: H.R. Haldeman
- 1996 Ghosts of Mississippi: Byron De La Beckwith
- 1997 Contact: Michael Kitz
- 1998 John Carpenter's Vampires: Jack Crow
- 1999 The Virgin Suicides: Ronald Lisbon
- 1999 The General's Daughter: Col. Robert Moore
- 1999 True Crime: Alan Mann
- 1999 Any Given Sunday: Dr. Harvey Mandrake
- 2001 Riding in Cars with Boys: Leonard Donofrio
- 2001 Scary Movie 2: Father McFeely
- 2002 John Q.: Raymond Turner
- 2005 Pretty Persuasion: Hank Joyce
- 2005 Be Cool: Tommy Athens
- 2011 Too Big to Fail: Richard Fuld
- 2011 Straw Dogs: Tom Heddon
- 2013 White House Down: Martin Walker
Television
- 1978 Holocaust: Karl Weiss
- 2006-08 Shark: Sebastian Stark
- 2013 Ray Donovan: Patrick Sullivan
Voice acting:
- 1997 Hercules: Hades
- 1997 Hercules: The Animated Series
- 2002 House of Mouse
- 2002 Kingdom Hearts series
- 2023 Disney Speedstorm
- 2023 Once Upon a Studio
- 2001 Recess: School's Out: Benedict
- 2001 Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within: General Hein
- 2002 Stuart Little 2: The Falcon
- 2002 Rolie Polie Olie: The Great Defender of Fun: Gloomius Maximus
- 2004 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas: Mike Toreno
- 2005 Ark: Commander Jallak
- 2007 Surf's Up: Reggie Belafonte
- 2010 Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths: Owlman
- 2016 Bling: Viktor
Tropes regarding his works:
- Creator's Favorite: Hades is one of his all-time favorite characters, to the point where he has agreed to reprise the role every time it has been offered to him.
