James Cromwell

“This is a masterful film.  It should be essential viewing for everyone.  Jo-Anne McArthur is an extremely engaging subject.  And I was particularly blown away by her photographs which are so poignant and evocative, they’re almost a character unto themselves.  We’re not just looking at pictures of exploited animals – we’re looking at their very souls.  Her extraordinary images allow us to see them as living, breathing, thinking, feeling, individuals with complex emotional lives – just like us.  All animals have the capacity to feel fear and pain, and this film does a stunning job of evoking that universal capacity and compels the viewer to ask why we humans, who are the cause of all this needless suffering, allow it to continue.  That, I believe, is the film’s greatest achievement and what makes it unique.  THE GHOSTS IN OUR MACHINE is a vital film that needed to be made at this point in history, and has been made magnificently.”

James Cromwell
Actor
photo courtesy of Ryan Rogers

James Cromwell received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his memorable performance as Farmer Hoggett in the international smash Babe.  He went on to play the role in the hit sequel Babe: Pig in the City.  Recently, he had a pivotal role in the Oscar winner The Artist.  Other recent features include the charming family drama Cowgirls n’ Angels (2012) and the legal drama The Trials of Kate McCall (2013).  Cromwell is also appearing as a regular in Season 2 of the FX series American Horror Story and is guest starring in season 3 of the HBO series Boardwalk Empire.

Cromwell’s other significant film work includes The Longest Yard, I, Robot, Space Cowboys, Frank Darabont’s critically acclaimed The Green Mile, The General’s Daughter, Snow Falling on Cedars, The Bachelor, The Sum of All Fears, Star Trek: First Contact, The People vs. Larry Flynt, DreamWorks SKG’s Spirit: Stallion of The Cimarron, Stephen Frears’s Oscar-nominated The Queen, Becoming Jane, The Education of Little Tree, Secretariat, Spiderman Three, and as Police Captain Dudley Smith in L.A. Confidential.

Cromwell was notably seen on the Fox hit series 24 as Phillip Bauer, playing Kiefer Sutherland (Jack Bauer)’s father.  He earned multiple Emmy nominations for his work on the HBO original series Six Feet Under, the HBO movie RKO 281 and the NBC drama series ER.  His body of work encompasses dozens of miniseries and movies-of-the-week, including a starring role in TNT’s A Slight Case of Murder, a cameo appearance in HBO’s Angels in America, West Wing, Picket Fences, Home Improvement, L.A. Law and Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Cromwell has also performed in many revered plays, including Hamlet, The Iceman Cometh, Devil’s Disciple, All’s Well That Ends Well, Beckett and Othello in many of America’s most distinguished theatres, including the South Coast Repertory, the Goodman Theatre, the Mark Taper Forum, the American Shakespeare Festival, Center Stage, the Long Wharf Theatre and the Old Globe.  He recently played A. E. Houseman in the American premiere of Tom Stoppard’s The Invention of Love at A.C.T. in San Francisco.  Cromwell has directed at resident theatres across the country and was the founder and Artistic Director of his own company, Stage West, in Springfield, Massachusetts.  He also co-directed a short film, which was shown at the London Film Festival.

Born in Los Angeles, Cromwell grew up in New York and Waterford, Connecticut, and studied at Carnegie Mellon University (then Carnegie Tech).  His father, John Cromwell, an acclaimed actor and director, was one of the first presidents of the Screen Directors Guild.  His mother, Kay Johnson, was a stage and film actress.

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