James Cromwell
James Oliver Cromwell (born January 27, 1940) is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his role as Dr. Zefram Cochrane in “Star Trek: First Contact,” as well as his roles in “Babe,” “L.A. Confidential,” and “Spider-Man 3.” He has been nominated for an Oscar, three Emmy Awards, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards during his career.
Cromwell was born in Los Angeles, California and was raised in Manhattan, New York. He was adopted by actress Kay Johnson and actor, director and producer John Cromwell, who was blacklisted during the McCarthy era. He was educated at The Hill School, Middlebury College and Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University), where he studied engineering. Like both his parents, he was drawn to the theater, doing everything from Shakespeare to experimental plays.
He has long been an advocate of leftist causes. In an October 2008 interview, he strongly attacked the Republican Party and the George W. Bush administration, saying their controversial foreign policy would “either destroy us or the entire planet.” He became a vegetarian in 1974 after seeing a stockyard in Texas and experiencing the “smell, terror and anxiety.” He became an ethical vegan while playing the character of Farmer Hoggett in the movie Babe in 1995. He frequently speaks out on issues regarding animal cruelty for PETA, largely the treatment of pigs.
Cromwell was married to Anne Ulvestad from 1976 to 1986. They had three children. He married his second wife, Julie Cobb, on May 29, 1986.
Known For
Not in library
The Green Mile
1999
Not in library
Big Hero 6
2014
Not in library
Spider-Man 3
2007
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
2018
Not in library
I, Robot
2004
Not in library
American Horror Story
2011
Not in library
L.A. Confidential
1997
Not in library
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron
2002
Not in library
The Longest Yard
2005
Not in library
The Artist
2011
Acting
2026
Living With A Visionary
as Narrator (voice)
2025
BAT-FAM
as Alfred Thaddeus Crane Pennyworth (voice)
(10 episodes)
2024
Rebel Ridge
as Judge
2024
Sugar
as Jonathan Siegel
(8 episodes)
2024
Murder in a Small Town
as George Wilcox
(1 episode)
2023
Merry Little Batman
as Alfred Pennyworth (voice)
2022
Prancer: A Christmas Tale
as Bud
2021
Law & Order: Organized Crime
as Miles Darman
(2 episodes)
2020
Emperor
as John Brown
2020
Never Too Late
as Jack Bronson
2020
Star Trek: Lower Decks
as Dr. Zefram Cochrane (voice)
(1 episode)
2020
Operation Buffalo
as Cranky
(6 episodes)
2019
Countdown to Year Zero
2019
The Immortal
as Grandfather
2019
The Laundromat
as Joseph David Martin
2019
That Guy... Who Was In That Thing 3: Trek Stars
as Self
2019
The Family
as Douglas Coe
(5 episodes)
2018
Succession
as Ewan Roy
(7 episodes)
2017
Marshall
as The Judge
2017
Counterpart
as Yanek
(10 episodes)
2016
The Promise
as Henry Morgenthau Sr.
2016
50 Years of Star Trek
as Self
2016
The Perfect Crime: Leopold & Loeb
as Self - Narrator (voice)
2016
The Young Pope
as Cardinal Michael Spencer
(10 episodes)
2016
The Detour
as J.R.
(3 episodes)
2016
Berlin Station
as Gilbert Dorn
(1 episode)
2014
In Between Songs
as Narrator
2014
Big Hero 6
as Professor Robert Callaghan (voice)
2014
Walking the Mile
as Self
2014
Halt and Catch Fire
as Jacob Wheeler
(8 episodes)
2014
Murder in the First
as Warren Daniels
(1 episode)
2013
The Trials of Cate McCall
as Justice Sumpter
2012
Cowgirls n' Angels
as Terence Parker
2012
Soldiers of Fortune
as Haussman
2012
Still Mine
as Craig Morrison
2012
A Night at the Movies: Hollywood Goes to Washington
as Self - Interviewee
2012
The Artist: The Making of an American Romance
as Self
2012
Hollywood as Character: The Locations of The Artist
as Himself
2012
La Classe américaine
as Self
2011
The Artist
as Clifton
2011
Memorial Day
as Bud Vogel
2011
Hide Away
as The Ancient Mariner
2011
Farm to Fridge
as Narrator
2011
Admissions
as The Clerk
2011
American Horror Story
as Dr. Arthur Arden
(13 episodes)
2010
Secretariat
as Ogden Phipps
2010
Pope Pius XII
as Pope Pius XII
2010
Boardwalk Empire
as Andrew W. Mellon
(1 episode)
2010
Sotto il cielo di Roma
as Pope Pius XII
(2 episodes)
2009
A Lonely Place for Dying
as Howard Simons
2009
Surrogates
as Dr. Lionel Canter
2009
The Last Days of Lehman Brothers
as Hank Paulson
2009
Starz Inside - Unforgettably Evil
as Self
2009
Beyond All Boundaries
as Major General Alexander A. Vandegrift / Fleet Admiral William Halsey
2009
Impact
as Lloyd
(2 episodes)
2008
W.
as George H.W. Bush
2008
Tortured
as Jack
2008
Whatever You Desire: Making 'L.A. Confidential'
as Self
2008
My Own Worst Enemy
as Alistair Trumbull
(6 episodes)
2007
Spider-Man 3
as Captain Stacy
2007
Becoming Jane
as Mr. Austen
2007
Dante's Inferno
as Virgil (voice)
2007
Looking For Else
as Self
2007
The Making of 'The Queen'
as Self
2007
Masters of Science Fiction
2006
The Queen
as Prince Philip
2006
Avenger
as Paul Devereaux
2006
King Leopold's Ghost
2006
The Maltese Falcon: One Magnificent Bird
as Self
2005
The Longest Yard
as Warden Hazen
2005
Shadows in the Dark: The Val Lewton Legacy
as Narrator
2005
Pope John Paul II
2005
Pope John Paul II
as Cardinal Adam Sapieha
(2 episodes)
2004
I, Robot
as Dr. Alfred Lanning
2004
Happy Birthday Oscar Wilde
as Self
2004
Salem's Lot
as Donald Callahan
(2 episodes)
2003
The Snow Walker
as Walter "Shep" Shepherd
2003
Blackball
as Ray Speight
2003
A Carol Christmas
as Ghost of Christmas Future (uncredited)
2003
The John Garfield Story
as Self
2003
Angels in America
as Roy's Doctor
(4 episodes)
2002
The Sum of All Fears
as President Fowler
2002
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron
as The Colonel (voice)
2002
RFK
as President Lyndon Baines Johnson
2002
Project Viper
as MP 1
2002
A Death in the Family
as Joel Lynch
2002
The Magnificent Ambersons
as Major Amberson
2001
Six Feet Under
as George Sibley
(27 episodes)
2001
Citizen Baines
2001
24
as Phillip Bauer
(8 episodes)
2001
Star Trek: Enterprise
as Dr. Zefram Cochran (uncredited)
(1 episode)
2000
Space Cowboys
as Bob Gerson
2000
Fail Safe
as Gordon Knapp
2000
Walking the Mile: The Making of The Green Mile
as Self / Warden Hal Moores
1999
The Green Mile
as Warden Hal Moores
1999
Snow Falling on Cedars
as Judge Fielding
1999
The General's Daughter
as General Joseph Campbell
1999
The Bachelor
as Priest
1999
A Slight Case of Murder
as John Edgarson
1999
RKO 281
as William Randolph Hearst
1999
The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn
as Self - Guest
(1 episode)
1999
The West Wing
as President D. Wire Newman
(1 episode)
1998
Species II
as Senator Ross
1998
Deep Impact
as Alan Rittenhouse
1998
Babe: Pig in the City
as Farmer Arthur Hoggett
1998
Owd Bob
as Adam MacAdam
1997
L.A. Confidential
as Dudley Smith
1997
The Education of Little Tree
as Nonno
1996
Star Trek: First Contact
as Dr. Zefram Cochrane
1996
The People vs. Larry Flynt
as Charles Keating
1996
Eraser
as William Donohue
1995
Babe
as Farmer Hoggett
1995
Indictment: The McMartin Trial
as Judge Pounders
1995
Partners
1995
The Client
as Officer Joe Denton
(1 episode)
1994
Revenge of the Nerds IV: Nerds in Love
as Mr. Skolnick
1994
The Shaggy Dog
as Charlie Mulvihill
1994
ER
as Bishop Stewart
(4 episodes)
1993
Romeo Is Bleeding
as Cage
1993
Star Trek: The Next Generation - Birthright
as Jaglom Shrek
1993
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
as Hanok
(1 episode)
1992
The Babe
as Brother Mathias
1992
Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation
as Mr. Skolnick
1992
Picket Fences
as The Bishop
(1 episode)
1991
Home Improvement
as Fred
(1 episode)
1990
Miracle Landing
as B.J. Cocker
1990
American Dreamer
1989
The Runnin' Kind
as Uncle Phil
1989
Pink Cadillac
as Motel Desk Clerk
1989
Christine Cromwell
1988
The Rescue
as Adm. Rothman
1988
China Beach: Pilot
as Ambassador at Large Roland Weymouth
1988
China Beach
1987
Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise
as Mr. Skolnick
1987
Star Trek: The Next Generation
as Prime Minister Nayrok
(1 episode)
1987
Jake and the Fatman
1987
Star Trek: The Next Generation
as Jaglom Shrek
(2 episodes)
1986
The Last Precinct
as Chief Bludhorn
1986
A Fine Mess
as Detective Blist
1986
Matlock
as Judge Raymond Price
(2 episodes)
1986
Easy Street
1985
Explorers
as Mr. Müller
1985
The Twilight Zone
as (segment "A Message From Charity")
(1 episode)
1985
Wildside
1985
Amazing Stories
as Francis
(1 episode)
1984
Tank
as Deputy Euclid
1984
Revenge of the Nerds
as Mr. Skolnick
1984
The House of God
as Officer Quick
1984
Oh, God! You Devil
as Priest
1984
Spraggue
as Lt. George Hurley
1984
Night Court
as Alan
(1 episode)
1984
Hunter
as Seymour Robbins
(1 episode)
1983
The Man with Two Brains
as Realtor
1983
Scarecrow and Mrs. King
1982
Barefoot In the Park
as Harry Pepper
1982
The Rainmaker
as Noah Curry
1982
The Wall
as Francisek
1982
Family Ties
as John Hancock
(1 episode)
1982
Knight Rider
as Curtis
(1 episode)
1981
Nobody's Perfekt
as Dr. Carson
1981
Hill Street Blues
1981
Foul Play
as Bebet
(1 episode)
1980
A Christmas Without Snow
as Reverend Lohman
1980
Flo
1978
The Cheap Detective
as Schnell
1978
Peeping Times
as Bernard Mantee
1978
Diff'rent Strokes
1978
Dallas
as Gerald Kane
(3 episodes)
1978
The White Shadow
as Mr. Hamilton
(1 episode)
1978
The White Shadow
as Art Commings
(1 episode)
1977
The Girl in the Empty Grave
as Deputy Malcolm Rossiter Jr.
1977
Deadly Game
as Deputy Malcolm Rossiter Jr.
1977
Three's Company
as Detective Lannigan
(1 episode)
1977
Eight Is Enough
1976
Murder by Death
as Marcel Cassette
1976
Alice
1976
All's Fair
1976
The Nancy Walker Show
as Glen
(12 episodes)
1976
Once an Eagle
as J.L. Cleghorne
(7 episodes)
1976
Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman
as Reverend Buryfield
(5 episodes)
1975
Barney Miller
as Sgt. Wilkinson
(1 episode)
1975
Hot l Baltimore
1975
Barbary Coast
as Roy
(1 episode)
1975
Barney Miller
as Neil Spencer
(1 episode)
1975
Barney Miller
as Dr. Edmund Danworth
(1 episode)
1975
Barney Miller
as Jason Parrish
(1 episode)
1974
Little House on the Prairie
as Harve Miller
(2 episodes)
1973
Police Story
1972
M*A*S*H
1971
All in the Family
as Stretch Cunningham
(3 episodes)
1955
Daddy Long Legs
as Extra (uncredited)
1944
Golden Globe Awards
as Self - Audience Member
(1 episode)
—
Get Lost
as Frederick (Red King)
—
Night Vet
as Dr. Abel Evergood
Production
2021
Mondo Hollywoodland
Executive Producer
2018
Running for Good: The Fiona Oakes Documentary
Executive Producer
2015
Imminent Threat
Executive Producer