David Strathairn

Actor, Producer, Additional Crew

Birthdate: January 26, 1949 (77 Years Old)

Birthplace: San Francisco, California, USA

Known in his early years as a regular presence in John Sayles’ acclaimed independent movies, David Strathairn (birthname: David Russell Strathairn) has built an impressive, sustained body of work across forty years, reflecting his stellar reputation as an actor’s actor. Famed for his deep, stentorian voice and commanding physical presence, Strathairn has worked not only with Sayles, but with other major filmmakers such as Steven Spielberg (Lincoln in 2012), Mike Nichols (Silkwood in 1983), Joseph Sargent (Day One in 1989), Phil Alden Robinson (Sneakers in 1992), Sydney Pollack (The Firm in 1993), Martha Coolidge (Lost in Yonkers in 1993), Curtis Hanson (The River Wild in 1994, L.A. Confidential in 1997), Keith Gordon (Mother Night in 1996), Karen Moncrieff (Blue Car in 2002), Philip Kaufman (Twisted in 2004, Hemingway & Gellhorn in 2012), Mary Harron (The Notorious Bettie Page in 2005), Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Ultimatum in 2007), Wong Kar-wai (My Blueberry Nights in 2007), Julie Taymor (The Tempest in 2010), Tony Gilroy (The Bourne Legacy in 2012) Joachim Trier (Louder Than Bombs in 2015), Joe Wright (Darkest Hour in 2017), Chloe Zhao (Nomadland in 2020), and Guillermo del Toro (Nightmare Alley in 2021). Strathairn has had the unusual distinction of having been directed by several fellow actors, often with their directorial debut: Tim Robbins with Bob Roberts (1992), Jodie Foster with Home for the Holidays (1995), Christopher Reeve with In the Gloaming (1997), Dani Levy with Meschugge (1998), George Clooney with Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005), Ewan McGregor with American Pastoral (2016), and Edward James Olmos with The Devil Has a Name (2019). First meeting Sayles at Williams College, Strathairn later reunited with him as Sayles began to develop an independent filmmaking practice at a time when American indie cinema was beginning to make its mark on the mainstream. Strathairn was a member of the cast of Sayles’ (and Strathairn’s) film debut, The Return of the Secaucus Seven (1980), with Bruce MacDonald. His work with Sayles continued with The Brother from Another Planet (1984) with Joe Morton; the union drama Matewan (1987), with Chris Cooper and James Earl Jones; the baseball scandal saga, Eight Men Out (1988), with John Cusack, Charlie Sheen, and Michael Rooker; City of Hope (1991), with Vincent Spano and Chris Cooper; Passion Fish (1992), with Mary McDonnell, Alfre Woodard, and Angela Bassett; and culminating with Sayles’ most controversial film, Limbo (1999), with Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Kris Kristofferson. Recently, Strathairn has been on a roll with appearances in important and Best Picture Oscar winners and nominees, including Chloe Zhao’s Nomadland, with Frances McDormand; Del Toro’s Nightmare Alley, with Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, and Richard Jenkins; and director Olivia Newman’s Where the Crawdads Sing (2022), based on Delia Owens’ blockbuster best-selling novel, with Daisy Edgar-Jones, Taylor John Smith, and Harris Dickinson.

Personal Life
Movies
Facts
FAQs

Personal life

San Francisco-born David Strathairn was raised by parents Thomas and Mary Strathairn and has two siblings—brother Tom, and sister Anne. Raised in Marin County, Strathairn graduated from Redwood High School in Larkspur, and then Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. David Strathairn has been married to Logan Goodman since 1980; the couple has two children, Tay and Ebbe. Strathairn’s height is 5’ 11½”.

Known For

Zootopia 2

Milton Lynxley (2025)

A Little Prayer

Bill (2025)

The Luckiest Man in America

Bill Carruthers (2025)

Remember This

Jan Karski (2023)

Nomadland

Dave (2021)

Awards

Nominee, Best Actor, Academy Awards (2006); Winner, Best Supporting Actor Miniseries or Movie, Emmy Awards (2010); Nominee, Best Actor, BAFTA Awards (2006); Winner, Best Supporting Male, Independent Spirit Awards (1992); Four-time Nominee, Best Male Lead/Best Supporting Male, Independent Spirit Awards (1988, 1993, 2000, 2006); Best Actor/Best Supporting Actor in TV Series or Movie, Golden Globe Awards (2006, 2011); Three-time Nominee, Best Male Actor/Best Motion Picture Cast, Screen Actors Guild (1998, 2006, 2013); Winner, Best Performance, Venice Film Festival (2005).

Independent Spirit Award

Independent Spirit Award

Film Independent Spirit Awards

Independent Spirit Award

Independent Spirit Award

Film Independent Spirit Awards

Independent Spirit Award

Independent Spirit Award

Film Independent Spirit Awards

David Strathairn Movies

Actor

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Previous (26)

2024 |
Limbo
Limbo
2024
Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
'Limbo' follows the investigation of a twenty year-old outback cold case murder by jaded detective Travis Hurley.
asJoe Gastineau
2023 |
Remember This
Remember This
2023
Drama
"All I can say is that I saw it, and it is the truth." In a virtuoso solo performance, Academy Award nominee David Strathairn (Good Night, and Good Luck, Lincoln, Nomadland) portrays Jan Karski in this genre-defying true story of a reluctant World War II hero and Holocaust witnes... Read all
asJan Karski
2022 |
Where the Crawdads Sing
Where the Crawdads Sing
2022
Drama, Mystery, Romance, Thriller
A woman who raised herself in the marshes of the Deep South becomes a suspect in the murder of a man with whom she was once involved.
More Info
asTom Milton
2021 |
Nightmare Alley
Nightmare Alley
2021
Crime, Drama, Thriller
A grifter working his way up from low-ranking carnival worker to lauded psychic medium matches wits with a psychologist bent on exposing him.
More Info
asPete
2021 |
Nomadland
Nomadland
2021
Drama
A woman in her sixties, after losing everything in the Great Recession, embarks on a journey through the American West, living as a van-dwelling modern-day nomad.
More Info
asDave
2020 |
The Climb
The Climb
2020
Comedy, Drama
A look at the friendship between two guys that spans over many years.
More Info
asEarl Himes
2019 |
Fast Color
Fast Color
2019
Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
After years in hiding, a woman is forced to go on the run when her superhuman abilities are discovered. Years after having abandoned her family, the only place she has left to hide is home.
More Info
asEllis
2019 |
The Whistleblower
The Whistleblower
2019
Action, Drama, Mystery
Following a fatal accident, a Chinese expatriate working for a mining company in Australia discovers that new technology developed by the company may be a health risk, and investigates a web of conspiracies in his search for the truth.
More Info
asPeter Ward
2019 |
Iceman
Iceman
2019
Adventure, Drama, Thriller
The Ötztal Alps, more than 5300 years ago. A Neolithic clan has settled near a creek. It is their leader Kelab's responsibility to be the keeper of the group's holy shrine Tineka. While Kelab is hunting, the settlement is attacked.
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asDr. Singe
2019 |
Godzilla: King of the Monsters
Godzilla: King of the Monsters
2019
Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
The crypto-zoological agency Monarch faces off against a battery of god-sized monsters, including the mighty Godzilla, who collides with Mothra, Rodan, and his ultimate nemesis, the three-headed King Ghidorah.
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asAdmiral William Stenz
2018 |
An Interview with God
An Interview with God
2018
Drama, Mystery
An up-and-coming journalist finds his world and faith increasingly challenged when he's granted the interview of a lifetime - with someone who claims to be God.
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asGod
2017 |
Darkest Hour
Darkest Hour
2017
Drama, War
In May 1940, the fate of World War II hangs on Winston Churchill, who must decide whether to negotiate with Adolf Hitler, or fight on knowing that it could mean the end of the British Empire.
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asPresident Roosevelt
2016 |
Louder Than Bombs
Louder Than Bombs
2016
Drama
The fractious family of a father and his two sons confront their different feelings and memories of their deceased wife and mother, a famed war photographer.
asRichard
2016 |
American Pastoral
American Pastoral
2016
Crime, Drama, Mystery, Romance, Thriller
An All-American college star and his beauty queen wife watch their seemingly perfect life fall apart as their daughter joins the turmoil of '60s America.
asNathan Zuckerman
2015 |
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
2015
Comedy, Drama, Romance
As the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel has only a single remaining vacancy, posing a rooming predicament for two fresh arrivals, Sonny Kapoor (Dev Patel) pursues his expansionist dream of opening a second hotel.
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asTy Burley
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as Admiral William Stenz
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as William Seward
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The Spiderwick Chroniclesas Arthur Spiderwick
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as Bill Carruthers
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as Bill
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as Noah Vosen
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as Milton Lynxley
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as Milton Lynxley
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as Milton Lynxley
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as Milton Lynxley
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as Milton Lynxley

Self

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Previous (1)

2015 |
Trumbo
Trumbo
2015
Biography, Drama
In 1947, Dalton Trumbo was Hollywood's top screenwriter, until he and other artists were jailed and blacklisted for their political beliefs.

Facts About David Strathairn

Oscar Man: Not only is Strathairn an Oscar nominee for Best Actor, but he has starred or co-starred in six films nominated or won Best Picture: L.A. Confidential, Good Night, and Good Luck., Lincoln, Darkest Hour, Nomadland, and Nightmare Alley. He’s also worked with five Oscar-winning directors: Steven Spielberg, Sydney Pollack, Chloe Zhao, Guillermo del Toro, and Mike Nichols. Man of the Stage: David Strathairn has a distinguished body of theater work, including a specialization in the plays of Harold Pinter; productions of Tom Stoppard’s Hapgood, Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, Berkeley Rep Theater’s production of Sinclair Lewis’s It Can’t Happen Here, and the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre’s production of Remember This in 2021. Narrator: Among Strathairn’s many credits as a narrator, they include his narration of the biographical video introducing Barack Obama at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.