James Cromwell

James Cromwell
Actor James Cromwell appeared as Major Leo Bardinaro, B.J.’s old practical joking buddy, in three episode “Last Laugh” in Season 6.
Personal Information
Gender:	Male
Born:	January 27, 1940
Birthplace	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation/ Career:	Actor
Years active:	1960’s-present
Character information
Appeared on/in:	M*A*S*H
Episodes appeared in:	“Last Laugh” in Season 6
Character(s) played:	Captain Leo Bardonaro

James Oliver Cromwell (born January 27, 1940) appeared on M*A*S*H as Captain Leo Bardonaro, in the episode “Last Laugh” in Season 6. Cromwell is also well known to TV series viewers for his role as Jerome “Stretch” Cunningham, Archie’s sidekick and co-worker at Pendergast Tool & Die in three Season 5 episodes of CBS-TV’s All In The Family, titled “The Bunkers and Inflation (Part 4)”, “Archie is Missing” and “Archie and the Miracle”. James has been nominated for an Academy Award, four Emmy Awards, and four Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards during his career. He won the 2013 Canadian Screen Award for Best Actor for his role in Still Mine.[1]

Early years[]

Born in Los Angeles, California, and raised in Manhattan, New York, James is the son of actress Kay Johnson and actor, director, and producer John Cromwell, who was blacklisted during the McCarthy era.[2] He has English, Irish, and Scottish ancestry.[3] He was educated at The Hill School, Middlebury College and Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University). Like his parents, he was drawn to the theater, performing in everything from Shakespeare to experimental plays.

Early Career[]

James’s first television performance was in a 1974 episode of The Rockford Files playing Terry,[4] a tennis instructor. A few weeks later,[5] he began his role as Stretch Cunningham on AITF. In 1975, he took his first lead role on television as Bill Lewis in the short-lived Hot L Baltimore, and a year later he made his film debut in Neil Simon’s classic detective spoof Murder by Death.

In 1980, Cromwell guest-starred in the two-part pivotal episode “Laura Ingalls Wilder” of the long-running television series Little House on the Prairie. He played Harve Miller, one of Almanzo Wilder’s (Dean Butler) old friends.

1980’s present[]

While Cromwell continued with regular television work throughout the 1980s, he made real inroads in film business for his supporting roles in the films Tank and Revenge of the Nerds. He had starring roles in the 1990s critically acclaimed films Babe (1995), The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996), L.A. Confidential (1997), The Green Mile, and Snow Falling on Cedars (both 1999). A talented character actor, James also played former President D. Wire Newman on NBC-TV’s West Wing series, appearing in the episode “The Stormy Present”. James is an Academy Award-nominated actor who starred in Babe, Star Trek: First Contact (with Robert Picardo),[6] L.A. Confidential, The Green Mile, The Sum of All Fears, Eraser (opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger and Vanessa L. Williams), The Artist (with John Goodman and Nina Siemaszko), Space Cowboys (with William Devane), The Queen, Spider-Man 3, Surrogates, I, Robot, Secretariat (with Baker), The General’s Daughter (with Daniel von Bargen) and Deep Impact (with Richard Schiff, Mary McCormack, Laura Innes and Suzy Nakamura). He also guest starred on Six Feet Under, 24, John Wells’ ER and My Own Worst Enemy (starring Christian Slater).

Family & Personal life[]

Cromwell is known for his tall stature; at 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m), he is the tallest actor nominated for an Academy Award. His son John is also tall, standing at 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)[7] In the 2012 film Memorial Day John played the young Bud Vogel, while James played him as a grandfather,[8] and both Cromwells appear as the same character at different ages in season 2 of American Horror Story (2012).

Cromwell was married to Ann Ulvestad from 1976 to 1986. They had three children. He married his second wife, actress Julie Cobb, on May 29, 1986. That marriage ended in divorce in 2005.[9]

References[]

1. ↑ “Canadian Screen Awards raises the star wattage”. Toronto Star, March 3, 2013.
2. ↑ John Cromwell – Films as director:, Other films:, at Filmreference.com accessed, November 16, 2014.
3. ↑ “Geneaology Data: John Oliver (James) Cromwell”, Ancestry.com
4. ↑ “The Rockford Files” The Countess (1974)
5. ↑ All in the Family (a Titles & Air Dates Guide). Epguides.com (November 27, 2011). Retrieved on February 28, 2012.
6. ↑ StarTrek.com Offers Commentary on ‘In a Mirror, Darkly’, TrekToday.com article, April 27, 2005, accessed February 28, 2012.
7. ↑ Ellis, Cynthia, “Tribeca Film Festival Interview: John and James Cromwell: A .45 at 50th”, The Huffington Post, May 4, 2010
8. ↑ Memorial Day review
9. ↑ “James Cromwell files for divorce”, Associated Press, January 14, 2005

External links[]

• James Cromwell at the Internet Movie Database
• James Cromwell article at Wikipedia