James Rebhorn

James Rebhorn
Rebhorn at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival
Born	James Robert Rebhorn (1948-09-01)September 1, 1948 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	March 21, 2014(2014-03-21) (aged 65) South Orange, New Jersey, U.S.
Education	Wittenberg University (BA) Columbia University (MFA)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1976–2013
Spouse	Rebecca Fulton Linn ​ (m. 1969)​
Children	2

James Robert Rebhorn (September 1, 1948 – March 21, 2014) was an American character actor. Rebhorn appeared in over 100 films, television series, and plays.

Rebhorn appeared in many numerous films, such as his portrayal of Los Alamos Doctor in Silkwood (1983), Drunk Businessman in Cat's Eye, Richard in Heart of Midnight (1988), Prosecutor in Desperate Hours (1990), Dr. Sultan in Regarding Henry (1991), George Wilbur in My Cousin Vinny, Dr. McElwaine in Basic Instinct, and FBI Agent Flynn in White Sands and Mr. Trask in Scent of a Woman (all in 1992), Ellard Muscatine in Lorenzo's Oil, and Bill Norwalk in Carlito's Way (all in 1993), Howard Schaeffer in Guarding Tess and Mando, The Thin Man in I Love Trouble (both in 1994), Captain Tyler in White Squall, John Merino in Up Close & Personal, and Albert Nimziki in Independence Day (all in 1996), Charlie Reynolds in My Fellow Americans and The Game (both in 1997), Alvin Hooks in Snow Falling on Cedars and Herbert Greenleaf in The Talented Mr. Ripley (both in 1999), and President Signoff in The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Dr. Larry Banks in Meet the Parents (both in 2000); as well as recurring roles in TV series, such as his portrayal of Charles Garnett/ Dr. Horace Garrison/Albert Lawrence Cheney in Law & Order, Captain Elchisak in Third Watch, Bertram Webster in The Book of Daniel, Reese Hughes in White Collar, Carl Franklin in Big Lake, and Frank Mathison in Homeland.

Early life

Rebhorn was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Ardell Frances (née Hoch) and James Harry Rebhorn, an industrial engineer and salesman. He was of German descent. Rebhorn moved to Anderson, Indiana, as a child and graduated from Madison Heights High School in 1966. A devout Lutheran, he attended Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, where he studied political science.

While there, he was a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. Richard S. Huffman was one of his instructors and directed him in a lead role in Aristophanes' Lysistrata as well as Molière's Tricks of Scapin. After graduating in 1970, Rebhorn moved to New York City, where he earned a Master of Fine Arts in acting from Columbia University's School of the Arts, and joined the metropolitan theater scene.

Career

An early performance was in Butterflies are Free at the Peterborough Players in New Hampshire in 1974. Rebhorn played Peter Latham in Forty Carats at the GasLight Dinner Theatre in Salt Lake City in the 1970s. He was known both for portraying WASP stereotypes, lawyers, politicians, doctors, and military men, as well as portraying individuals engaged in or responsible for criminal behavior.

He delivered equally notable performances in a variety of other roles, including that of a brutal serial killer on NBC's Law & Order (he would later return to the show in the recurring role of defense attorney Charles Garnett), Ellard Muscatine in Lorenzo's Oil (1992), Fred Waters in Blank Check (1994), Clyde Frost, the father of famed bullrider Lane Frost, in 8 Seconds (1994), Lt. Tyler in White Squall (1996), and a shipping magnate in The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999).

One of his best known performances was in the popular 1996 film Independence Day, where he played Secretary of Defense Albert Nimzicki. He acted in Scent of a Woman (1992), and played an expert witness in My Cousin Vinny (1992). He appeared in Carlito's Way as an obsessed district attorney the following year. Rebhorn played an FBI agent in the 1994 film Guarding Tess.

Rebhorn played several roles on television, including an abusive stepfather, Bradley Raines, on the soap opera Guiding Light from 1983 to 1985, and an abusive father, Henry Lange, on sister soap As the World Turns from 1988 to 1991. An earlier daytime role was as John Brady in Texas from 1981 to 1982.

In 1991, he played the role of Ezra in the television movie/pilot Plymouth. He cameoed in Madonna's video for her single "Bad Girl" along with Christopher Walken (1993). In 1994, he appeared in an episode of the Nickelodeon series The Adventures of Pete & Pete, titled "Farewell, My Little Viking", as Mr. McFlemp.

In 1998, he played the district attorney in the two part series finale of Seinfeld. He appeared in supporting roles in Regarding Henry, The Game, The Talented Mr. Ripley and Meet the Parents. In 2003, he appeared in the Chris Rock film Head of State, as Democratic Senator Bill Arnot. In 2004, he appeared in the television miniseries Reversible Errors. His role in the short-lived and controversial NBC drama The Book of Daniel cast him as the father of the title character. From 2009 to 2013, Rebhorn played the recurring role of Reese Hughes, the FBI white-collar division chief, on White Collar.

Starting in 2011, Rebhorn appeared in the Showtime series Homeland as Frank Mathison, father of the series' main character Carrie Mathison, played by Claire Danes. His character suffered from bipolar disorder like Danes's character did. However, Frank had been able to get it under control and became quite functional on a daily basis with the correct dosing of medications, and would often encourage Carrie to do the same. Rebhorn's death in 2014 meant his character died in the show as well. The season 4 finale of Homeland was dedicated to him.

In 2004 he appeared on Broadway as Juror 4 in the Roundabout Theatre Company production of Twelve Angry Men at the American Airlines Theatre.

Rebhorn appeared as a judge in Baby Mama. In the movie The Box, Rebhorn portrayed a NASA scientist. He had a recurring role on the series White Collar as Special Agent Reese Hughes. Rebhorn co-starred in the Comedy Central sitcom Big Lake in 2010. He played Max Kenton's uncle in the movie Real Steel in 2011. He starred as Oren in the miniseries Coma. Rebhorn starred as Gary Pandamiglio in the 2012 Mike Birbiglia comedy Sleepwalk with Me.

In 2012, he played the role of Archbishop McGovern in "Leap of Faith", the 13th episode of the second season of the CBS police procedural drama Blue Bloods. He co-starred in the romantic comedy The Perfect Wedding in 2013. His stage career included seven Broadway productions, as well as numerous appearances with New York City's Roundabout Theatre Company.

Personal life

Rebhorn was married to Rebecca Linn and was the father of two daughters.

Death

Rebhorn died at his home in South Orange, New Jersey on March 21, 2014, as a result of melanoma, which he had been battling since 1992. Rebhorn wrote his own obituary.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1976	The Yum Yum Girls	Casting Director
1980	He Knows You're Alone	Professor Carl Mason
1982	Soup for One	Lawyer
1983	Silkwood	Los Alamos Doctor
1985	Cat's Eye	Drunk Businessman
1986	Whatever It Takes	Michael Manion
1988	The House on Carroll Street	The Official
	Heart of Midnight	Richard
1990	Desperate Hours	Prosecutor
1991	Regarding Henry	Dr. Sultan
	Shadows and Fog	Hacker's Vigilante #1
1992	My Cousin Vinny	George Wilbur
	Basic Instinct	Dr. McElwaine
	White Sands	FBI Agent Flynn
	Wind	George
	Scent of a Woman	Mr. Trask
	Lorenzo's Oil	Ellard Muscatine
1993	Carlito's Way	Bill Norwalk
1994	Blank Check	Fred Waters
	8 Seconds	Clyde Frost
	Guarding Tess	Howard Schaeffer
	I Love Trouble	Mando, The Thin Man
1996	White Squall	Tyler
	Up Close & Personal	John Merino
	If Lucy Fell	Simon Ackerman
	Independence Day	Albert Nimziki
	My Fellow Americans	Charlie Reynolds
1997	The Game	Jim Feingold
1998	All of It	Bill Holbeck
1999	Snow Falling on Cedars	Alvin Hooks
	The Talented Mr. Ripley	Herbert Greenleaf
2000	The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle	President Signoff
	Meet the Parents	Dr. Larry Banks
2001	Scotland, PA	Norm Duncan
	Last Ball	Mr. Corcoran
2002	The Adventures of Pluto Nash	Belcher
	Far from Heaven	Dr. Bowman
2003	The Trade	John Torman
	Head of State	Senator Bill Arnot
	Vacuums	Dirk Bentley
	Cold Mountain	Doctor
2004	The Last Shot	Abe White
2006	How to Eat Fried Worms	Principal Nelson Burdock
	Bernard and Doris	Waldo Taft
2007	Spinning into Butter	President Winston Garvey
	Anamorph	Chief Lewellyn Brainard
2008	Baby Mama	Judge
	An American Affair	Lucian Carver
2009	The International	New York D.A.
	Don McKay	Dr. Lance Pryce
	The Box	Norm Cahill
2010	A Little Help	Dr. Bronstein
	The Sparrow and the Tigress	Ernest
2011	The Line	The Man	Short
	Real Steel	Marvin
2012	Sleepwalk with Me	Frank
	The Odd Life of Timothy Green	Joseph Crudstaff
	The Perfect Wedding	Richard Fowler
2013	Before I Sleep	Priest	Final film role

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1977	The Doctors	Tom Carroll
1981–1982	Texas	John	Recurring cast member
1982	Will: G. Gordon Liddy	Peter Maroulis	Television film
1983	Sessions	Harry	Television film
1983–1985/1989	Guiding Light	Bradley Raines	Cast member
1984	He's Fired, She's Hired	Man on Phone	Television film
1985	ABC Weekend Special	Charlie Riley	Episode: "The Adventures of Con Sawyer and Hucklemary Finn"
1985	North and South	Major Anderson	Episode: "Episode Six"
	Kane and Abel	Federal Prosecutor	Episode: "Episode Two"
1985–1986	Search for Tomorrow	Al Miller
	Kate & Allie	Derek	2 episodes
1985–1987	Spenser: For Hire	Father Hoyt / Paul Manning	2 episodes
1986	Rockabye	Arthur Reardon	Television film
	A Deadly Business	Corbett	Television film
1986–1988	The Equalizer	Gant / Eric	2 episodes
1987	Kojak: The Price of Justice	Quibro	Television film
1989	Great Performances	Dr. Gibbs	Episode: "Our Town"
	Kojak: Fatal Flaw	Slusher	Television film
	ABC Afterschool Special	Dan Jensen	Episode: "A Town's Revenge"
	Kojak: Ariana	Slusher	Television film
1990	H.E.L.P.	Perry	Episode: "Fire Down Below"
	Against the Law	Mayor	Episode: "We, the Jury"
	Wiseguy	Agent White	3 episodes
	Everyday Heroes	Jim	Television film
	As the World Turns	Angus Oliver / Henry Lange	3 episodes
1991	Sarah, Plain and Tall	William Wheaton	Television film
	Plymouth	Ezra	Television film
	Dead and Alive: The Race for Gus Farace	Timothy Lanigan	Television film
1992	I'll Fly Away	Roger Thorne	Episode: "The Slightest Distance"
	Deadly Matrimony	Lieutenant Lloyd Butler	Television film
1992–2008	Law & Order	Charles Garnett / Dr. Horace Garrison / Albert Lawrence Cheney	7 episodes
1993	JFK: Reckless Youth	St. John	2 episodes
	Skylark	William Wheaton	Television film
1994	The Adventures of Pete & Pete	John McFlemp	2 episodes
1995	The Buccaneers	Mr. Closson	Episode: "Invasion"
	The Wright Verdicts	Will Garrett	Episode: "Special Prosecutor"
1996	Mistrial	Mayor Taylor	Television film
1997	New York Undercover	Tuckett	Episode: "The Promised Land"
1998	From the Earth to the Moon	Harrison Storms	Episode: "Apollo One"
	Seinfeld	District Attorney Hoyt	Episode: "The Finale"
	A Bright Shining Lie	Ambassador Ellsworth Bunker	Television film
1999–2002	Third Watch	Captain Elchisak	6 episodes
2000	Now and Again	General Frederick Augustus Irving	2 episodes
	Hopewell	John Melville	Television film
2001	Amy & Isabelle	Avery Clark	Television film
	The Practice	Attorney John Rapherson	2 episodes
	UC: Undercover	Deputy Warden Richard Petrocelli	Episode: "The Siege"
2003	Hack	Richard Farrell	2 episodes
2004	Reversible Errors	Erno Erdai	Television film
2006	Waterfront	Thomas Porter	2 episodes
	The Book of Daniel	Bertram Webster	6 episodes
	Candles on Bay Street	Farmer Frieden	Television film
2007	The Knights of Prosperity	Harrison Plunk	Episode: "Operation: Rent Money"
2008	Comanche Moon	Gov. Elisha Pease	Miniseries
	Canterbury's Law	Dr. Allen Petch	Episode: "Baggage"
	Boston Legal	Wade Mathis	2 episodes
2009	Royal Pains	Will	Episode: "No Man Is an Island"
2009–2013	White Collar	Reese Hughes	16 episodes
2010	30 Rock	Dr. Kaplan	2 episodes
	2010	Big Lake	Carl Franklin	10 episodes
2011–2013	Homeland	Frank Mathison	8 episodes
2012	Blue Bloods	Archbishop McGovern	Episode: "Leap of Faith"
	Coma	Oren	Miniseries
	Made in Jersey	Judge Hudnut	Episode: "Ridgewell"
2013	The Good Wife	Wilkes Ingersol	Episode: "Boom De Yah Da"
	Enlightened	Charles Szidon	4 episodes

External links

• James Rebhorn at IMDb
• James Rebhorn at the Internet Broadway Database
• James Rebhorn at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• James Rebhorn biography at Yahoo! Movies
• 20th Anniversary of My Cousin Vinny Interview at Abnormal Use