James Brolin
James Brolin (born Craig Kenneth Bruderlin, July 18, 1940)[1] is an American actor. Brolin has won two Golden Globes and an Emmy. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on August 27, 1998. He is the father of actor Josh Brolin and the husband of Barbra Streisand.
James Brolin
- James M. Brolin
- Craig J. Brolin
Actor
1960–present
-
Jane Cameron Agee(m. 1966; div. 1984)
3, including Josh
Eden Brolin (granddaughter)
He is best known for his TV roles such as Steven Kiley on Marcus Welby, M.D.(1969–1976), Peter McDermott on Hotel (1983–1988), John Short on Life in Pieces (2015–2019), and the Narrator on Sweet Tooth and his film roles such as Sgt. Jerome K. Weber in Skyjacked (1972), John Blane in Westworld (1973), General Ralph Landry in Traffic (2000),[2] Jack Barnes in Catch Me If You Can (2002), and Emperor Zurg in the 2022 Toy Story spin-off film Lightyear.
Early life[edit]
Brolin was born Craig Kenneth Bruderlin in Westwood Village, Los Angeles, California.[3][4] The eldest of two brothers and two sisters, he is the son of Helen Sue (née Mansur) (1916–2014), a housewife, and Henry Hurst Bruderlin (1911–2002), a building contractor.[5] As a young child, he was interested in animals and in model airplanes, which he began building and flying when he was 10. As a teenaged filmgoer in the mid-1950s, he was particularly fascinated with actor James Dean, and he began shooting 8 mm films.[3] When his parents invited a director over to his family's house for dinner before auditioning, he met another fellow actor and classmate, Ryan O'Neal, who was about a year younger than Brolin. The two clicked and later enrolled in University High School located in West Los Angeles. However, Brolin's own acting exposed his stifling shyness. His assurance grew when O'Neal invited him to a casting agency. Brolin graduated from high school in 1958, and his family was already encouraging him to become an actor like O'Neal.
Career[edit]
Early career[edit]
Brolin attended Santa Monica City College and studied drama at the University of California Los Angeles before signing a contract with 20th Century Fox in 1960. At Fox, he started out as a contract player in Sandra Dee movies.[6] Brolin appeared on an episode of Bus Stop in 1961. The part led to parts in other television productions such as Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea; Margie; Love, American Style; Twelve O'Clock High; and The Long, Hot Summer. He made three guest appearances on the popular 1960s series Batman, alongside Adam West and Burt Ward, as well as roles in The Virginian, and Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law alongside Arthur Hill and Lee Majors. He also had a recurring role on the short-lived television series The Monroes.
At age 20, he changed his surname from "Bruderlin" to "Brolin" to become James Brolin ("Bruder" is the German word for "brother"). While in school struggling to make it big, he met actor Clint Eastwood. Brolin also had small roles in several films including Take Her, She's Mine (1963), Dear Brigitte (1965), Von Ryan's Express (1965), and Fantastic Voyage (1966). The following year, his first big role was in The Cape Town Affair (1967), but it did not receive any success at the box office. Brolin was ultimately fired by 20th Century Fox.
In 1969 he co-starred in the TV series Marcus Welby, M.D., portraying a doctor.
Film[edit]
During the 1970s, the 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m) Brolin began appearing in leading roles in films, including Skyjacked (1972)[7] and Westworld (1973). By the mid-1970s, he was a regular leading man in films, starring in Gable and Lombard (1976), The Car (1977), Capricorn One (1978, in which he costarred with Elliott Gould, Streisand's ex-husband), The Amityville Horror (1979), Night of the Juggler (1980), and High Risk (1981). When Roger Moore expressed his desire to vacate the role of James Bond, Brolin undertook screen tests to replace him in Octopussy (1983). It has been reported that not only were these successful, but Brolin was about to move to London to begin work on the film when the producers persuaded Moore to continue.[8]
In 1985, Brolin parodied his near-hiring as James Bond in the film Pee-wee's Big Adventure. In a film within the film, he merged the characters of Bond and Pee-wee Herman, the "real" version of whom was played by Paul Reubens. He is referred to as "PW" and the role of Pee-wee's girlfriend "Dottie" is played by Morgan Fairchild.