Arliss Howard
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Biography
This versatile stage-trained character player of the 1980s and 90s first registered with a role in the high-profile ABC-TV movie "The Day After" (1983), about the aftermath of a nuclear disaster. After several years of bouncing between low-budget features ("The Lightship" 1985) and TV-movies ("A Killer in the Family," ABC 1983), Howard registered with audiences with his portrayal of Cowboy, a gung-ho marine, in Stanley Kubrick's devastating Vietnam saga "Full Metal Jacket" (1987). He has since turned in some fine performances in features, including "Tequila Sunrise" (1988), as Mel Gibson's drug-addicted cousin; "Men Don't Leave" (1990), as Jessica Lange's love interest; "Wilder Napalm" (1993), as Dennis Quaid's pyromaniac brother; and "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar" (1995), as Stockard Channing's abusive husband. More recently, he co-starred in the independent "johns" and offered a villainous turn as the British businessman out to capture dinosaurs for exhibitions in Steven Spielberg's sequel "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" (both 1997).
On the small screen, Howard has offered strong portrayals of criminals like a sadistic rapist in "Hands of a Stranger" (NBC, 1987) and the pedophile who kidnaps a young boy and holds him for seven years in the miniseries "I Know My First Name Is Steven" (NBC, 1989). He won a CableACE Award for his supporting turn in the HBO film "Somebody Has to Shoot the Picture" (1990). More recently, he was the bewildered husband of Sissy Spacek in Showtime's "Beyond the Call" (1996) and the Israeli Mossad agent who became "The Man Who Captured Eichmann" (TNT, 1996). Howard earned widespread critical praise for his role as a convict who befriends a pregnant woman (Jeanne Tripplehorn) in "William Faulkner's Old Man" (CBS, 1997).
Howard married his "Wilder Napalm" co-star Debra Winger in 1996.
Filmography
Director (Feature Film)
Cast (Feature Film)
Writer (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1983
TV-movie acting debut, "A Killer in the Family"
1983
Feature acting debut, "The Prodigal"
1983
First gained attention for his performance in the controversial ABC TV-movie "The Day After"
1987
Breakthrough screen role in Stanley Kubrick's "Full Metal Jacket"
1989
Played a pedophile in the NBC miniseries "I Know My First Name is Steven"
1990
Played a love interest for Jessica Lange in "Men Don't Leave"
1995
Appeared Off-Broadway in the acclaimed production, "The Monogamist"
1995
Cast as an abusive husband in "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar"
1996
Had title role in "The Man Who Captured Eichmann" (TNT)
1997
Co-starred in "The Lost World: Jurassic Park"
1998
Appeared in the American Repertory Theatre staging of "How I Learned to Drive," opposite wife Debra Winger
2001
Feature directorial debut, "Big Bad Love"; also co-starred opposite Winger and co-written with brother James Howard (released theatrically in 2002)
2001
Co-starred with Ethan Hawke in the NYC premiere of Sam Shepard's play "The Late Henry Moss"
2004
Appeared in "Birth" with Nicole Kidman, Cameron Bright and Danny Huston; helmed by Jonathan Glazer
2005
Directed the Lifetime movie, "Dawn Anna"; starring wife Debra Winger in the title role
2007
Appeared in the suspense thriller, "Awake"
2009
Played Eric Bana's father in the film adaptation of "The Time Traveler's Wife"
2010
Landed a recurring role on the crime series "Rubicon"
2011
Co-starred opposite Brad Pitt in the sports drama "Moneyball"
2013
Landed a recurring role as Truman Burrell on the HBO vampire series "True Blood"
2015
Co-starred opposite Will Smith in the NFL drama "Concussion"
Family
Companions
