Peter Weller

Infobox actor
name=Peter Weller


birthname=Peter Frederick Weller
birthdate=birth date and age|1947|6|24|mf=n
birthplace=Stevens Point, Wisconsin, USA
occupation=Actor, director, Lecturer
spouse=Sheri Stowe (2006-present)

Peter Frederick Weller (born June 24, 1947) is an Academy Award-nominated American film and stage actor, director and lecturer.

He is best known to moviegoers as the titular character of RoboCop in the first two RoboCop movies as well as Buckaroo Banzai in the cult-classic "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension".

Biography

Early life

Weller was born in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, the son of Dorothy, a homemaker, and Frederick Weller, a lawyer, federal judge, and former helicopter pilot for the Army [ [http://www.filmreference.com/film/28/Peter-Weller.html Peter Weller Biography (1947-) ] ] who often flew President Lyndon B. Johnson. Weller had a "middle-class Catholic" upbringing. [ [http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Profiles/People_Profile/0,2540,103,00.html Cigar Aficionado | People Profile | Peter Weller ] ] As a result of his father's army work, Weller spent many years abroad during his childhood. His family lived in Germany for several years before eventually moving to Texas, where he attended Alamo Heights High School in San Antonio. While enrolled at North Texas State University (now the University of North Texas), he played trumpet in one of the campus bands. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre, and began his acting career after graduating from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Career

Weller's stage career began in the 1970s with appearances on Broadway in "Full Circle", directed by Otto Preminger, and "Summer Brave", William Inge's rewrite of his play "Picnic". About this time, he became a member of the famed Actors' Studio.

He has appeared in more than 50 films and television series, including turns as the title characters in the cult classic "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension", and blockbuster hits "RoboCop" and "RoboCop 2". He has also appeared in such critically acclaimed movies as "Mighty Aphrodite", the Oliver Stone-produced "The New Age", and "Naked Lunch". In 1995, he appeared in "Screamers", a science-fiction film based on the short story "Second Variety" by Philip K. Dick and directed by Christian Duguay. Duguay would later direct Weller in the TV series Engineering an Empire for the History Channel.

On television, he played the shuttle captain in the short-lived show "Odyssey 5" and made guest appearances as Terran supremacist John Frederick Paxton in the "" episodes "Demons" and "Terra Prime".

Weller has also directed various projects for television, including episodes of "", "Monk", and three episodes of the aforementioned "Odyssey 5". He also directed a 1997 adaptation of Elmore Leonard's Gold Coast starring David Caruso and Marg Helgenberger.

Weller is a contributor to the History Channel in several productions, credited as "Peter Weller, Syracuse University", in his capacity as a college professor and historian. Weller also hosts the series "Engineering an Empire" for the network.

In 2006, Weller joined the cast of the critically acclaimed drama series "24" as terrorist collaborator Christopher Henderson. Weller received a "cheer" in "TV Guide"'s "Cheers & Jeers" section for his performance. In December 2006, Weller starred as architect Frank Lloyd Wright at Chicago's Goodman Theatre in "Frank's Home", a new play by Richard Nelson.

Personal life

Weller holds a Masters Degree in Roman and Renaissance art, and is an occasional lecturer at Syracuse University on the subjects of Hollywood and the Roman Empire.Fact|date=September 2008

Weller's favorite musician is Miles Davis.Fact|date=September 2008 Weller occasionally plays in a jazz band with "Buckaroo Banzai" costar Jeff Goldblum.Fact|date=September 2008

Weller married longtime girlfriend Sheri Stowe in Positano, Italy on June 24 2006, which was also his 59th birthday. He was once engaged to Sela Ward, and had a longterm relationship with Ali McGraw, who instilled in him an interest in art history. They also starred together in the film "Just Tell Me What You Want".Fact|date=September 2008

Weller is a fan of Italian filmmaker Michelangelo Antonioni, who directed him in "Beyond the Clouds". In an interview in "Cigar Aficionado" magazine, he was quoted as saying:

"There is no director living except maybe Kurosawa, Bergman, or Antonioni that I would fall down and do anything for. I met Antonioni three years ago in Taormina [Italy] at a film festival. I introduced myself and told him that I adored his movies, his contributions to film, because he was the first guy who really started making films about the reality of the vacuity between people, the difficulty in traversing this space between lovers in modern day... and he never gives you an answer, Antonioni - that's the beautiful thing." [ [http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Profiles/People_Profile/0,2540,103,00.html Cigar Aficionado | People Profile | Peter Weller ] ]

Filmography as actor

* "Prey" (2007)
* "Undiscovered" (2005)
* "The Hard Easy" (2005)
* "Tower of the Firstborn" (2004)
* "The Order" (2003)
* "Styx (film)" (2001)
* "" (2000)
* "Ivans XTC" (2000)
* "The Contaminated Man" (2000)
* "Falling Through" (2000)
* "Shadow Hours" (2000)
* "Diplomatic Siege" (1999)
* "Guardiani del cielo, I" (1998)
* "Top of the World (1997)
* "Mighty Aphrodite (1995)
* "Screamers" (1995)
* "Beyond the Clouds" (1995)
* "Decoy (film)" (1995)
* "The New Age" (1994)
* "The Substitute Wife" (1994)
* "Cat Chaser" (1993)
* "Sunset Grill" (1993) * "Fifty/Fifty" (1992)
* "Naked Lunch" (1991)
* "Robocop 2" (1990)
* "Leviathan" (1989)
* "Shakedown" (1988)
* "Robocop" (1987)
* "A Killing Affair" (1986)
* "Firstborn" (1984)
* "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension" (1984)
* "Of Unknown Origin" (1983)
* "Shoot the Moon" (1982)
* "Just Tell Me What You Want" (1980)
* "" (1979)
* "Silence" (1975)

Filmography as director

* "Gold Coast (film)" (1997)

Awards

*Best Supporting Actor (nom) Ivans xtc. (To Live And Die In Hollywood) 2002 Independent Spirit Award
*Best Live Action Short (nom) Partners 1993 Academy Awards
*Best Actor (nom) Naked Lunch 1992 Genie Awards

References

External links

*imdb name|id=0000693|name=Peter Weller
*tvtome person|id=8387|name=Peter Weller
*ibdb name|id=86879|name=Peter Weller

* [http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/story/342880p-292761c.html "RoboCop in Rome!"] "New York Daily News"
* [http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/15.02/posts.html "RoboCop, PhD"] "Wired News"