Men Of Character Character Actors
Anthony Zerbe
Rooster Cogburn/ Breed
Papillion/ Toussaint
Cool Hand Luke/ Dog Boy
The Omega Man/ Matthias
Per Quinlan's Character Stars:
Solidly built American actor with thick brown wavy hair, square face, raised eyebrows, quizzical expression and slight scowl, faintly reminiscent of Britain's Victor Maddern. Hitchhiking to New York to become an actor, he broke into television from 1965 and films from 1967.At first he was ( frequently) seen in violent or bigoted roles: He estimates in one early year he killed or was killed 119 times, mostly on TV, a medium in which his long running role as the police lieutenant the Harry O series gave him chance to pitch a quieter, more laconic note. Not much seen in the 1990's and beyond.
Anthony Jared Zerbe was born in 1936 at Long Beach, CA the son of Catherine and Arthur LeVan Zerbe.
He graduated in 1958 from Pomona College of which both of his parents were alumni.
A hitch in the Air Force followed for two years from 1959 to 1961 after which he studied at the Stella Adler Studios in New York to hone his craft as an actor.
Zerbe started out in television making his debut in that medium on the Naked City TV series in 1963.
His film debut came in 1967 in the role of Dog Boy in the film Cool Hand Luke.
Some of Anthony Zerbe's film roles were:
Cool Hand Luke (1967) as Dog Boy
Will Penny (1967) as Dutchy
The Molly Maguires (1970) as Dougherty
The Liberation Of L. B. Jones (1970) as Willie Joe Worth
They Call Me Mister Tibbs! (1970) as Rice Weeden
The Omega Man (1971) as Matthias
The Hound Of The Baskervilles (1972-TV) as Dr. John Mortimer
The Strange Vengeance Of Rosalie (1972) as Fry
The Life And Times Of Judge Roy Bean (1972) as Hustler
Snatched (1973-TV) as Boone
Carola (1973-TV) as Campan
She Lives! (1973-TV) as Dr. Wellman
Papillion (1973) as Toussaint
The Laughing Policeman (1973) as Steiner
The Healers (1974-TV) as Dr. Albert Scanlon
The Parallax View (1974) as Prof. Nelson Schwartzkopf
Farewell My Lovely (1975) as Laird Brunette
Roster Cogburn (1975) as Breed
In The Glitter Palace (1977-TV) as Roy Danko
The Turning Point (1977) as Rosie
Who'll Stop The Rain (1978) as Antheil
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KISS Meets The Phantom Of The Park (1978) as Abner Devereaux
Centennial (1978-79 TV Miniseries) as Marvin Wendall
The Chisholms (1979 TV Miniseries) as Jimmy Jackson
Attica (1980-TV) as William Kuntsler
The Seduction Of Miss Leona (1980-TV) as Clemm Stegman
The First Deadly Sin (1980) as Captain Broughton
Soggy Bottom, USA (1981) as Morgan
A Question Of Honor (1982-TV) as Captain Marcus
The Return Of The Man From UNCLE (1983-TV) as Justin Sepheran
The Dead Zone (1983) as Roger Stuart
George Washington (1984-TV Miniseries) as General St. Pierre
A.D. (1985-TV Miniseries) as Pontius Pilate
Off Beat (1986) as Mr. Wareham
Dream West (1986-TV Miniseries) as Bill Williams
North & South: Book Two (1986-TV Miniseries) as Gen. Ulysses S. Grant
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Opposing Force (1986) as Becker
One Police Plaza (1986-TV) as Yakov Anderman
Independence (1987-TV) as General Gray
P I Private Investigations (1987) as Charles Bradley
Steel dawn (1987) as Damnil
Baja Oklahoma (1988-TV) as Ole Jeremy Williams
Onassis: The Richest Man In The World (1988) as Livanos
Memories Of Manon (1988-TV) as Philip Marcel
Listen To Me (1989) as Senator McKellar
See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989) as Sutherland
License To Kill (1989) as Milton Krest
To Save A Child (1991) as Lewis Larsen
Treasure Island: The Adventure Begins (1994-TV) as Long John Silver
On Seventh Avenue (1996-TV) as Roger Aiken
Jack Reed; Death And Vengeance (1996-TV) as Sandy Miller
Touch (1997) as Father Donahue
Asteroid (1997-TV) as Dr. Charles napier
Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) as Dougherty
True Crime (1999) as henry Lowenstein
The Matrix Reloaded (2003) as Councillor Hamann
Veritas; The Prince Of Truth (2007) as Porterfield
American Hustle (2013) as Senator Horton Mitchell
Six Dance Lessons In Six Weeks (2014) as Mr. Crumwall
The Investigation (2016) as Ash
Mr. Zerbe starred on the TV series Harry-O from 1975-1976) as Lt. K C Trench.
In addition to that role, he further appeared on television in such programs as Naked City, Route 66, The Big Valley, 12 O'Clock High, Iron Horse, The Wild Wild West, The Virginian, It Takes A Thief, Bonanza, Mission Impossible, Cade's County, Ironside, Gunsmoke, The Streets Of San Francisco, Cannon, The FBI, Hawaii Five O, The Rookies, Kung Fu, Mannix, How The West Was Won, The Rockford Files, Walt Disney's Wonderful World Of Color, Little House On The Prairie, Highway To Heaven, Our Family Hour, Dynasty, The Equalizer, Colombo, The Young Riders, Under Suspicion, Murder She Wrote, Tales From The Crypt, Walker, Texas Ranger, Frasier, Century City and Judging Amy among others.
Mr. Zerbe is the former artistic director of Reflections, A New Plays Festival at the Geva Thaeter in Rochester, NY.
In 1981 he toured the U S with Behind The Broken Words which was a performances of contemporary poetry, comedy and dramatic works along with fellow actor Roscoe Lee Browne.
He won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Continuing Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his role at Lt. K C Trench in the TV series Harry-O in 1976.
Mr. Zerbe is married to Arnette Jens ( the sister of Salome Jens) since 1962. The couple have two children.
I have always liked seeing this actor. I certainly enjoyed him in the Harry-O TV series. I have also enjoyed him in the films Star Trek-The Insurrection, Steel Dawn, Rooster Cogburn, Papillon. They Call Me Mister Tibbs!, Will Penny and Cool Hand Luke.
Louie The Movie Buff