David Strathairn

David Strathairn married nurse Logan Goodman in 1980. They have two sons named Tay Strathairn and Ebberly Strathairn. His son, Tay Strathairn, is the keyboard player for the band ‘Dawes’.

David Strathairn was born on 26 January 1949 in San Francisco, California to Thomas Scott Strathairn Jr and Mary Frances.His father was a physician and his mother was a nurse. He has two siblings, a brother named Tom who is a teacher and a sister named Anne.

He went to Redwood High School in Larkspur, California. In 1970, he graduated from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. David Strathairn met actor, Gordon Clapp, and director John Sayles (both of whom he collaborates with frequently), at Williams College.

He also studied clowning at the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Clown College in Venice, Florida. For a short time, he even worked in a traveling circus as a clown.

David Strathairn made his film debut in 1980, in the movie ‘Return of the Secaucus 7’ which was directed by his friend and classmate from Williams College, John Sayles. Throughout his career, Strathairn has frequently collaborated with Sayles in films like ‘Passion Fish’, ‘Limbo’, ‘Matewan’ and ‘City of Hope’..

In 1983, he played one of the ‘men in black’ alongside John Sayles in the film ‘The Brother from Another Planet’.

From 1988 to 1991, he played the character of Moss in the highly praised TV series ‘The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd’. He played the role of baseball player, Eddie Cicotte, in the 1988 movie ‘Eight Men Out’.

He played the dual roles of Officer and Prisoner in Harold Pinter’s play ‘Mountain Language’ in 1989. He also portrayed Edwin Booth in W.Stuart McDowell’s ‘Booth! A House Divided’ during the same year. Strathairn along with Maryann Plunkett is responsible for creating the role of ‘Edwin Booth’ in a workshop production of McDowell's play ‘Booth! A House Divided’, at ‘The Players’ in New York City.

In 1991, he portrayed a U.S 7th Cavalry officer Capt. Frederick Benteen in the television miniseries ‘Son of the Morning Star’.

In 1989, he portrayed physicist, Robert Oppenheimer, in the American Experience PBS anthology series documentary titled ‘The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer’ which was a biography of the late physicist. He then reprised his role for the 2012 CBS TV movie ‘Day One’.

In the 2005 biopic ‘Good Night, and Good Luck’, he played the role of CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow. The film is about the ideological clash between Senator Joseph McCarthy and Murrow himself over Senator McCarthy’s ‘witch-hunt’ against Communism in the 1950s. For his performance, he received ‘Best Actor’ nominations at the Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and Academy Awards.

In 2010, he won an ‘Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie’ Primetime Emmy Award for his performance as ‘Dr.Carlock’ in the HBO produced television film ‘Temple Grandin’. He also won a Satellite Award in the category of ‘Best Supporting Actor - Series, Miniseries or Television Film’ and got nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance.