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.
- Also Credited As:
Leslie Richard Howard, Less R. Howard
- Born:
Leslie Richard Howard on October 18, 1954 in Independence, Missouri, USA
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Job Titles:
Actor, Director
Family
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Brother: James Howard.
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Son: Babe Howard. Born June 5, 1997; mother, Debra Winger
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Step-son: Noah Hutton. Born in 1987; son of Debra Winger and Timothy Hutton
Significant Others
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Companion: Holly Hunter. dated in the early 1990s
Education
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Columbia College, Columbia, MO, drama
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The Actors Studio, New York, NY
Milestones
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1983 Feature acting debut, The Prodigal
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1983 First gained attention for his performance in the controversial ABC TV-movie The Day After
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1983 TV-movie acting debut, A Killer in the Family
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1987 Breakthrough screen role in Stanley Kubrick s Full Metal Jacket
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1989 Played a pedophile in the NBC miniseries I Know My First Name is Steven
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1990 Played a love interest for Jessica Lange in Men Don t Leave
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1995 Appeared Off-Broadway in the acclaimed production, The Monogamist
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1995 Cast as an abusive husband in To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar
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1996 Had title role in The Man Who Captured Eichmann (TNT)
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1997 Co-starred in The Lost World: Jurassic Park
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1998 Appeared in the American Repertory Theatre staging of How I Learned to Drive, opposite wife Debra Winger
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2001 Co-starred with Ethan Hawke in the NYC premiere of Sam Shepard s play The Late Henry Moss
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2001 Feature directorial debut, Big Bad Love ; also co-starred opposite Winger and co-written with brother James Howard (released theatrically in 2002)
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2004 Appeared in Birth with Nicole Kidman, Cameron Bright and Danny Huston; helmed by Jonathan Glazer
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2005 Directed the Lifetime movie, Dawn Anna ; starring wife Debra Winger in the title role
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2007 Appeared in the suspense thriller, Awake
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2009 Played Eric Bana s father in the film adaptation of The Time Traveler s Wife
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After college, worked as a ranchhand in New Mexico for two years
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Began acting in community theater in Kansas City, MO