A bushy-browed veteran character player of stage and screen since the 1960s, Moffat began stomping the boards during the 50s in his native England, making his West End debut in a 1954 production of "Macbeth". He made his feature debut in Paul Newman's "Rachel, Rachel" (1968), and since the early 80s has become a Hollywood staple, playing older gentlemen in both films and TV. Some of Moffat's craggy parts include "The Right Stuff" (1983), as Lyndon B. Johnson; "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" (1988), as the chief surgeon; and "Bonfire of the Vanities" (1990), as Tom Hanks' dad. He was especially touching as a middle-aged businessman who finds he only has a short time to live in the TV miniseries adaptation of Armistead Maupin's San Francisco chronicle, "Tales from the City" (PBS, 1994).
- Born:
December 26, 1930 in Plymouth, England
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Job Titles:
Actor, Director, Stage manager
Family
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Mother: Kathleen Mary Moffat.
Education
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Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London, England, 1952-54
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Dartington Hall, Devon, England
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King Edward VI School, Totnes, England
Milestones
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1954 London stage debut, "Macbeth"
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1957 Broadway debut, "Under Milkwood"
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1968 Appeared as Dr. Marcus Polk in the daytime soap "One Life to Live"
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1968 Feature acting debut, "Rachel, Rachel"
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1974 Co-starred in the short-lived series, The New Land"
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1977 Portrayed Harry Hopkins in the ABC miniseries "Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years"
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1980 Appeared in the series "The Chisholms"
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1980 First collaboration with director Robert Altman, "Health"
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1980 Played the Taxman in Altman's "Popeye"
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1983 Cast as Lyndon Johnson in "The Right Stuff"
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1990 Played Tom Hanks' father in "The Bonfire of the Vanities"
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1994 Cast as the US President in "Clear and Present Danger"
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1994 Portrayed Edgar Halcyon in "Armistad Maupin's 'Tales of the City'" (PBS)
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1999 Reteamed with Altman for "Cookie's Fortune"
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Co-starred as Rem the android on the series "Logan's Run"