Arliss Howard
American actor, screenwriter and film director
About Arliss Howard
Born 1954. Arliss Howard is an American actor, film director, film producer, film actor, television actor and screenwriter.
Leslie Richard "Arliss" Howard (born October 18, 1954) is an American actor, screenwriter, and film director. He is known for his roles in the films Full Metal Jacket, Tequila Sunrise (1988), The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997), The Time Traveler's Wife (2009), Moneyball (2011), and Mank (2020).
Early life and education Howard was born in Independence, Missouri. He received an English literature degree from Columbia College. He worked in the Wyoming oil industry, on a New Mexico ranch, and lived in Hawaii.
Career Howard appeared in supporting roles for films including Full Metal Jacket (1987), Tequila Sunrise (1988), Men Don't Leave (1990), Ruby (1992), The Sandlot (1993), Natural Born Killers (1994), and To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995). He was nominated for two CableACE Awards for his roles in the television films Somebody Has to Shoot the Picture and The Man Who Captured Eichmann, winning for the former.
In 1997, Howard portrayed billionaire John Hammond's evil nephew Peter Ludlow in the film The Lost World: Jurassic Park, and U.S. Vice President John C. Calhoun in the film Amistad. Both films were directed by Steven Spielberg.
Howard has had a recurring role in the NBC weekly drama thriller series Medium and has directed several episodes. He also starred in and directed the films Big Bad Love (2001) and Dawn Anna (2005), both co-written with James Howard, his brother. Howard's wife, Debra Winger, starred in both films. In 2009, Howard starred in the science fiction drama film The Time Traveler's Wife. In 2010, he played Kale Ingram, a benignly duplicitous supervisor at an American intelligence agency, in the TV series Rubicon, which was canceled by AMC after 13 episodes. The following year, Howard appeared in the feature Moneyball.
Howard has extensive stage credits, including a role in the 2009 revival of August Wilson's Joe Turner's Come and Gone on Broadway. He has appeared in several productions at the American Repertory Theater (ART) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, including Paula Vogel's How I Learned to Drive, with Winger, and Bertolt Brecht's In the Jungle of the Cities, directed by Robert Woodruff. Howard was also seen as Mikhail Lvovich Astrov in Anton Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, and Nikolai Ivanov in Chekhov's Ivanov, with Winger playing the role of Anna.
Howard joined the cast of a CBS political drama pilot titled Ways & Means with Patrick Dempsey in June 2020. That same year, he starred in the film Mank.
Personal life Howard is married to actress Debra Winger. He has two sons, Sam (born 1987) from his previous marriage to talent agent Karen Sellars, and Gideon "Babe" (born 1997) with Winger.
Filmography Film
Television Year Title Role Notes 1979 The Incredible Hulk Policeman Episode: "The Disciple"1983 AfterMASH Danny Madden Episode: "September of '53/Together Again" A Killer in the Family John LyonTV movie The Day After Tom Cooper 1984 Hill Street Blues Phil Platt Episode: "Bangladesh Slowly" 1985 The Twilight Zone StrangerEpisode: "Healer/Children's Zoo/Kentucky Rye" 1987 Hands of a Stranger Felix Lyttle TV movie 1989 I Know My First Name Is Steven Kenneth Parnell Miniseries (uncredited) 1990 Somebody Has to Shoot the Picture Raymond EamesTV movie1992 Till Death Us Do Part Vincent Bugliosi Those Secrets Simon 1995 The Infiltrator Ricky Eaton1996 The Man Who Captured Eichmann Peter Malkin Beyond the Call Keith O'Brien 1997 Old Man J.J. Taylor 1999 You Know My Name Wiley 2001 The Song of the Lark Dr. Howard Archie 2003 Word of Honor J.D. Runnells 2005 Dawn Anna Physical Therapist TV movie; also director 2005–2007 Medium Captain Kenneth Push 4 episodes 2010 Rubicon Kale Ingram 13 episodes 2013 True Blood Truman Burrell Season 6, main cast 2017When We Rise Theodore Olson Episode: "Part IV" 2020 Manhunt: Deadly Games Earl Embry Main cast 2021 Mr. Corman Larry 2 episodes
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Important facts
Family & relationships
People in Arliss Howard's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Arliss Howard's
Frequently asked questions
Who is Arliss Howard?
American actor, screenwriter and film director
When was Arliss Howard born?
Arliss Howard was born on 18 October 1954 in Independence.
What is Arliss Howard's occupation?
Arliss Howard is an actor, film director, film producer, film actor, television actor and screenwriter.
What nationality is Arliss Howard?
Arliss Howard is American.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Arliss Howard. https://biography.guide/arliss-howard/
MLA: "Arliss Howard." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/arliss-howard/.
Chicago: "Arliss Howard." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/arliss-howard/.
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