John Diehl

John Henry Diehl (born May 1, 1950) is an American character actor. Noted for his work in avant garde theater, Diehl has performed in more than 140 films and television shows, including Land of Plenty, Stripes, City Limits, Nixon, Jurassic Park III, and the TV series Miami Vice, The Shield, and Point Pleasant.

Diehl has largely avoided the typecasting that is an accepted part of most character actors' careers. He has been a member of The Actors Studio since 2004.

Early life Diehl was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1950. His father, John A. Diehl, was a civil engineer, and his mother, Mary, was a social worker. Raised in a devoutly Roman Catholic family, he was educated at parochial schools, and graduated from St. Xavier High School in 1968.

Career In 1970, Diehl moved to New York City, encouraged by his sister, who had just graduated from the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. He spent 1971 squatting in Amsterdam and returned to New York City in 1972. In 1976, he moved to Los Angeles. He had always been interested in drawing and making things, and intended to pursue a career in the visual arts there. Initially, he supported himself in Los Angeles by moving furniture and objets d'art.

Diehl's first significant film role was in the 1981 movie Stripes. In the 25th Anniversary DVD release of Stripes, John Laroquette compared the improvisation of John Candy and Diehl to the improvisation of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. In 1983, Diehl appeared in National Lampoon's Vacation, which Harold Ramis directed.

In 1984, Diehl was cast as Detective Larry Zito in Miami Vice. Diehl found the role unfulfilling, and decided to leave. On January 9, 1987 — the 57th episode of Miami Vice — Diehl made his last appearance in a two-part episode, "Down for the Count", in which his character was killed off.

Diehl moved into a basement apartment in Greenwich Village in New York City, and despite a drastic reduction in his income, he declined television roles, and chose, instead, to continue working in film while pursuing a serious stage career. and Alex Cox's Walker (1987), which was shot in Nicaragua during the Contra War. In late 1988, Diehl relocated to Los Angeles after he was cast in Sam Shepard's A Lie of the Mind at the Mark Taper Forum.

He continued to work in theater in New York City, however, and frequently returned to the stage there, most notably for a Shepard play at the Public Theater with Shepard in residence at the Signature, and Mednick's Joe and Betty, which was produced twice on Theater Row there.

In 1997, Diehl reprised his role in Action at the Public Theater, and in 2005, he worked once again with Padua Playwrights, appearing in two plays in Mednick's Gary Trilogy. Among others, his theater credits include Life of Mine, (with Holly Hunter) at the Mark Taper Forum, Samuel Beckett's Endgame, and Happy Days, one of three plays which Diehl directed.

He has appeared in more than 140 films, including Joysticks (1983), Angel (1984), City Limits (1984), Madhouse (1990), The Dark Side of the Moon (1990), Kickboxer 2 (1991), Mikey (1992), Mo' Money (1992), Gettysburg (1993), The Client (1994), Stargate (1994), The New Age (1994), Mind Ripper (1995), A Time to Kill (1996), Pearl Harbor (2001), and Road to Nowhere (2010).

He played G. Gordon Liddy in Oliver Stone's Nixon (1995), the mercenary Cooper in Jurassic Park III (2001), and in recurring roles on The Shield, Friday Night Lights, The West Wing, and The John Larroquette Show. In 2000, he appeared in Fail Safe, which aired live on television. Between 2002 and 2004, he portrayed General Motors' Harley Earl in a series of television commercials for Buick. The commercials were directed by Tony Scott, who had previously directed films including Top Gun and Crimson Tide.

In 2004, Wim Wenders cast Diehl as the male lead in Land of Plenty, a film about post 9/11 American life. Shot on digital video in 16 days, the film centered on Diehl's character, Paul, a troubled Vietnam veteran, and his niece, played by Michelle Williams. In a New York Times review of the film, A.O. Scott wrote that Diehl gave a "wry, cunning performance, allowing glimmers of Paul's intelligence and decency to shine through even in his moments of high self-delusion."

A member of the Actors Studio since 2004, Diehl won the Los Angeles Times Warren Award in 2012, and in 2014 won the Southampton Film Festival's Lead Actor Award for his role in the short film Kahea.

Personal life Diehl and singer Julie Christensen were married in 1992. They relocated from Nashville, Tennessee, to Jemez Springs, New Mexico, in 2022 and have one son, Magnus Jackson Diehl.

He boxed as a middleweight in two professional matches (one win and one loss), and participated in several exhibition shows for charity.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 1980 Falling in Love Again "Beaver" (1940s) 1981 Escape from New York Punk 1981 Stripes Howard J. "Cruiser" Turkstra 1983 Joysticks Arnie 1983 Hysterical Taxi Driver 1983 National Lampoon's Vacation Assistant Mechanic 1983 D.C. Cab Head Kidnapper 1984 Angel The Killer 1984 City Limits "Whitey" 1987 The Hanoi Hilton Murphy 1987 Walker Strebbins 1990 Madhouse Fred Bannister 1990 Cool Blue Clayton Direct-to-video 1990 The Dark Side of the Moon Philip Jennings 1991 Kickboxer 2: The Road Back Jack 1991 Whore Derelict 1991 A Climate for Killing Wayne Paris 1991 Motorama Phil 1991 Trumpet #7 Bud 1992 Mikey Neil Trenton 1992 The Paint Job Father 1992 Mo' Money Keith Heading 1993 Falling Down Dad, Back Yard Party 1993 Remote Delbert McCoy Direct-to-video 1993 Gettysburg Private Bucklin 1994 Almost Dead Eddie Herbek 1994 The Client Jack Nance 1994 The New Age Lyle 1994 Stargate Lieutenant Colonel Charles Kawalsky 1995 Mind Ripper Alex Hunter 1995 Three Wishes Leland's Father 1995 Nixon Gordon Liddy 1996 Female Perversions Jake Rock 1996 The Grave J.C. Cole 1996 The Destiny of Marty Fine Deke 1996 Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day Pinchot 1996A Time to Kill Tim "Mickey Mouse" Nunley 1996 Foxfire Mr. Buttinger 1997 Casualties Polito 1997 Managua Unknown 1997 The End of Violence Lowell Lewis 1997 Con Air Public Defender Uncredited 1997 Fire Down Below EPA Agent Frank Elkins 1997 Most Wanted SWAT Captain 1998 Monument Ave. "Digger" 1998 The Hi-Lo Country Les Birk 1998 Davis Is Dead The Killer 1999 Anywhere But Here Jimmy 1999 Swap Meet Unknown 2000 Tully Mal "Mac" MacAvoy 2000 Lost Souls Henry Birdson 2001 The Zeros Burl 2001 Pearl Harbor Senior Doctor 2001 Jurassic Park III Cooper 2001 Falling Like This Eddie Gallagher Also co-producer 2003 Bookies Vincent 2003 Out of Our Hands Victor "Vic" Short film 2003 Just Another Story Al 2004 Pass for Human Ex-Husband 2004 Land of Plenty Paul 2005 Down in the Valley Steve 2006 The House Is Burning Mr. Garson 2006 The Far Side of Jericho Cash Thornton 2006 Running Out of Time in Hollywood Unknown 2008 The Lucky Ones Tom Klinger 2008 Natural Disasters John 2009 Follow the Prophet Ted 2009 Gary's Walk Gary 2009 Drifter: Henry Lee Lucas Sheriff Larabie 2009 My Happy Faces Dr. M. Short film 2010 Road to Nowhere Bobby Billings 2011 Natural Selection Abe 2012 Swerve Samm Direct-to-video 2012 The Obama Effect Steve Warren 2012 Gabe the Cupid Dog Roger 2012 Apartment 1303 3D Detective 2012 Stillframe Father Short film 2013 Singularity Principle Jack Brenner 2014 A Long Way Off Mr. Abraham 2014 Kahea Jake Baldwin Short film 2014 Sal and the Goon William Truth Short film 2014 Strong Collected Spirit Marty Stock 2015 Forever Neil 2016 The North Star Master Anderson 2019 Out of the Wild Henry McBride 2022 Armageddon Time Fred Trump 2025 Train Dreams Billy

Television Year Title Role Notes 1980 A Rumor of War D.T. Television miniseries 1980 A Cry for Love Unknown Television film 1981 Hill Street Blues Tom Episode: "Chipped Beef" 1982 The Ambush Murders Ferguson Television film 1983 Cagney & Lacey Unknown Episode: "The Grandest Jewel Thief of Them All" 1983 The Family Tree The Intruder Episode: "The Burglary" 1984 Hunter Bank Robber Episode: "Hunter" 1984–1987 Miami Vice Detective Larry Zito 56 episodes 1988 Glitz Teddy Magyk Television film 1988 Monsters Miles Magnus Episode: "Pillow Talk" 1989 Beauty and the Beast Vernon Toulane Episode: "The Hollow Men" 1989 Falcon Crest Gus Wallach Episode: "The Price of Freedom" 1990 In the Heat of the Night John Sevrance Episode: "Triangle" 1992 Mann & Machine Concierge Episode: "Prototype" 1993 South of Sunset Merlin 2 episodes 1994 L.A. Law Tim / Kevin Delahanty 2 episodes 1994–1996 The John Larroquette Show Chris 5 episodes 1995 The Marshall Earl "The Beast" Lipscomb Episode: "The Bounty Hunter" 1995 Buffalo Girls General Custer Television miniseries 1995 Amanda and the Alien Colonel Rosencrans Television film 1996 The Lazarus Man Nat Pratchett 2 episodes 1996 Ruby Jean and Joe Harris Johnson Television film 1996 Profiler Toby "The Wick" Wood Episode: "Ring of Fire" 1996 ER Johnson's Son Episode: "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" 1997 Nash Bridges Albert Foss Episode: "The Counterfeiters" 1997 The Outer Limits Joe Episode: "The Revelations of 'Becka Paulson" 1998 The Pretender Sheriff Delmont Episode: "Red Rock Jarod" 1998 The Rat Pack Joe DiMaggio Television film 1999 Purgatory "Badger" Britton Television film 1999 The X-Files Wilson Pinker Rawls Episode: "Trevor" 1999 JAG Jack Raglan Episode: "Rouge" 2000 18 Wheels of Justice Matt Curran Episode: "Mr. Invisible" 2000 Get Real Harris Forman Episode: "Tough Love" 2000 Fail Safe Colonel Cascio Television film 2000–2002 The West Wing Claypool 2 episodes 2001 Dead Last Richard Stengler Episode: "To Serve, with Love" 2002 NYPD Blue Joe Brady Episode: "Gypsy Woe's Me" 2002 The Guardian Fortunato Episode: "Sacrifice" 2002–2005 The Shield Ben Gilroy 9 episodes 2003 Dragnet Dr. Rupert Miles Episode: "Sticks and Stones" 2003 Without a Trace Doyle Episode: "Revelations" 2003 Karen Sisco Junior McLeod Episode: "Nostalgia" 2005 Strong Medicine Mr. Lawson Episode: "Gunshot Wedding" 2005–2006 Point Pleasant David Burke 7 episodes 2006 Hidden Places Frank Wyatt Television film 2006 Jesse Stone: Death in Paradise Jerry Snyder Television film 2007 Jericho Governor Trader Episode: "Black Jack" 2007 Cold Case Isaac Keller 2 episodes 2007 Women's Murder Club Paul Galvan Episode: "The Past Comes Back to Haunt You" 2009 Mental Hank Crowley Episode: "Rainy Days" 2009 Friday Night Lights Richard Sherman 2 episodes 2010 Lie to Me Charlie Everett Episode: "Veronica" 2011 Trichotomy The Muse Video short 2011 Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe Admiral James G. Lawrence Television film 2011 Rizzoli & Isles Arthur Dunbar Episode: "My Own Worst Enemy" 2012 Scandal Ray Dwyer Episode: "The Other Woman" 2014 Almost Human Edward Kennex Episode: "Straw Man" 2019–2023 Snowfall Colonel McDonald 3 episodes 2019 Castle Rock John Episode: "The Word" 2022–2023 Dark Winds B.J. Vines 6 episodes 2022 Five Days at MemorialFrank Minyard2 episodes