Josef Sommer

Early life and education Sommer was born in Greifswald, Germany, from which he and his parents, Elisabeth and Clemens Sommer, a professor of art history at the University of North Carolina, emigrated in 1938 with his sister. He studied theatre at the Carnegie Institute of Technology.

Sommer won Obie Awards for his off-Broadway performances in Lydie Breeze (1982) and Václav Havel's semi-autobiographical play Largo Desolato (1986). He also appeared off-Broadway at Lincoln Center's Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater as Blair in the 1994 revision of Tom Stoppard's play Hapgood. He then appeared in Malice (1993), Nobody's Fool (1994), Patch Adams (1998), and X-Men: The Last Stand (2006).

Television On television Sommer appeared in the role of Roy Mills on The Guiding Light (1974), and played George Barton in the 1983 television adaptation of Agatha Christie's Sparkling Cyanide. He played President Gerald Ford opposite Gena Rowlands in the television film The Betty Ford Story (1987). He had starring roles in the short-lived series, Hothouse (1988) and Under Cover (1991). In 1989, Sommer guest starred on the CBS action drama The Equalizer as master wargame villain Ernest Rasher in the episode "Endgame."

Personal life Sommer has a daughter, Maria.

Filmography Film

1971: Dirty Harry – District Attorney William T. Rothko 1972: The Witches of Salem: The Horror and the Hope (Short) – Proctor 1974: Man on a Swing – Pete Russell 1975: The Stepford Wives – Ted Van Sant 1977: Close Encounters of the Third Kind – Larry Butler 1978: Oliver's Story – Dr. Dienhart 1980: Hide in Plain Sight – Jason R. Reid 1981: Absence of Malice – McAdam 1981: Reds – State Department Official 1981: Rollover – Roy Lefcourt 1982: Hanky Panky – Adrian Pruitt 1982: Still of the Night – George Bynum 1982: Sophie's Choice – Narrator (voice) 1983: Independence Day – Sam Taylor 1983: Silkwood – Max Richter 1984: Iceman – Whitman 1985: Witness – Chief Paul Schaeffer 1985: D.A.R.Y.L. – Dr. Jeffrey Stewart 1985: Target – Taber 1987: The Rosary Murders – Lieutenant Koznicki 1988: Dracula's Widow – Lannon 1989: Chances Are – Judge Fenwick 1989: Forced March – Father 1989: Bloodhounds of Broadway – Waldo Winchester 1991: Shadows and Fog – Priest 1992: The Mighty Ducks – Gerald Ducksworth 1993: Malice – Lester Adams 1994: Nobody's Fool – Clive Peoples Jr. 1995: Strange Days – LAPD Commissioner Palmer Strickland 1995: Moonlight and Valentino – Thomas Trager 1996: The Chamber – Phelps Bowen 1998: The Proposition – Father Dryer 1998: Bulworth – Doctor (uncredited) 1998: Lulu on the Bridge – Peter Shine (deleted scene) (uncredited) 1998: Patch Adams – Dr. Eaton 2000: The Next Best Thing – Richard Whittaker 2000: Shaft – Curt Fleming 2000: The Family Man – Peter Lassiter 2002: The Sum of All Fears – Senator Jessup 2002: Searching for Paradise – Carl Greenslate 2006: The Elephant King – Bill Hunt 2006: X-Men: The Last Stand – The President 2007: The Invasion – Dr. Henryk Belicec 2008: Stop-Loss – Senator Orton Worrell 2010: The Other Guys – District Attorney Radford (uncredited)

Television