|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Eric Anthony Roberts (born on April 18, 1956, in Biloxi, Mississippi) is an Academy Award-nominated American film and stage actor. He was raised in Atlanta, Georgia, attended Grady High School, and is the older brother of actresses Lisa Roberts Gillan and Julia Roberts as well as the father of actress Emma Roberts and stepfather of singer songwriter Keaton Simons. Roberts also has a half sister named Nancy Motes who was born in 1976 from his mother's second marriage. Proclaimed by Interview magazine as having so handsome a profile “it could be struck on a Roman coin," actor Eric Roberts was best-known for two things: 1) being a great actor who was prone to making bad choices, and 2) being
Julia
Roberts’ big brother. Blessed with a combination of a matinee idol’s good looks and a thespian’s acting ability, Roberts’ talents were all too often squandered working in less-than-worthy material. When given a substantive script to play with, however, Roberts could occasionally be downright superb, infusing his performances with an intense charisma rarely seen on screen. Famed for his magnetic intensity, Roberts dazzled critics with his Oscar-nominated turn as Paul Snider, the obsessive and controlling beau of doomed Playboy playmate Dorothy Stratton (Mariel Hemingway) in director Bob Fosse’s tragic biopic, “Star 80” (1983). Although Roberts seemed well on his way to becoming a major movie star during the 1980s, the actor ultimately found himself eclipsed in Hollywood by the rise of his younger sister – future Academy Award-winning “Pretty Woman” (1990) star, Julia Roberts. With the dawn of the 2000’s, Roberts’ financial pinch seemed to have ended, leaving him free to take on more substantive material. Appreciating the relatively more stable environment of television, Roberts continued his efforts in that medium. In 2002, Roberts landed a three-year gig as a regular on the popular sitcom “Less Than Perfect” (2002-06). The following year, Roberts appeared in a five-episode arc of the wildly successful live-action comic book series, “Heroes” (2006- ). That same year, Roberts returned to the big screen, taking a supporting role in “D.O.A.: Dead or Alive” – the movie adaptation of the best selling video game series of the same name. Released in Australia in 2006, “Dead or Alive” had its stateside release in summer 2007. One of Hollywood's more edgy, intriguing characters running around town for years, Eric Anthony Roberts started life in Biloxi, Mississippi, but grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. He began his acting career at age 5 in a local theater company called the Actors and Writers Workshop founded by his late father, Walter Roberts. After his schooling at Grady High, he studied drama at age 17 in London for two years at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, then returned to the States and continued his studies at the American Academy in New York. He made his NY stage debut in "Rebel Women" in 1976 at age 20 and appeared in regional productions, once playing the newspaper boy in a production of "A Streetcar Named Desire" starring Shirley Knight and Glenn Close. After appearing in such daytime soaps as "Another World" and "How to Survive a Marriage", his career began to shift fast forward when he copped a leading role in a major film. In King of the Gypsies (1978), based on Peter Maas' best seller about a fracturing dynasty of New York City gypsies, he made his debut alongside an intimidating roster of stars including Judd Hirsch, Susan Sarandon, Shelley Winters and Sterling Hayden. Young Eric held his own expertly (winning a Golden Globe nom) while his burning intensity and brooding charm marked sure signs of star potential. After this he won the lead opposite Milo O'Shea in the 1980 stage production of "Mass Appeal". He suffered serious injuries in a car accident during his nascent film career but lost no fans by the time he returned to co-star with Sissy Spacek as a small-town stranger in Raggedy Man (1981). It was, however, his stark and frightening portrayal of two-bit hustler Paul Snider, the cast-off boyfriend who slays Playmate-turned-movie starlet Dorothy Stratten (played by Mariel Hemingway) in Star 80 (1983) that really put him on the movie map and earned him a second Golden Globe nomination. A wide range of fascinating, whacked-out roles were immediately offered to him on a silver plate. He played another dangerous streetwise hustler type in The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984) opposite fellow rebel Mickey Rourke; a cocky soda pop sales exec in the Australian comedy The Coca-Cola Kid (1985); appeared with more charm and restraint opposite Rosanna Arquette in the offbeat romantic comedy Nobody's Fool (1986) and topped his prolific period off with an Academy Award nomination as a young prison escapee hiding out with Jon Voight aboard an out-of-control train in the ultra-violent, character-driven action adventure Runaway Train (1985). Good things continued to happen when he was a replacement lead in the original run of "Burn This" and won a Theatre World Award for his 1988 Broadway debut. A risky, no-holds-barred actor, he was often guilty of overacting if given half the chance. His film career began to slide in the late 1980s, appearing in more quantity than quality pictures. A series of missteps led to unheralded appearances in such bombs as the karate-themed Best of the Best (1989); the NY urban thriller The Ambulance (1990); the action western Blood Red (1989), which took three years to release and is now solely remembered for being the only film Eric and superstar sister Julia Roberts appeared in together; and Rude Awakening (1989) when he filled in as a burned-out hippie opposite a Chong-less Cheech Marin. More underappreciated "B" filming came with the 1990s (Freefall (1994), Sensation (1995), The Nature of the Beast (1995), etc.), while also chewing the scenery with a number of mobster types in TV-movies, including one as Al Capone. He soon began appearing as flashy secondary villains and creepies that showcased other stars instead, such as Final Analysis (1992) starring Richard Gere, and Heaven's Prisoners (1996) toplining Alec Baldwin. Eric's undeniable, unconventional talent would occasionally mesh with the perfect role. At the Sundance Film Festival in 1996, he received critical applause for his starring role as a man dying of AIDS in the uplifting and emotional film It's My Party (1996) and earned more honors as a writer marked for murder in the mob-themed story La Cucaracha (1998). He was also perfectly cast as one of the cold-blooded killers in the Emmy-nominated TV adaptation of Truman Capote's chiller In Cold Blood (1996). Eric continued to appear sporadically on TV in such dramatic series as "Law & Order", while sometimes showing a fun side as well in comedy ("The King of Queens"). His own series work included "Less Than Perfect" (2002) and, more recently, in the cult program "Heroes" (2006) where promise for a longer participation ended with his character's death. Recovered from a long-standing cocaine problem, Eric wed, for the first time, actress/writer Eliza Roberts (nee Garrett). They have appeared in such films as Killer Weekend (2004) and Junior Pilot (2005) (V). His daughter from a former relationship, _'Emma Roberts' , is a newly popular and fast-rising "tween" actress from the series "Unfabulous" (2004) and has played youthful supersleuth Nancy Drew (2007) on film. Eric's unpredictable, volatile nature which works so mesmerizing on screen has also led to troubling times off camera; his relationship with younger sis Julia Roberts has been seriously strained for quite some time. His other starring roles include King of the Gypsies (1978), Star 80 (1983), Raggedy Man, The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984), The Coca-Cola Kid (1985), Rude Awakening (1988), Best of the Best (1989), By the Sword (1991),Best of the Best 2 (1993), The Specialist (1994), The Immortals (1995), La Cucaracha (1998), Purgatory (1999), and Con Games (2001). In 1996, he appeared in the Doctor Who TV movie in the role of the Master. He also appears in the 2000 film Race Against Time as a father who sells his organs to pay for hospital treatment for his son and in the 2003 film Spun as "The Man" alongside Mickey Rourke and Jason Schwartzmann. He also performed the voice of Dark Danny in Nickelodeon's Danny Phantom. He also made a cameo appearance in The Cable Guy. Roberts recently starred in Royal Kill, a psychological thriller that also stars Pat Morita, Lalaine, and Gail Kim and is directed by Babar Ahmed. Roberts appeared as a panelist on the television game show Hollywood Squares. Most recently, Roberts has co-starred on the ABC sitcom Less Than Perfect. In 2006, Roberts appeared in the film A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints. In the same year, he was also guest starred on The L Word as Shane McCutcheon's father, Gabriel. He also appeared in the 2007 action film DOA: Dead or Alive. Roberts appeared in The Killers' music video for their song "Mr. Brightside" as well as in the music videos for Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together" and "It's Like That". In 2006, he appeared in the video for Akon's "Smack That", featuring Eminem. And in 2007, he appeared in the video for Godhead's "Hey You". He appeared in an episode of CSI: Miami as Ken Kramer, a murderer on death row convicted of killing a young couple. Another notable TV appearance was the episode "Victims" of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit where he played Sam Winfield, a former cop turned vigilante community activist. In early January 2007, Roberts starred in the two-part mini-series Pandemic as the mayor of Los Angeles. Roberts voiced the Superman villain Mongul in the animated series Justice League and reprised his role in Justice League Unlimited in the episode "For the Man Who Has Everything". He has recently joined the cast of Heroes as Thompson, an associate of Mr. "Horn-Rimmed Glasses" Bennet. Roberts has joined the Batman Begins sequel, The Dark Knight, as Sal Maroni, an organized crime boss. An episode of the satiric cartoon series South Park featured Roberts as a star in a re-enactment of America's Most Wanted. He plays the genetically engineered half-man, half-monkey sidekick of the character Mephisto, where he overacts his part. During the re-enactment's taping, a snowstorm forces a group of characters to resort to cannibalism. Roberts is the first casualty because, as the mayor of South Park puts it, "No one gives a shit about Eric Roberts." He was also name-checked in an episode of Seinfeld; after giving away the ending of the film, Kramer tells George that Roberts' performance as the husband in the film The Other Side of Darkness was "unforgettable." He was portrayed as a clay figure on MTV's Celebrity Deathmatch where he fought alongside his sister, Julia, against Donny and Marie Osmond. Roberts was parodied in the web cartoon series College University, participating in a martial arts competition for washed-up action stars. He never got to compete, though, as the Transformer Optimus Prime knocked him out and stole his name tag. It should be noted that although in writing he was dubbed Eric Roberts, throughout the entire episode everybody referred to him as "Julia Roberts' Brother." The cartoon can be viewed at College University Character Bios. Also, SFX when listing previous Masters in Doctor Who, put in Roberts' category: "Out-acted by a CGI snake in the same production." He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1985 for his role as the escaped convict Buck in the film Runaway Train. In 1987, he won the Theatre World Award for his Broadway debut performance in Burn This. Roberts had his daughter Emma Roberts on February 10, 1991 with his then-girlfriend Kelly Cunningham. The relationship ended. Then, he married Eliza Garrett in 1992. He was arrested for allegedly shoving his wife into the wall in a domestic dispute in 1995, but his wife later refused to press charges. His daughter Emma has joined her father and aunts in the acting business. She has a starring role on the Nickelodeon series Unfabulous and has appeared in the films Blow (2001), Aquamarine (2006) and starred in Nancy Drew (2007) as the title character. Brother of Julia Roberts and Lisa Roberts Gillan. Before he became a movie star, he appeared in at least two soap operas. "Another World" (1964) and "How to Survive a Marriage" (1974). He was seriously injured in a car accident and spent three days in a coma in 1981. Father of Emma Roberts, with Kelly Cunningham. Brother in law of Tony Gillan. Step-father of Keaton Simons and Morgan Simons. Appeared with actor Clarence Williams III in Ja Rule music video "Down ass chick". Attended Grady High School in Atlanta, Georgia. His left hand ring finger is permanently disfigured, as a result of a 1980s car accident. In Doctor Who (1996) (TV), he became the fifth actor to portray the Master. The evil character had previously been played in the series "Doctor Who" (1963) by Roger Delgado from 1971 until 1973, Peter Pratt in 1976, Geoffrey Beevers in 1981 and Anthony Ainley from 1981 until 1989. Was chosen to act in Royal Kill (2008) when the Wrestling Choreographer, Ranjan Chhibber, a big "Doctor Who" fan, suggested to the director Roberts be hired because he loved his performance as "The Master" in the "Doctor Who" made-for-TV movie on Fox. Has a niece named Hazel Patricia Moder and nephew Phinnaeus Walter Moder. Some of Eric Roberts' boxing moves were once choreographed by actor Danny Trejo. Was listed as a potential nominee on the 2008 Razzie Award nominating ballot. He was suggested in the Worst Supporting Actor category for his performance in the film DOA: Dead or Alive (2006), he failed to receive a nomination however. Made just one movie - Blood Red (1989) - with sister Julia Roberts. On January 12, 2001, Roberts visited The Howard Stern Radio Show with his wife during a segment called "The Gossip Game" with Mike Walker of the National Enquirer on the telephone and shared a bit of personal information. He confirmed that he and his more famous sister Julia Roberts were estranged for several years. The source of the estrangment had been Eric's past drug abuse, and Julia's siding with his ex-girlfriend over the custody battle over Emma Roberts. In 2004, he told People magazine, that he and Julia reconciled when he went to visit her in the hospital after she gave birth to twins. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Celebrities Guide 
| WhoABC
Home : Disclaimer
: Terms
: Privacy
Policy : Contact
Us : Links All original content Copyright Celebrities Guide, WhoABC.com © 2004 - 2008. All Rights Reserved |