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William Sadler - Wild on the Web - William Sadler's Official Website

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Birthday: April 13, 1950
Birthplace: Buffalo, New York

Biography from 1991 Bogus Journey Press Kit

WILLIAM SADLER (Grim Reaper) recently co-starred as evil terrorist leader Colonel Stuart in "Die Hard 2" and as a backwoods extortionist in Dennis Hopper?s "The Hot Spot." He has also appeared in featured roles in "Hard to Kill," "Project X," "Ragtime" and "Hanky Panky."

In the theatre, Sadler was in the original Broadway and Los Angeles cast of Neil Simon?s "Biloxi Blues" as Sergeant Toomey, a role that won him a Dramalogue award, Clarence Dewert Award and Drama Desk nomination. In 1981 he won the Obie and Villager Awards for his role in the off-off-Broadway play "Limbo Tales."

On television, Sadler co-starred in the recent ABC-TV movie "The Last to Go," with Tyne Daly. His numerous TV movie credits include starring and co-starring roles in "Tagget," "Face of Fear," "Gideon Oliver," "The Great Wallendas" and "Charlie and the Great Balloon Chase." On series television, he has had recurring roles in the situation comedies "Dear John" and "Roseanne," and appeared as the lead in episodes of such dramatic shows as "Tales From the Crypt" and "In the Heat of the Night."

Sadler has also been featured in more than 75 stage productions, including Joseph Papp?s New York Shakespeare Festival versions of "Measure for Measure" and "New Jerusalem" and La Jolla Playhouse versions of "Romeo and Juliet" and "A Mad World, My Masters."

He is a graduate of Cornell University with a masters degree in fine arts.

Updated Biography

William Sadler is one of those actors who always makes an impression no matter what role he's playing.  His extensive training on the stage shines through on film and he's never less than fascinating to watch.

The part of the Grim Reaper in Bogus Journey was a pivotal one . . . a part that could easily make or break the film.  Bill Sadler made this part all his own, paying tribute to the classic personification of Death brought to life in Ingmar Bergman's masterpiece The Seventh Seal.  There's little doubt much of the character given to Grim was of Bill's own making; he performed as Death in the same manner in an sketch comedy series called Assaulted Nuts some years before, right down to the accent and insecurities.  He would also make a guest appearance as Death on an episode of Tales From the Crypt entitled The Assassin.  (And watch for a cameo by Bill Sadler near the end of Bogus Journey . . . he plays the British man who says "My word!" along with his wife during De Nomolos' worldwide televised speech.)

Because Bill had played so many bad guys and killers in previous films (most notably the villainous Colonel Stuart in Die Hard 2 and a terrific appearance as a jaded executioner named Niles Talbot in The Man Who Was Death, another episode of Tales From the Crypt) he joked that now he had played Death he had "killed everyone who ever lived" and had, in essence, "peaked."

Far from peaking, Bill Sadler continues to show that he still has a lot more to give.  Roles in movies like Rush, Trespass, The Shawshank Redemption (an outstanding performance!) and The Green Mile made him one of the most versatile actors in Hollywood.  Bill and Ted fans were excited to see Bill Sadler, Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves in the same film once again when Sadler played the evil corporate mogul and head of the Everything Except Shoes corporation in Alex's movie classic Freaked.

William Sadler has also won many fans in the science fiction genre by taking on a regular role in the sci-fi television series Roswell (he also directed an episode) and making guest appearances on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.  He played a role in the imaginative Fox series Wonderfalls and has also recently made appearances on the shows JAG, Third Watch, Tru Calling, Law & Order and CSI.

A little known fact about Bill Sadler is that he's also a singer / songwriter and an excellent banjo and guitar player.  During an interview for Bogus Journey in 1991, he began playing one of his own compositions entitled The Blushing Panty Slave.

Bill Sadler has recently appeared in the films Kinsey, Confess, Devour, Mr. Gibb, Jimmy and Judy, Premium and A New Wave.  He also made an appearance in the controversial made-for-TV film The Path to 9/11.  He also appears in a comedy short film called The Wine Bar and made an appearance on the television series The Black Donnellys.

More recent television appearances include a regular role on the short lived ABC series Traveler and in the TV movie Jesse Stone: Sea Change.  On the big screen he appeared in the adaptation of Stephen King's The Mist and in the film August Rush.  In 2008, he appeared on the series Medium and Fringe and in the film Eagle Eye.

William Sadler continues to be one of the hardest working actors in Hollywood, having made recent appearances on television in a recurring role in the very popular Jesse Stone telefilms with Tom Selleck, and in the shows Criminal Minds, The Pacific, Mercy and Three Rivers, on videos such as The Hills Run Red and Shadowheart and movies such as Last Day of Summer.

His recent films include Silent But Deadly, Restitution, Red & Blue Marbles, Future Weather, Open Gate, Riddle, Being Flynn, Nothing Sacred and Man On a Ledge.  On television he has appeared as McGarrett's father in the series Hawaii Five-0.  Upcoming films include Frank the Bastard, Greetings from Tim Buckley, Melvin Smarty and Jesse Stone: Benefit of the Doubt.

Last updated: 4/6/12

For a list of William's acting and directing credits,
please visit the Internet Movie Database