Life and career

Zerbe was born in Long Beach, California, the son of Catherine (née Scurlock) and Arthur Lee Van Zerbe. He attended Pomona College in Claremont, California, graduating in 1958. His parents were also alumni of Pomona College.

Zerbe served in the United States Air Force from 1959-61. Zerbe studied at the Stella Adler Studio in New York City. In television, he has played numerous guest roles in television series including Naked City, The Virginian, The Big Valley, Route 66, The Wild Wild West, Twelve O'Clock High, Bonanza, Mission: Impossible, Gunsmoke, Hawaii Five-O, Mannix, It Takes a Thief, The Chisholms, Ironside, The F.B.I., Cannon, The Rookies, Columbo, The Rookies, The Streets of San Francisco, The Rockford Files, The Equalizer, Kung Fu, Little House on the Prairie, Highway to Heaven, Murder, She Wrote, Dynasty, and Frasier. He held a starring role in The Young Riders and co-starred on Harry O in that series' second and final seasons. Zerbe was also seen as Pontius Pilate in the miniseries A.D. and as General Grant in North and South: Book II. His latest appearance is in the criminal comedy-drama American Hustle.

He is the former artistic director of Reflections, A New Plays Festival at the Geva Theatre in Rochester, New York, which is currently touring the United States in Behind the Broken Words, a performance of contemporary poetry, comedy and dramatic works with fellow actor Roscoe Lee Browne. In 1976, Zerbe won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Continuing Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Lieutenant K.C. Trench in the private detective series Harry O. In 1981, he played eldest brother Benjamin Hubbard in a Broadway revival of The Little Foxes.

Selected filmography

• Cool Hand Luke (1967)
• Will Penny (1967)
• The Molly Maguires (1970)
• They Call Me Mister Tibbs! (1970)
• The Liberation of L.B. Jones (1970)
• The Omega Man (1971)
• The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972)
• The Strange Vengeance of Rosalie (1972)
• The Hound of the Baskervilles (1972, TV movie)
• Snatched (1972, TV movie)
• She Lives! (1973, TV movie)
• Carola (1973, TV movie)
• Papillon (1973)
• The Laughing Policeman (1973)
• The Healers (1974, TV movie)
• The Parallax View (1974)
• Rooster Cogburn (1975)
• Farewell, My Lovely (1975)
• The Turning Point (1977)
• In the Glitter Palace (1977, TV movie)
• Child of Glass (1978, TV movie)
• Who'll Stop the Rain (1978)
• Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park (1978)
• Attica (1980, TV movie)
• The First Deadly Sin (1980)
• The Seduction of Miss Leona (1980, TV movie)
• A Question of Honor (1981, TV movie)
• Soggy Bottom, U.S.A. (1981)
• Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1983, as THRUSH director Justin Sepheran)
• The Dead Zone (1983)
• Off Beat (1986)
• Opposing Force (1986)
• One Police Plaza (1986, TV movie)
• Steel Dawn (1987)
• P.I. Private Investigations (1987)
• Independence (1987, TV movie)
• Listen to Me (1989)
• See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989)
• Licence to Kill (1989)
• Touch (1997)
• Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)
• True Crime (1999)
• The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
• The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
• Veritas, Prince of Truth (2007)
• American Hustle (2013)

Television

• Naked City (TV series) (1963)
• The Wild Wild West (1967)
• The Virginian (1968)
• Gunsmoke (3 episodes, 1968-1973)
• Mission: Impossible: Live Bait (1969)
• Mission: Impossible: The Amateur (1970)
• The Streets of San Francisco (1972)
• Kung Fu (1973 and 1974)
• Once an Eagle (1976)
• The Red Hand Gang (1977)
• Centennial (1978)
• How the West Was Won (1978-1979)
• George Washington (1984)
• A.D. (miniseries) (1985)
• Dream West (1986)
• North and South, Book II (1986)
• The Equalizer: Memories of Manon (1987)
• Baja Oklahoma (1988)
• Onassis: The Richest Man in the World (1988)
• Columbo: Columbo Goes to the Guillotine (1989)
• The Young Riders (1989-1992)
• Murder, She Wrote: Murder of the Month Club (1994)
• Asteroid (1997)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]