Ed Lauter

Ed Lauter

Birth name: Edward Matthew Lauter Jr.
Born: October 30, 1938
Died: October 16, 2013 (at age 74)
Birthplace: Long Beach, New York, U.S.
Popularity:
Biography

Edward Matthew Lauter Jr. (/ˈlɔːtər/ LAW-tər; October 30, 1938 - October 16, 2013), known as Ed Lauter, was an American actor and stand-up comedian. He appeared in more than 200 films and TV series episodes in a career that spanned over 40 years.

Personal life

Lauter was born and raised in Long Beach, New York, the son of Sally Lee, a 1920s Broadway actress and dancer, and Edward Matthew Lauter. He was of German and Irish descent. After graduating from high school, he majored in English Literature in college and received a B.A. degree in 1961 from the C.W. Post campus of Long Island University. While in college, he played basketball. Lauter served for two years in the United States Army.

Career

Lauter's first acting role was a small part in the Broadway production of The Great White Hope, a boxing drama, in 1968. Before that, he was a stand-up comedian. His screen acting debut was in a 1971 episode of the television series Mannix. His first theatrical film role was in the Western Dirty Little Billy in 1972.

As a character actor, Lauter was known for his 6'2" height and balding looks.

He starred with Bruce Dern, Barbara Harris, Karen Black and William Devane in Alfred Hitchcock's final film, Family Plot. Hitchcock was impressed by Lauter and asked him to play a major role in the romantic espionage thriller he planned as his next film; the director's failing health and eventual death in 1980 meant that The Short Night never went into production.

Lauter appeared in many films, including half a dozen in 1972 alone. Among Lauter's most prominent film roles were The Longest Yard (a.k.a. The Mean Machine) (1974), King Kong (1976), Magic (1978), Death Hunt (1981), Timerider (1982) Death Wish 3 (1985), My Blue Heaven (1990), The Rocketeer (1991), Seraphim Falls (2006) and The Artist (2011).

Lauter's TV appearances included the role as the villain sheriff Martin Stillman in the How the West Was Won TV series and guest-performances on The New Land, Psych, The X-Files (as Mulder's childhood hero, Gemini astronaut Col. Marcus Aurelius Belt in the season 1 episode "Space"), Kojak, The A-Team, Miami Vice, Magnum, P.I. (episode Operation Silent Night), Booker, Charmed, Highlander: The Series, Law & Order, Star Trek: The Next Generation (as Lt. Cmdr. Albert in the season 5 episode "The First Duty"), The Equalizer and ER (with a recurring role as Fire Captain Dannaker). Lauter was memorable in a rare leading role as Private Detective Bud Delaney in the 1975 NBC television movie "Last Hours Before Morning".

Death

On October 16, 2013, two weeks before his 75th birthday, Lauter died of mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer, having been diagnosed five months earlier in May. Following his death, Lauter's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against many well-known broadcasting, automotive, and manufacturing companies for exposing Lauter to asbestos, which caused the four spots of mesothelioma on his brain that led to his death. The suit alleges that Lauter was exposed to asbestos at various movie studios and location sets over his 40-year career as an actor in Los Angeles.

Married four times, he is survived by his fourth wife, Mia Lauter, and his four children from previous marriages. He continued to work until a few months before his death, completing roles in several films still to be released after his death.

To honor his work, the Ed Lauter Foundation is being established, which will award a scholarship yearly to aspiring young actors.

Reflecting on his lengthy career, Lauter said in a 2012 interview with the Los Angeles Times:

A lot of people say, "I know you," but they don’t know my name. But I’ve had a great run.

— Ed Lauter, Los Angeles Times, October 17, 2013, quoting 2012 interview

Filmography

  • The Magnificent Seven Ride! (1972)
  • The New Centurions (1972)
  • Hickey & Boggs (1972)
  • Bad Company (1972)
  • Rage (1972)
  • Dirty Little Billy (1972)
  • Lolly-Madonna XXX (1973)
  • Class of '63 (1973)
  • The Last American Hero (1973)
  • Executive Action (1973)
  • The Migrants (1974)
  • The Midnight Man (1974)
  • The Longest Yard (1974)
  • The Godchild (1974)
  • Satan's Triangle (1975)
  • Shadow in the Streets (1975)
  • Last Hours Before Morning (1975)
  • French Connection II (1975)
  • Breakheart Pass (1975)
  • Family Plot (1976)
  • King Kong (1976)
  • The White Buffalo (1977)
  • The Chicken Chronicles (1977)
  • The Clone Master (1978)
  • Magic (1978)
  • How the West Was Won (1978)
  • Loose Shoes (1980)
  • Death Hunt (1981)
  • Rooster (1982)
  • Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann (1982)
  • Cujo (1983)
  • Lassiter (1984)
  • Real Genius (1985)
  • Girls Just Want to Have Fun (1985)
  • Death Wish 3 (1985)
  • Youngblood (1986)
  • Raw Deal (1986)
  • Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise (1987)
  • Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
  • Gleaming the Cube (1989)
  • My Blue Heaven (1990)
  • The Rocketeer (1991)
  • Golden Years (1991)
  • School Ties (1992)
  • True Romance (1993)
  • Extreme Justice (1993)
  • Under Investigation (1993)
  • Secret Sins of the Father (1994)
  • Wagons East (1994)
  • Trial by Jury (1994)
  • Mulholland Falls (1995)
  • The Tuskegee Airman (1995)
  • Digital Man (1995)
  • Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
  • Girl in the Cadillac (1995)
  • Breach of Trust (1995)
  • Coyote Summer (1996)
  • Mercenary (1996)
  • Rattled (1996)
  • Raven Hawk (1996)
  • For Which He Stands (1996)
  • The Sweeper (1996)
  • Childhood Sweetheart? (1997)
  • Top of the World (1997)
  • Married to a Stranger (1997)
  • Under Wraps (1997)
  • Allie & Me (1997)
  • A Bright Shining Lie (1998)
  • Dollar for the Dead (1998)
  • Night of Terror (1999)
  • Out in Fifty (1999)
  • Blast (2000)
  • Civility (2000)
  • Farewell My Love (2000)
  • Python (2000)
  • Thirteen Days (2000)
  • Knight Club (2001)
  • Not Another Teen Movie (2001)
  • Go for Broke (2002)
  • Gentleman B. (2003)
  • Seabiscuit (2003)
  • Nobody Knows Anything (2003)
  • The Librarians (2003)
  • Grandpa's Place (2004)
  • Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation (2004)
  • Art Heist (2004)
  • Venice Underground (2005)
  • Purple Heart (2005)
  • The Longest Yard (2005)
  • Brothers In Arms (2005)
  • Into the Fire (2005)
  • The Lost (2006)
  • Seraphim Falls (2006)
  • Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)
  • Love Hollywood Style (2006)
  • The Number 23 (2007)
  • A Modern Twain Story: The Prince and the Pauper (2007)
  • Camille (2008)
  • The American Standards (2008)
  • Something's Wrong in Kansas (2008)
  • Expecting a Miracle (2009)
  • Godspeed (2009)
  • Taken by Force (2010)
  • The Prometheus Project (2010)
  • The Artist (2011)
  • Carnal Innocence (2011)
  • The Fitzgerald Family Christmas (2012)
  • Trouble with the Curve (2012)
  • Blind Pass (2013)
  • The Town That Dreaded Sundown (2014)
  • Becker's Farm (2014)
  • The Grave (2015)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]


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