Living With A Visionary
2026 · Movie
as Narrator (voice)
James Cromwell
1940-01-27
•
Los Angeles, California, USA
James Oliver Cromwell (born January 27, 1940) is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his role as Dr. Zefram Cochrane in “Star Trek: First Contact,” as well as his roles in “Babe,” “L.A. Confidential,” and “Spider-Man 3.” He has been nominated for an Oscar, three Emmy Awards, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards during his career. Cromwell was born in Los Angeles, California and was raised in Manhattan, New York. He was adopted by actress Kay Johnson and actor, director and producer John Cromwell, who was blacklisted during the McCarthy era. He was educated at The Hill School, Middlebury College and Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University), where he studied engineering. Like both his parents, he was drawn to the theater, doing everything from Shakespeare to experimental plays. He has long been an advocate of leftist causes. In an October 2008 interview, he strongly attacked the Republican Party and the George W. Bush administration, saying their controversial foreign policy would "either destroy us or the entire planet." He became a vegetarian in 1974 after seeing a stockyard in Texas and experiencing the "smell, terror and anxiety." He became an ethical vegan while playing the character of Farmer Hoggett in the movie Babe in 1995. He frequently speaks out on issues regarding animal cruelty for PETA, largely the treatment of pigs. Cromwell was married to Anne Ulvestad from 1976 to 1986. They had three children. He married his second wife, Julie Cobb, on May 29, 1986.
Filmography
BAT-FAM
2025 · TV Show
as Alfred Thaddeus Crane Pennyworth (voice)
Rebel Ridge
2024 · Movie
as Judge
Sugar
2024 · TV Show
as Jonathan Siegel
Murder in a Small Town
2024 · TV Show
as George Wilcox
Merry Little Batman
2023 · Movie
as Alfred Pennyworth (voice)
Prancer: A Christmas Tale
2022 · Movie
as Bud
Law & Order: Organized Crime
2021 · TV Show
as Miles Darman
Emperor
2020 · Movie
as John Brown
Never Too Late
2020 · Movie
as Jack Bronson
Star Trek: Lower Decks
2020 · TV Show
as Dr. Zefram Cochrane (voice)
Operation Buffalo
2020 · TV Show
as Cranky
Countdown to Year Zero
2019 · Movie
The Immortal
2019 · Movie
as Grandfather
The Laundromat
2019 · Movie
as Joseph David Martin
No image
That Guy... Who Was In That Thing 3: Trek Stars
2019 · Movie
as Self
The Family
2019 · TV Show
as Douglas Coe
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
2018 · Movie
as Benjamin Lockwood
Succession
2018 · TV Show
as Ewan Roy
Marshall
2017 · Movie
as The Judge
Counterpart
2017 · TV Show
as Yanek
The Promise
2016 · Movie
as Henry Morgenthau Sr.
50 Years of Star Trek
2016 · Movie
as Self
The Perfect Crime: Leopold & Loeb
2016 · Movie
as Self - Narrator (voice)
The Young Pope
2016 · TV Show
as Cardinal Michael Spencer
The Detour
2016 · TV Show
as J.R.
Berlin Station
2016 · TV Show
as Gilbert Dorn
In Between Songs
2014 · Movie
as Narrator
Big Hero 6
2014 · Movie
as Professor Robert Callaghan (voice)
Walking the Mile
2014 · Movie
as Self
Halt and Catch Fire
2014 · TV Show
as Jacob Wheeler
Murder in the First
2014 · TV Show
as Warren Daniels
The Trials of Cate McCall
2013 · Movie
as Justice Sumpter
Cowgirls n' Angels
2012 · Movie
as Terence Parker
Soldiers of Fortune
2012 · Movie
as Haussman
Still Mine
2012 · Movie
as Craig Morrison
A Night at the Movies: Hollywood Goes to Washington
2012 · Movie
as Self - Interviewee
The Artist: The Making of an American Romance
2012 · Movie
as Self
Hollywood as Character: The Locations of The Artist
2012 · Movie
as Himself
La Classe américaine
2012 · Movie
as Self
The Artist
2011 · Movie
as Clifton
Memorial Day
2011 · Movie
as Bud Vogel
Hide Away
2011 · Movie
as The Ancient Mariner
Farm to Fridge
2011 · Movie
as Narrator
Admissions
2011 · Movie
as The Clerk
American Horror Story
2011 · TV Show
as Dr. Arthur Arden
Secretariat
2010 · Movie
as Ogden Phipps
Pope Pius XII
2010 · Movie
as Pope Pius XII
Boardwalk Empire
2010 · TV Show
as Andrew W. Mellon
Sotto il cielo di Roma
2010 · TV Show
as Pope Pius XII
A Lonely Place for Dying
2009 · Movie
as Howard Simons
Surrogates
2009 · Movie
as Dr. Lionel Canter
The Last Days of Lehman Brothers
2009 · Movie
as Hank Paulson
Starz Inside - Unforgettably Evil
2009 · Movie
as Self
Beyond All Boundaries
2009 · Movie
as Major General Alexander A. Vandegrift / Fleet Admiral William Halsey
Impact
2009 · TV Show
as Lloyd
W.
2008 · Movie
as George H.W. Bush
Tortured
2008 · Movie
as Jack
Whatever You Desire: Making 'L.A. Confidential'
2008 · Movie
as Self
My Own Worst Enemy
2008 · TV Show
as Alistair Trumbull
Spider-Man 3
2007 · Movie
as Captain Stacy
Becoming Jane
2007 · Movie
as Mr. Austen
Dante's Inferno
2007 · Movie
as Virgil (voice)
Looking For Else
2007 · Movie
as Self
No image
The Making of 'The Queen'
2007 · Movie
as Self
The Queen
2006 · Movie
as Prince Philip
Avenger
2006 · Movie
as Paul Devereaux
King Leopold's Ghost
2006 · Movie
The Maltese Falcon: One Magnificent Bird
2006 · Movie
as Self
The Longest Yard
2005 · Movie
as Warden Hazen
Shadows in the Dark: The Val Lewton Legacy
2005 · Movie
as Narrator
Pope John Paul II
2005 · Movie
Pope John Paul II
2005 · TV Show
as Cardinal Adam Sapieha
I, Robot
2004 · Movie
as Dr. Alfred Lanning
Happy Birthday Oscar Wilde
2004 · Movie
as Self
Salem's Lot
2004 · TV Show
as Donald Callahan
The Snow Walker
2003 · Movie
as Walter "Shep" Shepherd
Blackball
2003 · Movie
as Ray Speight
A Carol Christmas
2003 · Movie
as Ghost of Christmas Future (uncredited)
The John Garfield Story
2003 · Movie
as Self
Angels in America
2003 · TV Show
as Roy's Doctor
The Sum of All Fears
2002 · Movie
as President Fowler
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron
2002 · Movie
as The Colonel (voice)
RFK
2002 · Movie
as President Lyndon Baines Johnson
Project Viper
2002 · Movie
as MP 1
A Death in the Family
2002 · Movie
as Joel Lynch
The Magnificent Ambersons
2002 · Movie
as Major Amberson
Six Feet Under
2001 · TV Show
as George Sibley
Citizen Baines
2001 · TV Show
as Elliott Baines
24
2001 · TV Show
as Phillip Bauer
Star Trek: Enterprise
2001 · TV Show
as Dr. Zefram Cochran (uncredited)
Space Cowboys
2000 · Movie
as Bob Gerson
Fail Safe
2000 · Movie
as Gordon Knapp
No image
Walking the Mile: The Making of The Green Mile
2000 · Movie
as Self / Warden Hal Moores
The Green Mile
1999 · Movie
as Warden Hal Moores
Snow Falling on Cedars
1999 · Movie
as Judge Fielding
The General's Daughter
1999 · Movie
as General Joseph Campbell
The Bachelor
1999 · Movie
as Priest
A Slight Case of Murder
1999 · Movie
as John Edgarson
RKO 281
1999 · Movie
as William Randolph Hearst
The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn
1999 · TV Show
as Self - Guest
The West Wing
1999 · TV Show
as President D. Wire Newman
Species II
1998 · Movie
as Senator Ross
Deep Impact
1998 · Movie
as Alan Rittenhouse
Babe: Pig in the City
1998 · Movie
as Farmer Arthur Hoggett
Owd Bob
1998 · Movie
as Adam MacAdam
L.A. Confidential
1997 · Movie
as Dudley Smith
The Education of Little Tree
1997 · Movie
as Nonno
Star Trek: First Contact
1996 · Movie
as Dr. Zefram Cochrane
The People vs. Larry Flynt
1996 · Movie
as Charles Keating
Eraser
1996 · Movie
as William Donohue
Babe
1995 · Movie
as Farmer Hoggett
Indictment: The McMartin Trial
1995 · Movie
as Judge Pounders
Partners
1995 · TV Show
The Client
1995 · TV Show
as Officer Joe Denton
Revenge of the Nerds IV: Nerds in Love
1994 · Movie
as Mr. Skolnick
The Shaggy Dog
1994 · Movie
as Charlie Mulvihill
ER
1994 · TV Show
as Bishop Stewart
Romeo Is Bleeding
1993 · Movie
as Cage
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
1993 · TV Show
as Hanok
The Babe
1992 · Movie
as Brother Mathias
Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation
1992 · Movie
as Mr. Skolnick
Picket Fences
1992 · TV Show
as The Bishop
Home Improvement
1991 · TV Show
as Fred
Miracle Landing
1990 · Movie
as B.J. Cocker
American Dreamer
1990 · TV Show
The Runnin' Kind
1989 · Movie
as Uncle Phil
Pink Cadillac
1989 · Movie
as Motel Desk Clerk
Christine Cromwell
1989 · TV Show
The Rescue
1988 · Movie
as Adm. Rothman
China Beach: Pilot
1988 · Movie
as Ambassador at Large Roland Weymouth
China Beach
1988 · TV Show
Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise
1987 · Movie
as Mr. Skolnick
Star Trek: The Next Generation
1987 · TV Show
as Prime Minister Nayrok, Jaglom Shrek
Jake and the Fatman
1987 · TV Show
The Last Precinct
1986 · Movie
as Chief Bludhorn
A Fine Mess
1986 · Movie
as Detective Blist
Matlock
1986 · TV Show
as Judge Raymond Price
Easy Street
1986 · TV Show
Explorers
1985 · Movie
as Mr. Müller
The Twilight Zone
1985 · TV Show
as (segment "A Message From Charity")
Wildside
1985 · TV Show
Amazing Stories
1985 · TV Show
as Francis
Tank
1984 · Movie
as Deputy Euclid
Revenge of the Nerds
1984 · Movie
as Mr. Skolnick
The House of God
1984 · Movie
as Officer Quick
Oh, God! You Devil
1984 · Movie
as Priest
Spraggue
1984 · Movie
as Lt. George Hurley
Night Court
1984 · TV Show
as Alan
Hunter
1984 · TV Show
as Seymour Robbins
The Man with Two Brains
1983 · Movie
as Realtor
Scarecrow and Mrs. King
1983 · TV Show
Barefoot In the Park
1982 · Movie
as Harry Pepper
The Rainmaker
1982 · Movie
as Noah Curry
The Wall
1982 · Movie
as Francisek
Family Ties
1982 · TV Show
as John Hancock
Knight Rider
1982 · TV Show
as Curtis
Nobody's Perfekt
1981 · Movie
as Dr. Carson
Hill Street Blues
1981 · TV Show
Foul Play
1981 · TV Show
as Bebet
A Christmas Without Snow
1980 · Movie
as Reverend Lohman
Flo
1980 · TV Show
The Cheap Detective
1978 · Movie
as Schnell
Peeping Times
1978 · Movie
as Bernard Mantee
Diff'rent Strokes
1978 · TV Show
Dallas
1978 · TV Show
as Gerald Kane
The White Shadow
1978 · TV Show
as Mr. Hamilton, Art Commings
The Girl in the Empty Grave
1977 · Movie
as Deputy Malcolm Rossiter Jr.
Deadly Game
1977 · Movie
as Deputy Malcolm Rossiter Jr.
Three's Company
1977 · TV Show
as Detective Lannigan
Eight Is Enough
1977 · TV Show
Murder by Death
1976 · Movie
as Marcel Cassette
Alice
1976 · TV Show
All's Fair
1976 · TV Show
The Nancy Walker Show
1976 · TV Show
as Glen
Once an Eagle
1976 · TV Show
as J.L. Cleghorne
Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman
1976 · TV Show
as Reverend Buryfield
Barney Miller
1975 · TV Show
as Sgt. Wilkinson, Neil Spencer, Dr. Edmund Danworth, Jason Parrish
Hot l Baltimore
1975 · TV Show
Barbary Coast
1975 · TV Show
as Roy
Little House on the Prairie
1974 · TV Show
as Harve Miller
The Rockford Files
1974 · TV Show
as Terry
Police Story
1973 · TV Show
M*A*S*H
1972 · TV Show
All in the Family
1971 · TV Show
as Stretch Cunningham
Golden Globe Awards
1944 · TV Show
as Self - Audience Member
Get Lost
· Movie
as Frederick (Red King)
Night Vet
· Movie
as Dr. Abel Evergood
