Lance Henriksen facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Lance Henriksen
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Henriksen at Comic Con
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Born | New York City, U.S.
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May 5, 1940
Years active | 1961–present |
Spouse(s) |
Mary Jane Evans
(m. 1985–1989)Jane Pollack
(m. 1995–2006)Louise Lunde
(m. 2006) |
Children | 4 |
Lance Henriksen (born May 5, 1940) is an American actor. He is known for his works in various science fiction, action and horror, such as that of Bishop in the Alien film franchise, and Frank Black in Fox television series Millennium (1996–1999) and The X-Files (1999). He has also done extensive voice work, including the Disney film Tarzan (1999) and the video games Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009) and BioWare's Mass Effect trilogy (2007–2012). Other film credits include The Right Stuff (1983), The Terminator (1984), Color of Night (1994), Powder (1995), Scream 3 (2000) and Appaloosa (2008).
Contents
Early life
Henriksen was born on May 5, 1940, in Manhattan, New York. His father, James Henriksen, was a Norwegian merchant sailor and boxer nicknamed "Icewater" who spent most of his life at sea, while his mother, Margueritte Werner, struggled to find work as a dance instructor, waitress and model. His parents divorced when he was two years old, and his mother struggled to raise him and his brother, leading to his spending part of his childhood in foster care. During an interview, Henriksen recounted how, at the age of seven, his mother handed him his birth certificate and said, "You'll always know who you are", then pushed him out of his home. Henriksen did not actually leave home until he was 12, saying he'd "had enough" of his home life, and that he had been physically assaulted by multiple family members.
Growing up, Henriksen had a reputation for getting into trouble in the various schools he attended, and even spent time in a children's home. He left school after completing first grade, and was illiterate until the age of 30. He served in the United States Navy from 1955 to 1958 and attained the rank of petty officer third class.
Career
Henriksen found work as a muralist and as a laborer on ships. For a time, he worked in Europe. His first theater work, around age 30, was as set designer, and he received his first acting role because he built the set for a production. Illiterate until then, it was around this time that he taught himself to read. For his first role, he put the entire script to tape with the help of a friend, learning everyone's part in addition to his own. Soon afterward, he graduated from the Actors Studio and began acting in New York City.
Henriksen's first film appearance was in It Ain't Easy in 1972. It was followed by supporting roles in a variety of films, including Dog Day Afternoon (1975), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), and Damien - Omen II (1978). He played Police Chief Steve Kimbrough in Piranha Part Two: The Spawning (1982), the astronaut Walter Schirra in The Right Stuff (1983), and actor Charles Bronson in the television film Reason for Living: The Jill Ireland Story (1991).
When James Cameron was writing The Terminator (1984), he originally envisioned Henriksen, with whom he had worked on Piranha II: The Spawning, playing the title role, a cyborg. The role ultimately went to Arnold Schwarzenegger. Henriksen does appear in the film as Hal Vukovich, a Detective in the Los Angeles Police Department.
Henriksen played the android Bishop in Cameron's film Aliens (1986), and as Bishop's designer Michael Weyland in Alien 3 (1992). He also played Charles Bishop Weyland, the man upon whom Bishop was based, in Alien vs. Predator (2004). Along with Bill Paxton, Henriksen is the only actor whose characters got killed by the Terminator, the Alien and the Predator. He played the vampire leader Jesse Hooker in Kathryn Bigelow's cult film Near Dark.
He portrayed gunfighters in the Westerns Dead Man and The Quick and the Dead, and appeared with British actor Bruce Payne in Aurora: Operation Intercept in 1995. That year, he also played Sheriff Doug Barnum in the film Powder. He appeared with Payne again in Face the Evil (1997), and the dystopian classic Paranoia 1.0 (2004).
In 1996, Henriksen starred in the television series Millennium, created and produced by Chris Carter, the creator of The X-Files. Henriksen played Frank Black, a former FBI agent who possessed a unique ability to see into the minds of killers. Carter created the role specifically for the actor. His performances on Millennium earned him critical acclaim, a People's Choice Award nomination for Favorite New Male TV Star, and three consecutive Golden Globe nominations for Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series (1997–1999). The series was cancelled in 1999. On television, Henriksen appeared in the ensemble of Into the West (2005), a miniseries executive-produced by Steven Spielberg. He appeared in a Brazilian soap opera, Caminhos do Coração (Ways of the Heart) from Rede Record, aired in 2007–2008. Henriksen guest-starred on a Season 6 episode of NCIS (2009) playing an Arizona sheriff, and appeared in a recurring role as The Major on NBC's The Blacklist.
In the years after Millennium, Henriksen has become an active voice actor, lending his distinctive voice to a number of animated features and video game titles. In Disney's Tarzan (1999) and its direct-to-video followup, he is Kerchak, the ape who serves as Tarzan's surrogate father. He provided the voice for the alien supervillain Brainiac in Superman: Brainiac Attacks (2006) and for the character Mulciber in Godkiller (2009). Henriksen is the voice of the character Molov in the video game Red Faction II (2002) and has also contributed to GUN (2005), Run Like Hell (2002), the canceled title Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (2004), and the role-playing game Mass Effect (2007) as Admiral Hackett of the Human Systems Alliance. Henriksen was also the voice behind PlayStation 3's internet promotional videos.
In 2005, Henriksen was the voice of Andrei Rublev in Cartoon Network's IGPX. The actor lent his voice to the animated television series Transformers: Animated as the character Lockdown. In 2009, Henriksen voiced Lieutenant General Shepherd in the award-winning game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. He would later voice Karl Bishop Weyland in Aliens vs. Predator; also, this character's appearance resembles Henriksen's. Henriksen voiced Master Gnost-Dural in Star Wars: The Old Republic, and he also reprised his role as Admiral Hackett in Mass Effect 3. Henriksen reprised his role as Bishop in Aliens: Colonial Marines.
He starred in a 2003 series of Australian television commercials for Visa, titled Unexplained (about the raining of fish from the sky over Norfolk) and Big Cats (about the Beast of Bodmin Moor). In these commercials, Henriksen speaks as a Frank Black-type character about these phenomena as Mark Snow-inspired mysterious music plays in the background, as a link to Henriksen's TV series Millennium. Unexplained went on to a gold world medal at the 2004 New York Festivals.
He made a cameo appearance in the 2009 horror comedy Jennifer's Body, and starred in the After Dark Horrorfest film, Scream of the Banshee, released in 2011. He played Henry Gale in Leigh Scott's The Witches of Oz.
In January 2015, he was signed for the lead in the indie thriller Monday at 11:01 A.M. In 2016, he starred in the feature film Deserted, a psychological thriller. Henriksen played the role of Hopper.
In 2018, Henriksen performed motion capture and vocal performance for the character of Carl Manfred in the video game Detroit: Become Human. The game's plot involves androids gaining sentience and free will, topics explored briefly with Henriksen's Bishop character in Aliens.
In October 2018, Henriksen was signed for one of the two leads in Falling, the directorial debut of actor Viggo Mortensen, who also wrote, produced and co-starred. Reviewing the film's 2020 premiere, The Hollywood Reporter's John DeFore noted not only the quality of Henriksen's performance, but the opportunity Mortensen's script presented: "[F]ew moviegoers who've enjoyed him over the years will be surprised, but many will resent that we, and he, have waited so long for a role like this."
He received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Actor at the 9th Canadian Screen Awards in 2021, for his performance in Falling.
In 2022, Henriksen was cast in the upcoming American horror film, Awaken the Reaper. The film is currently shooting in New York and slated for a 2024 release date. It is directed by Justin Paul and Dave Campfield and produced by Fourth Horizon Cinema, Impact Media Studios and Design Weapons.
Personal life
Henriksen has been married three times. He was married to Mary Jane Evans from 1985 to 1989 and to Jane Pollack from 1995 to 2006.
Henriksen has four children; three with Pollack and one with Lunde. Henriksen currently resides in Santa Clarita, California.
Art
Henriksen continues to produce art. He worked as a muralist before he became an actor, and he has worked with clay since 1960. In September 2017, Henriksen set up a website to showcase and find homes for some of his most recent clay works. He "still believes that there is nothing as simple and beautiful as raw clay... And that Potters have the remaining soul of the nomads...always searching...."
Filmography
Film
Year | Film | Role | Notes |
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1961 | The Outsider | U.S. Marine | Uncredited |
1972 | It Ain't Easy | Randy | |
1973 | Emperor of the North | Railroad Worker | Uncredited |
1974 | To Kill the King | Hank Adams | |
1975 | Dog Day Afternoon | FBI Agent Murphy | |
1976 | Mansion of the Doomed | Dr. Dan Bryan | |
Network | Network lawyer at Khan's place | Uncredited | |
The Next Man | Federal Security | ||
1977 | Close Encounters of the Third Kind | Robert | |
1978 | Damien - Omen II | Sergeant Neff | |
1979 | The Visitor | Raymond Armstead | |
1981 | The Dark End of the Street | Jimmy | |
Piranha II: The Spawning | Police Chief Steve Kimbrough | ||
Prince of the City | District Attorney Burano | ||
1983 | Nightmares | MacLeod | |
The Right Stuff | Wally Schirra | ||
1984 | The Terminator | Detective Hal Vukovich | |
1985 | Jagged Edge | Frank Martin | |
Savage Dawn | Stryker | ||
1986 | Aliens | Bishop | |
On Dangerous Ground | Brook Alastair | ||
1987 | Near Dark | Jesse Hooker | |
1988 | Pumpkinhead | Ed Harley | |
Survival Quest | Hank | ||
Deadly Intent | Raymond | ||
1989 | The Horror Show | Detective Lucas McCarthy | |
Johnny Handsome | Rafe Garrett | ||
Hit List | Chris Caleek | ||
1990 | The Last Samurai | Johnny Congo | |
1991 | The Pit and the Pendulum | Torquemada | |
Stone Cold | 'Chains' Cooper | ||
1992 | Jennifer 8 | Sergeant Freddy Ross | |
Alien 3 | Bishop | ||
Michael Weyland, Bishop's creator | Listed in credits as "Bishop II" | ||
Comrades in Arms | Rob Reed | ||
Delta Heat | Jackson Rivers | ||
1993 | Excessive Force | Captain Raymond Devlin | |
Super Mario Bros. | The King | Cameo appearance | |
Man's Best Friend | Dr. Jarret | ||
Hard Target | Emil Fouchon | ||
The Outfit | Dutch Schultz | ||
Knights | Job The Cyborg | ||
The Criminal Mind | Agent Winslow | ||
1994 | No Escape | The Father | |
Color of Night | Buck | ||
Boulevard | McClaren | ||
Felony | Taft | ||
1995 | Aurora: Operation Intercept | William Stenghel | |
The Quick and the Dead | 'Ace' Hanlon | ||
Dead Man | Cole Wilson | ||
Powder | Sheriff Doug Barnum | ||
Mind Ripper | Dr. Jim Stockton | a.k.a. The Outpost | |
The Nature of the Beast | Jack Powell | Direct-to-video | |
1997 | Dusting Cliff 7 | Colonel Roger McBride | Direct-to-video, a.k.a. Last Assassins |
Gunfighter's Moon | Frank Morgan | Direct-to-video | |
No Contest II | Eric Dane / Erich Dengler | ||
1999 | Tarzan | Kerchak | Voice |
2000 | Scream 3 | John Milton | |
2002 | The Mangler 2 | Headmaster Bradeen | Direct-to-video |
The Untold | Harlan Knowles | Direct-to-video, a.k.a. Sasquatch | |
Unspeakable | Pitchford | Direct-to-video | |
2003 | Antibody | Dr. Richard Gaynes | |
Mimic 3: Sentinel | Garbageman | ||
2004 | Modigliani | Foster Kane | |
Madhouse | Dr. Franks | Direct-to-video | |
Alien vs. Predator | Charles Bishop Weyland | ||
Dream Warrior | Parish | ||
Starkweather | The Mentor | Direct-to-video | |
Paranoia 1.0 | Howard | Direct-to-video, a.k.a. One Point O | |
2005 | Tarzan II | Kerchak | Voice, direct-to-video |
Hellraiser: Hellworld | The Host | Direct-to-video | |
2006 | When a Stranger Calls | The Stranger | Voice |
The Garden | Ben Zachary | Direct-to-video | |
Abominable | Ziegler Dane | ||
Sasquatch Mountain | Chase Jackson | ||
The Da Vinci Treasure | Dr. John Coven | ||
Superman: Brainiac Attacks | Brainiac | Voice | |
Pirates of Treasure Island | Long John Silver | Direct-to-video | |
Pumpkinhead: Ashes to Ashes | Ed Harley | Television film | |
2007 | Pumpkinhead: Blood Feud | ||
Bone Dry | Jimmy | Direct-to-video | |
The Chosen One | Cardinal Fred | Voice, direct-to-video | |
2008 | Deadwater | Colonel John Willets | Direct-to-video, a.k.a. Black Ops |
Dying God | Chance | Direct-to-video | |
Dark Reel | Connor Pritchett | ||
Appaloosa | Ring Shelton | ||
Necessary Evil | Dr. Fibrian | Direct-to-video | |
Pistol Whipped | The Old Man | ||
Prairie Fever | Monte James | ||
Alone in the Dark II | Abner Lundbert | ||
Adventures in Voice Acting | Himself | Documentary | |
2009 | Screamers: The Hunting | Orsow | Direct-to-video |
The Slammin' Salmon | Dick Lobo | ||
The Seamstress | Sheriff Virgil Logan | Direct-to-video | |
Jennifer's Body | Passing Motorist | Cameo | |
Nightmares in Red, White and Blue | Himself | Voice | |
2010 | Cyrus | Emmett | |
The Lost Tribe | Gallo | Direct-to-video | |
The Genesis Code | Dr. Hoffer | ||
Godkiller: Walk Among Us | Mulciber | Voice | |
Scream of the Banshee | Broderick Duncan | Direct-to-video | |
The Penitent Man | Mr. Darnell | ||
2011 | Good Day for It | Lyle Tyrus | |
Monster Brawl | God | Voice | |
The Arcadian | Father Reed | Direct-to-video | |
2012 | Astronaut: The Last Push | Walter Moffitt | |
Beautiful Wave | Jimmy Davenport / Baja Man | ||
My Dog the Champion | Billy | ||
It's in the Blood | Sheriff Russell | ||
2013 | Gemini Rising | Colonel Stephen Cencula | a.k.a. Alien Rising |
Gingerclown | Braineater | Voice | |
The Book of Daniel | Cyrus | Direct-to-video | |
Phantom | Markov | ||
2014 | Road to Paloma | FBI Agent Kelly | |
Dark Awakening | Father Donovan O'Malley | ||
The Sector | Shadow Man | Direct-to-video | |
Hollows Grove | Bill | ||
Garm Wars: The Last Druid | Wydd | ||
2015 | Harbinger Down | Graff | Direct-to-video, a.k.a. Inanimate |
Fragile Storm | Norman | Short film | |
Kids vs Monsters | Heinrich | Direct-to-video | |
Stung | Caruthers | ||
Spirit Riders | Rex | ||
2016 | Monday at 11:01 A.M. | Bartender | |
The Hamster | Narrator | Short film | |
Cut to the Chase | The Man | Direct-to-video | |
Daylight's End | Chief Frank Hill | ||
Deserted | Hopper | ||
The Sector | The Finisher | ||
After the Sun Fell | Dicky | ||
Gehenna: Where Death Lives | Morgan | ||
The Unwilling | Father Harris | ||
Lake Eerie | Pop | ||
2017 | Needlestick | Alexander Crick | |
Mom and Dad | Mel | ||
2018 | Big Legend | Jackson Wells | |
Gone Are the Days | Taylon | ||
A Reckoning | Henry Breck | ||
D-Railed | Manny | ||
Mimesis Nosferatu | The Auter | ||
2019 | Cliffs of Freedom | Old Demetri | |
Her Mind in Pieces | Norman | ||
Exorcism at 60,000 Feet | Captain Houdee | ||
Eminence Hill | Mason | ||
Being | Reverend Campbell | ||
2020 | Falling | Willis Peterson | |
A Place Among the Dead | L | ||
2021 | The Unhealer | Reverend Pflueger | |
The Dead of Night | Earl | ||
Reklaw | Lott | Short | |
Why? | Sheriff Logan | ||
Alpha Rift | Corbin | ||
Vote for Santa | Santa | ||
2022 | Bring on the Dancing Horses | ||
The Edge of Her Mind Anthology | Norman | ||
The Artifice Girl | Old Gareth | ||
2023 | When Jack Came Back | Barry Davis | |
On Fire | George Laughlin | ||
2024 | Altered Reality | Jack | |
TBA | Awaken the Reaper | Deacon Tom | |
TBA | One | Pastor Jesse Davidson | Post-production |
TBA | Acre Beyond the Rye | Dr. Bradford Weeks | |
TBA | Bring Me the Head of Lance Henriksen | Lance | Post-production; filmed in 2010 |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
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1980 | B.A.D. Cats | Timothy | Pilot episode |
Ryan's Hope | Preston Post | 8 episodes | |
1983 | Cagney & Lacey | Johnny 'Nose' | Episode: "Hopes and Dreams" |
Hardcastle and McCormick | Deseau | Episode: "Man in a Glass House" | |
Blood Feud | Mel Pierce | Television film | |
1984 | The A-Team | Mack Dalton | Episode: "In Plane Sight" |
Riptide | John McMasters | Episode: "Raiders of the Lost Sub" | |
Legmen | Finch | Episode: "A Woman's Work" | |
Cagney & Lacey | Sergeant King | Episode: "Heat" | |
Hardcastle and McCormick | Josh Fulton | Episode: "Never My Love" | |
1989 | Beauty and the Beast | 'Snow' | Episode: "Snow" |
1990–1991 | Tales from the Crypt | Reno Crevice / Sergeant Ripper | 2 episodes |
1996–1999 | Millennium | Frank Black | 67 episodes |
1998 | The Day Lincoln Was Shot | Abraham Lincoln | Television film |
1999 | The X-Files | Frank Black | Episode: "Millennium" |
Harsh Realm | The General | Pilot episode | |
2001 | The Legend of Tarzan | Kerchak | Voice, episode: "Tarzan and Tublat's Revenge" |
Lost Voyage | David Shaw | Television film | |
2004 | Static Shock | Kobra Leader | Voice, episode: "Future Shock" |
Evel Knievel | William 'Awful' Knoffel | Television film | |
2005 | Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go! | Mobius Quint | Voice, episode: "Hunt for the Citadel of Bone" |
Into the West | Daniel Wheeler | Episode: "Hell on Wheels" | |
IGPX: Immortal Grand Prix | Andrei Rublev | Voice, episode: "Time to Shine" | |
Supernova | Colonel Williams | Television film | |
2006 | Pumpkinhead: Ashes to Ashes | Ed Harley | |
2007 | Pumpkinhead: Blood Feud | ||
In the Spider's Web | Dr. Lecorpus | ||
Caminhos do Coração | Dr. Walker | 6 episodes | |
2008 | DEA | Narrator | Voice |
Ladies of the House | Frank | Television film | |
2008–2009 | Transformers: Animated | Lockdown | Voice, 3 episodes |
2009 | NCIS | Sheriff Clay Boyd | Episode: "South by Southwest" |
2010 | The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes | Grim Reaper | Voice, 4 episodes |
Castle | Benny Stryker | Episode: "Close Encounters of the Murderous Kind" | |
2011 | The Witches of Oz | Henry Gale | 2 episodes |
Memphis Beat | Tom Harrison | Episode: "The Feud" | |
The Dog Who Saved Halloween | Professor Eli Cole | Television film | |
2012–2013 | Tron: Uprising | Tesler | Voice, 16 episodes |
2012 | The Legend of Korra | The Lieutenant | Voice, 7 episodes |
2013 | Hannibal | Lawrence Wells | Episode: "Trou Normand" |
2014 | The Strain | Narrator | Voice, episode: "Night Zero" |
2014–2017 | All Hail King Julien | Doc Sugarfoot | Voice, episode: "Election" |
2015–2016 | The Blacklist | Bill McCready | 4 episodes |
2015 | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles | Zog | Voice, episode: "Dinosaur Seen in Sewers!" |
2015–2017 | Into the Badlands | Penrith | 3 episodes |
2016 | Grey's Anatomy | Griffin McColl | Episode: "Odd Man Out" |
Criminal Minds | Chazz Montolo | Episode: "A Beautiful Disaster" | |
The Night Shift | Clive | 2 episodes | |
Legends of Tomorrow | Obsidian | Episode: "Compromised" | |
2017 | The Machine | Stanley | Voice, television film |
2018–2020 | Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure | Baron | Voice, 2 episodes |
2020 | New Looney Tunes | Ironbootay | Voice, episode: "Undercover Bunny" |
Better Things | Virgil | Episode: "She's Fifty" | |
Big Dogs | Totentatz | 2 episodes | |
2023 | Rabbit Hole | Crowley | Episode 8: Ace in The Hole |
Aqua Teen Hunger Force | Vannesa | Episode: "Anubis" |
Voice work
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
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2019 | Alien III | Bishop |
Video games
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
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2002 | Run Like Hell | Nick Conner | |
Red Faction II | Molov | ||
2002–2004 | Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse | Abaddon | |
2005 | Gun | Major Thomas Magruder | |
2007 | Mass Effect | Admiral Steven Hackett | |
2008 | Transformers Animated: The Game | Lockdown | |
2009 | The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena | Max Dacher | |
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 | General Shepherd | ||
2010 | Aliens vs. Predator | Karl Bishop Weyland | Voice and likeness |
2011 | Mass Effect 2: Arrival | Admiral Steven Hackett | |
Star Wars: The Old Republic | Jedi Master Gnost-Dural | ||
2012 | Mass Effect 3 | Admiral Steven Hackett | |
Infex | Hazelton | ||
2013 | Aliens: Colonial Marines | Bishop | Voice and likeness |
Michael Weyland | |||
2018 | Detroit: Become Human | Carl Manfred | Voice, performance capture, and likeness |
2022 | The Quarry | Jedediah Hackett |
Books
- Autobiography
- Not Bad for a Human – The Life and Films of Lance Henriksen – Lance Henriksen with co-author Joseph Maddrey, published in 2011 by Bloody Pulp Books, featuring art by Bill Sienkiewicz, Mike Mignola, Tom Mandrake, Tim Bradstreet, Eric Powell and Ashley Wood.
- Comic books
- To Hell You Ride (five-issue comic book from Dark Horse Comics) (2012) – Lance Henriksen and Joseph Maddrey (co-authors) with Tom Mandrake (artist); a motion-comic video was also made by Dark Horse Comics) (2012) – Lance Henriksen and Joseph Maddrey (co-authors), Tom Mandrake (artist), Lance Henriksen (narrator), TKU: Tecamachalco Underground (Cesar Gallegos/Mateo Latosa) (musical score)
See also
In Spanish: Lance Henriksen para niños