Eric Roberts

Eric Anthony Roberts (born April 18, 1956) is an American actor. His career began with a leading role in King of the Gypsies (1978), for which he received his first Golden Globe Award nomination. He was again recognized by the Golden Globes for his interpretation of Paul Snider in Bob Fosse's Star 80 (1983). Roberts' performance in Runaway Train (1985), as prison escapee Buck McGeehy, earned him a nomination for a third Golden Globe and a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He is the older brother of actress Julia Roberts.

In a career spanning over 40 years, Roberts has amassed more than 561 credits, including Raggedy Man (1981), The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984), The Specialist (1994), Cecil B. Demented (2000), National Security (2003), A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006), The Dark Knight (2008), The Expendables (2010) and Inherent Vice (2014). His equally varied television work includes three seasons with the sitcom Less than Perfect, as well as recurring roles on the NBC drama Heroes and the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless, as well as Saved by the Light, the legal drama Suits, Fox's The Finder, and as The Master in the 1996 Doctor Who television movie.

Roberts was born in Biloxi, Mississippi, to Betty Lou Bredemus (1934–2015) and Walter Grady Roberts (1933–1977), one-time actors and playwrights, who met while touring a production of George Washington Slept Here for the armed forces. In 1963, they co-founded the Atlanta Actors and Writers Workshop in Atlanta, Georgia, off Juniper Street in Midtown. They ran a children's acting school in Decatur, Georgia while they were expecting Julia. Roberts' mother became a church secretary and real estate agent, and his father, a vacuum cleaner salesman. Roberts' younger siblings, Julia Roberts (from whom he was estranged until 2004) and Lisa Roberts Gillan, are also actors.

Roberts' parents filed for divorce in 1971 and it was finalized early in 1972. Eric stayed with his father Walter in Atlanta, estranged from his sisters. Walter died of cancer in March 1977. Lisa, Julia and Betty moved to Smyrna, Georgia, after the divorce. In 1972, Betty married Michael Motes, and had a daughter with him in 1976, Nancy Motes, who died February 9, 2014, at age 37, of an apparent drug overdose. Motes was abusive and often unemployed. In 1983, Betty divorced Motes, citing cruelty and stating that marrying him was the biggest mistake of her life.

Roberts is of English, Scottish, Irish, Welsh, German, and Swedish descent.

Mainstream films and television

Roberts got his start on the now-defunct NBC daytime soap opera Another World originating the role of Ted Bancroft from February 14, 1977, to June 17, 1977.

Roberts received Golden Globe Award nominations for his early starring roles in King of the Gypsies (1978) and Star 80 (1983). He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1985 for his role as the escaped convict Buck in the film Runaway Train; the award went to Don Ameche for Cocoon. In 1987, he won the Theatre World Award for his Broadway debut performance in Burn This.

Roberts' other starring roles included Paul's Case (1980), Raggedy Man (1981), The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984), The Coca-Cola Kid (1985), Nobody's Fool (1986), Best of the Best (1989), By the Sword (1991), Best of the Best 2 (1993), The Immortals (1995), La Cucaracha (1998), Purgatory (1999), and Stiletto Dance (2001). He also had major supporting roles in the films Final Analysis (1992), The Specialist (1994).

In 1996, he appeared in the Doctor Who television film in the role of the Master.When SFX listed previous Masters in Doctor Who, the magazine said of Roberts: "Out-acted by a CGI snake in the same production."In a darkly comic touch, the onscreen wife of Roberts' human character, who is killed by her newly possessed husband (taken over by the Master in the form of the above-mentioned CGI snake), is played by his real-life wife. He also co-starred in the 1996 television miniseries version of In Cold Blood, in the role of Perry Smith; he was nominated as Best Actor in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television. He starred in C-16 for its entire 1997 to 1998 run. He starred opposite John Ritter in the movie Tripfall in 1998. He played the Archangel Michael in The Prophecy II (1997).

Roberts co-starred on the ABC situation comedy Less than Perfect. He appeared in an episode of CSI: Miami as Ken Kramer, a murderer on death row convicted of killing a young couple. Another notable TV appearance was the episode "Victims" of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit where he played Sam Winfield, a former cop turned vigilante. In the same year, he was also guest-starred on The L Word as Gabriel McCutcheon, the father of Shane McCutcheon.

Roberts voiced the Superman villain Mongul in the animated series Justice League, and reprised his role in Justice League Unlimited in the episode "For the Man Who Has Everything". He performed the voice of Dark Danny in Nickelodeon's Danny Phantom. He appeared in the first season of Heroes as Thompson, an associate of Mr. Bennet. He then reprised the role in the third-season episode "Villains" and in the fourth-season "The Wall".

In 2002 Roberts portrayed an FBI detective in Ja Rule's music video for his song "Down Ass Bitch", as well as its sequel "Down 4 U".

In 2003, Roberts also appeared in The Killers' music video for their song "Mr. Brightside" and "Miss Atomic Bomb".

In 2005, he was well as in the music videos for Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together" and "It's Like That".

In 2006, he was starred in the drama movie A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints. The movie was a success and earned $2,035,468 at the box-office and holds a 75% "Certified Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes. he appeared in the video for Akon's "Smack That", featuring Eminem. The same year, he had a role in the romantic comedy film Phat Girlz, starring Mo'Nique, which receive good review and generate $7,401,890 in theaters worldwide. He had a major role in the British-German-American martial arts action film DOA: Dead or Alive, based on the famous videogame of the same name, which received generally negative reviews and performed poorly at the international box office with $7.5 million, against a budget of $30 million.

In early January 2007, Roberts starred in the two-part miniseries Pandemic as the mayor of Los Angeles. In 2007, he appeared in the video for Godhead's "Hey You". He appeared as a panelist on the television game show Hollywood Squares.

On July 18, 2008, he appeared in The Dark Knight as Sal Maroni, a Gotham City Mafia boss who hires The Joker to kill the titular superhero and a renegade mob accountant. Considered one of the best films of its decade and one of the best superhero films of all time, the film received highly positive reviews, particularly for its action, score, screenplay, performances (particularly Ledger's), visual effects, and direction, setting numerous records during its theatrical run. The Dark Knight appeared on 287 critics' top-ten lists, more than any other film of 2008 with the exception of WALL-E, and more critics (77) named The Dark Knight the best film released that year. With over $1 billion in revenue worldwide, it became the highest-grossing film of 2008 and is the 45th-highest-grossing film of all time, unadjusted for inflation (4th at the time of release); it also set the record for highest-grossing domestic opening with $158 million, a record it held for three years. The film received eight Academy Award nominations; it won the award for Best Sound Editing and Ledger was posthumously awarded Best Supporting Actor.

In February 2009, Oscar nominee Mickey Rourke, who starred with Roberts in The Pope of Greenwich Village, said he hoped that Roberts would soon be offered a role which would resurrect his career in the way that The Wrestler rejuvenated Rourke's. He portrayed Seth Blanchard on the second season of the Starz series Crash, from 2009. In 2009, Roberts appeared as himself in "Tree Trippers", a season five episode of Entourage. He is portrayed as a mushroom and drug fanatic as he gives the boys mushrooms and joins them in Joshua Tree National Park to trip as they contemplate Vince's next movie decision. The same year, he was acted in the independent movie The Chaos Experiment, starring Val Kilmer which had a limited theatrical release, playing to small audiences on two screens for one week in Grand Rapids, and for one week in nearby Lansing. He was also appeared in the independent movie Rock Slyde, starring Patrick Warburton, Andy Dick, Rena Sofer, and Elaine Hendrix. He had the main role in the action movie The Butcher. He was acted in the psychological thriller film Royal Kill. He was also appeared in the Canadian-American thriller Bloodwork.

It was announced in June 2010 that he would be joining the cast of the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless starting July 12. The following month saw the release of the action film The Expendables in which Roberts plays a lead villain. It was directed by and starred Sylvester Stallone, with Jason Statham, Jet Li, Steve Austin, Gary Daniels, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Terry Crews, David Zayas and Mickey Rourke. The film is about a group of elite mercenaries called The Expendables (Stallone, Statham, Li, Lundgren, Couture, and Crews) who are on a mission to overthrow dictator General Garza (Zayas) in Vilena, an island in the Gulf of Mexico. It is revealed that an ex-CIA officer James Munroe (Roberts) is keeping Garza in power as a figurehead for his own profiteering operations. With his two deadly bodyguards Dan Paine (Austin) and The Brit (Daniels), they become a major obstacle in the way of The Expendables. Later that year, he appeared with Steve Austin and Gary Daniels, his co-stars from The Expendables, in the 2010 action film Hunt to Kill. In October 2010, he played the major role in the American family movie First Dog, which received positive reviews. December 2010 saw the premiere of the fourth season of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, which documented Roberts' struggle with dependency on medical marijuana.

In 2011, he guest-starred in USA Network's Burn Notice season 5 finale ("Fail Safe") as an "off the books" spy recruiter. In parallel, the same year, he was acting in the drama and family film Shannon's Rainbow, based on Mowod's own experiences seeing his brother rehabilitate an injured horse and win a championship horse race. He was also starred in the multi-awarded independent film Silver Case. For this film, Eric Roberts won the award for Indie Fest Award - Award of Excellence - Lead Actor. Later, this year, he was acted in the horror comedy anthology film Chillerama, consisting of four stories,which each segment is a homage to a different genre and style. The movie is acclamed by critics and become cult.

Roberts starred in the 2012 mystery thriller Deadline, playing the role of politically incorrect reporter Ronnie Bullock. He was acted in the horror film Snow White: A Deadly Summer, directed by David DeCoteau. He is featured as Uncle Shadrack, head of a Romani family, in 2012's The Finder on FOX. He had a recurring role in the TV series The Finder as a gypsy who had the title of king among a gypsy community in southern Florida. The same year, he was starred in the catastrophe movie The Mark. He was also appeared in the Christmas comedy film Christmas in Compton, starring Keith David and Omar Gooding, which received positives reviews.

On February 18, 2013, he was featured in independent children's film A Talking Cat!?!, directed by David DeCoteau. In 2013, he had a small role in the film Lovelace, a biopic film about adult film actress Linda Lovelace. The film had its world premiere on January 22, 2013, at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and opened in a U.S. limited release on August 9, 2013. The same year, he was starred in the movie Pop Star, including the actors Christian Serratos, Robert Adamson, Ross Thomas and Rachele Brooke Smith. He had also in the drama film Before I Sleep, which received good critics and premiered in competition at the Heartland Film Festival on October 19, 2013. On October 1, 2013, he was a supporting role in the Christmas movie So This Christmas, alongside Vivica A. Fox. The movie received favorables review and Eric Roberts received a nomination in the Bonehead Award for the best actor. On November 1, 2013, he had a major role in the thriller drama film Assumed Killer, starring and produced by Casper Van Dien. The movie received good review and had the film two stars out of five. On November 24, 2013, he had voiced in the short animated movie Dante's Hell Animated.

In 2014, he was starred in neo-noir period comedy-drama film Inherent Vice, including Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson, Katherine Waterston, Reese Witherspoon, Benicio del Toro, Jena Malone, Joanna Newsom, Jeannie Berlin, Maya Rudolph, Michael K. Williams and Martin Short. Inherent Vice premiered at the New York Film Festival on October 4, 2014, and began a limited theatrical release in the United States on December 12, 2014. Critical reception was divided; while some argued the film had a convoluted plot and lacked coherence, others praised the cast, particularly Brolin, Phoenix and Waterston. The film was nominated for a number of awards, including two Academy Awards and a Best Actor Golden Globe Award for Phoenix. The National Board of Review named it one of the ten best films of the year. Some critics have said that Inherent Vice has the makings of a cult film. In 2016, it was voted the 75th best film since 2000 in an international critics' poll. The drama film Starcrossed, co-starring Mischa Barton, premiered at the San Diego International Film Festival on 28 September 2014. This was followed by a limited theatrical release in Los Angeles in May 2016. He had also a role in the small-budget indie film The Opposite Sex, starring Kristin Chenoweth, Mena Suvari, Jennifer Finnigan, and Geoff Stults, which received favorable reviews.

Between 2014, through 2015 Roberts played the recurring character Charles Forstman in the TV legal drama Suits.

In 2015, he appeared in season 5 of Lost Girl, a Canadian TV show on Showcase, as the main character, Bo's, father. In 2015 he appeared in the Rihanna video "Bitch Better Have My Money" and in Chris Cornell's video for "Nearly Forgot My Broken Heart."

The Nigerian comedy drama movie A Trip to Jamaica, starring Eric Roberts, Ayo Makun, Funke Akindele, Nse Ikpe Etim and Dan Davies, had its worldwide premiere on September 25, 2016 in Lagos State. In November 2016, the film was reported to have grossed 168 million naira, breaking the previous record set by 30 Days in Atlanta. It also broke records for the first film to hit 35 million in first weekend, the first film to hit 62 million in its first week, the fastest film to gross 100 million (17 days) and the fastest film to gross 150 million (six weeks). It opened at the Odeon Cinemas in London in December 2016 and became the highest-grossing film that weekend in London while also becoming the highest per screen average film in the UK during its limited run. It won the Africa Entertainment Legends Award (AELA) for Best Cinema Film of 2016 and received four nominations at the 2017 Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards, including categories for best actress in a comedy, best writer, best movie (West Africa) and best actor in a comedy. The award show was held in March 2017 in Lagos State. The same year, Roberts featured in season 4 of the hit American TV show Brooklyn Nine-Nine in which Roberts portrayed the character, Jimmy Figgis.

In 2017, he had a major role in the horror thriller film The Institute, alongside James Franco and Pamela Anderson.

Roberts is a Ficore member of SAG AFTRA and works on union as well as non-union projects.

In 2018, he appeared in the third series of UK Channel4 reality show "Celebrity Island with Bear Grylls" where he completed the 4 weeks on the island. The same year, he also featured in the video of Enrique Iglesias' latest track "El Baño" as a bartender. He had a role in the drama film Papa, alongside Robert Scott Wilson, Paul Sorvino, Daryl Hannah, Mischa Barton, Frankie Avalon, Ann-Margret, Michael Madsen, which received favorables reviews. On 30, November, 2018, he had acted in the movie Head Full of Honey, starring Matt Dillon.

In 2019, he had a cameo role in the movie Surge of Dawn, alongside Shannon Farnon, Nichelle Nichols and Lou Ferrigno. He was starred in the crime thriller drama Night Walk, starring Mickey Rourke. He had a major role in the action movie The Reliant, alongside Kevin Sorbo. He also appears on the sci-fi movie The Immortal Wars: Resurgence. He was acted in the crime/thriller 90 Feet From Home, including Dean Cain. He was also a supporting role in the family movie A Karate Christmas Miracle.

Since the 1970s, he is the only actor in history to have more than 561 credits (blockbusters, independent films, animated films, TV series, animated series, short films and student films). It makes him a Hollywood legend.

Roberts's daughter Emma Roberts, with his then-girlfriend Kelly Cunningham, was born on February 10, 1991. Emma eventually became an actress as well, making her major-film debut at age 10 in the 2001 drama Blow.

On January 12, 2001, Roberts visited The Howard Stern Radio Show with his wife, actress Eliza (daughter of David Rayfiel and Lila Garrett) during a segment called "The Gossip Game" with Mike Walker of the National Enquirer. He confirmed that he and Julia had been estranged for several years. The source of the estrangement had been his past drug abuse and her siding with his ex-girlfriend over the custody of his daughter. In 2004, he told People magazine that he and his sister reconciled when he visited her in the hospital after she gave birth to twins.

Roberts is a vegan and supporter of animal rights.

Arrests and drug problems

In 1987, Roberts was arrested for possession of cocaine and marijuana, and resisting arrest after he tried to assault a New York police officer. He spent 36 hours in jail, pleaded guilty to harassment, and had all other charges dropped.

In February 1995, Roberts was arrested for shoving his wife, Eliza, into a wall. He subsequently announced that he was giving up drug use entirely.

In 2010, Roberts appeared as a cast member in the fourth season of the VH1 reality television series Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew for dependency on medical marijuana. His wife Eliza and his stepson Keaton Simons appeared in episode 6 to discuss the effects of his addiction on their lives.