James Brolin With a long, extensive, and impressive filmography that stems back a good forty-five years, one can say an actor is truly a veteran in his field. Such is the case with James Brolin. The sixty-something tall (he’s well over six feet), white-haired, and handsome Brolin is a noted film and television actor, as well as a talented director and producer. He is most famous for his starring roles in three major television series throughout his career: as assistant Dr. Steven Kiley on Marcus Welby, M.D., opposite Robert Young as Dr. Welby, from 1969 to 1976; as Peter McDermott on Aaron Spelling’s hit Hotel, from 1983 to 1988, with a core cast of Connie Sellecca, Nathan Cook, and Shari Belafonte; and as Lt. Col. Bill “Raven” Kelly on Pensacola: Wings of Gold, from 1997 to 2000, alongside Sandra Hess, Michael Trucco, Barbara Niven, and Kenny Johnson. Brolin is also known for his family life, and in particular, his marriages. He has been married three time and he has three children. Brolin first married in 1966, to aspiring actress Jane Cameron Agee, with whom he had two sons. One of his sons is Josh Brolin, a noted actor who starred as big brother Brand Walsh in 1985’s The Goonies, and is married to Diane Lane. James Brolin and Agee divorced in 1984, and Agee died in a car accident eleven years later. Two years after his first divorce, Brolin married Jan Smithers, an actress he met on the set of Hotel, but the marriage collapsed after nine years. Brolin had a daughter with Smithers and he is currently married to famed songstress and actress Barbara Streisand, with whom he tied the knot in 1998.
Brolin was born on July 18, 1940, in Los Angeles, California. As a child, Brolin was interested in airplanes as his father was an aeronautical engineer, but as a movie-going teen he became intrigued with famous actor James Dean, and later befriended Ryan O’Neal, who, along with Brolin’s parents, encouraged him to pursue acting. In the beginning of his career, Brolin took guest roles, recurring guest roles, and small roles on a number of TV series, most notably the short-lived The Monroes, alongside Michael Anderson Jr. and Barbara Hershey. Another notable role he had was in Batman, with Adam West as Batman, Burt Ward, and Neil Hamilton. Brolin accepted a contract with 20th Century Fox and struggled for a breakthrough role around the time he met actor Clint Eastwood, ten years his senior, but he was fired from Fox after little success. Brolin transferred to Universal Studios, and soon after, he landed the role of Dr. Kiley on Marcus Welby, M.D., which gave Brolin the push he needed into acting stardom, and also garnered him a number of Emmy and Golden Globe award nominations and wins. Brolin also began appearing and starring in a number of films, such as Skyjacked in 1972, with Charlton Heston; Gable and Lombard in 1976, in which he played Clark Gable; Capricorn One in 1978, with Elliot Gould; and The Amityville Horror in 1979, opposite Margot Kidder, who played Lois Lane opposite Christopher Reeve’s Clark Kent/Superman. Brolin also became known for almost taking over the role of James Bond from Roger Moore, before Moore decided to keep it for himself.
After his success with Hotel and Pensacola, Brolin enjoyed a recurring role as Governor Robert Ritchie on The West Wing, which starred Martin Sheen. He also starred as Ronald Reagan in the TV film The Reagans, as well as alongside Jason Lee, Selma Blair, and Julia Stiles in A Guy Thing in 2003. YUDDY |
