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 the only non-UK actor to play as The Master in the 1996 Doctor Who
television movie.Roberts was born in Biloxi, Mississippi, to Betty Lou
Bredemus (1934â€"2015) and Walter Grady Roberts (1933â€"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 she was expecting a child that was to
be Julia Roberts. 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.
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 the only non-UK actor to play as The Master in the 1996 Doctor Who
television movie.Roberts was born in Biloxi, Mississippi, to Betty Lou
Bredemus (1934â€"2015) and Walter Grady Roberts (1933â€"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 she was expecting a child that was to
be Julia Roberts. 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.
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