James Todd Spader (born February 7, 1960) is an American actor and
producer. He has portrayed eccentric characters in films such as the
drama Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989), the action science fiction film
Stargate (1994), the controversial psychological thriller Crash
(1996), the erotic romance Secretary (2002) and Steven Spielberg's
Lincoln (2012). In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he played the
titular character of Ultron in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), which
he portrayed through voice and motion capture.His television roles
include those of attorney Alan Shore in The Practice (1997â€"2004) and
its spin-off Boston Legal (2004â€"2008) (for which he won three Emmy
Awards), and Robert California in the comedy-mockumentary The Office
(2005â€"2013). He also stars as high-profile
criminal-turned-FBI-informant Raymond "Red" Reddington in the NBC
crime drama The Blacklist, (2013â€"present) for which he has earned
two Golden Globe Award nominations.Spader was born in Boston,
Massachusetts, and is the youngest of three children. His parents,
Jean (née Fraser) and Stoddard ("Todd") Greenwood Spader, were both
teachers. Spader grew up in a liberal and progressive home surrounded
by "dominant and influential women...that left a great impression".
During his early education, he attended multiple private schools,
including The Pike School, where his mother taught art, and the Brooks
School in North Andover, Massachusetts, where his father taught. He
later transferred to Phillips Academy, where he befriended former
President's son John F. Kennedy, Jr., before dropping out at the age
of seventeen and moving to New York City to pursue his acting career.
On his way to becoming a full-time actor, Spader undertook jobs such
as bartending, teaching yoga, driving a meat truck, loading railroad
cars, and being a stable boy.Spader's first major film role was in the
film Endless Love (1981), and his first starring role was in Tuff Turf
(1985). He rose to stardom in 1986, when he played the rich, arrogant
playboy Steff in Pretty in Pink. He co-starred in Mannequin (1987) and
the film adaptation of Less Than Zero (1987), in which he played a
drug dealer named Rip. Supporting roles in films such as Baby Boom
(1987) and Wall Street (1987) followed until his breakthrough in Sex,
Lies, and Videotape (1989), in which he played a sexual voyeur who
complicates the lives of three Baton Rouge, Louisiana residents. For
this performance, he received the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film
Festival.
producer. He has portrayed eccentric characters in films such as the
drama Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989), the action science fiction film
Stargate (1994), the controversial psychological thriller Crash
(1996), the erotic romance Secretary (2002) and Steven Spielberg's
Lincoln (2012). In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he played the
titular character of Ultron in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), which
he portrayed through voice and motion capture.His television roles
include those of attorney Alan Shore in The Practice (1997â€"2004) and
its spin-off Boston Legal (2004â€"2008) (for which he won three Emmy
Awards), and Robert California in the comedy-mockumentary The Office
(2005â€"2013). He also stars as high-profile
criminal-turned-FBI-informant Raymond "Red" Reddington in the NBC
crime drama The Blacklist, (2013â€"present) for which he has earned
two Golden Globe Award nominations.Spader was born in Boston,
Massachusetts, and is the youngest of three children. His parents,
Jean (née Fraser) and Stoddard ("Todd") Greenwood Spader, were both
teachers. Spader grew up in a liberal and progressive home surrounded
by "dominant and influential women...that left a great impression".
During his early education, he attended multiple private schools,
including The Pike School, where his mother taught art, and the Brooks
School in North Andover, Massachusetts, where his father taught. He
later transferred to Phillips Academy, where he befriended former
President's son John F. Kennedy, Jr., before dropping out at the age
of seventeen and moving to New York City to pursue his acting career.
On his way to becoming a full-time actor, Spader undertook jobs such
as bartending, teaching yoga, driving a meat truck, loading railroad
cars, and being a stable boy.Spader's first major film role was in the
film Endless Love (1981), and his first starring role was in Tuff Turf
(1985). He rose to stardom in 1986, when he played the rich, arrogant
playboy Steff in Pretty in Pink. He co-starred in Mannequin (1987) and
the film adaptation of Less Than Zero (1987), in which he played a
drug dealer named Rip. Supporting roles in films such as Baby Boom
(1987) and Wall Street (1987) followed until his breakthrough in Sex,
Lies, and Videotape (1989), in which he played a sexual voyeur who
complicates the lives of three Baton Rouge, Louisiana residents. For
this performance, he received the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film
Festival.
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