James Spader

James Todd Spader was born on February 7, 1960, and is recognized as a critically acclaimed American actor. He began his career in independent films before transitioning onto television where he has received numerous accolades. This includes 3 Primetime Emmy Awards, nominations for 3 Golden Globe Awards and 10 Screen Actors Guild Awards. Spader is known for his eccentric and complex characters. He started his acting career in youth-oriented films such as Tuff Turf, The New Kids, Pretty in Pink, and Mannequin. He achieved a breakthrough role in the Steven Soderbergh drama Sex, Lies, and Videotape, earning him the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor. After this, he featured in a variety of films and took on supporting roles in Bob Roberts, Wolf, Lincoln, The Homesman, and played Ultron in Avengers: Age of Ultron. His television roles include the attorney Alan Shore in The Practice and its spin-off Boston Legal. The latter earned him the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series three times. He is also known for playing Robert California in the sitcom The Office and Raymond Reddington in the NBC crime thriller The Blacklist, which earned him two Golden Globe Award nominations.

Spader was born in Boston as the youngest of three children with his parents both being teachers. At age 17, he moved to New York City to pursue a career in acting. Before breaking into the acting industry, he undertook jobs including bartending, teaching yoga, and being a stable boy. Following a series of film roles in the '80s, his performance in the film Sex, Lies, and Videotape catapulted his career and earned him the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival. His television career soared with the series Boston Legal where he played Alan Shore and won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series multiple times. Despite initial resistance to casting him in The Practice, Spader proved his talent by winning an Emmy Award for the same character in two different series. His narrative work stretched to Discovery Channel's documentary series Discovery Atlas and he worked on Broadway for the play Race. In 2013, he starred in the series The Blacklist as Raymond Reddington, one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives. Outside of acting, Spader has been open about his obsessive-compulsive disorder.