James Howard Woods is an American actor. Known for fast-talking intense roles on screen and stage, he has received numerous accolades, including three Emmy Awards, and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for two Academy Awards and three Screen Actors Guild Awards. He started his career in minor roles on and off-Broadway before making his Broadway debut in The Penny Wars (1969), followed by Borstal Boy (1970), The Trial of the Catonsville Nine (1971) and Moonchildren (1972). Woods' early film roles include The Visitors (1972), The Way We Were (1973) and Night Moves (1975). He starred in the NBC miniseries Holocaust (1978) opposite Meryl Streep.
Woods was born on April 18, 1947, in Vernal, Utah, and had a brother ten years younger. His father, Gail Peyton Woods, was a United States Army intelligence officer who died in 1960 after routine surgery. His mother, Martha A. (née Smith), ran a pre-school after her husband's death and later married Thomas E. Dixon. Woods grew up in Warwick, Rhode Island, where he attended Pilgrim High School, from which he graduated in 1965. He is of part Irish descent and was raised Catholic, briefly serving as an altar boy.
Woods was an undergraduate at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He stated on Inside the Actors Studio that he originally intended to become an eye surgeon. He pledged the Theta Delta Chi fraternity and was a member of the student theatre group Dramashop, acting in and directing a number of plays. He dropped out of MIT in 1969, one semester before graduating, to pursue an acting career.
Woods has said that he owes his acting career to Tim Affleck, father of actors Ben and Casey Affleck, who was a stage manager at the Theatre Company of Boston, which Woods attended as a student.
| Date of Birth | 18th April 1947 |
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| Age | 77 Years |
| Zodiac Sign | Aries |
| Country | United States of America |
| Current City | Vernal |
| Birth Place | Vernal |
| Religion | Catholic Church |
| Nationality | United States of America |
| Citizenship | United States of America |
| Language | English |
| Reference | IMDB |
| Education |
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| Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Pilgrim High School, Warwick Veterans High School |
| Occupation | actor, poker player |
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| Awards |
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