Powers Boothe, the prolific character actor who frequently specialised in playing villains, has died. He was 68. His friend and fellow actor, Beau Bridges, announced the news, describing Boothe as a “friend, great actor, devoted father & husband”.
A native of Texas, Boothe’s first high-profile role came in the TV movie Guyana Tragedy: The Story Of Jim Jones, in which Boothe played the infamous cult leader. He won an Emmy for the role and gained national attention in the US, starting a trend for playing dark or morally ambiguous characters.
He skulked on the sidelines of numerous films during the 1980s and 1990s, making memorable appearances in the likes of Tombstone, Blue Sky, Sudden Death, and Extreme Prejudice.
It was the latter which won Boothe a fan in the form of director Robert Rodriguez, who cast him in Sin City and its sequel A Dame To Kill For as the corrupt politician Senator Roark.
Boothe also enjoyed a prolific career on the small screen, starring as the title character on Philip Marlowe, Private Eye, as Al Swearengen’s rival Cy Tolliver in Deadwood, as President Noah Daniels in 24, and as Lamar Wyatt in Nashville. After a shadowy appearance in Joss Whedon’s Avengers Assemble, he graduated to the TV spin-off in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
In a career spanning five decades, Booth clocked up almost 70 credits across film, television and stage. He even found room to parody his own character type, as Colonel Jim Faith in action movie spoof MacGruber.
He is survived by his wife and college sweetheart Pam, to whom he was married for nearly 50 years; and his two children.