Stephen Lang

Stephen Lang is an American stage and screen actor born on July 11, 1952, in New York City. The youngest child of Theresa Lang and Eugene Lang, a prominent entrepreneur and philanthropist, he grew up in Jamaica Estates, Queens, and attended George School, a Quaker boarding school in Newtown, Pennsylvania, graduating a year early in 1969. He earned a degree in English Literature from Swarthmore College in 1973, which later awarded him an honorary degree in 2010. His mother was of German and Irish Catholic descent, and his father was Jewish, with paternal grandparents who emigrated from Hungary and Russia. Lang was raised Jewish. He has two older siblings: Jane, an attorney and activist, and David, who served as an executive at REFAC, the company their father founded.

Lang's Broadway career spans from 1975 to 1998 and encompasses a range of significant productions. He played Happy Loman in the 1984 Broadway revival of Death of a Salesman, alongside Dustin Hoffman as Willy Loman, and reprised the role in the 1985 television film adaptation. He was the first actor to portray Colonel Nathan Jessup in A Few Good Men on Broadway, a role later made famous on film by Jack Nicholson. In 1992, Lang played the title role in a Broadway production of Hamlet and appeared in The Speed of Darkness, for which he received a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play in 1991. He also appeared in Wait Until Dark during his Broadway tenure.

Beyond his Broadway work, Lang developed a substantial body of theatrical achievement in other venues. He performed Beyond Glory, a one-man show, at Chicago's Goodman Theatre and later brought it to Roundabout's Off-Broadway Laura Pels Theatre in 2007 following its premiere in Arlington, Virginia, in 2004. The production earned him nominations for a Drama Desk Award and a Lucille Lortel Award for outstanding solo performance, as well as a Helen Hayes Award. In 2006, he appeared in John Patrick Shanley's play Defiance as Colonel Littlefield. He also performed Beyond Glory for troops deployed overseas. From 2004 to 2006, Lang served as co-artistic director of the Actors Studio. Shortly before Arthur Miller's death in February 2005, Lang appeared in Miller's final play, Finishing the Picture, which premiered at the Goodman Theatre in 2004.

Lang's film career began with his appearance in Michael Mann's Manhunter in 1986, in which he played reporter Freddy Lounds in the first cinematic adaptation featuring Hannibal Lecter. His performance in Last Exit to Brooklyn in 1989 earned widespread critical acclaim despite the film's limited release. He played Major General George E. Pickett in Gettysburg in 1993 and the lead role of Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson in the prequel Gods and Generals in 2003, both directed by Ronald F. Maxwell. His interest in the Civil War led him to perform at symposia of The Lincoln Forum, which presented him with its Richard Nelson Current Award of Achievement in 2020. He also narrated the audio tour of the Gettysburg Battlefield and the companion public television documentary The Gettysburg Story, presented by Maryland Public Television.

Lang achieved widespread international recognition for his portrayal of the villainous Colonel Miles Quaritch in James Cameron's Avatar in 2009, a role for which he won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor. He reprised the role in the film's sequels. Also in 2009, he appeared in Michael Mann's Public Enemies as FBI Agent Charles Winstead and in Grant Heslov's The Men Who Stare at Goats alongside Jeff Bridges, Kevin Spacey, Ewan McGregor, and George Clooney. Subsequent film roles include the villain Khalar Zym in the 2011 Conan the Barbarian reboot, Colonel Abraham Biggs in Scott Cooper's Hostiles in 2017, Linden Braven in the action thriller Braven in 2018, and Shrike in Mortal Engines, produced by Peter Jackson. He played the lead role in Don't Breathe in 2016 and reprised it in Don't Breathe 2 in 2021. Recent projects include the Amazon Studios historical series House of David, the boxing drama The Featherweight, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival, and Avenue of the Giants, for which he won the Best Actor Prize at the Sedona International Film Festival.

Lang's television credits include the role of Commander Nathaniel Taylor in the Steven Spielberg-produced series Terra Nova in 2011, Waldo in AMC's Into the Badlands from 2015 to 2018, and David Cord in The Good Fight in 2021. He played attorney David Abrams in Crime Story from 1986 to 1988 and the title role in the NBC film Babe Ruth in 1991. He also appeared in the 2000 Broadway revival of The Fugitive as the "One Armed Man." His television work further includes a recurring role as Increase Mather on WGN America's Salem and a guest appearance in Law and Order: Criminal Intent.

Lang has been married to Kristina Watson since 1980, and together they have four children, including New York State Inspector General Lucy Lang. He is trained in Kyokushin karate and has practiced Bikram Yoga since 2010.