Stephen Railsback is an American theatre, film, and television actor. He is best known for his performances in the films ''

The Stunt Man ''The Stunt Man'' is a 1980 American action comedy film directed by Richard Rush, starring Peter O'Toole, Steve Railsback, and Barbara Hershey. The film was adapted by Lawrence B. Marcus and Rush from the 1970 novel of the same name by Paul Brod ...

'' and ''Lifeforce'', and his portrayal of

Charles Manson Charles Milles Manson (; November 12, 1934November 19, 2017) was an American criminal and musician who led the Manson Family, a cult based in California, in the late 1960s. Some of the members committed a series of nine murders at four loca ...

in the 1976 television mini-series '' Helter Skelter''.

Career

Railsback was a student of

Lee Strasberg Lee Strasberg (born Israel Strassberg; November 17, 1901 – February 17, 1982) was an American theatre director, actor and acting teacher. He co-founded, with theatre directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre in 1931 ...

and the

Actors Studio The Actors Studio is a membership organization for professional actors, theatre directors and playwrights at 432 West 44th Street between Ninth and Tenth avenues in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded ...

and in the late 1960s and early 1970s spent 10 years working in

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He once said that he found Strasberg extremely difficult to work with. He made his film debut in '' The Visitors'', directed by

Elia Kazan Elia Kazan (; born Elias Kazantzoglou ( el, Ηλίας Καζαντζόγλου); September 7, 1909 – September 28, 2003) was an American film and theatre director, producer, screenwriter and actor, described by ''The New York Times'' as "one o ...

. He portrayed two notorious murderers, appearing as

in the 1976 television

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

'' Helter Skelter'' and as

Ed Gein Edward Theodore Gein (; August 27, 1906 – July 26, 1984), also known as the Butcher of Plainfield or the Plainfield Ghoul, was an American murderer and body snatcher. Gein's crimes, committed around his hometown of Plainfield, Wisconsin, ga ...

in the 2000 film ''

In the Light of the Moon ''In the Light of the Moon'' (also known as ''Ed Gein'') is a 2000 crime horror film directed by Chuck Parello, and written by Stephen Johnston. It is based on the crimes of Ed Gein, an American murderer who killed at least two women in Plainfiel ...

''. He also served as executive producer of the latter film. Other notable roles include the part of Cameron in ''

'' with

Peter O'Toole Peter Seamus O'Toole (; 2 August 1932 – 14 December 2013) was a British stage and film actor. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and began working in the theatre, gaining recognition as a Shakespearean actor at the Bristol Old Vic ...

, the astronaut Tom Carlsen in Tobe Hooper's '' Lifeforce,''

Duane Barry "Duane Barry" is the fifth episode of the second season and 29th episode overall of the science fiction television series ''The X-Files'', premiering in the United States and Canada on October 14, 1994. The episode was written and directed by exe ...

in two episodes of ''

The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation ...

'', and Joseph Welch in the pilot episode of ''

Supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

''. In 2008, he appeared in the

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

horror movie Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, ap ...

film ''

Plaguers ''Plaguers'' is a 2008 American science-fiction horror film written and directed by Brad Sykes and featuring Steve Railsback. Plot Tarver (Steve Railsback) is a crew member on board ''Pandora'', a freight transport carrier headed toward Earth with ...

''.Plaguers DVD Art and Specs
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Filmography

References

External links

* * * Living people American male film actors American male television actors Male actors from Dallas 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-screen-actor-1940s-stub