William Edward Fichtner (born November 27, 1956) is an American actor. He is known for his television roles as Sheriff Tom Underlay on ''

Invasion An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing ...

'', Alexander Mahone on ''

Prison Break ''Prison Break'' is an American serial drama television series created by Paul Scheuring for Fox. The series revolves around two brothers, Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell) and Michael Scofield ( Wentworth Miller); Burrows has been sentenced ...

'', Carl Hickman on '' Crossing Lines'', and Adam Janikowski on ''

Mom ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of gestati ...

''. His film appearances include '' Heat (1995 film), Heat'', ''

Contact Contact may refer to: Interaction Physical interaction * Contact (geology), a common geological feature * Contact lens or contact, a lens placed on the eye * Contact sport, a sport in which players make contact with other players or objects * C ...

'', ''

Armageddon According to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Christian Bible, Armageddon (, from grc, Ἁρμαγεδών ''Harmagedōn'', Late Latin: , from Hebrew: ''Har Məgīddō'') is the prophesied location of a gathering of armies ...

'', '' The Perfect Storm'', '' Go'', ''

Crash Crash or CRASH may refer to: Common meanings * Collision, an impact between two or more objects * Crash (computing), a condition where a program ceases to respond * Cardiac arrest, a medical condition in which the heart stops beating * Couch ...

'', '' Black Hawk Down'', and ''

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' is an American media franchise created by the comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael, four anthropomorphic turtle brothers (named after It ...

''.

Early life

Fichtner was born on Mitchel Air Force Base on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18 ...

and raised in Cheektowaga, New York, a suburb of Buffalo. He is the son of Patricia A. (née Steitz) and William Frederick Fichtner. He has German ancestry. He graduated from Maryvale High School in 1974. After graduating from

Farmingdale State College The State University of New York at Farmingdale (Farmingdale State College or SUNY Farmingdale) is a public college in East Farmingdale, New York. It is part of the State University of New York. The college was chartered in 1912 as a school of ...

in 1976 with an associate degree in criminal justice, he attended the College at Brockport, State University of New York and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in

criminal justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other ...

in 1978. He then studied at the

American Academy of Dramatic Arts The American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) is a private performing arts conservatory with two locations, one in Manhattan and one in Los Angeles. The academy offers an associate degree in occupational studies and teaches drama and related art ...

in New York. On May 18, 2008, Fichtner received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Farmingdale State College. In his acceptance address, he credited Farmingdale admissions counselor Don Harvey with his decision to study acting. Harvey, who became a lifelong friend, took Fichtner to his first

Broadway show Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...

Career

Fichtner began his acting career as Josh Snyder in ''

As the World Turns ''As the World Turns'' (often abbreviated as ''ATWT'') is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS for 54 years from April 2, 1956, to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created ''As the World Turns'' as a sister show to her other s ...

'' in 1987. He has since appeared in the films ''

'', '' Heat (1995 film), Heat'', ''

'', '' Go'', '' Equilibrium'', '' Black Hawk Down'', '' The Perfect Storm'', '' The Longest Yard'', ''

'', ''

Ultraviolet Ultraviolet (UV) is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelength from 10 nm (with a corresponding frequency around 30 PHz) to 400 nm (750 THz), shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation ...

'', '' Drive Angry'' and ''

The Dark Knight ''The Dark Knight'' is a 2008 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan from a screenplay he co-wrote with his brother Jonathan Nolan, Jonathan. Based on the DC Comics superhero, Batman, it is the sequel to ''Batman Begins'' (2005) and t ...

''. Mainly a

character actor A character actor is a supporting actor who plays unusual, interesting, or eccentric characters.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrieved 7 August 2014, "..a breed of actor who has the ability to b ...

, one of his few leading roles is in '' Passion of Mind'', also starring

Demi Moore Demi Gene Moore ( ; née Guynes; born November 11, 1962) is an American actress. After making her film debut in 1981, Moore appeared on the soap opera '' General Hospital'' (1982–1984) and subsequently gained recognition as a member of the Br ...

and

Stellan Skarsgård Stellan Skarsgård (, ; born 13 June 1951) is a Swedish actor. He is known for his collaborations with director Lars von Trier appearing in ''Breaking the Waves'' (1996), ''Dancer in the Dark'' (2000), '' Dogville'' (2007), ''Melancholia'' (201 ...

. His role in ''Crash'' won him a

Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture The Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast (or Ensemble) in a Motion Picture is an award given by the Screen Actors Guild to honor the finest acting achievements in film. Winners and nominees : 1990s 2000s 2010s 2 ...

award and a Best Acting Ensemble award from Broadcast Film Critics Choice. He appeared in the CBS sitcom ''

'' from 2015 to 2021. William fichtner

Credited as Bill Fichtner, he voiced List of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City characters#Ken Rosenberg, Ken Rosenberg in the video games '' Grand Theft Auto: Vice City'' and '' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas''. Between 2005 and 2006, he also starred in the sci-fi TV series ''

'' as Sheriff Tom Underlay. After ''Invasion'' was canceled, he played ruthless FBI Agent Alexander Mahone in three seasons of ''

'' (2006–2009). In 2009, he co-presented the Vezina Trophy (for goal tending) at the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

awards show. He later guest starred as judge Christopher Mulready in ''

The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American serial political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the West Wing of the White Hous ...

'' episode "The Supremes." He also had a role as the Gotham National Bank manager in the feature film ''

'' and as Jurgen in '' Equilibrium''. In June 2009, Fichtner had a recurring role as TV producer Phil Yagoda on '' Entourage''. He also voiced Master Sergeant Sandman in the 2011 video game '' Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3''. He also played Eric Sacks in ''

'' (2014).

Personal life

Fichtner is a fan of the NFL team the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division ...

, and appeared in a commercial for them before the 2014 season. He narrated the

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

30 for 30 ''30 for 30'' is the title for a series of documentary films airing on ESPN, its sister networks, and online highlighting interesting people and events in sports history. This includes three "volumes" of 30 episodes each, a 13-episode series un ...

documentary ''

Four Falls of Buffalo ''Four Falls of Buffalo'' is a 2015 documentary film produced for ESPN's ''30 for 30'' series and directed by Ken Rodgers of NFL Films. The film profiles the Buffalo Bills teams of the early 1990s, when the franchise became the first team to pla ...

'', chronicling their four consecutive

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the gam ...

appearances from

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicis ...

– 93. He is a close friend of his ''Black Hawk Down'' co-stars

Kim Coates Kim F. Coates (born February 21, 1958) is a Canadian–American actor who has worked in both Canadian and American films and television series. He has worked on Broadway portraying Stanley Kowalski in ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' and in the lead ...

and Eric Bana.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

External links

*
"Random Roles: William Fichtner"
at '' The A.V. Club'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Fichtner, William Living people 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors American Academy of Dramatic Arts alumni American male film actors American male soap opera actors American male television actors American male voice actors American male video game actors American people of German descent Farmingdale State College alumni Male actors from New York (state) Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners People from Cheektowaga, New York State University of New York at Brockport alumni 1956 births