Gary Poulter (September 16, 1959 - February 19, 2013) was an American street performer and actor known for his lead role alongside

Nicolas Cage Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. Born into the Coppola family, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Gu ...

in David Gordon Green's 2013 film ''

Joe Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971 * ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...

''. Poulter was homeless, living on the streets of Austin, Texas when he was cast in the role of Wade, the abusive alcoholic father of Gary, played by

Tye Sheridan Tye Kayle Sheridan (born November 11, 1996) is an American actor and producer. He is best known for playing the young Scott Summers / Cyclops in the reboot ''X-Men'' film series (2016–2019), as well as Wade Watts in ''Ready Player One'' (2 ...

Early life

Poulter grew up in

Upland, California Upland is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States on the border with neighboring Los Angeles County. The municipality is located at an elevation of 1,242 feet (379 m). As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 79,040 ...

. At 17, he joined the Navy and served on a ship in Japan. He went AWOL for years in Japan and ultimately was court-martialed in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, whereupon he received a

dishonorable discharge A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve. Each country's military has different types of discharge. They are generally based on whether the persons completed their training and the ...

Film role

In 2012, Poulter was recruited from the streets of Austin to play the third lead, "Wade", in the film ''Joe'', which became his sole film performance, although he worked as a background extra in 1987 in the TV series ''

Thirtysomething ''Thirtysomething'' is an American drama television series created by Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz for United Artists Television (under MGM/UA Television) and aired on ABC from September 29, 1987, to May 28, 1991."The 'don't trust anyo ...

''. Shortly before landing the film role, Poulter worked for a traveling carnival, but he was left naked on the side of the road after he was caught stealing money.

Reviews

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' summed up Poulter's performance in its movie review, writing, "In his only screen role, he offers an utterly compelling portrait of a man so consumed by self-loathing that he will go to extreme lengths to destroy the life of his son." Movie critic Peter Sobczynski in his review for RogerEbert.com described Poulter's film debut as a "stunning performance" and "one of the great one-shot performances in the history of the cinema."

Award

The

Austin Film Critics Association The Austin Film Critics Association (AFCA) is an organization of professional film critics from Austin, Texas. Each year, the AFCA votes on their end-of-year awards for films released in the same calendar year. A special award, the Austin Film ...

gave Poulter the Special Honorary Award in 2014 for his performance in ''Joe''.

Death

Before the film's release, Poulter was found dead on February 10, 2013, at the edge of

Lady Bird Lake Lady Bird Lake (formerly, and still colloquially referred to as Town Lake) is a river-like reservoir on the Colorado River in Austin, Texas, United States. The City of Austin created the reservoir in 1960 as a cooling pond for a new city power p ...

, a river-like reservoir in Austin, Texas. His death was ruled a result of drowning with acute ethanol intoxication, as determined by a medical examiner. Director Green dedicated the film ''Joe'' to Poulter.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Poulter, Gary 1959 births 2013 deaths People from Upland, California Male actors from Austin, Texas Male actors from California Homeless people