Eric Roberts

Eric Anthony Roberts (born April 18, 1956) is an American actor.

In a career spanning over 50 years, Roberts has amassed more than 700 credits and appeared in blockbusters, independent films, television series, animation, short films, and student films.

Eric Anthony Roberts was born in Biloxi, Mississippi, on April 18, 1956, to Betty Lou Bredemus and Walter Grady Roberts, one-time actors and playwrights, who met while touring with a production of George Washington Slept Here for the armed forces.

In 1963, they co-founded the Atlanta Actors and Writers Workshop in Atlanta off Juniper Street in Midtown.

They ran a children's acting school in Decatur, Georgia.

Roberts' mother became a church secretary and real estate agent, and his father was a vacuum cleaner salesman.

In 1971, Roberts' parents filed for divorce, which was finalized in early 1972.

In 1972, their mother married Michael Motes.

He made his acting debut earlier in 1974 in the soap opera How to Survive a Marriage.

He stayed with his father, who died of cancer in March 1977, in Atlanta.

After the divorce, his sisters moved with their mother to Smyrna, a suburb of Atlanta.

Roberts got his start on the now-defunct NBC daytime soap opera Another World originating the role of Ted Bancroft from February 14 to June 17, 1977.

Roberts' career began with a leading role in King of the Gypsies (1978) for which he received his first Golden Globe Award nomination.

Roberts received Golden Globe Award nominations for his early starring roles in King of the Gypsies (1978) and Star 80 (1983).

Roberts' other starring roles included Paul's Case (1980), Raggedy Man (1981), The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984), The Coca-Cola Kid (1985), Nobody's Fool (1986), Best of the Best (1989), By the Sword (1991), Final Analysis (1992), Best of the Best 2 (1993), The Specialist (1994), The Immortals (1995), La Cucaracha (1998), and Purgatory (1999).

Notable films Roberts has appeared in include Raggedy Man (1981), The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984), Final Analysis (1992), The Specialist (1994), The Cable Guy (1995), Cecil B. Demented (2000), National Security (2003), A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006), The Dark Knight (2008), The Expendables (2010), Lovelace (2013), Inherent Vice (2014), The Human Centipede 3 (2015), and Babylon (2022).

He was nominated again at the Golden Globes for his acclaimed role as Paul Snider in Bob Fosse's Star 80 (1983).

In 1983, she divorced Motes, citing "cruelty"; she later said that marrying him was the biggest mistake of her life.

Roberts' performance in Runaway Train (1985), as prison escapee Buck McGeehy, earned him a third Golden Globe nod and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1985 for his role as the escaped convict Buck in the film Runaway Train; the award went to Don Ameche for Cocoon.

In 1987, he won the Theatre World Award for his Broadway debut performance in Burn This.

His varied television work includes being the only non-UK actor to play the Master in the 1996 Doctor Who television film, a main role on the sitcom Less than Perfect (2002–2005), as well as recurring roles on the NBC drama Heroes (2007–2010), the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless (2010–2011), the legal drama Suits (2014–2019), and the HBO series The Righteous Gemstones (2022).

In 1996, he appeared in the Doctor Who television film in the role of the Master.

When SFX listed previous Masters in Doctor Who, the magazine said of Roberts: "Out-acted by a CGI snake in the same production."

The onscreen wife of Roberts' human character, who is killed by her newly possessed husband taken over by the Master, is played by his real-life wife.

He also co-starred in the 1996 television miniseries version of In Cold Blood, in the role of Perry Smith; he was nominated for a Satellite Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film.

He starred in C-16 for its entire 1997 to 1998 run.

He played the Archangel Michael in The Prophecy II (1997).

Roberts co-starred on the ABC situation comedy Less than Perfect.

He appeared in an episode of CSI: Miami as Ken Kramer, a murderer on death row convicted of killing a young couple.

Another notable TV appearance was the episode "Victims" of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit where he played Sam Winfield, a former cop turned vigilante.

In the same year, he was also guest-starred on The L Word as Gabriel McCutcheon, the father of Shane McCutcheon.

Roberts voiced the Superman villain Mongul in the animated series Justice League, and reprised his role in Justice League Unlimited in the episode "For the Man Who Has Everything".

He performed the voice of Dark Danny in Nickelodeon's Danny Phantom.

He appeared in the first season of Heroes as Thompson, an associate of Mr. Bennet.

He then reprised the role in the third-season episode "Villains" and in the fourth-season "The Wall".

He starred opposite John Ritter in the movie Tripfall in 1998.

Roberts' younger siblings, Julia Roberts (from whom he was estranged until 2004) and Lisa Roberts Gillan, are also actors.

In 1976, they had a daughter, Nancy Motes, who died February 9, 2014, at age 37, of an apparent drug overdose.

Michael Motes was abusive and often unemployed.