Ed Harris was born on November 28, 1950

When we say a talent that blossomed late, it can only come to mind Ed Harris. If at the beginning of his career the football player physique and Spaghetti Western face had directed him to a series of blockbuster films (generally astronaut or military or both, see The Abyss, Apollo 13 — legendary his scene of collective problem solving — e Real men), it is only after almost 50 years that cinema discovers a talent like few others in cinema. Powerful and expressive voice like few others (moreover it is the one used off-screen in it The man of dreams with Kevin Costner and in Gravity with Sandra Bullock), in the mid-1990s Ed’s face began to show wrinkles that somehow exalt a sensitivity hidden behind a seemingly icy gaze. In short, the more the good Ed loses his hair (more unique than rare case in Hollywood), the more the performance improves. Moreover, Ed is an extraordinary catalyst, having the rare ability to improve the performance of those who work with him. It is not for nothing that he says of himself: «Acting is not a competition, one of the first things I learned is that the only person you compete with while acting is yourself».

As many as 4 Oscar nominations, at least one statuette would have deserved it. So many memorable parts: we keep the semi-divine director in The Truman Show (extraordinary), the brilliant madness of the painter Pollock (unexpected for Ed’s style), and the cynical and embittered fugitive of The Way Back (touching) and the demiurge engineer of Snowpiercer (definitive).

After the sequel appeared Top Gun: Maverick in 2022, and arriving in 2023 with 3 titles and above all his third direction, the western The Plowmen, 15 years after the second one… another one of his not exactly precocious talents!

Other anniversaries

• 1946is born Joe Dante director of Leap in the dark And Gremlins
• 1961is born Alfonso CuaronSpanish director who landed in Hollywood with Gravity
• 2010dies Leslie Nielsencomedian of The blunt bullet And The craziest plane in the world