
Age: 79
male
James Howard Woods (born April 18, 1947) is an American actor. He is known for starring in films such as Once Upon a Time in America, Salvador, Nixon, Ghosts of Mississippi, Casino, and Hercules, as well as in the television legal drama Shark. He has won two Emmy Awards, and earned two Academy Award nominations. He started his career in minor roles on and off-Broadway before making his Broadway debut in The Penny Wars (1969), followed by Borstal Boy (1970), The Trial of the Catonsville Nine (1971) and Moonchildren (1972). Woods' early film roles include The Visitors (1972), The Way We Were (1973) and The Gambler (1974). He starred in the NBC miniseries Holocaust (1978) opposite Meryl Streep. He rose to prominence portraying Gregory Powell in The Onion Field (1979). He earned two Academy Awards nominations: one for Best Actor for his role as journalist Richard Boyle in Salvador (1986) and for Best Supporting Actor for playing white supremacist Byron De La Beckwith in Ghosts of Mississippi (1996). Notable film roles include Videodrome (1983), Once Upon a Time in America (1984), Immediate Family (1989), The Hard Way (1991), Chaplin (1992), The Specialist (1994), Casino (1995), Contact (1997), Another Day in Paradise (1998), The Virgin Suicides (1999) and Jobs (2013). He served as an executive producer on Christopher Nolan's biographical drama film Oppenheimer (2023). For his television roles, he is the recipient of two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for portraying as D.J. in the CBS movie Promise (1987) and Bill W. in the ABC film My Name Is Bill W. (1989). He has also played Roy Cohn in Citizen Cohn (1992) and Dick Fuld in Too Big to Fail (2011). He starred in the CBS legal series Shark (2006–2008), and had a recurring role in the Showtime crime series Ray Donovan (2013). He has voiced roles for Hercules (1997), Recess: School's Out (2001), Stuart Little 2 (2002), the videogame Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004) and Surf's Up (2007), as well as voicing himself once in The Simpsons (1993), and several times in Family Guy (2005–2016).

James Woods

Mike Toreno
for Mike Toreno in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (1992)
Suggested by messikimpakala

In 1992, following his mother's murder in a drive-by shooting, CJ returns home to Los Santos to attend her funeral. Upon arrival, he is intercepted by C.R.A.S.H. leaders Frank Tenpenny and Eddie Pulaski, who threaten to frame him for the recent murder of Officer Pendelbury (actually killed by the duo for trying to expose their corruption) unless he co-operates with them. After leaving them, CJ reunites with Sweet, Kendl, Big Smoke, and Ryder at the funeral, and learns that the Grove Street Families have lost most of their influence and territories to their main rivals, the Ballas. CJ agrees to stay in Los Santos and rebuild the gang and works closely with his brother and friends to restore the Families' strength. During this time, he also befriends Varrios Los Aztecas gangster Cesar Vialpando after realizing he genuinely cares for Kendl and helps to jumpstart OG Loc's rap career by stealing rapper Madd Dogg's rhyme book. Shortly after the Families' resurgence, Sweet plans to ambush a large group of Ballas. Before he can join the attack, CJ is contacted by Cesar with information on the drive-by shooting, revealing Big Smoke and Ryder's betrayal and their association with C.R.A.S.H. and the Ballas.