Powers Boothe (1948-2017)
Monday, May 15, 2017 at 10:24AM 
Powers Boothe with his daughter Parisse (both acted in DEADWOOD) at a 2006 Emmy partyThe Emmy winning character actor Powers Boothe, best known for screen villains on TV (Deadwood, Nashville) and in movies (Sin City, Tombstone) died yesterday morning in his sleep from natural causes. After Shakespearean work on stage after college, his screen career began with "bad Shakespeare" as part of the Richard III play within the Oscar nominated comedy The Goodbye Girl (1977) in which he mostly lays like a corpse on a table while Dreyfus overacts the hunchback around him. The on camera career stretched for nearly another 40 years ending with the recurring baddie role as one of HYDRA's top leaders "Gideon Malick" on the third season of Marvel's AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. (2015/2016).
The native Texan was 68 years old and is survived by his wife of 48 years (they married in college before his acting career began) and their two children. After the jump a quick survey of key roles...
1980 first speaking role in a movie
"Hankie salesman" in Cruising (1980), telling Al Pacino how to signal interest in blowjobs or watersports.
Every actor has to start somewhere but he actually plays this scene so perfectly. He's half helpful counter guy half bored out of his mind like all retail wage slaves reciting their script.
1980 the breakthrough role
After minor roles he won serious attention, and was subsequently in much more demand, with an Emmy win as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or a Special for the Reverend Jim Jones in "Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones"
1983 leading an HBO series before that was a thing
Back then Emmys didn't even recognize Cable! They had their own awards show the Cable ACE Awards. He was nominated for Best Actor for one of HBO's first forays into dramatic series Philip Marlowe, Private Eye
1984 a box office hit
The Russians are coming cold war paranoid action flick Red Dawn with a who's who of young rising actors at the time including Lea Thompson who would soon get even more famous via Back to the Future
1985 a lead role in a major motion picture
John Boorman's BAFTA nominated The Emerald Forest gave him one of his rare chances to carry a film as protagonist as he was usually cast in supporting or chief supporting or antagonist parts
1993 one of his most famous villains
He played the leader of the "Cochise County Cowboys" Curly Bill, the murdering gang who Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell) and Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer) have to face in the popular Western. Westerns were a natural fit for the rough voiced Texan. He also had a success with the tv westerns like Hatfield & McCoy and Deadwood
1995 SAG Ensemble nomination
He was part of the teeming serious actor cast of Oliver Stone's divisive Nixon.
2005 another of his most famous villains
Another key villain from his oeuvre, Senator Roarke
2004-2006 Deadwood
Another SAG Ensemble nomination for the third season of HBO's obsessed over Western. Ian McShane won the show's only acting nominations but he played his chief rival "Cy Tolliver".
Deadwood, Emmy, HBO, Nixon, Powers Boothe, RIP, TV, The Emerald Forest, The Goodbye Girl, Tombstone, westerns
Reader Comments (12)
RIP. The first of his roles that came to me when I saw the news, was the other officer in Blue Sky, with whom Jessica Lange cheats on her husband.
The Emerald Forest
is a movie that will always be dear to me - I saw it when I was very young, and it made such an impression on me that I can still recall many scenes from it, even though I haven't revisited it since.
I haven't dared to,
as I don't wanna ruin my childhood impression of it.
-But Powers was unforgettable in that movie.
So was Charley Boorman.
Such a strange face, almost perfectly handsome, but off somehow. Perfect for Jim Jones and for creepy villains. RIP
Sad news. I'm currently watching Deadwood for the first time.
I remember being blown away by him when Guyana Tragedy first played. He was mesmerizing, really fleshing out that crazy, sick lunatic. From that I had expected a higher profile career than he had, not to say that his wasn't a good career just a bit more journeyman than that performance and the acclaim it received would have indicated at the time.
The Emerald Forest is a fascinating film and he's terrific there as well.
A 48 year marriage is another impressive achievement among many.
I remember his villain in Sudden Death a tired Van Damme actioner.
He's one of those guys that I love to watch. You can put him in a bad movie and he'll often be the best thing in that film. He's one of those guys who can't suck. R.I.P. Powers
Note: It was Kurt Russell, not Kevin Costner who co-starred with him in Tombstone alongside Val Kilmer.
He was such a great charactor actor. the movie I remember him most from is Nixon. I also remember reading about his crossing the picket line to accept his Emmy award win. I dont think any actor would do that nowadays
Re: That Emmy award
"As the Screen Actors Guild were on strike in the fall of 1980, he was the only actor to cross picket lines to attend the ceremonies, saying at the time, 'This may be either the bravest moment of my career or the dumbest.'" --Wikipedia
Was there any fallout from him doing that? I dont remember reading anything that would have ostracized him from Hollywood at that time.
I was 10 when tombstone came out and it was one of my favorites. I recently rewatched and was shocked to see that unlike some of my other macho little boy favorites like braveheart and the rock, tombstone still holds up. It's not award worthy or anything, but it still ridiculously entertaining mostly due to the wonderful cast. Boothe in particular is perfectly cast. I'll also always remember powers Boothe for his work in the underrated frailty and my dad constantly confusing him with Stacey Keech.