Biography
Harold Rowe Holbrook Jr. (February 17, 1925 – January 23, 2021) was an American actor, television director, and writer. He first received critical acclaim in 1954 for a one-man stage show he developed, Mark Twain Tonight!, performing as Mark Twain, while studying at Denison University. He won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play in 1966 for his portrayal of Twain. He would continue to perform his signature role for over 60 years, only retiring the show in 2017 due to his failing health. Throu...
Known For
Complete Filmography

Interpreting Twain
2018
as Self
"Interpreting Twain" looks at how Mark Twain has been interpreted (and misinterpreted) through the years and asks why it's so important for a new gene...

An American Conscience: The Reinhold Niebuhr Story
2017
as Reinhold Niebuhr (voice)
Reinhold Niebuhr's Serenity Prayer remains one of the most quoted writings in American literature. Yet Niebuhr's impact was far greater, as presidents...

Blackway
2015
as Whizzer
A young woman newly returned to her hometown becomes the subject of harassment by a man named Blackway, an ex-cop turned violent crime lord who operat...

Planes: Fire & Rescue
2014
as Mayday (voice)
When world-famous air racer Dusty learns that his engine is damaged and he may never race again, he must shift gears and is launched into the world of...

Holbrook/Twain: An American Odyssey
2014
as Self
Hal Holbrook's Mark Twain is an icon of American theater. Since first walking on stage in 1954, Holbrook has performed his one-man show Mark Twain Ton...

Eastwood Directs: The Untold Story
2013
as Self
With a focus on Clint Eastwood's career as a director, this documentary features movie clips, behind-the-scenes footage, interviews with people with w...

Savannah
2013
as Judge Harden
Savannah is the true story of Ward Allen, a romantic and bombastic character who rejects his plantation heritage for the freedom of life on a river. W...

Lincoln
2012
as Preston Blair
The revealing story of the 16th US President's tumultuous final months in office. In a nation divided by war and the strong winds of change, Lincoln p...

Promised Land
2012
as Frank Yates
A salesman for a natural gas company experiences life-changing events after arriving in a small town, where his corporation wants to tap into the avai...

Water for Elephants
2011
as Old Jacob
In this captivating Depression-era melodrama, impetuous veterinary student Jacob Jankowski joins a celebrated circus as an animal caretaker but faces ...

Good Day for It
2011
as Hec
A man forced to abandon his wife and daughter years earlier must risk his life to settle an old score and reunite his family.

Flying Lessons
2010
With her life at a crossroads, 25 year old Sophie Conway returns home to the small town she always wanted to forget. Once home, she is faced with the ...

That Evening Sun
2009
as Abner Meecham
An aging Tennessee farmer returns to his homestead and must confront a family betrayal, the reappearance of an old enemy, and the loss of his farm.

Killshot
2008
as Papa
Beautiful Carmen Colson and her ironworker husband Wayne are placed in the Federal Witness Protection program after witnessing an "incident". Thinking...

The Long Shadow of Dirty Harry
2008
as Self
An in-depth look at Dirty Harry (1971), featuring interviews with such film artists as Michael Madsen, 'Hal Holbrook', John Milius, 'Shane Black' and ...

A Moral Right: The Politics of Dirty Harry
2008
as Self
Filmmakers, social scientists and authors take a provocative look at the moral, political and ethical themes of the Dirty Harry films.

The Business End: Violence in Cinema
2008
as Self
An unflinching look at the ongoing debate on violence in movies and its effect on the audience.

The Evolution of Clint Eastwood
2008
as Self
Follow Eastwood's career from television star to matinee idol to Oscar-winning director in this wide-ranging documentary.

Into the Wild
2007
as Ronald "Ron" Franz
After graduating from Emory University in 1992, top student and athlete Christopher McCandless abandons his possessions, gives his entire $24,000 savi...

Out of the Shadows: The Man Who Was Deep Throat
2006
as Self - Narrator (voice)
It was a plot device worthy of any film noir thriller. A shadowy figure, keeper of the secrets to a national crime, reveals snippets of information to...

Woodward and Bernstein: Lighting the Fire
2006
as Self - Narrator (voice)
Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward changed American history through their dogged pursuit of the truth in uncovering the story of Watergate. Starting smal...

Telling the Truth About Lies: The Making of "All the President's Men"
2006
Other
A short documentary on the making of "All the President's Men."

The Designing Women Reunion
2003
This five principal original cast members (plus a handful of recurring guests) from the popular sitcom Designing Women (1986) reunite for the first ti...

Shade
2003
as The Professor
Tiffany, Charlie and Vernon are con artists looking to up the ante from their typical scams. They figure a good way of doing this is taking down Dean ...

The Street Lawyer
2003
as Arthur Jacobs
An attorney leaves his high-priced firm to work for the less fortunate.

Eastwood & Co.: Making 'Unforgiven'
2002
as Narrator (voice)
Behind the scenes of Unforgiven (1992)

Purpose
2002
as Tom Walker
A software developer becomes a billionaire and is distracted by fame, greed and power, then must save his invention and company from a hostile takeove...

Mark Twain
2002
as Self (uncredited)
Largely considered to be the greatest American author, Mark Twain is celebrated in this exhaustive documentary by filmmaker Ken Burns.

The Majestic
2001
as Congressman Doyle
Set in 1951, a blacklisted Hollywood writer gets into a car accident, loses his memory and settles down in a small town where he is mistaken for a lon...

Dirty Harry: The Original
2001
as Self - Actor
A retrospective look at the five Dirty Harry films (1971-88), starring Clint Eastwood.

The Legend of the Three Trees
2001
as Narrator
Vivid visual imagery brings this classic legend to life. Told simply, in language even the youngest family members will understand, the story begins w...

Haven
2001
as Harold L. Ickes
Based on the true story of a woman named Ruth Gruber who travels to Europe to help escort 1000 Jewish War victims to the United States. She comes to l...

The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus
2000
as Ak - Master Woodsman of the World (voice)
Based on the popular book by L. Frank Baum, the beloved author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, comes the incredible story of The Life & Adventures of S...

Men of Honor
2000
as 'Mr. Pappy'
Against formidable odds -- and an old-school diving instructor embittered by the U.S. Navy's new, less prejudicial policies -- Carl Brashear sets his ...

Waking the Dead
2000
as Isaac Green
A congressional candidate questions his sanity after seeing the love of his life, presumed dead, suddenly emerge.

Battleships
1999
as Narrator
Hal Holbrook narrates this documentary chronicling the history of the battleship. Famous historical ships featured include the Bismark, Yamato, Prince...

The Bachelor
1999
as O'Dell
Jimmie is seeing his single friends get married one by one. He isn't too worried until his girlfriend Anne catches the bouquet at his friend Marco's w...

The Florentine
1999
as Smitty
A slice-of-life story unfolds inside The Florentine, a bar in a Pennsylvania steel town whose brightest days are behind it, leaving behind many of lif...

Lost in Middle America (and What Happened Next)
1999
as Narrator
This is the story of one town's journey to survive the changes of a new economic era. It begins in Midwestern America ... but it's more than that. It'...

Rusty: A Dog's Tale
1998
as Boyd Callahan
Two orphans named Jory and Tess live with their grandparents. However, their cousins Bart and Bertha try to take them away because the two kids have t...

Judas Kiss
1998
as Senator Rupert Hornbeck
The shooting of a U.S. senator's wife raises the stakes for kidnappers seeking a hefty ransom for a computer magnate.

My Own Country
1998
as Lloyd Flanders
An East Indian physician works with AIDS patients as an epidemic of the disease hits in Tennessee.

Walking to the Waterline
1998
as Man on the Beach
Once a successful television sitcom star, Francis McGowan is now a struggling actor who returns to his family home on the Jersey Shore to sell it foll...

Hush
1998
as Dr. Franklin Hill
Jackson and Helen are in love and about to have their first child when they move in with Jackson's mother, Martha, in order to take care of the family...

Beauty
1998
as Alexander Miller
Alix Miller arrives at the isolated Crompton mansion in New Hampshire to paint the portrait of the mysterious Leland Crompton. When they meet, she dis...

Eye of God
1997
as Sheriff Rogers
A small Oklahoma town is stripped of its innocence when one of its boys turns up mute and bloodied by the lakeside. Unable to tell his story, the loca...

All the Winters that Have Been
1997
as Uncle Ren Corvin
Dane Corvin (Chamberlain) returns to Raven Island where 20 years before he and Helen Raven (Allen) had fallen in love. She vowed never to see him agai...

Trail of Hope
1997
as Narrator
Hal Holbrook narrates this breathtaking documentary. Produced for national release on PBS Television, Trail of Hope captures the 22-year history of th...

Hercules
1997
as Amphitryon (voice)
Bestowed with superhuman strength, a young mortal named Hercules sets out to prove himself a hero in the eyes of his father, the great god Zeus. Along...

Cats Don't Dance
1997
as Cranston (voice)
An ambitious singing and dancing cat in 1939 Hollywood overcomes several obstacles to fulfill his dream of becoming a movie star.

Operation Delta Force
1997
as Admiral Henshaw
A team of military experts and scientists go after a terrorist group that has seized a deadly virus and is threatening to release it.

The Battle of The Alamo
1996
as Voice

Carried Away
1996
as Doctor Evans
Based on Jim Harrison's book, "Farmer". 47-year-old Joseph Svenden lives on the family farm with his dying mother and teaches at a two room schoolhous...

Innocent Victims
1996
as Bob Hennis
Army Sergeant Tim Hennis is wrongly convicted of killing the wife and children of an Air Force captain. Based on a true story.

Stormchasers
1995
as Narrator
Track monsoons, hurricanes, blizzards, and tornadoes. Take a journey around the planet to experience our most extreme storms and to witness the dramat...

She Stood Alone: The Tailhook Scandal
1995
as Adm. Kelso
A dramatized account of a female US Naval officer's ordeal of being sexually harassed at a Naval convention and her legal retaliation.

Perry Mason: The Case of the Jealous Jokester
1995
as Wild Bill McKenzie
Attorney Bill McKenzie takes the case when his niece is framed for the murder of a popular and demanding sitcom star.

Perry Mason: The Case of the Grimacing Governor
1994
as Wild Bill McKenzie
The alleged suicide of a gubernatorial candidate triggers a series of mysterious deaths leading to the governor's mansion, and "Wild" Bill McKenzie, a...

Perry Mason: The Case of the Lethal Lifestyle
1994
as William McKenzie
A former associate of Perry Mason returns to handle the defense of a world-class chess player accused of murdering a prominent TV personality.

The Firm
1993
as Oliver Lambert
Mitch McDeere is a young man with a promising future in Law. About to sit his Bar exam, he is approached by 'The Firm' and made an offer he doesn't re...

Bonds of Love
1993
as Jim Smith
A divorced woman falls in love with a mentally-disabled man, but his family objects to their relationship.

Eastwood & Co.: Making 'Unforgiven'
1992
as Narrator (voice)
Behind the scenes of the 1992 film Unforgiven.

A Killing in a Small Town
1990
as Dr. Beardsley
The gory ax-murder of one suburban Texas housewife by another is nearly as shocking as the excuse offered by the bespectacled defendant's attorney: se...

Sorry, Wrong Number
1989
as Jim Coltrane
Based on a famous play, follows a bedridden wife who overhears a murder plan on her phone. She tries to piece the puzzle together and prevent it.

Day One
1989
as Gen. George Marshall
Hungarian physicist Leo Szilard leaves Europe, eventually arriving in the United States. With the help of Einstein, he persuades the government to bui...

Fletch Lives
1989
as Hamilton "Ham" Johnson
Fletch is a fish out of water in small-town Louisiana, where he's checking out a tumbledown mansion he's inherited. When a woman he flirts with turns ...

I'll Be Home for Christmas
1988
as Joseph Bundy
The Bundy family try to have a good family Christmas, despite World War II.

The Unholy
1988
as Archbishop Mosely
A priest battles a demon that kills sinners in the act of sinning.

Superman's 50th Anniversary: A Celebration of the Man of Steel
1988
as Self
A humourous telling of the history of the comic book superhero.

Wall Street
1987
as Lou Mannheim
A young and impatient stockbroker is willing to do anything to get to the top, including trading on illegal inside information taken through a ruthles...

Plaza Suite
1987
as Sam Nash
Hilarity abounds in this portrait of three couples successively occupying a suite at the Plaza.

Under Siege
1986
as President Maxwell Monroe
Terrorists launch an attack against the USA. Their first strike is by a suicide squad that detonates a truckload of explosives at an army base in Wash...

92 Grosvenor Street
1985
Professor-turned-spy Col. Calvin Turner and his associate, workaholic Lt. Shelley Flynn, plan a daring rescue behind enemy lines in World War II Germa...

The Three Wishes of Billy Grier
1984
as Grandpa Grier
A teenager must cope with a disease that causes himself to age at an astronomical rate.
America Remembers John F. Kennedy
1983
as Host
A documentary on the life of John F. Kennedy, including home movies of the Kennedy family and recollections of friends and colleagues.

The Star Chamber
1983
as Benjamin Caulfield
As violence escalates in Los Angeles and heinous murders are committed, Steven Hardin, a young judge of the California Supreme Court, must struggle wi...

Creepshow
1982
as Henry Northrup (segment "The Crate")
Five tales in the style of classic '50s horror comics, involving a murdered man emerging from the grave, a meteor's ooze that makes everything grow, a...

Girls Nite Out
1982
as Jim MacVey
The students of DeWitt University are preparing themselves for a night of fun and frolics in the form of an all-night scavenger hunt. Little do they k...

The Killing of Randy Webster
1981
as John Webster
When his teenage son is shot by the Houston police following a stolen van chase, his father undertakes a tireless investigation into the truth and unc...

The Kidnapping of the President
1980
as President Adam Scott
A South American quasi-revolutionary/guerilla/terrorist and a misled, admiring girl compatriot manage to kidnap the U.S. President during a diplomatic...

Off the Minnesota Strip
1980
as Bud Johansen
A teenage runaway attempts to readjust to home and family life in Minnesota after returning home after years of working on the streets of New York Cit...

The Fog
1980
as Father Malone
Strange things begin to occurs as a tiny California coastal town prepares to commemorate its centenary. Inanimate objects spring eerily to life; Rev. ...

Natural Enemies
1979
as Paul Steward
Paul Steward, editor of a scientific journal, considers his life to be an empty failure. Awake one morning after a sleepless night, he comes to a deci...

When Hell Was in Session
1979
as Cmdr. Jeremiah A. Denton
This film describes Navy Commander Jeremiah Denton's 7-and-a-half years as a prisoner of war. Held in numerous, brutal POW camps, he faced starvation,...

The Legend of the Golden Gun
1979
as J.R. Swackhammer
In Kansas during the middle of the Civil War, John Golden is left for dead and his family has been killed by the ruthless Confederate outlaw William Q...

Murder by Natural Causes
1979
as Arthur Sinclair
An elaborate mystery involving a famous mentalist, his unfaithful wife who is trying to literally scare him to death, the best friend of the family, a...

Tartuffe
1978
as Self - Host
Donald Moffat stars in Moliere's classic comedy about lovable scoundrel Tartuffe, who befriends the wealthy Orgon and then attempts to seduce both his...

Capricorn One
1977
as Dr. James Kelloway
In order to protect the reputation of the American space program, a team of NASA administrators turn the first Mars mission into a phony Mars landing....

Julia
1977
as Alan
At the behest of an old and dear friend, playwright Lillian Hellman undertakes a dangerous mission to smuggle funds into Nazi Germany.

Rituals
1977
as Harry
Five doctors go camping in the remote woods of Northern Ontario. When their boots are stolen they begin to suspect they are being stalked.

Our Town
1977
as Stage manager
3-act play by American playwright Thornton Wilder.

Midway
1976
as Cmdr. Joseph Rochefort
This war drama depicts the U.S. and Japanese forces in the naval Battle of Midway, which became a turning point for Americans during World War II.

All the President's Men
1976
as Deep Throat
During the 1972 elections, two reporters' investigation sheds light on the controversial Watergate scandal that compels President Nixon to resign from...

The Time of Your Life
1976
as Himself - Host
William Saroyan's Pulitzer Prize-winning play revolves around the denizens of a San Francisco bar in 1939. Lonely, lovelorn, weary or cynical, the cha...

Pressure and the Press: The Making of 'All the President's Men'
1976
as Self (archive footage)
Hoffman, Redford, Bernstein, Woodward, Pakula and Bradlee. Creators and creatures involved in one way or another with 'All the President's Men', wheth...

The Girl from Petrovka
1974
as Joe
A beautiful Russian ballerina falls in love with an American news correspondent. The KGB is most displeased and does everything it can to break them u...

Magnum Force
1973
as Lieutenant Briggs
"Dirty" Harry Callahan is a San Francisco Police Inspector on the trail of a group of rogue cops who have taken justice into their own hands. When sha...

The Hero Cop: Yesterday and Today
1973
as Self
Behind the scenes look at 'Magnum Force'.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull
1973
as Elder (voice)
Jonathan is sick and tired of the boring life in his seagull clan. He rather experiments with new, always more daring flying techniques. Since he does...

Pueblo
1973
as Capt. Lloyd Bucher
Dramatization showing the 1968 seizure of the spy ship, Pueblo, by the North Koreans and the treatment of the Pueblo's crew during their year of capti...

They Only Kill Their Masters
1972
as Dr. Warren G. Watkins
An enigmatic young woman has been murdered in a small California coast town. The investigation by the local sheriff uncovers a complex web of relation...

That Certain Summer
1972
as Doug Salter
The first US teleplay to deal sympathetically with homosexuality. Divorced San Francisco contractor Doug Salter is looking forward to a summer visit ...

Goodbye, Raggedy Ann
1971
as Harlan Webb
A compassionate Hollywood screenwriter attempts to talk a troubled actress out of taking her own life.

Suddenly Single
1971
as Larry Hackett
A newly divorced man finds it difficult to get used to the single world.
Travis Logan, D.A.
1971
as Matthew Sand
Sand devises a scheme to murder his former business partner and maintains his innocence throughout the trial, as he is prosecuted by District Attorney...

The Wacky Zoo of Morgan City
1970
as Mitch Collins
Based on Charles Goodrum’s book, "I’ll Trade You an Elk." The mayor wants to close down the run-down city zoo and use the site for a museum, but an ac...

The Great White Hope
1970
as Cameron
A black champion boxer and his white female companion struggle to survive while the white boxing establishment looks for ways to knock him down.

The People Next Door
1970
as David Hoffman
A married couple struggle with the realities of their imperfect marriage as they fight to save and rehabilitate their teenage daughter from a life of ...

A Clear and Present Danger
1970
as Hays Stowe
The son of a U.S. Senator takes on the cause of clean air when a friend dies of emphysema.

The Whole World Is Watching
1969
as Chancellor Graham
In this second pilot of "The Lawyers," a rotating segment of "The Bold Ones" series, the firm of Nichols, Darrell & Darrell defends the leader of a st...

The Brotherhood
1968
as Man at the Table (uncredited)
The son of a powerful Mafia don comes home from his army service in Vietnam and wants to lead his own life, but family tradition, intrigues and powerp...

Wild in the Streets
1968
as Senator Fergus
Musician Max Frost lends his backing to a Senate candidate who wants to give 18-year-olds the right to vote, but he takes things a step further than e...

Mark Twain Tonight!
1967
as Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens)
Recreating the one-man show he starred in on Broadway, Hal Holbrook portrays Mark Twain as a 70-year old humorist who skewers politicians, newspaperme...

Mark Twain Tonight!
1967
Writer
Recreating the one-man show he starred in on Broadway, Hal Holbrook portrays Mark Twain as a 70-year old humorist who skewers politicians, newspaperme...

The Glass Menagerie
1966
as Tom Wingfield
An aging Southern Belle makes life horrible for her ambitious son and crippled daughter because of her dreams of what life should be.

The Group
1966
as Gus Leroy
It's 1933, and eight young women are friends and members of the upper- class group at a private girl's school, about to graduate and start their own l...