Biography
James Oliver Cromwell (born January 27, 1940) is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his role as Dr. Zefram Cochrane in “Star Trek: First Contact,” as well as his roles in “Babe,” “L.A. Confidential,” and “Spider-Man 3.” He has been nominated for an Oscar, three Emmy Awards, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards during his career. Cromwell was born in Los Angeles, California and was raised in Manhattan, New York. He was adopted by actress Kay Johnson and actor, director an...
Known For
Complete Filmography

Rebel Ridge
2024
as Judge
A former Marine confronts corruption in a small town when local law enforcement unjustly seizes the bag of cash he needs to post his cousin's bail.

Merry Little Batman
2023
as Alfred Pennyworth (voice)
This Christmas, Damian Wayne wants to be a superhero like his dad – the one and only Batman. When Damian is left home alone while Batman takes on Goth...

Prancer: A Christmas Tale
2022
as Bud
Ten-year-old Gloria and her recently widowed grandfather Bud befriend a mysterious reindeer when the family gather for Christmas. Bud comes to believe...

Mondo Hollywoodland
2021
Executive Producer
Homage to the cult classic “Mondo Hollywood”, a groovy mushrooms dealer and a man from the 5th dimension journey through Hollywood to find the meaning...

Emperor
2020
as John Brown
An escaped slave travels north and has chance encounters with Frederick Douglass and John Brown. Based on the life story of Shields Green.

Never Too Late
2020
as Jack Bronson
It's been a long time since Caine, Bronson, Angus and Wendell—aka ‘The Chain Breakers'—escaped a torturous Vietnamese POW camp. They now find themselv...

The Immortal
2019
as Grandfather
If you had the chance to live forever, would you take it? A man who wants to overcome death learns the secret of immortality, but comes to regret his ...

The Laundromat
2019
as Joseph David Martin
When a widow gets swindled out of insurance money, her search for answers leads to two cunning lawyers in Panama who hide cash for the superrich.
That Guy... Who Was In That Thing 3: Trek Stars
2019
as Self
Documentary about actors who detail their ups and downs as they struggle to forge careers in Hollywood.

Countdown to Year Zero
2019
Countdown to Year Zero hones in on an unprecedented global disaster that is rapidly unfolding. If we don't take meaningful action on climate change no...

Running for Good: The Fiona Oakes Documentary
2018
Executive Producer
Running for Good follows world record marathon runner Fiona Oakes in her attempt not only to set a new global record in endurance racing, but to compe...

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
2018
as Benjamin Lockwood
Three years after Jurassic World was destroyed, Isla Nublar now sits abandoned. When the island's dormant volcano begins roaring to life, Owen and Cla...

Marshall
2017
as The Judge
Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American Supreme Court Justice, battles through one of his career-defining cases.

The Promise
2016
as Henry Morgenthau Sr.
Set during the last days of the Ottoman Empire, a love triangle develops between Mikael, a brilliant medical student, the beautiful and sophisticated ...

50 Years of Star Trek
2016
as Self
Over the last fifty years, America has been fascinated by Star Trek since it first aired in September of 1966. This 2-hour documentary celebrates the ...

The Perfect Crime: Leopold & Loeb
2016
as Self - Narrator (voice)
The shocking story of Richard Leopold and Nathan Loeb, two wealthy college students who murdered a 14-year-old boy in 1924 to prove they were smart en...

Imminent Threat
2015
Executive Producer
A look at the War on Terror and the threat it's causing to our civil liberties and political discourse. Academy Award nominee James Cromwell presents ...

Walking the Mile
2014
as Self
Full-length documentary about the making of Frank Darabont's drama, The Green Mile, based on Stephen King's novel.

Big Hero 6
2014
as Professor Robert Callaghan (voice)
A special bond develops between plus-sized inflatable robot Baymax, and prodigy Hiro Hamada, who team up with a group of friends to form a band of hig...

In Between Songs
2014
as Narrator
In Between Songs follows an Australian Aboriginal family's struggle to survive. Djalu Gurruwiwi, Yolngu elder, and his sister, Dhanggal, strive to res...

The Trials of Cate McCall
2013
as Justice Sumpter
In order to be reinstated to the bar and recover custody of her daughter, a hotshot lawyer, now in recovery and on probation, must take on the appeal ...

A Night at the Movies: Hollywood Goes to Washington
2012
as Self - Interviewee
A survey of movies about politics, with clips from several films and interviews with filmmakers and actors.

La Classe américaine
2012
as Self
The story of the successful publicity campaign that made it possible for the French film The Artist (2011) to win five Academy Awards: an intimate loo...

Still Mine
2012
as Craig Morrison
Craig, a fiercely determined New Brunswick farmer, sets out to build a more suitable house for his ailing wife, Irene, despite their children's concer...

The Artist: The Making of an American Romance
2012
as Self
Documentary that delves into the film's production in good fashion

Hollywood as Character: The Locations of The Artist
2012
as Himself
This documentary details the L.A.-area filming locations used throughout the film.

Soldiers of Fortune
2012
as Haussman
Wealthy thrill-seekers pay huge premiums to have themselves inserted into military adventures, only this time things don't go exactly to plan.

Cowgirls n' Angels
2012
as Terence Parker
A group of rodeo trick-riders recruits a young girl to join them.

Hide Away
2011
as The Ancient Mariner
A successful businessman attempting to resurrect his life buys and boards a dilapidated sailboat.

Admissions
2011
as The Clerk
Academy Award nominee James Cromwell plays an enlightened clerk who works in the Admissions Room for the afterlife. He is called on to guide an Israel...

The Artist
2011
as Clifton
Hollywood, 1927: As silent movie star George Valentin wonders if the arrival of talking pictures will cause him to fade into oblivion, he sparks with ...

Memorial Day
2011
as Bud Vogel
Memorial Day, 1993. When 13-year-old Kyle Vogel discovers the World War II footlocker belonging to his grandfather, Bud, everyone tells Kyle to put it...

Farm to Fridge
2011
as Narrator
Narrated by Academy Award nominee James Cromwell, this powerful film takes viewers on an eye-opening exploration behind the closed doors of the nation...

Pope Pius XII
2010
as Pope Pius XII
Rome, 1943. The city is occupied by the Nazis. The lives of thousands of Jews are in danger, and in Vatican City, a neutral state within the borders o...

Secretariat
2010
as Ogden Phipps
Housewife and mother Penny Chenery agrees to take over her ailing father's Virginia-based Meadow Stables, despite her lack of horse-racing knowledge. ...

Beyond All Boundaries
2009
as Major General Alexander A. Vandegrift / Fleet Admiral William Halsey
A visual, 4-D experience of the battles of World War II featuring stories, archival footage and advanced special effects.

Surrogates
2009
as Dr. Lionel Canter
Set in a futuristic world where humans live in isolation and interact through surrogate robots, a cop is forced to leave his home for the first time i...
The Last Days of Lehman Brothers
2009
as Hank Paulson
The heads of Wall Street's biggest investment banks were summoned to an evening meeting by the US Treasury Secretary, Hank Paulson, to discuss the pli...
Starz Inside - Unforgettably Evil
2009
as Self
Documentary about evil heroes

A Lonely Place for Dying
2009
as Howard Simons
In 1972, the conflict in Vietnam continues. The creeping threat of communism grips the nation in fear. In an abandoned prison on the US/Mexican border...

W.
2008
as George H.W. Bush
The story of the eventful life of George W. Bush—his struggles and triumphs, how he found both his wife and his faith—and the critical days leading up...

Whatever You Desire: Making 'L.A. Confidential'
2008
as Self
Director Curtis Hanson and his cast and crew discuss the arduous but rewarding process of creating a modern classic.

Tortured
2008
as Jack
A mobster orders an undercover FBI agent to torture an accountant.

Spider-Man 3
2007
as Captain Stacy
The seemingly invincible Spider-Man goes up against an all-new crop of villains—including the shape-shifting Sandman. While Spider-Man’s superpowers a...

Becoming Jane
2007
as Mr. Austen
A biographical portrait of a pre-fame Jane Austen and her romance with a young Irishman.

Dante's Inferno
2007
as Virgil (voice)
A darkly comedic travelogue of the underworld - set against an all-too-familiar urban backdrop of used car lots, gated communities, strip malls, and t...

Looking For Else
2007
as Self
In 1937 Else Blangsted, a German Jewish teenager gave birth to a baby girl. She was told that her baby had died. 47 years later she discovered the tru...

The Maltese Falcon: One Magnificent Bird
2006
as Self
An appreciation and the story of the making of the 1941 film "The Maltese Falcon."

The Queen
2006
as Philip of Edinburgh
The Queen is an intimate behind the scenes glimpse at the interaction between HM Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Tony Blair during their struggle, fol...

King Leopold's Ghost
2006
The modern history of the Congo, the heart of Africa, is a terrifying tale of appalling brutality: how the greedy and incredibly ruthless King Leopold...

Avenger
2006
as Paul Devereaux
After his own daughter was killed in Panama in 1994, former CIA agent Calvin Dexter became a private 'specialist' in cases which wouldn't reach justic...

Shadows in the Dark: The Val Lewton Legacy
2005
as Narrator
Documentary about the great 1940s horror movie producer Val Lewton, featured on the 2005 DVD release "The Val Lewton Horror Collection."

The Longest Yard
2005
as Warden Hazen
Disgraced pro football quarterback Paul Crewe lands in a Texas federal penitentiary, where manipulative Warden Hazen recruits him to advise the instit...

Happy Birthday Oscar Wilde
2004
as Self
To commemorate the 150th anniversary of Oscar Wilde's birth, 150 leading artists of the stage, screen and music worlds deliver 150 of the Irish scribe...

I, Robot
2004
as Dr. Alfred Lanning
In 2035, where robots are commonplace and abide by the three laws of robotics, a technophobic cop investigates an apparent suicide. Suspecting that a ...

A Carol Christmas
2003
as Ghost of Christmas Future (uncredited)
Carol Cartman, a tempestuous talk show host, is a high-heeled, high-maintenance Scrooge. This insensitive, self-centered and stingy woman is about to ...

The Snow Walker
2003
as Walter "Shep" Shepherd
A bush pilot in nothern Canada who with the aid of modernity thinks he can handle it all & knows it all. After reluctantly agreeing to transport a loc...

Blackball
2003
as Ray Speight
Blackball follows the fortunes of Cliff Starkey, a working-class fine of lawn bowls with an exceptional talent. Wanting to take on the Aussies he mana...

The John Garfield Story
2003
as Self
This documentary looks at the life and career of John Garfield, whose career was cut short when he died at age 39. His difficult childhood in the roug...

RFK
2002
as President Lyndon Baines Johnson
Following the death of his brother John, Robert Kennedy is forced to rise to the challenge of leading his country and carrying on his brother's vision...

The Sum of All Fears
2002
as President Fowler
When the president of Russia suddenly dies, a man whose politics are virtually unknown succeeds him. The change in political leaders sparks paranoia a...

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron
2002
as The Colonel (voice)
A captured mustang remains determined to return to his herd no matter what.

Project Viper
2002
as MP 1
A space shuttle crashes containing a lethal prototype organism designed to survive in any environment. The only people who can stop the creature are t...

A Death in the Family
2002
as Joel Lynch
A young wife's religious faith is shaken when her husband dies in a car accident.

The Magnificent Ambersons
2002
as Major Amberson
The spoiled rotten and utterly unlikable rich kid George Amberson becomes horrified when his recently widowed mother rekindles her relationship with t...

Space Cowboys
2000
as Bob Gerson
Frank Corvin, ‘Hawk’ Hawkins, Jerry O'Neill and ‘Tank’ Sullivan were hotdog members of Project Daedalus, the Air Force's test program for space travel...
Walking the Mile: The Making of The Green Mile
2000
as Self / Warden Hal Moores
Frank Darabont explains how this new project was introduced thru a phone call from Stephen King as "another prison tale" if he was interested to make ...

Fail Safe
2000
as Gordon Knapp
Cold War tensions climb to a fever pitch when a U.S. bomber is accidentally ordered to drop a nuclear warhead on Moscow.

RKO 281
2000
as William Randolph Hearst
In 1939, boy-wonder Orson Welles leaves New York, where he has succeeded in radio and theater, and, hired by RKO Pictures, moves to Hollywood with the...

Snow Falling on Cedars
1999
as Judge Fielding
In the 1950s, a Japanese-American fisherman is suspected of killing his neighbour at sea. For Ishmael, a local reporter, the trial strikes a deep emot...

The Green Mile
1999
as Warden Hal Moores
A supernatural tale set on death row in a Southern prison, where gentle giant John Coffey possesses the mysterious power to heal people's ailments. Wh...

The Bachelor
1999
as Priest
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...

A Slight Case of Murder
1999
as John Edgarson
In the midst of a spat, film critic Terry Thorpe accidentally kills his lover. Though Thorpe covers his tracks, he raises the suspicions of a private ...

The General's Daughter
1999
as General Joseph Campbell
When the body of Army Capt. Elisabeth Campbell is found on a Georgia military base, two investigators, Warrant Officers Paul Brenner and Sara Sunhill,...

Babe: Pig in the City
1998
as Farmer Arthur Hoggett
Babe, fresh from his victory in the sheepherding contest, returns to Farmer Hoggett's farm, but after Farmer Hoggett is injured and unable to work, Ba...

Deep Impact
1998
as Alan Rittenhouse
A seven-mile-wide space rock is hurtling toward Earth, threatening to obliterate the planet. Now, it's up to the president of the United States to sav...

Species II
1998
as Senator Ross
Having just returned from a mission to Mars, Commander Ross isn't exactly himself. He's slowly becoming a terrifying alien entity with one goal -- to ...

Owd Bob
1998
as Adam MacAdam
Recently orphaned David must move to the Isle of Man to live with his grandfather, Adam, who's a sheep farmer. Both long for the end of the summer, h...

The Education of Little Tree
1997
as Nonno
Little Tree is an 8-year-old Cherokee boy, who, during the time of the depression, loses his parents and starts to live with his Indian grandma and gr...

L.A. Confidential
1997
as Dudley Smith
Three detectives in the corrupt and brutal L.A. police force of the 1950s use differing methods to uncover a conspiracy behind the shotgun slayings of...

The People vs. Larry Flynt
1996
as Charles Keating
Larry Flynt is the hedonistically obnoxious, but indomitable, publisher of Hustler magazine. The film recounts his struggle to make an honest living p...

Star Trek: First Contact
1996
as Dr. Zefram Cochrane
The Borg, a relentless race of cyborgs, are on a direct course for Earth. Violating orders to stay away from the battle, Captain Picard and the crew o...

Eraser
1996
as William Donohue
A Witness Protection specialist becomes suspicious of his co-workers when dealing with a case involving high-tech weapons.

Babe
1995
as Farmer Hoggett
Babe is a little pig who doesn't quite know his place in the world. With a bunch of odd friends, like Ferdinand the duck who thinks he is a rooster an...

Indictment: The McMartin Trial
1995
as Judge Pounders
The McMartin family's lives are turned upside down when they are accused of serious child molestation. The family run a school for infants. An unquali...

The Shaggy Dog
1994
as Charlie Mulvihill
Preteen Moochie Daniels just wants a dog, but his dad, Daniel, is allergic to canines, like Bundles, the shabby sheep dog of neighbor Charlie Mulvihil...

Revenge of the Nerds IV: Nerds In Love
1994
as Mr. Skolnick
Lewis and his nerdy friends attend Booger's wedding to the daughter of a rich politician, but nerd-haters in the family do everything possible to prev...

Romeo Is Bleeding
1993
as Cage
A corrupt cop gets in over his head when he tries to assassinate a beautiful Russian hit-woman.

Star Trek: The Next Generation - Birthright
1993
as Jaglom Shrek
The Enterprise arrives at Deep Space Nine where a mysterious alien, Jaglom Shrek, claims he can prove that Worf's father Mogh, is still alive. Meanwhi...

Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation
1992
as Mr. Skolnick
The nerds are now in control of the university, as a result of Lewis Skolnick and the rest's actions in the two previous movies. A new generation of s...

The Babe
1992
as Brother Mathias
A chronicle of Babe Ruth's phenomenal story--from his hard knock beginnings at a Baltimore orphanage, to his meteoric rise to baseball superstardom an...

Miracle Landing
1990
as B.J. Cocker
Based on a real, in-flight incident in 1988, a passenger jet loses a portion of its fuselage in flight over Hawaii and is forced to make an emergency ...

The Runnin' Kind
1989
as Uncle Phil
As next in line to take over his father's law firm, Ohio rich kid Joey's life is all planned out. But a chance encounter with a gorgeous, free-spirite...

Pink Cadillac
1989
as Motel Desk Clerk
A bounty hunter helps out the wife of a bail-jumper after her child is kidnapped by neo-Nazi types.

The Rescue
1988
as Adm. Rothman
A team of Navy Seals are sent to destroy a disabled submarine so it will not fall into the "wrong" hands. They complete their mission, but are capture...

China Beach: Pilot
1988
as Ambassador at Large Roland Weymouth
The feature-length pilot for the popular tv series. In 1967, the people of the 510th Evac Hospital at China Beach Vietnam include the cool but compass...

Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise
1987
as Mr. Skolnick
The members of the Lambda Lambda Lambda fraternity travel to Fort Lauderdale for a fraternity conference. They'll have to beat off the attacks of thei...

A Fine Mess
1986
as Detective Blist
Two friends an actor and a chef discover a plot to fix a horse race and try to capitalize on it. But also have to deal with the two men who fixed it w...

The Last Precinct
1986
as Chief Bludhorn
In this spoof of TV cop shows, which served as the pilot to the subsequent short-lived series, a bunch of bumbling misfits and rejects from the police...

Explorers
1985
as Mr. Müller
Middle schooler Ben spends his free time watching sci-fi films, playing video games and reading comic books. Surprisingly, his affinity for all things...

Oh, God! You Devil
1984
as Priest
George Burns is back as God, but oops, here he is as Satan, too. A young rock star is ready to sell his soul to Satan, and Satan is all too happy to o...

Revenge of the Nerds
1984
as Mr. Skolnick
At Adams College, the jocks rule the school from their house on high, the Alpha Beta fraternity. So when a group of socially-challenged misfits try to...

Spraggue
1984
as Lt. George Hurley
Boston professor and amateur detective, Michael Spraggue, together with his eccentric aunt investigates a suspicious physician in connection with the ...

Tank
1984
as Deputy Euclid
After relocating his family - and his prized restored Sherman tank - to a small Georgia town, Sargeant Major Zack Carey butts heads with the local she...

The House of God
1984
as Officer Quick
Comedy about a couple of interns in a hospital named 'The House of God'.

The Man with Two Brains
1983
as Realtor
A brain surgeon marries a femme fatale, causing his life to turn upside down. Things go more awry when he falls in love with a talking brain.

The Rainmaker
1982
as Noah Curry
Traveling rainmaker Starbuck arrives at the drought-ridden Curry place, promising rain for the farm and perhaps a romance for 'spinster sister' Lizzie...

Barefoot In the Park
1982
as Harry Pepper
HBO Standing Room Only presentation of the 1981 stage revival. From the Neil Simon Book. New Yorkers Paul Bratter and Corie Bratter née Banks have jus...

The Wall
1982
as Francisek
A dramatic re-enactment of the Warsaw Ghetto Jewish uprising in April 1943 were 650 armed members of the Jewish Fighting Organization of Poland held o...

Nobody's Perfekt
1981
as Dr. Carson
While everyone knows you can't fight City Hall, there are those who, for whatever reason, can't resist the challenge. Three slightly disturbed psychia...

A Christmas Without Snow
1980
as Reverend Lohman
A divorced woman (Michael Learned) moves to San Francisco from Omaha with her young son. She's trying to re-build her life after her divorce, she leav...

The Cheap Detective
1978
as Schnell
A spoof of the entire 1940s detective genre. San Francisco private detective, Lou Pekinpaugh is accused of murdering his partner at the instigation of...

Peeping Times
1978
as Bernard Mantee
Peeping Times is a comedy special that aired on NBC on January 25, 1978. Co-produced, written and directed by Rudy De Luca and Barry Levinson, the spe...

Deadly Game
1977
as Deputy Malcom Rossiter Jr.
A military convoy is transporting something apparently for disposal. They pass by Sheriff Abel Marsh's town and they are passing by property that's ow...

The Girl in the Empty Grave
1977
as Deputy Malcolm Rossiter Jr.
The police chief of a small town begins an investigation after a young woman, who was supposed to have died several months previously, starts appearin...

Murder by Death
1976
as Marcel Cassette
Lionel Twain invites the world's five greatest detectives to a 'dinner and murder'. Included are a blind butler, a deaf-mute maid, screams, spinning r...

Daddy Long Legs
1955
as Extra (uncredited)
Wealthy American, Jervis Pendleton has a chance encounter at a French orphanage with a cheerful 18-year-old resident, and anonymously pays for her edu...

Get Lost
N/A
as Frederick (Red King)
A modern-day reimagining of Alice-in-Wonderland with the beloved creatures turned into human characters and follows Alicia on a wildly magical trip in...

Night Vet
N/A
as Dr. Abel Evergood
A woman brings her dog to an all-night animal hospital never realizing that it is she who will be healed.