Biography
David Bowditch Morse (born October 11, 1953) is an American stage, television, and film actor. He first came to national attention as Dr. Jack Morrison in the medical drama St. Elsewhere from 1982 to 1988. Morse continued his movie career with roles in Dancer in the Dark, The Negotiator, The Green Mile, Disturbia, The Long Kiss Goodnight, The Crossing Guard, The Rock, Extreme Measures, Twelve Monkeys, 16 Blocks, and Hounddog. In 2006, Morse had a recurring role as Detective Michael Tritter on t...
Known For
Complete Filmography

The Gettysburg Address
2025
as Abraham Lincoln (voice)
In the midst of the Civil War, President Lincoln went to Gettysburg. "The Gettysburg Address" investigates the five extant copies of Lincoln's famous ...

La Gloria
2024
as Carson Tidwell
An embittered Texas border rancher mistakenly shoots a young migrant woman as she crosses his property and must decide whether to help her, risking di...

Cabrini
2024
as Archbishop Corrigan
Italian immigrant Francesca Cabrini arrives in 1889 New York City and is greeted by disease, crime, and impoverished children. Cabrini sets off on a d...

The Timekeepers of Eternity
2021
as Captain Brian Enlge (archive footage)
In this mesmerizing experimental film, a Stephen King television movie is compressed and transformed through hypnotic black and white collage animatio...

The Virtuoso
2021
as The Deputy
Danger, deception and murder descend upon a sleepy town when a professional assassin accepts a new assignment from his enigmatic boss.

Barbecue
2020
as James T
The O’Mallerys have gathered in their local park to share some barbecue and rousing straight talk while they await their youngest sister’s arrival. Wh...

Trouble
2018
as Gerry
A feuding brother and sister entangle the fate of an old friend.

Flowing Water
2017
as Narrator (voice)
This documentary tells the story of the revitalization of the Longwood Garden's (Kennett Square, Pennsylvania) Main Fountain Garden, a lavish jewel in...

Concussion
2015
as Mike Webster
A dramatic thriller based on the incredible true David vs. Goliath story of American immigrant Dr. Bennet Omalu, the brilliant forensic neuropathologi...

The Boy
2015
as John
An intimate portrait of a 9 year old sociopath as he discovers his taste for killing.

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.

Winter in the Blood
2014
as Airplane Man
A young, self-destructive Montana Blackfoot Indian, his mind groggy with alcohol and tormented by childhood memories, discovers that his wife has left...

McCanick
2014
as Eugene 'Mack' McCanick
Over the course of one feverish day, a harried narcotics detective and his reluctant partner frantically track down a recently released convict who kn...

McCanick
2014
Producer
Over the course of one feverish day, a harried narcotics detective and his reluctant partner frantically track down a recently released convict who kn...

Horns
2013
as Dale Williams
In the aftermath of his girlfriend's mysterious death, a young man awakens to strange horns sprouting from his temples.

World War Z
2013
as Ex-CIA Agent
Life for former United Nations investigator Gerry Lane and his family seems content. Suddenly, the world is plagued by a mysterious infection turning ...

Yellow
2012
as Psychologist
A young substitute teacher escapes from her drudging everyday life by fantasizing about bizarre parallel realities.

The Odd Life of Timothy Green
2012
as James Green, Sr.
A childless couple bury a box in their backyard, containing all of their wishes for an infant. Soon, a child is born, though Timothy Green is not all ...

The Pond
2012
as Adam 11
A young woman who has tragically lost the love of her life stumbles upon a powerful phenomenon while grieving at a place very special to them, a small...

Collaborator
2011
as Gus
A playwright whose marriage and career are in a free fall has an explosive run-in with his former neighbor, a right-wing ex-con.

Drive Angry
2011
as Webster
Milton is a hardened felon who has broken out of Hell, intent on finding the vicious cult who brutally murdered his daughter and kidnapped her baby. H...

Shanghai
2010
as Richard Astor
An American man returns to a corrupt, Japanese-occupied Shanghai four months before Pearl Harbor and discovers his friend has been killed. While he un...

Mint Julep
2010
as Karl
A lonely, sticky fingered waitress is looking to leave town while her complacent insurance salesman husband gets taken for a ride by a Southern viper....

Mother and Child
2009
as Tom
The lives of three women have a commonality: adoption. Karen is a physical therapist who regrets that, as a teenager, she gave up her daughter for ado...

The Hurt Locker
2008
as Colonel Reed
During the Iraq War, a Sergeant recently assigned to an army bomb squad is put at odds with his squad mates due to his maverick way of handling his wo...

Passengers
2008
as Arkin
After a plane crash, a young therapist, Claire, is assigned by her mentor to counsel the flight's five survivors. When they share their recollections ...

Disturbia
2007
as Robert Turner
Kale has a life most teenagers would envy. He spends his days endlessly playing video games, surfing the net, eating junk food and watching cable. He ...

Hounddog
2007
as Daddy
A drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.

Nearing Grace
2006
as Shep Nearing
Having recently lost his mother, teenager Henry Nearing develops a crush on seductive classmate Grace, who toys with him. Though he has been friends w...

16 Blocks
2006
as Frank Nugent
An aging cop is assigned the ordinary task of escorting a fast-talking witness from police custody to a courthouse, but they find themselves running t...

Dreamer: Inspired By a True Story
2005
as Palmer
Ben Crane believes that a severely injured racehorse deserves another chance. He and his daughter Cale adopt the mare and save it from being sacrifice...

Down in the Valley
2005
as Wade
On a trip to the beach, a teenage girl named Tobe meets a charismatic stranger named Harlan, who dresses like a cowboy and claims to be a former ranch...

Double Vision
2002
as Kevin Richter
An FBI Agent pairs with a troubled Taiwan cop to hunt for a serial killer who's embedding a mysterious fungus in the brains of victims.

The Slaughter Rule
2002
as Gideon 'Gid' Ferguson
A young man finds solace with a young woman, his mother, and a high-school football coach who recruits him to quarterback a six-man team.

Hearts in Atlantis
2001
as Adult Bobby Garfield
A widowed mother and her son change when a mysterious stranger enters their lives.

Diary of a City Priest
2001
as Fr. John McNamee
David Morse plays Father John McNamee, a catholic priest who accepts a position at an inner-city church. The film begins with Father McNamee as he sta...

Proof of Life
2000
as Peter Bowman
When American engineer Peter Bowman is kidnapped while working in South America, his wife Alice enlists special agent Terry Thorne to help free him. H...

Von Trier's 100 Eyes
2000
as Self
Although at first sight this might look like a simple ‘making of DANCER IN THE DARK’, the later developments in the film reveal the whole drama of Lar...

Bait
2000
as Edgar Clenteen
Landing in jail for a petty theft crime, Alvin finds himself sharing a cell with John Jaster, the incarcerated half of the pair of high-tech thieves r...

Dancer in the Dark
2000
as Bill Houston
Selma, a Czech immigrant on the verge of blindness, struggles to make ends meet for herself and her son, who has inherited the same genetic disorder a...
Walking the Mile: The Making of The Green Mile
2000
as Self - 'Brutal Howell'
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 ...

The Green Mile
1999
as Brutus 'Brutal' Howell
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...

Crazy in Alabama
1999
as Dove Bullis
An abused wife heads to California to become a movie star while her nephew back in Alabama has to deal with a racially-motivated murder involving a co...

The Negotiator
1998
as Cdr. Adam Beck
The police try to arrest expert hostage negotiator Danny Roman, who insists he's being framed for his partner's murder in what he believes is an elabo...

Contact
1997
as Ted Arroway
A radio astronomer receives the first extraterrestrial radio signal ever picked up on Earth. As the world powers scramble to decipher the message and ...

Murder Live!
1997
as Frank McGrath
Frank takes Pia Postman hostage on live TV, threatening to execute her after she accepts the blame for his daughter's suicide.

George B.
1997
as George
After winning money gambling in Reno, George enjoys a streak of luck that brings him happiness and success. He dates a beautiful woman and works with ...

The Long Kiss Goodnight
1996
as Luke / Daedalus
Samantha Caine is a small-town schoolteacher and mom with no memory of her life before washing up on a beach eight years ago. After a car accident and...

Extreme Measures
1996
as Frank Hare
Guy Luthan, a British doctor working at a hospital in New York, starts making unwelcome enquiries when the body of a man who died in his emergency roo...

The Rock
1996
as Major Tom Baxter
When vengeful General Francis X. Hummel seizes control of Alcatraz Island and threatens to launch missiles loaded with deadly chemical weapons into Sa...

Twelve Monkeys
1995
as Dr. Peters
In the year 2035, convict James Cole reluctantly volunteers to be sent back in time to discover the origin of a deadly virus that wiped out nearly all...

Tecumseh: The Last Warrior
1995
as Galloway
This western began in 1812 when the settlers tried to take away more and more territories from the indians. Tecumseh, who is the leader of the Shawnee...

The Crossing Guard
1995
as John Booth
Unable to move on from the loss of his daughter, Freddy, now a shell of the person he was before, swears to kill the man responsible for her death.

Magic Kid II
1994
as Jack
Kevin Ryan is Hollywood's leading teen heartthrob. He's the star of "Ninja Boy," a hot Martial Arts TV series. The trouble starts when Kevin decides h...

The Getaway
1994
as Jim Deer Jackson
An ex-con and his devoted wife must flee from danger when a heist doesn't go as planned.

The Good Son
1993
as Jack Evans
A young boy stays with his aunt and uncle, and befriends his cousin who's the same age. But his cousin begins showing increasing signs of psychotic be...

Miracle on Interstate 880
1993
as Dr. Jim Betts
A man attempts to rescue people trapped on the I-880 bridge after the top half collapses during the 1989 San Francisco earthquake.

Dead Ahead: The Exxon Valdez Disaster
1992
as Rick Steiner - Fishermen
The real-life struggle to contain the environmental and financial damage caused to Alaska by the oil spill from the Exxon Valdez is dramatized.

Two-Fisted Tales
1992
as Tom McMurdo (segment "Showdown")
The foul-mouthed, wheelchair-bound Mr. Rush introduces three adventure tales inspired by the EC Comics of the 1950s: "Showdown," "King of the Road," a...

The Indian Runner
1991
as Joe Roberts
Two brothers cannot overcome their opposite perceptions of life. One brother sees and feels bad in everyone and everything, subsequently he is violent...

Cry in the Wild: The Taking of Peggy Ann
1991
as Bicycle Pete
True story of a young woman's abduction by a deranged loner that led to the largest manhunt in the history of Pennsylvania.

Desperate Hours
1990
as Albert
An escaped con, on the run from the law, moves into a married couple's house and takes over their lives.

Winnie
1988
as Thomas
Based on a true story about a woman who is institutionalized as mentally retarded for 30 years while struggling to reach the outside world through her...
A Place at the Table
1988
as Tom Williams
A young student is determined to motivate her community after a friend of hers is found to be suffering from hunger.

Personal Foul
1987
A warm and heartfelt tale of a drifter who is befriended by a kind hearted grade school teacher.

Six Against the Rock
1987
as Marvin Hubbard
In May of 1946, Alcatraz inmate Bernie Coy initiates a carefully thought out plan to escape the island prison. His plan, carried out with five accompl...

Downpayment on Murder
1987
as Det. Jackson
About an estranged husband who, in an explosive rage, decides to have his wife murdered by a hired killer.

When Dreams Come True
1985
as Robert Wynton
A Dallas museum tour guide finds herself having dreams that foretell killings that are attributed to a killer known as "The Perfect Murderer." She ask...

Shattered Vows
1984
as Father Tim
At the age of 16 Mary becomes a nun. But she never gets used to the strict rules of her new life and when she falls in love with Father Tim, she wants...

Prototype
1983
as Michael
An intelligent android (Michael) constructed by a research team is taken outdoors and successfully passed off as human in a trial run. When the govern...

Max Dugan Returns
1983
as Shoe Store Cop
An English teacher and struggling single mother has her life disrupted when the father who abandoned her as a child comes back into her life.

Our Family Business
1981
as Phil
A syndicate mob boss doesn't realize that his eldest son, Gep, has been informing to the police on the family's dealings in exchange for protection, w...

Inside Moves
1980
as Jerry Maxwell
After a failed suicide attempt leaves him partially crippled, Rory begins spending a lot of time at a neighborhood bar full of interesting misfits. Wh...
Looking Through Water
N/A
A father invites his estranged son to visit him in Puerto Rico to compete in a father-son fishing competition to try and mend their broken relationshi...