David Russell Strathairn (born January 26, 1949) is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of journalist Edward R. Murrow in the feature film Good Night, and Good Luck (2005), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award. He also starred in L.A. Confidential (1997), Godzilla (2014), and the Bourne franchise (2007–2012). Strathairn appeared in supporting roles in many notable films such as A League of Their Own (1992), Sneakers (1992), The Firm (1993), The River Wild (1995), Lincoln (2012), Nomadland (2020), and Nightmare Alley (2021). He is a frequent collaborator with director John Sayles, who is a fellow graduate of Williams College. On television, Strathairn is known for his recurring roles in The Sopranos (2004), Alphas (2011–2012), The Blacklist (2015–2016), Billions (2017–2019), and The Expanse (2018–2019). He received a Primetime Emmy Award win and a Golden Globe Award nomination for his performance in the HBO television film Temple Grandin (2010).

Filmography

• 2026Babies — Michael
• 2026By Any Means — Special Agent Roy K. Moore
• CIA — Sanford 'Sandy' Harrison
• 2026O Horizon — Warren
• 2026Stages — Porter Gates
• 2025A Little Prayer — Bill
• 2025The Gettysburg Address — Ralph Waldo Emerson (voice)
• 2025The Luckiest Man in America — Bill
• 2025Zootopia 2 — Milton Lynxley (voice)
• A Man on the Inside — Dr. Benjamin Cole
• 2023Remember This — Jan Karski
• 2022Where the Crawdads Sing — Tom Milton
• 2021Nightmare Alley — Pete
• 2021Nomadland — Dave
• Interrogation — Henry Fisher
• 2020The Oedipus Project — Messenger 1
• 2020Walkaway Joe — Joe Haley
• 2019Fast Color — Ellis
• 2019Godzilla: King of the Monsters — Admiral William Stenz
• 2019The Devil Has a Name — Fred Stern
• 2018An Interview with God — God
• McMafia — Semiyon Kleiman
• 2018My Dinner with Hervé — Marty Rothstein
• 2018UFO — Franklin Ahls
• 2017Darkest Hour — President Roosevelt (voice)
• 2017November Criminals — Theo
• 2016American Pastoral — Nathan Zuckerman
• Billions — Black Jack Foley
• 2016He Does Not Want Peace — Richard Englebright
• 2015Louder Than Bombs — Richard Weissman
• 2015The Debt — Nathan
• The Expanse — Commander Klaes Ashford
• 2015The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel — Ty Burley
• 2015Z: The Beginning of Everything — Judge Anthony Sayre
• Z: The Beginning of Everything — Anthony Sayre
• 2014Godzilla — Admiral William Stenz
• 2014No God, No Master — William Flynn
• The Blacklist — Peter Kotsiopulos
• 2012Hemingway & Gellhorn — John Dos Passos
• 2012Lincoln — William Seward
• 2012Maladies — Delmar
• 2012The Bourne Legacy — Noah Vosen
• Alphas — Lee Rosen
• 2010Howl — Ralph McIntosh
• 2010Inside Area 51's Secrets — Narrator
• 2010Matadors — Roman Lodari
• 2010Temple Grandin — Professor Carlock
• 2010The Tempest — King Alonso
• 2010The Whistleblower — Peter Ward
• 2009Cold Souls — Dr. Flintstein
• 2009The Uninvited — Steven
• 2008The Spiderwick Chronicles — Arthur Spiderwick
• 2008The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer — J. Robert Oppenheimer
• 2007Fracture — Joe Lobruto
• 2007Matters of Life and Death — Mr. Jennings
• 2007My Blueberry Nights — Arnie
• 2007Racing Daylight — Henry / Harry
• 2007Steel Toes — Danny Dunkelman
• 2007The Bourne Ultimatum — Noah Vosen
• 2007The Supreme Court — Narrator
• 2006Heavens Fall — Judge James Horton
• 2006The Human Behavior Experiments — Narrator
• 2006The Notorious Bettie Page — Estes Kefauver
• 2006The Sensation of Sight — Finn, Producer
• 2006The Shovel — Paul Mullin
• 2006We Are Marshall — President Dedmon
• 2005Good Night, and Good Luck. — Edward R. Murrow
• 2005Missing in America — Henry R. Hocknell Jr.
• 2005Willa Cather: The Road Is All — Narrator
• House — Nash
• 2004Paradise — Reverend Bobby Paradise
• 2004Twisted — Dr. Melvin Frank
• 2003Blue Car — Auster
• 2002Lathe of Heaven — Mannie
• 2002Master Spy: The Robert Hanssen Story — Jack Hoschouer
• Master Spy: The Robert Hanssen Story — Jack Hoschouer
• Monk — Patrick Kloster
• 2002Speakeasy — Bruce Hickman
• Big Apple — Will Preecher
• 2001Relative Evil — Dr. Charlie
• 2001The Victim — Mark Zingerline
• 2000A Good Baby — Truman Lester
• 2000Freedom Song — Peter Crowley
• 2000Harrison's Flowers — Harrison Lloyd
• 2000The Miracle Worker — Captain Keller
• 1999A Map of the World — Howard Goodwin
• 1999A Midsummer Night's Dream — Theseus
• 1999Limbo — Joe Gastineau
• 1999The Giraffe — Charles Kaminski
• The Sopranos — Robert Wegler
• 1998Bad Manners — Wes Westlund
• 1998Evidence of Blood — Jackson Kinley
• 1998Simon Birch — Reverend Russell
• 1998The Climb — Earl Himes
• 1998With Friends Like These — Armand Minetti
• 1997In the Gloaming — Martin
• 1997L.A. Confidential — Pierce Patchett
• 1997Song of Hiawatha — Marcel
• 1996Beyond the Call — Russel Gates
• 1996Mother Night — Bernard B. O'Hare
• 1995Dolores Claiborne — Joe St. George
• 1995Home for the Holidays — Russell Terziak
• 1995Losing Isaiah — Charles Lewin
• 1994April One — John McCowan
• 1994The River Wild — Tom Hartman
• 1993A Dangerous Woman — Getso
• 1993Lost in Yonkers — Johnny
• 1993The American Clock — Young Arthur Huntington
• 1993The Firm — Ray McDeere
• 1992A League of Their Own — Ira Lowenstein
• 1992Big Girls Don't Cry... They Get Even — Keith
• 1992Bob Roberts — Mack Laflin
• 1992O Pioneers! — Carl Linstrum
• 1992Passion Fish — Rennie
• 1992Sneakers — Whistler
• 1991City of Hope — Asteroid
• 1991Without Warning: The James Brady Story — Dr. Arthur Kobrine
• 1990Heat Wave — Bill Thomas
• 1990Judgment — Father Frank Aubert
• 1990Memphis Belle — Craig Harriman
• 1989Day One — J. Robert Oppenheimer
• 1989The Feud — The Stranger
• 1988Call Me — Sam
• 1988Dominick and Eugene — Martin Chernak
• 1988Eight Men Out — Eddie Cicotte
• 1988Stars & Bars — Charlie
• 1987Broken Vows — Stuart Chase
• 1987Matewan — Police Chief Sid Hatfield
• The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd — Moss Goodman
• Wiseguy
• 1986At Close Range — Tony Pine
• Spenser: For Hire
• The Equalizer — Phillip Borchek
• 1985When Nature Calls — Weejun
• 1984Iceman — Dr. Singe
• Miami Vice — Marty Lang
• 1984The Brother from Another Planet — Man In Black
• 1983Enormous Changes at the Last Minute — Jerry
• 1983Lovesick — Marvin Zuckerman
• 1983Silkwood — Wesley
• American Playhouse — Carl Linstrum, The Stranger
• 1980Return of the Secaucus Seven — Ron
• Hallmark Hall of Fame — Carl Linstrum
• The Bard

Appearances as themselves (12)

• 2025This Ordinary Thing — Self (voice)
• 2019Them That Work — Self
• 2013Lincoln@Gettysburg — Self - Narrator (voice)
• 2013Love, Marilyn — Self
• 2010Area 51 Declassified — Himself - Narrator
• 2009The People Speak — Self
• 2008Sunlight and Shadow: The Visual Style of 'L.A. Confidential' — Self
• 2008Whatever You Desire: Making 'L.A. Confidential' — Self
• 2007Trumbo — Self
• 2003The Making of ‘Sneakers’ — Self
• The Oscars — Self
• The Emmy Awards — Self