Ralph Thomas Bower (January 3, 1938 – May 30, 2024) was an American actor who appeared in a wide variety of television and film roles from 1973 to 2023. On television, he played physician Curtis Willard (husband of Mary-Ellen) on The Waltons (1975 - 1978). Bower also appeared in numerous series in guest roles, including Hill Street Blues, The X-Files, The West Wing, and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. In film, he had prominent supporting roles in notable films such as River's Edge (1986), Beverly Hills Cop II (1987), Die Hard 2 (1990), Nixon (1995), Pollock (2000), The Hills Have Eyes (2006), Appaloosa (2008), Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009), The Killer Inside Me (2010), and El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (2019). Bower was also an award-winning stage actor.

Filmography

• 2025Hurricanna — Dentist
• 2024Double Down South — Old Nick
• 2023We Have a Ghost — Ernest Scheller
• 2022Raymond & Ray — Harris
• 2020Fully Realized Humans — Richard, Additional Dialogue
• 2020Two Ways Home — Walter
• 2019El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie — Lou
• 2019Light of My Life — Tom
• 2019Making a Deal with the Devil — MacGivens
• 2019Senior Love Triangle — William Selig
• 2019The Last Big Save — Robert
• 2017As You Like It — Jaques
• Goliath — Jim
• Ice — Jonah Kreshman
• Bosch — John Caffrey
• 2015Digging for Fire — Tom the Neighbor
• 2015Lamb — Foster
• 2015Runoff — Scratch
• 2015The Ever After — Father O'Meara
• 201413 Sins — Father
• 2013Dark Around the Stars — Silky
• 2013Out of the Furnace — Dan Dugan
• Ray Donovan — Judge Roger Wettick
• 2011I Melt with You — Captain Bob
• 2011Session — Dr. Albert Solomon
• 2010After the Denim — James Packer
• Rizzoli & Isles — Redmond Jones
• 2010The Killer Inside Me — Sheriff Bob Maples
• 2010The Land of the Astronauts — Mr. Esteridge
• 2009Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans — Pat McDonagh
• 2009Crazy Heart — Bill Wilson
• 2009For Sale by Owner — Sheriff O'Hare
• 2008Appaloosa — Abner Raines
• 2008Familiar Strangers — Frank Worthington
• 2008Gospel Hill — Jack Herrod
• 2007Pain Within — Joseph
• Private Practice — Dennis Hoffman
• 2007Undoing — Don
• 2006Brothers of the Head — Eddie Pasqua
• 2006Feel — Buck
• 2006Flannel Pajamas — Bill
• 2006The Amateurs — Floyd
• 2006The Hills Have Eyes — Gas Station Attendant
• Criminal Minds — Damon Miller
• 2005Fathers and Sons — Vito (uncredited)
• Grey's Anatomy — Mr. Schultz
• It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia — Pop-Pop
• 2005North Country — Gray Suchett
• The Office — Heinrich
• Battlestar Galactica — Joe
• 2004In the Land of Milk and Money — Lenny Cochran
• NCIS — Miller Thompson
• 2003The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 1: The Moab Story — Sheriff Fender
• 2002High Crimes — FBI Agent Mullins
• Monk — Bennie Wentworth
• 2002The Badge — Bull Hardwick
• 2002The Laramie Project — Father Roger Schmit
• 2001Going Greek — Bill
• 2001Hearts in Atlantis — Len Files
• The Division — Bishop
• The Guardian — Ray 'Rufus' Schmiel
• 2000Pollock — Dan Miller
• 2000The Million Dollar Hotel — Hector
• 1999A Slipping Down Life — Mr. Decker
• 1999Malevolence — Jim Bradley
• Roswell — Everett Hubble
• The West Wing — General Barrie
• 1998Monday After the Miracle — Uncle Ed
• 1998Poodle Springs — Arnie Burns
• 1998The Negotiator — Omar (uncredited)
• 1997Buffalo Soldiers — Gen. Pike
• 1997Follow Me Home — Larry
• 1997The Killing Jar — Det. Jake Pestone
• The Practice — John Pierce
• 1996Riders of the Purple Sage — Judkins (uncredited)
• 1996Shaughnessy: The Iron Marshal — Marshall
• 1995Far from Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog — John Gale
• 1995Georgia — Erwin Flood
• 1995Nixon — Frank Nixon
• 1995The Avenging Angel — Bill Hickman
• 1995White Man's Burden — Stanley
• 1994Against the Wall — Ed
• 1994Clear and Present Danger — Clark's Pilot (uncredited)
• NYPD Blue — Victor Ugo
• 1993Relentless 3 — Captain Phelan
• 1993Shimmer — Mr. Speck
• 1993Teenage Bonnie and Klepto Clyde — Peter Baker
• 1993The Ballad of Little Jo — Lyle Hogg (uncredited)
• The X-Files — Sheriff Harden
• 1992Love Can Be Murder — Mike Riordan
• 1992Raising Cain — Sgt, Cully
• 1992Revenge on the Highway — Officer Russell Yates
• 1991Dillinger — Captain Matt Leach
• Love, Lies and Murder — Leverette
• 1991Talent for the Game — Reverend Bodeen
• 1990Die Hard 2 — Marvin
• Law & Order — Whitten
• 1989Desperado: The Outlaw Wars — Billy Dobbs
• 1989Nightbreaker — Dan Cutter
• 1989True Believer — Cecil Skell
• 1989Wired — Detective
• China Beach — Archie Winslow
• 1988Distant Thunder — Louis
• 1988Lady in White — Sheriff Saunders
• 1988Promised a Miracle — Michael Elliot
• 1988Split Decisions — Detective Walsh
• 1988What Price Victory — Eldon Ray
• 1987Beverly Hills Cop II — Russ Fielding
• 1987Family Sins — Sheriff
• 1986River's Edge — Bennett
• Misfits of Science — Jeffries
• 1985The Lightship — "Coop" Cooper
• Crazy like a Fox — Trumble
• 1984Massive Retaliation — Kirk Fredericks
• Miami Vice — C.I.A. Agent Carter
• Murder, She Wrote — Jonathan Bailey
• 1984Wildrose — Rick
• Hardcastle and McCormick — Marty Torrance
• 1983The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez — Boone Chate
• American Playhouse — Boone Choate
• 1982Life of the Party: The Story of Beatrice — Tom
• 1982Tales of the Apple Dumpling Gang — Eli Nugent
• Hill Street Blues — De Petrus
• 1979When Hell Was in Session — Lt. Jim Norton
• Dallas — Mancuso
• The Dain Curse — Sgt. O'Gar
• 1978The Winds of Kitty Hawk — William Tate
• Kingston: Confidential — Vincent Ross
• Lou Grant — Lind
• 1977The 3,000 Mile Chase — Richette
• Quincy, M.E. — Mr. Royce
• 1976The Commitment — Abe
• 1975A Woman for All Men — Construction Worker
• Baretta — Eddie Ryan
• The Rockford Files — Officer Hensley, Jeff Cooperman
• Barnaby Jones — Baxter
• 1973Incident at Vichy — Police Guard
• Kojak — Brenner
• The Waltons — Dr. Curtis Willard, Rex Barker
• The Wonderful World of Disney — Eli Nugent
• The Spittin' Image

Appearances as themselves (2)

• 2022The Real Spies Among Friends — Self
• 1989The Road to Terror — Himself - Reporter