‘Shark’ James Woods

James Woods is an acclaimed actor, producer and director with over 70 feature films, television movies and mini-series to his credit. Among his many honors are Academy Award nominations for Best Actor in a Leading Role in "Salvador" and Best Actor in a Supporting Role in "Ghosts of Mississippi." He earned an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Mini-Series or Special for "Promise," for which he also won a Golden Globe Award, and an Emmy Award in the same Lead Actor category for "My Name is Bill W."

Woods' breakout film performance came in 1979 in "The Onion Field." His additional film credits include "Once Upon A Time in America," "Against All Odds," "Videodrome," "Casino," "True Believer," "The Virgin Suicides," "Scary Movie 2," "Northfork" and, most recently, "Pretty Persuasion."

Among his additional television credits are the movies "Rudy: The Rudy Giuliani Story," "Citizen Cohn" and "Indictment: The McMartin Trial," all of which earned him Emmy Award nominations, as well as the mini-series "Holocaust," and recent guest-starring roles in "ER" and "Entourage."

Prior to pursuing his film career, Woods appeared on stage in New York in plays such as the Broadway production of "Moon Children," for which he was honored with a Theatre World Award, and in the Off-Broadway production of "Saved," for which he won an Obie Award and Clarence Derwent Award.

He attended M.I.T. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), where he excelled in his studies as a political science major. He left in his senior year to pursue acting.