Robert Hammond Patrick (born November 5, 1958) is an American actor. Known for portraying villains and authority figures,[1] Patrick is a Saturn Award winner with four other nominations.
AllMovie journalist Tracie Cooper wrote that, by the conclusion of The X-Files in 2002, Patrick had developed a "solid reputation within the industry", with critics, fans and co-stars alike praising his "work ethic, personality, and consistent performances."[2] Actor and director Jason Bateman described Patrick as "one of the great heavies."[3]
Early life
Patrick[4] was born in Marietta, Georgia, on November 5, 1958,[2] and raised there, as well as in Boston, Massachusetts, Dayton, Ohio, Detroit, Michigan, and Bay Village, Ohio. He is the eldest of five children born to Nadine and Robert M. Patrick.[5]
Patrick did not start to pursue an acting career until his mid-twenties. During his childhood, he did not like to act. In third grade, Patrick refused to wear a pair of green tights required for Peter Pan.[2] He graduated from Farmington High School in Farmington, Michigan in 1977. Patrick was a track and field and football athlete at Bowling Green State University. He dropped out before graduating when he found an interest in drama and acting.[4] After leaving college, Patrick worked as a house painter and continued as such until a boating accident in 1984 in Lake Erie.[2] He swam for three hours in order to save others still stranded on the accident site, and nearly drowned in doing so.[4] After the accident, he moved to Los Angeles at age 26.
Career
Patrick first appeared in several low-budget science-fiction and action films produced by Roger Corman and shot in the Philippines by Cirio H. Santiago.[6] Looking back, he credited his early appearances in films to his "tough-looking exterior".[2] He played leading roles in pictures such as Eye of the Eagle, Equalizer 2000 or Future Hunters. Patrick later commented that his experience with Santiago had been his "film school". The B movies he made in the Philippines helped him get a SAG card.[6] Patrick's first major Hollywood film was Die Hard 2, in a small part as a henchman for Colonel Stuart, before landing the role of the T-1000, the villain of James Cameron's Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991). Cameron said he chose Patrick because of his physical appearance, which he felt fit the role. Patrick was "broke" at the time, living in a cheap apartment with his girlfriend, Barbara, whom he married during shooting. He has credited the film with starting his career.[2][7]
His performance in Fire in the Sky led The X-Files creator Chris Carter to cast him in that series for the role of John Doggett. Patrick's brother, Richard, had previously worked for the series by adding music for the soundtrack albums Songs in the Key of X: Music from and Inspired by the X-Files in 1996 and The X-Files: The Album in 1998. Patrick was cast as Doggett in 2000. The X-Files was canceled two seasons later, after Duchovny left the show following season 7, which resulted in low ratings for the show. Patrick made several appearances on many genre magazines, with TV Guide going so far as to label him one of the Ten Sexiest Men of Sci-Fi.[2]
Director McG, who directed Terminator Salvation, said that he wanted to reintroduce characters from the previous Terminator films: "I like the idea and the perspective for the next picture that you meet Robert Patrick the way he looks today, and he's a scientist that's working on, you know, improving cell replication so we can stay healthier and we can cure diabetes and do all these things that sound like good ideas, and to once again live as idealized expressions as ourselves."[14] Patrick also starred in the psychological thriller The Black Water of Echo's Pond, which was directed by Italian filmmaker Gabriel Bologna.[15] In recent years, he has appeared in such television series as Burn Notice, NCIS and True Blood, among others. From 2012 to 2013, he also starred in Last Resort as Chief of the Boat Joseph Prosser. He played a supporting character in Identity Thief (2013). From 2014 to 2016, he starred in Robert Rodriguez's From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series as Jacob Fuller. He also played Agent Cabe Gallo on the CBS drama series Scorpion from 2014 to 2018.
On March 28, 2017, Patrick was cast in Amazon Video horror anthology series Lore, which is based on the award-winning and critically acclaimed podcast of the same name. Lore recounts true stories of frightening and paranormal occurrences. Lore premiered on October 13, 2017,[16] and ran for two seasons. In 2021, Patrick starred in Rushed, co-produced by Lars von Trier's Zentropa Entertainment, and written by Siobhan Fallon Hogan.[17] Also starring Jake Weary and Peri Gilpin, Vertical Entertainment has acquired the distribution rights.[18]
In 2022, Robert Patrick played Auggie Smith / White Dragon, the racist supervillain father of Peacemaker in the HBO Max series Peacemaker,[19] and he voiced Wolverine in the Marvel's Wastelanders: Wolverine podcast.[20]
Personal life
Patrick married actress Barbara Hooper in 1990. They have appeared together in various films and TV shows such as Zero Tolerance and The X-Files.[2] They have two children: a son and a daughter.
In August 2022, Patrick revealed for the first time that he struggled with substance abuse early on in his career and how it affected his momentum of procuring different acting roles after Terminator 2.[22]
^Toole, Angie (January 7, 2007) "'We Are Marshall': Former NHS Eagles football star gets to try on coaching cleats in this new Matthew McConaughey movie". Northwest Florida Daily News. Retrieved on August 28, 2009.
^Catlin, Roger (January 7, 2007) "On Tour, Meat Loaf head's for home". Hartford Courant. Retrieved on August 28, 2009.
^ abcdefghijklmn"Robert Patrick (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved December 26, 2023. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its opening and/or closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information.