Personal Info
Known For:
Acting
Birthday:
January 3, 1938
Place of Birth:
Denver, Colorado, USA
Social Media
Tom Bower
Biography
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.
Known For
Filmography
| Year | Movie | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Double Down South | Old Nick |
| 2023 | We Have a Ghost | Ernest Scheller |
| 2022 | Raymond & Ray | Harris |
| 2020 | Fully Realized Humans | Richard |
| 2020 | Two Ways Home | Walter |
| 2019 | Light of My Life | Tom |
| 2019 | Making a Deal with the Devil | MacGivens |
| 2019 | The Last Big Save | Robert |
| 2019 | El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie | Lou |
| 2019 | Senior Love Triangle | William Selig |
| 2017 | As You Like It | Jaques |
| 2015 | Digging for Fire | Tom the Neighbor |
| 2015 | The Ever After | Father O'Meara |
| 2015 | Lamb | Foster |
| 2015 | Runoff | Scratch |
| 2014 | 13 Sins | Father |
| 2013 | Out of the Furnace | Dan Dugan |
| 2013 | Dark Around the Stars | Silky |
| 2011 | Session | Dr. Albert Solomon |
| 2011 | I Melt with You | Captain Bob |
| 2010 | The Killer Inside Me | Sheriff Bob Maples |
| 2010 | Black Limousine | Mr. Esteridge |
| 2010 | After the Denim | James Packer |
| 2009 | Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans | Pat McDonagh |
| 2009 | Crazy Heart | Bill Wilson |
| 2008 | Gospel Hill | Jack Herrod |
| 2008 | Appaloosa | Abner Raines |
| 2008 | Familiar Strangers | |
| 2007 | Undoing | Don |
| 2007 | Pain Within | Joseph |
| 2006 | The Hills Have Eyes | Gas Station Attendant |
| 2006 | Feel | Buck |
| 2006 | Brothers of the Head | Eddie Pasqua |
| 2006 | The Amateurs | Floyd |
| 2006 | Flannel Pajamas | Bill |
| 2005 | North Country | Gray Suchett |
| 2003 | The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 1: The Moab Story | Tom Fender |
| 2002 | The Badge | Bull Hardwick |
| 2002 | High Crimes | FBI Agent Mullins |
| 2002 | The Laramie Project | Father Roger Schmit |
| 2001 | Hearts in Atlantis | Len Files |
| 2001 | Going Greek | Bill |
| 2000 | The Million Dollar Hotel | Hector |
| 2000 | Pollock | Dan Miller |
| 1999 | A Slipping Down Life | Mr. Decker |
| 1999 | Malevolence | Jim Bradley |
| 1998 | Poodle Springs | Arnie Burns |
| 1998 | The Negotiator | Omar (uncredited) |
| 1998 | Monday After the Miracle | Uncle Ed |
| 1997 | Follow Me Home | Larry |
| 1997 | Buffalo Soldiers | Gen. Pike |
| 1997 | The Killing Jar | Det. Jake Pestone |
| 1996 | Shaughnessy: The Iron Marshal | Marshall |
| 1995 | Far from Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog | John Gale |
| 1995 | The Avenging Angel | Bill Hickman |
| 1995 | White Man's Burden | Stanley |
| 1995 | Nixon | Frank Nixon |
| 1995 | Georgia | Erwin Flood |
| 1994 | Against the Wall | Ed |
| 1994 | Clear and Present Danger | Clark's Pilot (uncredited) |
| 1993 | The Ballad of Little Jo | Lyle Hogg (uncredited) |
| 1993 | Relentless 3 | Captain Phelan |
| 1993 | Teenage Bonnie and Klepto Clyde | Peter Baker |
| 1993 | Shimmer | Mr. Speck |
| 1992 | Love Can Be Murder | Mike Riordan |
| 1992 | Raising Cain | Sgt, Cully |
| 1992 | Revenge on the Highway | Officer Russell Yates |
| 1991 | Dillinger | Captain Matt Leach |
| 1991 | Talent for the Game | Rev. Bodeen |
| 1990 | Die Hard 2 | Marvin |
| 1989 | Nightbreaker | Dan Cutter |
| 1989 | Wired | Detective |
| 1989 | True Believer | Cecil Skell |
| 1989 | Desperado: The Outlaw Wars | Billy Dobbs |
| 1989 | The Road to Terror | Himself - Reporter |
| 1988 | Promised a Miracle | Michael Elliot |
| 1988 | What Price Victory | Eldon Ray |
| 1988 | Lady in White | Sheriff Saunders |
| 1988 | Distant Thunder | Louis |
| 1987 | Family Sins | Sheriff |
| 1987 | Beverly Hills Cop II | Russ Fielding |
| 1986 | River's Edge | Bennett |
| 1985 | The Lightship | "Coop" Cooper |
| 1984 | Massive Retaliation | Kirk Fredericks |
| 1984 | Wildrose | Rick |
| 1983 | The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez | Boone Chate |
| 1982 | Life of the Party: The Story of Beatrice | Tom |
| 1982 | Tales of the Apple Dumpling Gang | Eli Nugent |
| 1979 | When Hell Was in Session | Lt. Jim Norton |
| 1978 | The Winds of Kitty Hawk | William Tate |
| 1977 | The 3,000 Mile Chase | Richette |
| 1976 | The Commitment | Abe |
| 1975 | A Woman for All Men | Construction Worker |
| 1973 | Incident at Vichy | Police Guard |
| The Spittin' Image | ||
| Hurricanna | Dentist |
| Year | TV Show | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Ice | Jonah Kreshman |
| 2016 | Goliath | |
| 2015 | Bosch | John Caffrey |
| 2013 | Ray Donovan | Judge Roger Wettick |
| 2010 | Rizzoli & Isles | Redmond Jones |
| 2007 | Private Practice | Dennis Hoffman |
| 2005 | It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia | Pop-Pop |
| 2005 | Grey's Anatomy | Mr. Schultz |
| 2005 | The Office | Heinrich |
| 2005 | Criminal Minds | Damon Miller |
| 2004 | Battlestar Galactica | Joe |
| 2003 | NCIS | Miller Thompson |
| 2002 | Monk | Bennie Wentworth |
| 2001 | The Guardian | Ray 'Rufus' Schmiel |
| 2001 | The Division | Bishop |
| 1999 | The West Wing | General Barrie |
| 1999 | Roswell | Everett Hubble |
| 1997 | The Practice | John Pierce |
| 1993 | The X-Files | Sheriff Harden |
| 1993 | NYPD Blue | Victor Ugo |
| 1991 | Love, Lies and Murder | Leverette |
| 1990 | Law & Order | Whitten |
| 1988 | China Beach | Archie Winslow |
| 1985 | Misfits of Science | Jeffries |
| 1984 | Crazy like a Fox | Trumble |
| 1984 | Murder, She Wrote | Jonathan Bailey |
| 1984 | Miami Vice | C.I.A. Agent Carter |
| 1983 | Hardcastle and McCormick | Marty Torrance |
| 1981 | Hill Street Blues | De Petrus |
| 1978 | Dallas | Mancuso |
| 1978 | The Dain Curse | Sgt. O'Gar |
| 1977 | Lou Grant | Lind |
| 1977 | Kingston: Confidential | Vincent Ross |
| 1976 | Quincy, M.E. | Mr. Royce |
| 1974 | The Rockford Files | Officer Hensley |
| 1974 | The Rockford Files | Jeff Cooperman |
| 1973 | Kojak | Brenner |
| 1973 | Barnaby Jones | Baxter |
| 1972 | The Waltons | Dr. Curtis Willard |
| 1972 | The Waltons | Rex Barker |
| 1954 | The Wonderful World of Disney | Eli Nugent |