| Birth Name: | Brion Howard James |
| Birth Date: | 20 February 1945 |
| Birth Place: | Redlands, California, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Malibu, California, U.S. |
| Occupation: | Actor |
| Years Active: | 1973–1999 |
| Height: | 6inchesft3inchesin (ftin) |
Brion Howard James (February 20, 1945 – August 7, 1999) was an American character actor. He portrayed Leon Kowalski in Blade Runner and appeared in Southern Comfort, 48 Hrs., Another 48 Hrs., Silverado, Tango & Cash, Red Heat, The Player, and The Fifth Element. James was frequently cast as an antagonist, appearing more frequently in lower-budget horror and action films and TV shows throughout the 1980s and 1990s. James appeared in more than 100 films before his death in 1999 at the age of 54.
James was born in Redlands, California.[1] He spent his early years in Beaumont, California, where his parents owned and operated a theater; James said, "My story is like Cinema Paradiso. Every night in my life since I was two years old... I ran movies".[2] After graduating from high school in 1964, James attended San Diego State University as a Theater Arts major. Migrating to New York, James immersed himself in the theatre scene, taking on bit roles here and there.
In 1975, James landed a small role in the made-for-television film, The Kansas City Massacre, playing John Dillinger gang member Homer Van Meter. Higher profile roles followed in 1976, with his casting in Nickelodeon and Harry and Walter Go to New York. James also appeared in the television miniseries Roots and popular 1970s shows such as Gunsmoke, The Incredible Hulk, Mork and Mindy, Chico and the Man, CHiPs.
James's career took a sudden upturn in the early 1980s with roles in Southern Comfort and 48 Hrs. (which were both directed by Walter Hill), but it was his performance as Leon Kowalski in the 1982 film Blade Runner that gave him his greatest, most lasting fame. James followed this up with roles in Enemy Mine, Flesh + Blood, A Breed Apart, Silverado, Armed and Dangerous, Red Heat, Steel Dawn, Red Scorpion, Tango & Cash, and Showdown. James had guest spots in the television shows Benson, Quincy, M.E., The A-Team, Little House on the Prairie, The Dukes of Hazzard, Matlock, Miami Vice, Hunter, along with the Hunter take off Sledge Hammer!, and Dynasty. In the 1990s, he appeared in , and as Sheriff Bowman in the Millennium season 2 episode "Luminary". He lent his voice to the character of Parasite in . In 1982, he was in the television film Hear No Evil as Billy Boy Burns.[3]
James starred in the low-budget 1989 supernatural horror film The Horror Show (aka House III), where he played serial killer "Meat Cleaver Max" Jenke. In 1994, he played a grouchy sponsor who became a victim of the gruesome goings-on during a 1939 radio show in the film Radioland Murders. Near the end of his career, he appeared as the amiable General Munro in The Fifth Element (1997), a rare non-villainous role. Two months before his death, James reprised his role as Parasite in Superman 64, a video game based on .
Concerning his talent for playing villains in films, he stated in an interview in Fangoria magazine, "I consider myself a classical character actor like Lon Chaney, Wallace Beery, Charles Laughton. I always like to play bad guys. I'm real good at psychotic behavior."[4]
James died in 1999 after suffering a heart attack at his home in Malibu, California.[5] He appeared in five feature films that were released posthumously. The last of these was Phoenix Point (2005).
The motion picture The King Is Alive (2000) was dedicated to him.[6]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Hard Times | Uncredited | |
| 1976 | Harry and Walter Go to New York | "Hayseed" | |
| 1976 | Treasure of Matecumbe | Roustabout | |
| 1976 | Bound for Glory | Pick-Up Truck Driver At Border | |
| 1976 | Nickelodeon | Bailiff | |
| 1977 | Blue Sunshine | Tony | |
| 1978 | Corvette Summer | Jeff, Wayne's Carwash Henchman | |
| 1979 | KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park | Guard | |
| 1980 | Wholly Moses! | Guard At Banquet | |
| 1980 | The Jazz Singer | Man In Bar | |
| 1981 | The Postman Always Rings Twice | Crapshooter | |
| 1981 | Southern Comfort | Cajun Trapper | |
| 1981 | Soggy Bottom, U.S.A. | Defalice | |
| 1982 | Blade Runner | ||
| 1982 | 48 Hrs. | Inspector Ben Kehoe | |
| 1982 | The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez | Captain Rogers | |
| 1984 | A Breed Apart | Peyton | |
| 1985 | Crimewave | Arthur Coddish | |
| 1985 | Flesh & Blood | Karsthans | |
| 1985 | Silverado | Hobart | Uncredited |
| 1985 | Enemy Mine | Stubbs | |
| 1986 | Armed and Dangerous | Tony Lazarus | |
| 1987 | Steel Dawn | Tark | |
| 1987 | Cherry 2000 | Stacy | |
| 1988 | Dead Man Walking | Decker | |
| 1988 | D.O.A. | Detective Ulmer | |
| 1988 | The Wrong Guys | Glen Grunski | |
| 1988 | Red Heat | "Streak" | |
| 1988 | Nightmare at Noon (aka: Death Street USA) | The Albino | |
| 1988 | Red Scorpion | Sergeant Miroslav Krasnov | |
| 1989 | The Horror Show | Max Jenke | |
| 1989 | Mutator | David Allen | |
| 1989 | Circles in a Forest | Mr. Patterson | |
| 1989 | Tango & Cash | Requin | |
| 1990 | Enid Is Sleeping | Trucker | |
| 1990 | Street Asylum | Reverend Mony | |
| 1990 | Another 48 Hrs. | Inspector Ben Kehoe, Iceman | |
| 1991 | Mom | Nestor Duvalier | |
| 1991 | Ultimate Desires | Wolfgang Friedman | |
| 1992 | The Player | Joel Levison | |
| 1992 | Wishman | Staten Jack Rose | |
| 1992 | Nemesis | Maritz | |
| 1992 | Return to Frogtown | Professor Tanzer | |
| 1993 | Time Runner | US Senator John Neila | |
| 1993 | Brainsmasher... A Love Story | Detective Brown | Video |
| 1993 | Striking Distance | Detective Eddie Eiler | |
| 1993 | Showdown | Vice Principal Kowalski | |
| 1993 | The Dark | Paul Buckner | |
| 1994 | Cabin Boy | Teddy "Big Teddy" | |
| 1994 | Future Shock | Jack Porter | |
| 1994 | F.T.W. | Sheriff Rudy Morgan | |
| 1994 | Savage Land | Cyrus | |
| 1994 | Art Deco Detective | Jim Wexler | |
| 1994 | Radioland Murders | Bernie King | |
| 1994 | The Soft Kill | Ben McCarthy | |
| 1994 | Hong Kong '97 | Simon Alexander | |
| 1995 | Spitfire | Tough Guy | Uncredited |
| 1995 | The Nature of the Beast | Sheriff Gordon | |
| 1995 | Steel Frontier | General Julius "J.W." Quantrell | |
| 1995 | Dominion | Lynwood | |
| 1995 | Cyberjack (aka: Virtual Assassin) | Nassim | |
| 1995 | The Marshal | Chief Marshal Ollie Mathers | |
| 1995 | Indecent Behavior III | Mr. Cowed | Uncredited |
| 1996 | The Lazarus Man | Tom Halloran | |
| 1996 | Precious Find | Sam Horton | |
| 1996 | American Strays | Oris | |
| 1996 | Evil Obsession | Stavinski | |
| 1996 | Billy Lone Bear | Walsh | |
| 1997 | The Killing Jar | Dr. Vincent Garret | |
| 1997 | Back in Business | Emery Ryker | |
| 1997 | The Fifth Element | General Munro | |
| 1997 | Snide and Prejudice | Hermann Goering | |
| 1997 | The Setting Son | Junior | |
| 1997 | Pterodactyl Woman from Beverly Hills | Salvador Dalí, Sam | |
| 1997 | The Underground | Captain Hilton | |
| 1997 | Bombshell | Donald | |
| 1998 | Jekyll Island | Lawton Goodyear | |
| 1998 | Deadly Ransom | Bobby Rico | |
| 1998 | In God's Hands | Captain | |
| 1998 | Border to Border | Card Shark | |
| 1998 | Heist | "Caz" | |
| 1998 | Brown's Requiem | Cathcart | |
| 1998 | Kai Rabe gegen die Vatikankiller | Mönch | |
| 1998 | Joseph's Gift | Frank Childress | |
| 1998 | Black Sea 213 | Captain Killick | |
| 1998 | A Place Called Truth | Hank | |
| 1999 | Malevolence | Warden Walker | |
| 1999 | Foolish | Ruben Reyes, Talent Scout | Uncredited |
| 1999 | Diplomatic Siege | General Stubbs | Posthumous release |
| 1999 | Dirt Merchant | Detective Harry Ball | |
| 1999 | Arthur's Quest | Trent | |
| 2000 | Farewell, My Love | Renault | |
| 2000 | The Operator | Vernon Woods | |
| 2000 | The King Is Alive | Ashley | |
| 2000 | The Thief & the Stripper | "Shoe" | |
| 2005 | Phoenix Point | "Spider" Rico | Posthumous release Final film role |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Get Christie Love! | Trenton | Television film | |
| 1974 | The Waltons | Henry Ferris Jr. | Episode: "The Birthday" | |
| 1975 | Gunsmoke | Joe Barnes | Episode: "Manolo" | |
| 1977 | Roots | Slaver | Miniseries | |
| 1977 | The Rockford Files | "Clamshell" | Episode: "The Battle of Canoga Park" | |
| 1978 | Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park | Second-In-Command Park Security Guard | Television film | |
| 1978 | The Incredible Hulk | Al | Episode: "Alice in Disco Land" | |
| 1978 | Mork & Mindy | George | Episode: "Mork's Greatest Hit" | |
| 1978 | Chico and the Man | "Hog" | Episode: "Waiting for Chongo" | |
| 1979 | B. J. and the Bear | Bomber, Patrol Officer | 2 episodes | |
| 1979–1981 | CHiPs | Ackerman, Monk | 3 episodes | |
| 1980 | Galactica 1980 | Willy | Episode: "Galactica Discovers Earth: Part 1" | |
| 1980 | The Jeffersons | "Dirty Dog" | Episode: "The Arrival: Part 2" | |
| 1981 | Benson | Axe-Man | Episode: "The Grass Ain't Greener" | |
| 1982 | Little House on the Prairie | Amos | Episode: "A Faraway Cry" | |
| 1982 | Quincy, M.E. | Henry Muller | Episode: "Sleeping Dogs" | |
| 1982 | Hear No Evil | Billy "Billy Boy" Burns | Television film | |
| 1982–1984 | The Dukes of Hazzard | Captain Slater, Jenkins | 2 episodes | |
| 1983 | Reece | Television film | ||
| 1983–1985 | The A-Team | David Plout, Ryder | 2 episodes | |
| 1985 | The Fall Guy | Unknown | Episode: "The King of the Stuntmen" | |
| 1985 | Amazing Stories | Willie Joe | Episode: "Mummy Daddy" | |
| 1986 | Dynasty | Hawkins | 2 episodes | |
| 1986 | Annihilator | Alien Leader | Television film | |
| 1986–1988 | Sledge Hammer! | Don Merrill, Felix Ridel | 2 episodes | |
| 1987 | Matlock | Mr. Grock | Episode: "The Author" | |
| 1987 | The Hitchhiker | Lionel | Episode: "Best Shot" | |
| 1988 | Miami Vice | Edward Reese | Episode: " Borrasca" | |
| 1988–1991 | Hunter | Thomas Duffy, Lieutenant Jeff Wadsworth | 2 episodes | |
| 1991 | Tales from the Crypt | Steve Dixon | Episode: "Split Second" | |
| 1992 | Irving | Voice, episode: "Joker's Wild"[7] | ||
| 1993 | Renegade | Eli Starke | Episode: "Moody River" | |
| 1993 | Rio Diablo | Jake Walker | Television film | |
| 1994 | Silk Stalkings | Rupert Tarlow | Episode: "T.K.O." | |
| 1994 | Knight Rider 2010 | Jared | Television film | |
| 1994 | Armand Thorne | Episode: "The Cross of St. Antoine" | ||
| 1996 | Aaahh!!! Real Monsters | Big Orderly, Chimera | Voice, 2 episodes | |
| 1996 | Assault on Dome 4 | Chairman | Television | |
| 1996–1997 | Rudy Jones / Parasite | Voice, 3 episodes | ||
| 1997 | Walker, Texas Ranger | Rafer Cobb | 2 episodes | |
| 1997–1999 | Todd McFarlane's Spawn | Unknown | Voice, 6 episodes | |
| 1998 | Millennium | Sheriff Bowman | Episode: "Luminary" | |
| 1998 | The Sentinel | Warren Chapel | Episode: "Mirror Image" | |
| 1998 | Men in White | General | Television film | |
| 1998 | Drekk | Voice, 2 episodes | ||
| 1998–1999 | The Magnificent Seven | Stuart James | 2 episodes |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Blade Runner | Leon Kowalski | |
| 1999 | Superman 64 | Rudy Jones / Parasite | |