Anthony Zerbe, a talented character actor from Long Beach, California, has had a prolific career in Hollywood and on stage since the late 1960s, often portraying villainous or untrustworthy characters with his distinctive narrow gaze and unsettling smirk.
Born on May 20, 1936, in Long Beach, Zerbe served in the United States Air Force before studying drama under the renowned acting coach Stella Adler in New York. He made his screen debut as Dutchie, one of Charlton Heston's fellow cowhands, in the western Will Penny (1967).
Zerbe's early film roles included a miner in The Molly Maguires (1970),a post-apocalyptic messiah in The Omega Man (1971),and a naive hustler opposite Paul Newman in The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972). He also played a leper colony leader in Papillon (1973) and a former lawman turned bad in Rooster Cogburn (1975).
On television, Zerbe starred alongside David Janssen in the series Harry O (1973) as the urbane and nattily dressed Lieutenant K.C. Trench, earning an Emmy Award for his performance.
Throughout his career, Zerbe has been in high demand for sinister roles, appearing in films such as Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park (1978),The Dead Zone (1983),and Licence to Kill (1989). He has also starred in the military drama Opposing Force (1986) and played General Ulysses S. Grant in North & South: Book 2, Love & War (1986).
More recently, Zerbe has been seen as Councillor Hamann in The Matrix Reloaded (2003) and The Matrix Revolutions (2003).
In addition to his extensive television and film appearances, Zerbe has appeared in several Broadway productions, including "The Little Foxes", "TerraNova", and "Solomon's Child". He has also held residencies at The Old Globe Theatre, Theatre of the Living Arts, Arena Stage, and Huntington Theatre Company, and has toured with Roscoe Lee Browne in their production of "Behind the Broken Words".
