James Brolin (born Craig Kenneth Bruderlin; July 18, 1940) is an American actor. He has appeared in over 140 film and television productions since his debut in 1961 and is the recipient of two Golden Globe Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award.
Brolin is known for his TV roles such as Steven Kiley on Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969–76), Peter McDermott on Hotel (1983–88), LCol. Bill Kelly on Pensacola: Wings of Gold (1997–2000), John Short on Life in Pieces (2015–19), and the Narrator on Sweet Tooth (2021–24). His notable film roles include Sgt. Jerome K. Weber in Skyjacked (1972), John Blane in Westworld (1973), George Lutz in The Amityville Horror (1979), General Ralph Landry in Traffic (2000), Jack Barnes in Catch Me If You Can (2002), and the voice of Emperor Zurg in the Toy Story spin-off film Lightyear (2022).
For his contributions to the television industry, Brolin received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on August 27, 1998. He is the father of actor Josh Brolin and the husband of Barbra Streisand.
Brolin was born Craig Kenneth Bruderlin on July 18, 1940, in Westwood Village, Los Angeles, California. The eldest of two brothers and two sisters, he is the son of Helen Sue (née Mansur), a housewife, and Henry Hurst Bruderlin, a building contractor. As a young child, Brolin was interested in animals and in model airplanes, which he began building and flying when he was 10. As a teenage filmgoer in the mid-1950s, Brolin was particularly fascinated with actor James Dean, and he began shooting 8 mm films.
Brolin attended Santa Monica City College and studied drama at the University of California Los Angeles before signing a contract with 20th Century Fox in 1960. At Fox, he started out as a contract player in Sandra Dee movies. Brolin appeared on an episode of Bus Stop in 1961. The part led to parts in other television productions such as Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea; Margie; Love, American Style; 12 O'Clock High; and The Long, Hot Summer. He made three guest appearances on the popular 1960s series Batman, alongside Adam West and Burt Ward, as well as roles in The Virginian, and Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law alongside Arthur Hill and Lee Majors. He also had a recurring role on the short-lived television series The Monroes.
At age 20, Brolin changed his surname from "Bruderlin" to "Brolin" to become James Brolin ("Bruder" is the German word for "brother"). Brolin also had small roles in several films including Take Her, She's Mine (1963), Dear Brigitte (1965), Von Ryan's Express (1965), and Fantastic Voyage (1966). The following year, his first big role was in The Cape Town Affair (1967), but it did not receive any success at the box office. Brolin was ultimately fired by 20th Century Fox.
In 1969, he got his big break co-starring in the TV series Marcus Welby, M.D., with numerous awards kickstarting his film career.
In the 1970s, Brolin was 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m) and began appearing in leading roles in films, including Skyjacked (1972) and Westworld (1973). By the mid-1970s, he was a regular leading man in films, starring in Gable and Lombard (1976), The Car (1977), Capricorn One (1978, in which he costarred with Elliott Gould, Streisand's ex-husband), The Amityville Horror (1979), Night of the Juggler (1980), and High Risk (1981). When Roger Moore expressed his desire to vacate the role of James Bond, Brolin undertook screen tests to replace him in Octopussy (1983). It has been reported that not only were these successful, but Brolin was about to move to London to begin work on the film when the producers persuaded Moore to continue.
In 1985, Brolin parodied his near-hiring as James Bond in the film Pee-wee's Big Adventure.
While contracted to Fox, Brolin had three small roles in the episodes "The Cat and the Fiddle", "The Catwoman Goeth", and "Ring Around the Riddler" in the television series Batman.
In 1968, Brolin transferred to Universal Studios, where he auditioned for a co-starring role opposite seasoned actor Robert Young in the popular medical drama Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969–1976). In its first season in 1970, Brolin won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role and was subsequently nominated thrice more. He was also nominated for Golden Globes three times for Best Supporting Actor and won twice between 1971 and 1973. Brolin also starred in the television films Short Walk to Daylight (1972), on the television series Batman, and Trapped (1973). He and his first wife Jane also appeared on several episodes of the 1970s game show Tattletales.
In 1983, Brolin returned to television to star in another series and teamed with producer Aaron Spelling's prime-time soap opera, Hotel, for ABC. On Hotel, Brolin played Peter McDermott, a hotel manager. Brolin was nominated twice for Golden Globes between 1983 and 1984 for Best Performance By an Actor in a TV Series but lost both times. He would also eventually serve as a director for the show.
As the new decade approached, Brolin starred in both Angel Falls, for CBS and Extreme,
In 1997, Brolin's luck changed with the syndicated television series Pensacola: Wings of Gold. He played the role of Lt. Col. Bill "Raven" Kelly, whose job was to teach young Marines in a special unit, before being promoted to work with a group of talented Marine fighter pilots. For 4 years, 66 episodes in total, Brolin served as an executive producer and director on the series.
In 1997, Brolin also hosted Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction. That same year, Brolin guest-starred on Roseanne.
Brolin played General Ralph Landry, outgoing director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy in Steven Soderbergh's Oscar-winning Traffic (2000); as Jack Barnes in Steven Spielberg's Catch Me If You Can (2002); a minor role in the 2003 comedy A Guy Thing; as philandering husband Robert Hatch in the 2006 comedy The Alibi (released in the UK as Lies and Alibis); as Jack Jennings in the 2007 film The American Standards; as TV network anchor Frank Harris in Richard Shepard's The Hunting Party (2007); and starred alongside Emma Thompson and Dustin Hoffman in Joel Hopkins' 2008 film Last Chance Harvey (2008).
In 2002, Brolin played Governor Robert Ritchie of Florida, the Republican nominee running against President Jed Bartlet, on the TV series The West Wing.
In late 2003, Brolin portrayed Ronald Reagan in the television film The Reagans. The film was originally meant to air on CBS, but after creative differences, scripts controversies, and rising costs, CBS passed on the film, and it aired on cable channel Showtime, also owned by Viacom. The role earned Brolin his fifth Emmy Award nomination, as well as his fifth Golden Globe nomination.