James Woods

James Howard Woods (born April 18, 1947) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, voice actor and producer. He is known primarily for playing villainous roles, and has appeared in a variety of films, including The Way We Were (1973), The Onion Field (1979), Videodrome (1983), Once Upon a Time in America (1984), BestSeller (1987), Chaplin (1992), Casino (1995), Nixon(1995), Vampires (1998), Straw Dogs (2011) and White House Down (2013). On television, he is known for portraying the titular protagonist of Shark (2006–2008), and for playing himself on eight episodes of the animated series Family Guy, as well as on one episode of The Simpsons.

Woods has been nominated for two Academy Awards. The first was in the Best Actor category for Salvador (1986) and the second in the Best Supporting Actor category for Ghosts of Mississippi (1996). He is the recipient of three Emmy Awards for the television movies Promise (1986) and My Name Is Bill W. (1989) and the animated series Hercules (1998–1999). Promise additionally brought him a Golden Globe Award.

Using his distinctive voice, he has played Mike Toreno in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Hades in Disney's Hercules (1997) and Falcon in Stuart Little 2 (2002).