Pruitt Taylor Vince
About
Biography
Filmography
Notes
"My mamma raised a Southern gentleman. This is a mean business, but I hope I'm still that way." --Pruitt Taylor Vince quoted in ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, June 3, 1997
"I'm proud of 'Heavy' for a lot of reasons, and I'll say the line and mean it sincerely--if no one sees it, I'm still proud of it." --Vince quoted in NEW YORK NEWSDAY, February 8, 1995
Biography
This capable, portly Southern character player quickly amassed impressive feature credits with several major directors. Pruitt Taylor Vince landed his first role in Jim Jarmusch's "Down by Law" (1986), but did not survive the final cut. He entered films with a small role in Alan Parker's "Angel Heart" (1987) and proceeded to appear in Parker's "Mississippi Burning" (1988) and "Come See the Paradise" (1990). Andrei Konchalovsky tapped him for small roles in "Shy People" (1987) and "Homer and Eddie" (1989) before David Lynch cast him in "Wild at Heart" (1990). Vince first earned real notice as a fellow Vietnam veteran alongside Tim Robbins in Adrian Lyne's "Jacob's Ladder" (1990). He subsequently appeared in two of Oliver Stone's more controversial efforts, "JFK" (1991) and "Natural Born Killers" (1994). His breakthrough role, however, was as the village idiot who happens to be Paul Newman's best friend in Robert Benton's "Nobody's Fool" (1994). Following that turn, Vince had one of his best screen roles as Victor, a lonely overweight pizza maker who falls in love with the restaurant's new waitress (Liv Tyler) in James Mangold's "Heavy" (1996). In Ted Demme's "Beautiful Girls" (also 1996), he was the bar owner whose visiting cousin stirs up a small town.
After making his TV debut in an episode of NBC's "Crime Story," Vince landed his first major role as the reluctant accomplice of a pedophile in "I Know My First Name Is Steven" (NBC, 1989). He was again a hapless assistant to a criminal in "Till Death Do Us Part" (NBC, 1992). In fact, many of Vince's best small screen roles have traded on his large physique, close-cropped hair and shifty eyes (a result of a childhood birth defect). During the 1996-97 season, he offered a trio of outstanding villains: as a psychotic photographer who kidnaps FBI Agent Scully on Fox's "The X-Files," as janitor with a glass who may have kidnapped a missing child in the CBS miniseries "Night Sins," and as an eerie serial killer nicknamed 'The Street Sweeper' on the ABC drama "Murder One." For his performance in the latter, the actor received an Emmy as Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1986
Cast in first feature role, "Down By Law"; part edited out of final release
1987
First released feature, "Angel Heart"; first collaboration with Alan Parker
1987
Moved to Los Angeles
1988
Had small role in Parker's "Mississippi Burning"
1988
TV acting debut in episode of the NBC drama "Crime Story"
1989
TV-movie debut "I Know My First Name Is Steven" (NBC)
1990
Co-starred in Parker's "Come See the Paradise"
1991
Portayed Lee Bowers in Oliver Stone's controversal film "JFK"
1994
Had breakthrough role as Paul Newman's friend in "Nobody's Fool"
1996
Delivered memorable appearance as a psycho killer on an episode of "The X-Files"
1996
First screen lead "Heavy", directed by James Mangold
1997
Played serial killer Clifford Alan Banks in "Murder One: Diary of a Serial Killer"; won Emmy for his performance
1999
Appeared in the comedy "Mumford"
2000
Featured in the comedy "Nurse Betty," with Renée Zellweger
2002
Appeared in the thriller "Trapped," with Charlize Theron and Courtney Love
2003
Acted in the drama "Monster", a true story of a female serial killer
2005
Starred opposite Keanu Reeves in "Constantine" the supernatural thriller based on the DC/Vertigo comic book Hellblazer
2007
Cast in the Roland Joffe-directed thriller "Captivity"
Bibliography
Notes
"My mamma raised a Southern gentleman. This is a mean business, but I hope I'm still that way." --Pruitt Taylor Vince quoted in ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, June 3, 1997
"I'm proud of 'Heavy' for a lot of reasons, and I'll say the line and mean it sincerely--if no one sees it, I'm still proud of it." --Vince quoted in NEW YORK NEWSDAY, February 8, 1995
