Peter Weller

Early life and education

Weller was born June 24, 1947, in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, the son of Dorothy Jean (; 1924–2002), a homemaker, and Frederick Bradford Weller (1922–1986), a lawyer, federal judge, and career helicopter pilot for the United States Army. Weller had a "middle-class Catholic" upbringing and is of English, German, French and Irish descent. As a result of his father's army work, Weller spent many years abroad during his childhood. His family lived in West Germany for several years before eventually moving to Texas, where he attended Alamo Heights High School in San Antonio, graduating in 1965.

While enrolled at North Texas State University, now the University of North Texas, he played trumpet in one of the campus bands. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in theatre in 1970, and began his acting career after attending the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, where he graduated with the class of 1972.

In 2004, Weller completed a Master of Arts degree in Roman and Renaissance Art at Syracuse University, and occasionally taught courses in ancient history at the university. In 2007, he began a PhD at UCLA in Italian Renaissance Art History. He defended his dissertation in May 2013, and filed the completed manuscript in October 2013. The dissertation, titled Alberti Before Florence: Early Sources Informing Leon Battista Alberti's De pictura, led to him being awarded his doctorate in 2014.

Career

Stage

Weller's stage career began in the 1970s with appearances on Broadway in Full Circle, directed by Otto Preminger, and Summer Brave, William Inge's rewrite of his play Picnic. About this time, he became a member of the Actors Studio.

In December 2006, Weller starred as architect Frank Lloyd Wright at Chicago's Goodman Theatre in the play Frank's Home, by Richard Nelson.

Film

Weller appeared in the 1982 film Shoot the Moon with Diane Keaton and Albert Finney. He played Keaton’s love interest after her divorce from her husband, played by Albert Finney.

He then appeared in the 1984 film Firstborn with Christopher Collet and Corey Haim, where he played the abusive boyfriend of Haim's mother (played by Teri Garr). During filming, he got violent with Corey on-set, who was a child at the time.

Weller has appeared in more than 50 films and television series, including turns as the title character in The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984) and blockbuster hits RoboCop (1987) and RoboCop 2 (1990), He portrayed Starfleet Admiral Alexander Marcus in Star Trek Into Darkness in 2013 and has appeared in such critically acclaimed films as Woody Allen's Mighty Aphrodite (1995), the Oliver Stone-produced The New Age (1994), and David Cronenberg's 1991 film adaptation of William Burroughs's novel Naked Lunch.

In 1995, he appeared in Screamers, a science-fiction film based on the short story "Second Variety" by Philip K. Dick and directed by Christian Duguay.

Television

In a 1977 episode of the television series Lou Grant, he played Donald Sterner/Stryker, a tragically disillusioned Jewish-American Neo-Nazi leader who later committed suicide off-screen when his heritage was discovered.

On television, he played the shuttle captain in the short-lived series Odyssey 5 and made guest appearances as Terran supremacist John Frederick Paxton in the Star Trek: Enterprise episodes "Demons" and "Terra Prime" and on Fringe as the character Alistair Peck.

Weller was a contributor to the History Channel in several productions, particularly as the host for the series Engineering an Empire. He was credited as "Peter Weller, Syracuse University", where he was an adjunct faculty member. He was later a graduate student in art history at UCLA, focusing on the Italian Renaissance.

In 2005, Weller co-starred as the Captain in a made-for-television remake of The Poseidon Adventure.

In 2006, Weller joined the cast of 24 as terrorist collaborator Christopher Henderson. Weller received a "cheer" in ''TV Guide'''s "Cheers & Jeers" section for his performance.

In 2010, Weller appeared in a teaser trailer for the companion documentary God of War: Unearthing the Legend that was featured in the game God of War III which Weller also hosted. Also that year, Weller guest-starred in episodes of Fringe, Dexter, and Psych.

Since 2012, he is appearing in a recurring role as Lucien Connally on the crime drama television series Longmire.

In 2013, he played the part of the villain in the remake of the "Hookman" episode of the original Hawaii Five-O. The part was originally played in 1973 by Jay J. Armes. In seasons six and seven of Sons of Anarchy, he plays the ruthless ex-cop Charles Barosky, a boss at the Stockton port and has dealings with the SAMCRO motorcycle club.

In 2017, Weller began appearing as Dr. Paul Vellek, a scientist, on The Last Ship.

Directing

Weller has directed various projects for television, including episodes of Homicide: Life on the Street, Monk and three episodes of Odyssey 5. He directed a 1997 adaptation of Elmore Leonard's Gold Coast starring David Caruso and Marg Helgenberger after previously starring in a version of Leonard's thriller Cat Chaser (1989). He has directed eleven episodes of the series Sons of Anarchy, two in season 4, titled "Dorylus" and "Hands", three in season 5, titled "Authority Vested", "Toad's Wild Ride" and "Darthy", three in season 6, titled "One One Six", "Los Fantasmas" and "Aon Rud Pearsanta", and three in season 7, titled "Some Strange Eruption", "What a Piece of Work Is Man" and "Suits of Woe". He has directed one episode each season of Longmire since 2012.

Since 2018, Weller has directed episodes "Guts + Fuel + Hope" and "Banh Bao + Sterno + Drill + Burner + Mason" of MacGyver, and episodes "Cry Murder" and "Whispers of Death" of Magnum P.I.

Voice acting

Weller voiced the character of Bruce Wayne / Batman in the two-part 2012–2013 animated adaptation of The Dark Knight Returns, and the titular character in the video game Wilson's Heart. He returned to voice RoboCop in a series of commercials for KFC and Mortal Kombat 11 in 2019, as well as RoboCop: Rogue City in 2023.

Personal life

In 1980, Weller met Ali MacGraw, during the making of Just Tell Me What You Want. They had an on-off relationship for several years.

On June 24, 2006, on his 59th birthday, Weller married his longtime girlfriend, actress Shari Stowe, at the Santa Maria Assunta church in Positano, Italy. Weller and Stowe have one son.

Awards and nominations

• (1988) Saturn Award for Best Actor – RoboCop (Nominated)
• (1992) Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role – Naked Lunch (Nominated)
• (1994) Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film – Partners (Nominated)
• (2002) Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male – Ivans XTC (Nominated)

Filmography

Feature film

Television film

Television series

Video games

References

Bibliography

Weller, Peter. Leon Battista Alberti in Exile: Tracing the Path to the First Modern Book on Painting.Cambridge University Press. 2025

References

1. (July 13, 2010). "TV: 'RoboCop' Heads to Miami for 'Dexter'!".
2. Weller, Peter Francis. (2014). "Alberti Before Florence: Early Sources Informing Leon Battista Alberti's ''De Pictura''". UCLA.
3. Nostrand, Barbara Van. (September 5, 2023). "Art is their adventure: Graduate students will benefit from Peter and Sheri Weller's beautiful vision".
4. "Dorothy Jean Davidson".
5. (December 7, 2002). "Jean Davidson Weller". [[Dallas Morning News]].
6. "Frederick Bradford Weller".
7. (June 24, 1947). "Peter Weller Biography (1947–)". Filmreference.com.
8. "Obituaries". pcgazette.com.
9. (March 1, 1996). "People Profile | Peter Weller". Cigar Aficionado.
10. (September 18, 2016). "What Happened to Peter Weller- News & Updates". gazettereview.com.
11. "2014 Emerald Eagle Honors Honorees". University of North Texas.
12. "Peter Weller, Class of 1972". American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
13. (October 18, 2007). "An interview with Peter Weller".
14. Ebiri, Bilge. (May 20, 2013). "Peter Weller on Star Trek, Getting His Ph.D., and Defending J.J. Abrams". vulture.com.
15. (2014). "Ph.D. Recipients". UCLA Art History.
16. (August 3, 2014). "STLV: Pegg: Scotty Not A 'Clown' – Talks Accent & Star Trek 2016 + Weller: Marcus Not 'Villain' + more". TrekMovie.com.
17. [https://web.archive.org/web/20071205163953/http://movies.nytimes.com/person/531156/Peter-Weller "Movies & TV: Peter Weller"]. ''[[The New York Times]]''. Retrieved May 9, 2012.
18. "Peter Weller".
19. (July 13, 2010). "Peter Weller Joins Showtime's 'Dexter'".
20. Chester, Nick. (January 19, 2010). "Awesome: RoboCop to Host God of War Documentary".
21. (October 15, 2012). "Peter Weller Joins Showtime's Dexter".
22. "'Psych' Season Finale Recap: Who Was Yin?".
23. (August 25, 2017). "The Last Ship Exclusive: Peter Weller Gets Tom Ready to Fight".
24. "Animated THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS Cast Announced".
25. (March 27, 2017). "Wilson's Heart is a bold VR mash-up of game styles and film genres".
26. "Meet Colonel RoboCop, KFC's Latest Colonel Sanders − Extended Feature". YouTube.
27. (May 6, 2020). "Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath – Official Reveal Trailer". YouTube.
28. Boon, Ed. (May 6, 2020). "Also FYI: That IS Peter Weller's voice as Robocop. :) #MortalKombat11Aftermath".
29. (February 3, 2010). "Once in Love with Ali". Zap2It.
30. (June 29, 2006). "'Robocop' Star Weds in Italy". Zap2It.