William Sadler (actor)

Early life

Sadler was born in Buffalo, New York, the son of Jane and William Sadler.

From an early age, he enjoyed performing for an audience. Playing a variety of stringed instruments, he found hometown success during his high-school years at Orchard Park High School. He took on the persona of Banjo Bill Sadler, a banjo-playing singer who cracked jokes while playing.

After graduating from high school, he enrolled at SUNY Geneseo; then spent two years at Cornell University, where he earned his master's degree in acting with a minor in speech communications.

Career

A chance meeting with an old schoolmate on a trip into the city resulted in Sadler's casting in an off-off-Broadway production of Chekhov's Ivanov. After a brief turn at the Trinity Square Repertory Company in Providence, Rhode Island, Sadler moved back to New York and rented an apartment in the East Village, beginning twelve years in which he appeared in over 75 productions, including originating the role of Sgt. Toomey in the Broadway run of Neil Simon's Biloxi Blues, opposite Matthew Broderick in 1985.

Sadler is best known for his roles in the 1990 action film Die Hard 2 as Colonel Stuart, as Heywood in the 1994 prison drama The Shawshank Redemption, Death in the 1991 comedy Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, and as Brayker in Demon Knight. When he first auditioned for a role in Die Hard 2, he was told he was too young. With a make-up artist friend's help, Sadler re-auditioned as a 70-year-old, and won the part. In addition to appearing in Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey as Death, Sadler also appears as himself, with his real-life wife and 5-year-old daughter, in scenes where families around the world respond to Bill and Ted's actions. He reprised his Death role in the 2020 sequel Bill & Ted Face the Music.

Sadler was also a regular on the television series Roswell as Sheriff Jim Valenti, and in Wonderfalls as Darrin Tyler.

His other film credits include Trespass, K-9, Project X, Disturbing Behavior, Kinsey, The Battle of Shaker Heights, Purple Heart, Jimmy and Judy and August Rush.

Sadler's TV guest appearances include In the Heat of the Night, Roseanne, Tru Calling, Tour of Duty, CSI, Numb3rs, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. He had a recurring role on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as Luther Sloan.

He appeared in three episodes as Sloan in *Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'''s final two seasons. In 2007, he played Carlton Fog on ABC's Traveler, and in 2008 he appeared in both NBC's Medium as well as Fox Television's Fringe. The 1989 pilot episode of the HBO horror anthology series Tales from the Crypt featured Sadler in its lead role. In March 2011, Sadler made a guest appearance in NBC's *Chase''.

Sadler portrayed Julius Caesar in the contemporary adaptation of William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar on Broadway alongside Denzel Washington at the Belasco Theatre. Recently, he finished shooting with American independent filmmakers Dylan Bank and Morgan Pehme on the film Nothing Sacred. Sadler portrayed the robot Victor in the 2010 video game, Fallout: New Vegas. Sadler played Lee Underwood in Greetings from Tim Buckley, a film on Tim and Jeff Buckley, which premiered at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival.

Sadler appeared as Matthew Ellis, the President of the United States, in Iron Man 3 (2013).

In 2015, Sadler was part of the Texas Frightmare Weekend, and starred in Ava's Possessions, which was screened at SXSW.

On September 8, 2021, it was announced that Sadler was cast as Parkins Gillespie in 'Salem's Lot, an adaptation of Stephen King's novel of the same name.

Personal life

Sadler married his wife, Marni Joan Bakst, on May 6, 1978. They had a daughter together, Sadler Colley Bakst, age 38 at the time of her mother's death. On December 19, 2024, Sadler confirmed his wife had died after a "two year battle with cancer".

Filmography

Film

Television

Web

Video games

References

References

1. Burnett, Robyn. (2002). "Crash Into Me: The World of Roswell". ECW Press.
2. "William Sadler".
3. "Bill Sadler biography".
4. Bernstein, Sharon. (July 27, 1991). "'Bill & Ted's' Grim Reaper Is a Vegetarian and Songwriter". [[The Los Angeles Times]].
5. Cedrone, Lou (August 1, 1991). "William Sadler's role as Death gives birth to a comedy career". ''Kitchener-Waterloo Record'' (Kitchener, Ontario, Canada). p. C6.
6. Keck, William. (January 18, 2011). "Keck's Exclusives: NBC's Chase Casts Annie's Dad". [[TV Guide]].
7. HitFix Staff. (August 23, 2011). "Anthrax bassist Frank Bello joins Penn Badgely's Jeff Buckley film". [[HitFix]].
8. Kurchak, Sarah. (August 15, 2012). "TIFF 2012 Adds Greetings From Tim Buckley, Spike Lee's Bad 25 Michael Jackson Doc, Skrillex Soundtrack". [[Spinner (website).
9. Moore, Roger (May 2, 2013). "Final 'Iron Man' is more violent, Stark more fiery". ''Argus Leader'' (Sioux Falls, South Dakota). p. 5.
10. Fangoria Staff. (February 27, 2015). "Texas Frightmare Weekend 2015 Adds "DEMON KNIGHT" star William Sadler!". Fangoria.
11. Barton, Steve. (March 9, 2015). "SXSW 2015 - First Look at Ava's Possessions". Dread Central.
12. Eisenberg, Eric. (September 8, 2021). "Stephen King's Salem's Lot Movie Just Added A Shawshank Redemption Star".
13. Braun-Silva, Bethany. (December 21, 2024). "Actor William Sadler shares heartfelt tribute to wife Marni Bakst after her passing". [[ABC News (United States).
14. (December 21, 2024). "Actor William Sadler Mourns Death of Wife After Decades-Long Marriage: 'Don't Think I Can Fathom or Put Into Words'". [[People (magazine).
15. (December 21, 2024). "Shawshank Redemption star William Sadler mourns death of wife". [[Daily Mail]].
16. Sadler, William. (December 19, 2024). "Early yesterday morning, my wife, Marni Bakst, finally lost her two year battle with cancer...".
17. "A Stage of Twilight (2022) - Full cast & crew - IMDb".
18. [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5023724 ''Blue Bloods'' "Absolute Power" episode], imdb.com; accessed February 18, 2016.