| James Spader | |
|---|---|
 James Spader appears as Attorney Alan Shore on the series. | |
| Personal Information | |
| Born: | February 7, 1960 |
| Birthplace: | Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Career/Family | |
| Occupation/ Career: |
Actor |
| Spouse(s): | Victoria Kheel 1987-2004(divorced) 2 children |
| Life Partner(s): | Leslie Stefanson (2008–present; one child) |
| Character information | |
| Appeared on: | Boston Legal |
| Character played: | Alan Shore |
79th Emmy Awards James Spader
James Spader winning an Emmy at the 79th Emmy Awards
James Spader {born February 7, 1960) appears as Alan Shore on The Practice and its subsequent spin-off Boston Legal. He also is the actor who plays Robert California on TBS series The Office. For his role as Alan Shore on "BL" James twice earned an Emmy Award Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, winning in 2007 and 2009; he also earned a Satellite Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy for the role in 2006, as well as a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in the role on its parent series, The Practice in 2004.
Early life[]
Spader was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Jean (née Fraser) and Stoddard Greenwood "Todd" Spader, both teachers.[1][2] One of Spader's great-great-grandfathers was William Ingersoll Bowditch (of the historic William Ingersoll Bowditch House); Spader's ancestors also include deaf educator Laurent Clerc, mathematician Nathaniel Bowditch, American Revolution general Joshua Babcock, and Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia Paul Mascarene.[3]
During his early education, Spader attended The Pike School (where his mother taught art) and enrolled in the Brooks School (where his father taught), for one year, in North Andover, Massachusetts. Spader later transferred to Phillips Academy, but dropped out of school in the eleventh grade to pursue acting at the Michael Chekhov School in New York City.[4] Before becoming a full-time actor, Spader held a variety of jobs including being a yoga instructor, busboy, truck driver, stable boy, and railroad-car loader.
Recent career[]
In October 2006, Spader narrated China Revealed, the first episode of Discovery Channel's documentary series Discovery Atlas. Former Boston Legal castmate Candice Bergen would follow him in narrating France Revealed. He has also done the voice-over in several television commercials for Acura.
Spader starred as a lead character in Race, a play written and directed by David Mamet, alongside Richard Thomas, David Alan Grier and Kerry Washington. It opened on December 6, 2009[10] at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on Broadway. The show closed on August 21, 2010 after 297 performances.
In March 2011, Spader was named to star in By Virtue Fall, a film written and to be directed by Sheldon Turner. Also set to star in the film are Eric Bana, Carla Gugino, Ryan Phillippe, Treat Williams and Kim Coates. As of June 2011, the movie is in pre-production, and set to be released 2013.
James was one of a number of prominent guest stars in "Search Committee," the final episode of season 7 of The Office. He portrayed a man named Robert California. On June 27, 2011, Ricky Gervais (an executive producer on the show) announced Spader was to join the cast on a permanent basis. James planned to stay only through the eighth season, and while the original plan was just to do the guest appearance, executive producer Paul Lieberstein said, "those two scenes became a season."
On August 29, 2013, Marvel Studios announced that Spader will join the The Avengers: Age of Ultron cast as villainous robot Ultron. Scheduled for a 2015 release, the film is the sequel to the 2012 release The Avengers. In September 2013, Spader will star on NBC's television series, The Blacklist, portraying the fictional Raymond "Red" Reddington, one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives.