‘Homeland’ Actor James Rebhorn Dead at 65
The industry veteran, who passed away at home on Friday, played memorable supporting characters on film and TV.
James Rebhorn, the busy character actor who played the father of Claire Danes’ troubled CIA officer Carrie Mathison on the Showtime drama Homeland, has died. He passed away on Friday, his agent Dianne Busch confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter. He was 65.
“He died from melanoma, which had been diagnosed in 1992,” Busch stated. “He fought it all this time. He died Friday afternoon at his home in New Jersey, where he had been receiving hospice care for a week and a half.”
Rebhorn also had a recent recurring role on the USA Network hit White Collar as Special Agent Reese Hughes, head of the FBI’s Manhattan white-collar crime unit.
During his prolific five-decade career, the Philadelphia native also was memorable as the district attorney that sent Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer to jail on the Seinfeld finale in 1998 and as the prosecution’s FBI expert automotive witness in the hilarious film My Cousin Vinny (1992). He also had stints as attorneys on the David E. Kelley shows The Practice and Boston Legal and recurring roles on Third Watch, The Book of Daniel, Law & Order and Big Lake.
Rebhorn played the school’s headmaster Mr. Trask in Scent of a Woman (1992) and was President Signoff in The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle (2000).
His vast film résumé also includes Silkwood (1983), The House on Carroll Street (1988), Desperate Hours (1990), Regarding Henry (1991), Shadows and Fog (1991), Basic Instinct (1992), Lorenzo’s Oil (1992), Guarding Tess (1994), Independence Day (1996), The Game (1997), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Snow Falling on Cedars (1999), Meet the Parents (2000), Far From Heaven (2002), Cold Mountain (2003), Real Steel (2011) and The Odd Life of Timothy Green (2012).
Rebhorn was a mainstay of the Roundabout Theatre Company and most recently starred as a father stricken with Alzheimer’s in Too Much, Too Much, Too Many, which opened in November at the Black Box Theatre in New York.
He appeared onstage in the original production of I’m Not Rappaport in 1985 and in the revivals of Our Town, The Man Who Had All the Luck, Dinner at Eight, Twelve Angry Men and Prelude to a Kiss.
He also was seen on the TV shows Kate & Allie, The Equalizer, Wiseguy, Enlightened and 30 Rock.
“USA Network is deeply saddened about the passing of James Rebhorn, who so brilliantly played Reese Hughes on White Collar. Our sympathies go out to his family, friends and loved ones,” the TV network said in a statement.
Rebhorn is survived by his wife, Rebecca, and daughters Hanna and Emma.