Larry Cedar
Larry Cedar | |
---|---|
Born |
Pacoima, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | March 6, 1955
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1978–present |
Larry Cedar (born March 6, 1955) is an American actor and a voice actor best known as one of the players of the highly acclaimed Children's Television Workshop mathematics show Square One TV on PBS from 1987 to 1994. He also played Alex the Butcher in a series of commercials for Kroger in 1989. Cedar is also known for playing Leon, the opium addicted thief and faro dealer, in the internationally acclaimed HBO series, Deadwood.
Life and career
Born and raised in Pacoima in San Fernando Valley, Cedar's professional acting career did not begin until shortly after his admission to Hastings Law School when, on an impulse, he decided to audition for, and was accepted into the MFA Theater program at UCLA and graduated in 1978.[1] There he won the Hugh O'Brian Acting Competition award for Best Actor, resulting in his signing a one-year artist development contract with Universal Studios. He went on to star in various television films, numerous episodics and feature films, including a starring role opposite Rebecca De Mornay in the Ivan Reitman-produced Feds, as well as a memorable appearance as The Creature on the Wing opposite John Lithgow in the Steven Spielberg remake, Twilight Zone: The Movie, directed by George Miller. He has also won an L.A. Theater Alliance Ovation Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. Larry Cedar has a long line of actors in his family including Jon Cedar and George Cedar.
Larry spent six seasons in New York starring in the award-winning PBS series Square One TV and later starred in 40 episodes of the Fox television series A.J.'s Time Travelers. A veteran stage performer, Larry most recently performed the lead in the one-man play Billy Bishop Goes to War at the Colony Theatre. He’s been nominated for two Los Angeles Theater Alliance Ovation"awards for his performances in Anything Goes (as Lord Oakley) opposite Rachel York and She Loves Me (as Sipos, for which he won Best Featured Actor in a Musical). Other stage work includes portraying Hoagy Carmichael in Hoagy, Bix, and Wolfgang Beethoven Bunkhaus at L.A.’s Mark Taper Forum, as Vernon opposite Lea Thompson in They're Playing Our Song, and as Secretary Thompson in 1776 opposite Roger Rees.
In August 2008, Cedar appeared in Towelhead, the directorial debut of Alan Ball (creator of Six Feet Under). He recently co-starred opposite Adrien Brody as the demented Chester Sinclair in the Ben Affleck/Diane Lane noir feature film, Hollywoodland, directed by Allen Coulter, and recurred for three seasons as Leon, the opium-addicted card dealer and thief, in the David Milch helmed HBO series Deadwood opposite Powers Boothe and Ian McShane. Independent feature work includes the award winning short Tel Aviv, the science fiction thriller Forecast, and the full length horror flick Midnight Son. Cedar also excels in the field of voiceovers, lending his vocal characterizations to hundreds of commercials, cartoon series, and video games.
In 2010, Cedar had a role in The Crazies, a film where he played the part of Principal Ben Sandborn. He portrayed Cornelius Hawthorne, father of Chevy Chase's character Pierce Hawthorne, on Community.
Cedar continues to be active in the Los Angeles theatre community. In 2013, he starred in King Lear with The Porters of Hellsgate.[2]
For the 2013 Hollywood Fringe Festival, he developed the script for Orwellian: Rants, Recollections, and Cautionary Tales From The Works of Eric Arthur Blair. The piece is a one-hour adaptation of three works by George Orwell: Down and Out in Paris and London, Animal Farm, and Nineteen Eighty-Four. The play was produced by The Porters of Hellsgate in conjunction with the Orwell estate.[3]
Filmography
Film roles
- The Babe. Radio announcer : Atlas Shrugged: Part III - Dr. Floyd Ferris
- C.H.U.D. II: Bud the C.H.U.D. - Graves
- Constantine - Vermin Man
- Demonic Toys - Peterson
- Dreamscape - Snakeman
- Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Car Rental Agent
- Hollywoodland - Chester Sinclair
- Justice League: Gods and Monsters - Pete Ross
- Justice League: Throne of Atlantis - Thomas Curry
- National Treasure: Book of Secrets - Control Room Guard
- Paparazzi - Charlie
- Pinocchio's Revenge - District Attorney
- The Crazies - Principal Ben Sandborn
- The Gingerdead Man - Jimmy Dean
- The London Connection - Roger Pike
- The Master of Disguise - Businessman
- Towelhead - Photographer
- Twilight Zone: The Movie - Creature on the Wing (Episode #4)
Television roles
- Boston Legal - Robert Hooper
- Charmed in a season eight guest role as the scheming Demon Xar, pushing the episode's action in "Engaged and Confused".
- Community - Cornelius Hawthorne
- Deadwood - Leon (3 seasons)
- Get a Life - Ted (2 episodes)
- Saved by the Bell - Mystery Weekend actor
- Square One Television - Series Regular
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Nydrom (Episode: "Armageddon Game")
- Star Trek: Voyager - Tersa
- Star Trek: Enterprise - Tessic
- State of Mind - Larry Carson
- The Riches - Karl
- W*A*L*T*E*R (unsold M*A*S*H spinoff) - Zipkin
- Without a Trace - Ray Pallidies
Video game roles
- EverQuest II - Rune Shimmerstar, Tristan Gallaway, Eorandalanu Otuden, Alchemist Alus Crispian, Dyric Pyre, Waylon March, The Glademaster, Generic Male Dark Elf Merchant, Generic Male Erudite Merchant, Generic Male Gnome Merchant, Generic Male Halfling Merchant, Generic Male Human Merchant, Generic Male Ratonga Merchant, Generic Dark Elf Guard, Various Character Languages
- Hitman: Absolution - Edward Wade
- Marvel: Ultimate Alliance - Loki
- SOCOM II: U.S. Navy SEALs - Vandal
- Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 -
- Tony Hawk's Underground - The Skater
- Tony Hawk's Underground 2 -
- Ultimate Spider-Man - Additional Voices
References
- ↑ "NOTABLE ALUMNI ACTORS". UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
- ↑ "Larry Cedar to Star in The Porters of Hellsgate's King Lear". Shakespeare in LA
- ↑ "Orwellian: Starring Larry Cedar". Hollywood Fringe Festival