James Cromwell was born in Los Angeles, California, but relocated to Manhattan, New York. He is the son of John Cromwell (born "Elwood Dager Cromwell") and actress Kay Johnson (nee "Catherine Townsend"). Cromwell was educated at The Hill School, Middlebury College and the Carnegie Institute of Technology. He studied engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. James went into the theater (like both his parents) doing everything from Shakespeare to experimental plays.
1970s
He began work in television in the mid-1970s (notably Stretch Cunningham on All in the Family and a lead character in Hot L Baltimore), made his film debut in 1976 in Neil Simon's classic detective spoof Murder by Death, and goes back to the stage periodically.
1980s
In his recurring role as Mr. Skolnick, father of Lewis Skolnick, he is one of only four actors to appear in all four Revenge of the Nerds movies from 1984 through 1994 (the others being Robert Carradine, Curtis Armstrong and Larry B. Scott). Cromwell also played a similar role in the film Explorers, where he was a German scientist who was the father of River Phoenix's character, also very much into science as was Lewis Skolnick.
1990s
His notable roles in the 90's include his Academy Award nominated performance as Farmer Arthur Hoggett in Babe (1995) and police captain Dudley Smith in L.A. Confidential (1997). This was a breakout role for the actor, which made him bankable in Hollywood. He played Dr. Zefram Cochrane in Star Trek: First Contact (1996) and the Star Trek: Enterprise pilot "Broken Bow" (the Star Trek: Enterprise episode "In a Mirror, Darkly" later reused some of the First Contact footage). He has appeared on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, though not as Cochrane (his appearances on these shows predated his role in First Contact). These episodes were "The Hunted", "Birthright, Part I and II" and "Starship Down".
2000s
Cromwell starred as a series regular in the last two seasons of the HBO original series Six Feet Under. He portrayed George Sibley, Ruth Fisher's geologist husband. He also portrayed Bishop Lionel Stewart in several episodes of ER (2001), U.S. President Robert "Bob" Fowler in The Sum of All Fears (2002) and the role of former President D. Wire Newman in an episode of The West Wing (2004). He played Dr. Alfred Lanning, creator of modern robots and inventor of the Three Laws of Robotics in the 2004 movie I, Robot. He also recently appeared as the warden in the remake of The Longest Yard . In his most recent completed film, The Queen, Cromwell portrays HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh starring alongside Helen Mirren who plays HM Queen Elizabeth II.
He appears in the sixth season of the television show 24 in the role of Phillip Bauer, father to main character Jack Bauer played by Kiefer Sutherland. He will also appear in the upcoming Spider-Man 3 as Captain Stacy.
Cromwell is also known for his unusually tall stature; he stands at 201 cm (approx 6 ft 7 in). The average height for American men is 5 ft 9 in (175 cm). Director Blake Edwards once offended Cromwell by telling him that he was a "useless entity" on his set because he, as a director, felt uncomfortable with his stars working alongside anyone that was 2 inches (5 cm) taller than he was. Edwards went on to explain how this actor would be unable to find leading roles within the industry. His height, however, has not prevented Cromwell from becoming a prolific character actor, appearing in a wide variety of roles.
Cromwell has long been an advocate of progressive and liberal causes. In the late 1960s he was a member of "The Committee to Defend The Panthers", a group organized to defend 13 members of the Black Panther Party who had been imprisoned in New York and were eventually released. In a 2004 interview with CNN.com, Cromwell praised the Panthers. Cromwell became a vegetarian in 1974 after seeing a stockyard in Texas and experiencing the "smell, terror and anxiety". He became an ethical vegan after playing the character of Farmer Hoggett while filming the movie Babe in 1995. Cromwell frequently speaks out on issues regarding animal cruelty for PETA, namely the treatment of pigs.
His father, director John Cromwell, was blacklisted during the McCarthy era.
