James Brolin was born in 1940 in Los Angeles. His television debut came in 1961 in an episode of “Bus Stop”. In 1963 he had a small part in the James Stewart film “Take Her, She’s Mine” followed two years later by “Dear Brigitte” which starred Stewart again and Glynis Johns and Fabian. In 1969 he had significant success with the television series “Marcus Welby M.D.” which ran until 1976 and also starred Robert Young. He then starred in some big budget films incuding “Gable and Lombard” with Jill Clayburgh in 1976, “Capricorn One” and “The Amityville Horror” in 1979. He had another television success with “Hotel” from 1983 until 1988. James Brolin had a recurring role in “The West Wing”. He is the father of actor Josh Brolin and husband of Barbra Streisand. Interview with “Huffington Post” here.
“Quinlan’s Movie Stars”:
Tall, dark-haired (now gray) American leading man reminscent of Clint Walker. He had trouble getting decent roles in Hollywood until television fame as a junior partner in “Marcus Welby”. His cinema portrait of Clark Gable was not a success and after a couple of box-office hits in the late 1970s he was relegated to tough heroes of minor action films.
TCM Overview:
As the son of James Brolin, stepson of Barbra Streisand and husband of Diane Lane, actor Josh Brolin forged his career in the shadow of three formidable talents. In fact, ever since his debut in “The Goonies” (1985), Brolin languished for years in roles that were well below his station. Adding to his self-determined persona was an ability to get into occasional trouble , whether it was being mauled by a mountain lion, crashing his motorcycle weeks before shooting a major film, or making headlines with an arrest for a domestic dispute Brolin had a knack for generating publicity in interesting ways. Meanwhile, he worked steadily throughout his career, though he suffered a string of mediocre movies that included “The Road Killers” (1994), “The Mod Squad” (1999) and “Hollow Man” (2000). But he began to step away from such lowbrow fare with a turn in Woody Allen’s serio-comedy “Melinda and Melinda” (2005) and eventually broke free with his acclaimed performance in the Oscar-winning “No Country for Old Men” (2007). He played a crooked cop in “American Gangster” (2007), the bumbling President of the United States in “W.” (2008), and San Francisco politician and assassin Dan White in “Milk” (2008). Though he stumbled a bit as the lead in “Jonah Hex” (2010), Brolin rebounded with “True Grit” (2010), proving that his transformation into a highly sought after leading man was no fluke.
