James Spader is an American actor, known for roles in films such as Pretty in Pink, Lincoln, Stargate, Crash and more. He plays the criminal Raymond Reddington in NBC's The Blacklist.
Early Life
Spader was born on February 7, 1960, in Boston, Massachusetts. The son of teachers Jean and Todd Spader, Spader attended The Pike School, his mother's place of work, and enrolled in Brooks School, his father's place of work, for one year. In the eleventh grade, he dropped out and went to New York to pursue acting. Prior to full-time acting, he held a variety of jobs including being a yoga instructor, busboy, truck driver, stable boy, and railroad-car loader.
Career
Spader's first major role was as Brooke Shield's brother in Endless Love in 1981. His first starring role waste Tuff Turf alongside Robert Downey Jr. He didn't reach stardom until his famous role in Pretty in Pink. Since then, he has been in films such as Less Than Zero, Sex, Lies and Videotape, Secretary, Keys to Tulsa and The Watcher. He has been in TV series such s The Office, Seinfeld and The Practice, and narrated the first episode of Discovery Channel's series Discovery Atlas.
He is set to play Ultron in Marvel Studios' upcoming movie, The Avengers: Age of Ultron.