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Producer · Actor

1947-08-19 · Collins, Mississippi, USA · Male

66 series in the catalog

Gerald Lee McRaney (born August 19, 1947) is an American television and film actor. McRaney is best known as one of the stars of the television shows Simon & Simon, Major Dad, Promised Land and House of Cards. He most recently starred as Admiral Hollace Kilbride on NCIS: Los Angeles. He was a series regular in the first season of the CBS drama series Jericho and the final season of the HBO series Deadwood. He appeared in a recurring role as main antagonist Mason Wood in season eight of Castle. Recently, he played Barlow Connally in the A&E series Longmire and had a recurring role in the NBC series This Is Us as Dr. Nathan Katowski, a role which earned him the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.

Early life

McRaney was born in Collins, Mississippi, the son of Clyde and Edna McRaney. He is of Scottish and Choctaw ancestry. He graduated from Long Beach High School in Long Beach, Mississippi, then attended the University of Mississippi. Before finding success as an actor, McRaney worked in the Louisiana oil fields.

Career

In film, he starred in Night of Bloody Horror (1969), a low-budget slasher film in which he played the lead character Wesley Stuart.

On television, McRaney appeared in multiple episodes of shows such as Gunsmoke, Police Woman, and Barnaby Jones. He appeared in The Dukes of Hazzard in the episode "Hazzard Connection" (November 9, 1979), played a receptionist in two different episodes of The Rockford Files, and portrayed Tim Ryder, a heroin-addicted Vietnam War veteran in one episode of Hawaii Five-O. In addition, he starred in numerous episodes of The Incredible Hulk playing roles as a jealous boyfriend, a jealous race car driver, an angry police officer, and a disturbed police chief, and his miniseries roles include Dr. Henderson in Women in White (1979) and a town local, Harry Owens in Roots: The Next Generations (1979).

McRaney became known for his role as Rick Simon, co-starring alongside Jameson Parker, in the popular CBS detective series Simon & Simon from 1981 to 1989. During his time on the series, he appeared with Parker in the film Jackals (1986), and appeared twice on sitcom Designing Women. He then starred as Major John McGillis in the successful CBS family sitcom Major Dad (1989–1993), and Russell Greene in the CBS family drama Promised Land (1996–1999), a spinoff of the popular series Touched by an Angel where he originated the character. He also portrayed business mogul Adam Brock in the last eight episodes of Darren Star's primetime soap opera Central Park West, which ran on CBS from 1995 to 1996.

McRaney later appeared as General Alan Adamle in two episodes of the NBC drama The West Wing. He also played a prominent role in the third and final season of the HBO television series Deadwood (2005–2006), as gold prospector George Hearst; and starred in the CBS postapocalyptic series Jericho as Johnston Green.

Additionally, he has acted in many television films, such as: Not Our Son (1995); A Holiday Romance (1999); Going for Broke (2003); and Ike: Countdown to D-Day (2004), as General George S. Patton. He also starred in an episode of Diagnosis: Murder (episode 1.13 "Lily") as Det. Andy Ruggio and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (episode 9.24 "All In").

In the late 2000s, McRaney co-hosted the Outdoor Life Network hunting and shooting series The World of Beretta, drawing on his own sport interests. The series featured the sponsor's rifle and shotgun products in a number of hunting locations around the world, and often featured a celebrity shooter to hunt with McRaney.

In 2010, he starred as the villainous General Morrison in the film The A-Team (2010) and played a recurring role as CIA handler Carlton Shaw in the NBC action drama Undercovers. Also that year, he hosted a cable series on Spike TV that encouraged viewers Don't Be a Victim. One episode highlighted an instance wherein his longtime friend and Simon & Simon costar Jameson Parker was shot twice.

In 2011, he began playing a recurring role as a judge on the US drama Fairly Legal. In 2012, McRaney played General Luntz in the movie Red Tails, and Calvin in the film Heart of the Country. He played the wealthy, powerful real estate developer Barlow Connally in the A&E/Netflix series Longmire (2012–2015), and made several appearances in a guest role in the CBS comedy Mike & Molly (2012–2013). Later in 2013, he had a recurring role in the final season of the drama Southland.

From 2013 to 2017, he appeared in the Netflix series House of Cards as the billionaire Raymond Tusk of an energy corporation specializing in nuclear power. He also made two appearances in a supporting role on the FX Network drama Justified. In 2015, he starred in the dark comedy Focus as Bucky Spurgeon and in Coat of Many Colors as Rev. Jake Owens, Dolly Parton's maternal grandfather and preacher. In 2016, he appeared as main antagonist and recurring character Mason Wood (LockSat) during the eighth and final season of Castle.

From 2016 to 2022, he appeared in the NBC series This Is Us as Dr. Nathan Katowski, a role for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award. In 2018, he appeared in the USA Network series Shooter as Red Bama Sr.

McRaney appeared in a recurring role, on the CBS procedural drama, NCIS: Los Angeles, since 2014, playing U.S. Navy Vice Admiral (retired) Hollace Kilbride. In 2021, McRaney became a series regular with Admiral Kilbride being appointed the new director of the NCIS Special Projects Office in Los Angeles.

Personal life

McRaney married his third wife, actress Delta Burke, on May 28, 1989; they had met two years earlier during her guest appearance on a Simon & Simon episode. He appeared on the series in which she starred, Designing Women, as Dash Goff (who was named after a real person from Fayetteville, Arkansas, whom Delta Burke's fellow castmate, Annie Potts, had met while filming Pass the Ammo on location).

In 1992, McRaney served as Bacchus in the Krewe of Bacchus at Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Having played a Marine Corps veteran on Simon & Simon and a Marine Corps officer on Major Dad, he has always been very supportive of veterans and soldiers, although he is not a veteran himself. He made many visits to support the soldiers in Operation Desert Storm. During one USO-sponsored trip, McRaney visited sailors and Marines on board ships ported in Toulon, France, on Thanksgiving of 1993 and signed autographs for the men on board the ships. While on board the USS Ashland, he autographed one sailor's cowboy hat. He also visited troops during Operation Restore Hope in Somalia in 1993. In 1994 he visited troops of task force 1/87 deployed to Haiti for Operation Uphold Democracy. McRaney chaired the Department of Veterans Affairs' 2002 National Salute to Hospitalized Veterans campaign, honoring hospitalized veterans and promoting volunteerism at VA medical center. He has appeared in commercials for the Wounded Warrior Project.

In August 2004, McRaney underwent successful surgery for lung cancer, in Houston, Texas.

Politics

Endorsing incumbent Republican President George H. W. Bush for re-election in 1992, McRaney stated: "Most of my life I've been a Democrat, but the last several presidential elections have finally convinced me that I might as well go ahead and admit I'm a Republican." His first presidential vote was for Democrat Hubert Humphrey in 1968. At the 1992 Republican National Convention, McRaney introduced Second Lady Marilyn Quayle. Appearing at a campaign event for George H. W. Bush, McRaney called opponent Bill Clinton an "overeducated moron".

In 2008, McRaney supported Republican candidate John McCain for president.

McRaney has appeared in TV commercials on behalf of the National Rifle Association of America dating back to 1987.