Leon Russom

Early career

Russom's first acting work was on the CBS soap opera Guiding Light in the late 1960s. He subsequently appeared in another CBS soap opera, Love is a Many Splendored Thing as Joe Taylor from 1972-1973. Russom was the second actor to play the role of Willis Frame on the NBC soap, Another World a role that he kept for several years. His early film career included The Trial of the Catonsville Nine as David Durst and Stephen King's Silver Bullet. He also appeared on the TV show Mission: Impossible as Sam Evans.

Emmy nomination

In the 1991 Emmys Leon Russom received a nomination for his work in the category Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Special for his work on the 1991 television movie The Long Road Home. He starred as Titus Wardlow.

Later work

Leon Russom's later work included many appearances in dramas, mainly legal or crime. He appeared in many TV shows in the 1990s and the early 2000s, including L.A. Law, Bones, Cold Case, Law & Order, JAG, NYPD Blue, John Doe, The X-Files, Dark Skies, Seinfeld (as an Astros representative in "The Hot Tub")and other shows. He played the police chief of Malibu in the Coen brothers' The Big Lebowski (1998). Recently he appeared in Prison Break as General Jonathan Krantz, head of The Company. His role in the series was initially minor, restricted to sporadic non-speaking appearances. But from the third season on, his role took on increasing importance, culminating in his becoming the main antagonist, right up to The Final Break.

In 2010, he appeared on a Las Vegas television commercial. He teamed with the Coen brothers once more to play a sheriff in True Grit.

Russom is also a stage actor, and in 2012 was nominated for an LA Weekly Theater Award for his portrayal of "Hamm" in Samuel Beckett's Endgame at Los Angeles' Sacred Fools Theater Company, where he served as a co-Artistic Director for the company's sixteenth season, alongside fellow company members French Stewart and Alyssa Preston. In 2013, he appeared as the Earl of Gloucester in King Lear with The Porters of Hellsgate, alongside Larry Cedar as King Lear.