Tim Blake Nelson

Photo of Tim Blake Nelson

Biography

As a multitalented creative force, equally adept at absurdist comedy and soul-searching drama, Tim Blake Nelson carved out a successful career as a writer, director and accomplished actor. Despite years spent struggling to find his footing on screen, Nelson was a successful playwright and stage performer, earning awards and critical acclaim for his work, including "Eye of God" and "The Grey Zone." He began to make strides on television in …
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Job Title

Actor, Director, Producer, Writer, Camera, Film & Tape, Editor, Music, Consultants & Advisors, Below The Line

Born

Timothy Blake Nelson on May 11, 1964 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA

Career Milestones

2012

Portrayed politician Richard Schell opposite Daniel Day-Lewis in Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln"

2012

Cast alongside Drew Barrymore in "Big Miracle," a drama centered on a campaign to save a family of gray whales trapped by rapidly forming ice in the Arctic Circle

2011

Landed a supporting role in "The Big Year"

2010

Directed, wrote, and co-starred in "Leaves of Grass"

2007

Co-starred in Richard Kelly's ensemble drama "Southland Tales"

2007

Cast opposite Billy Bob Thornton in "The Astronaut Farmer"

2006

Co-starred in Joey Lauren Adams' screenwriting and directing debut "Come Early Morning"

2006

Co-starred in "The Amateurs," an independent comedy about a sleepy town that comes together to film a porno

2005

Cast opposite Robin Williams in "The Big White"

2005

Co-starred with George Clooney and Matt Damon in the geopolitical thriller "Syriana," based on the real-life memoirs of CIA agent Robert Baer

2004

Cast opposite Matthew Broderick and Alec Baldwin in the comedy "The Last Shot"

2004

Starred alongside David Arquette and Emily Mortimer in "A Foreign Affair"

2002

Had a small but notable part in Steven Spielberg's "Minority Report"

2002

Co-starred with Jennifer Aniston in the critically hailed "The Good Girl"

2002

Appeared as the unlikely love interest in the quirky independent film "Cherish"

2001

Adapted the screenplay of his play "The Grey Zone" for the big screen; also directed and edited; released theatrically in U.S. in 2002

2001

Directed the prep school-set "Othello" update "O"

2000

Co-starred with George Clooney and John Turturro as an escapted con in the Coen Brothers 1930s-set "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"

2000

Had small role in a modern feature adaptation of "Hamlet," directed by Michael Almereyda

1998

Played Private Tillis in Terrence Malick's adaptation of "The Thin Red Line"

1998

Starred in the prison-set drama "Andarko" with David Patrick Kelly

1998

Wrote and directed the short "Kansas"

1997

Was an FBI technician in the crime thriller "Donnie Brasco"

1997

Wrote and directed the acclaimed independent drama "Eye of God," based on his own play

1996

Produced "The Grey Zone," at New York City's Manhattan Class Company (MCC) Theater

1996

Was featured in the ABC miniseries "Larry McMurtry's Dead Man's Walk"

1995

Made guest appearance on John Leguizamo's short-lived comedy-variety show "House of Buggin'"

1995

Starred as Thersites in the Delacourt Theater production of "Troilus and Cressida"

1994

Played a detective in Hal Hartley's "Amateur"

1993

Featured in the stage production "An Imaginary Life" at Playwrights Horizons in New York City

1993

Appeared on episodes of HBO's sketch comedy "Hardcore TV"

1992

Played a comedian compatriot of Julie Kavner's Dottie in Nora Ephron's "This Is My Life"

1992

Appeared in the off-Broadway staging of Caryl Churchill's play "Mad Forrest" alongside Calista Flockhart and Juilliard classmate Jake Weber

1990

Was writer and performer on the sketch comedy show "The Unnaturals" (HA! TV Comedy Network and CTV: The Comedy Network)

Raised in Tulsa, OK

Awards

2001

Grammy Award for Album Of The Year

2001

Seattle International Film Festival for Best Director Golden Space Needle Award in O

2001

MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo in O Brother, Where Art Thou?

1998

Independent Spirit Award for Producers Award in Eye of God