Steve Railsback

With the exception of his feature debut in Elia Kazan's "The Visitors" (1972) and a small role in "The Cockfighter" (1974), stage-trained Steve Railsback spent the first ten years of his career working in the theater. While studying with Lee Strasberg at NYC's Actors Studio, he came to the attention of Kazan and later acted in plays directed by Arthur Penn, Jose Quintero and Shelley Winters that ranged from the moodiness of Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard" to the zaniness of Thorton Wilder's "The Skin of Our Teeth" (1975). Railsback received international acclaim for his chilling portrayal of Charles Manson in his TV debut in the miniseries "Helter Skelter" (CBS, 1976), based on the Vincent Bugliosi book. He delivered an equally riveting performance in "The Stunt Man" (1980), playing a fugitive who stumbles onto a movie set and, after accidentally causing a stunt man's death, replaces him in return for director Peter O'Toole's protection from the police.

Unfortunately, Railsback has failed to follow these two roles with any work of similar stature, despite building a lasting career in both film and television. He has demonstrated his versatility in movies like "The Golden Seal" (1983) and "Calendar Girl" (1993) but for the most part has wasted his talent on bombs like "The Blue Monkey" (1987) and "Alligator II: The Mutation" (1991). He has fared better on TV with such parts as a globe-trotting journalist in the syndicated miniseries "Spearfield's Daughter" (1986) and an acclaimed turn as Duane Barry in Fox's popular "The X-Files". He earned credits as screenwriter and executive producer for the USA Network movie "The Forgotten" (1989), in which he also acted, and inaugurated his directing career with the feature "The Spy Within" (1995), starring Scott Glenn and Theresa Russell. Railsback became a TV series regular for the first time portraying Colonel James Vice in Fox's short-lived sci-fi series "The Visitor" (1997).