~ Is a graduate of the Erhard Seminars Training
~ Attended Ponoma College.
~ Was inspired to become an actor after seeing Paul Newman and Joanne Woodard in the play "Picnic" on Broadway.
Hailing from Long Beach, California, talented character actor Anthony Zerbe has kept busy in Hollywood and on stage since the late 1960s, often playing villainous or untrustworthy characters, with his narrow gaze and unsettling smirk. Zerbe was born May 20, 1936, in Long Beach, and served a stint in the US Air Force before heading off to New York to study drama under noted acting coach Stella Adler. After graduating from high school, Zerbe, a native Californian, hitchhiked to New York to begin his acting career. Once in New York, he became a student at the Stella Adler Theater Studio and was soon on his way.
Zerbe co-starred in the series "Harry O" for which he received a 1976 Emmy Award as Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. He also guest-starred in such series as "Cannon," "The Streets of San Francisco," "Hawaii Five-O," "Mission: Impossible," Highway to Heaven," "Dynasty," "The Equalizer" and "Columbo." Zerbe starred in the miniseries "North and South Book II," "Dream West" and "The Richest Man in the World: The Story of Aristotle Onassis" and the televison movies "Once An Eagle," "One Police Plaza" and "Independence." "The Young Riders" is Zerbe's second television series. His most recent film performances include the James Bond thriller "Licence to Kill," and the comedy "Hear No Evil, See No Evil" with Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor. His other film credits include "The Turning Point," "The First Deadly Sin," "Dead Zone," "Papillon," "Judge Roy Bean," "The Omega Man" and "Cool Hand Luke." His prestigious theater credits include a five-year residency at the Old Globe Theater in San Diego, where he performed Coriolanus, Iago, Richard III and Macbeth; a two year residency with the famed Stratford Theater in Canada; and the Mark Taper Forum productions of "Macbeth," "The Catonsville Nine" and "Crystal and The Fox." His Broadway credits include "Terra Nova," "Solomon's Child," "The Little Foxes" and "Moon Besieged."
Zerbe continues his longstanding association with the GeVa Theater in Rochester, New York as associate artistic director. In the 1989/90 season, Zerbe designed an auxiliary education program for students around the production of "A Street Car Named Desire." He also produced "Reflections '90 A New Plays Festival," which included the play "Forgiving Typhoid Mary," which he also directed.
During the 1990-91 GeVa Theater season, Zerbe directed fellow "The Young Riders" cast member Josh Brolin in "The Closer," a play by Willy Holtzman which depicts the life of a high-powered salesman caught off-guard by a stranger lurking in his living room. Zerbe is also responsible for selecting the plays for next year's festival.
Emmy award winner Anthony Zerbe ("Harry O"), portrays waystation manager and town marshal Teaspoon Hunter. Confidante, advisor and friend to the orphaned Pony Express riders, Teaspoon is a self-educated, highly eccentric man who was initially hired by Russell, Majors and Waddell to train and oversee the Pony Express riders, but is now also the marshal of Rock Creek, Neb.
Veteran actor Anthony Zerbe is nowhere near as crusty or saltry as his "Young Riders" counterpart Teaspoon Hunter, quite the opposite in fact. This is a very cultured gentleman as apt to be seen reading poetry as firing a six shooter. During his distinguished thirty years career he has played every type of role under the sun, from the most vile of villains to religious figures to the devil himself; from dedicated doctors to equally dedicated killers; from upstanding law enforcement officials to dastardly spies. He's done it all.
Anthony was born on May 20, 1936 in Long Beach, CA. He began in the mid-fifties appearing frequently in some of the most popular television programs of the day such as "Gunsmoke", "Naked City" and "Bonanza". He appeared in the original "Mission: Impossible" series on five separate occasions as five different characters. He also made multiple guest appearances throughout the years on series like "Cannon", "The Equalizer, "The Big Valley", "The Wild Wild West", "Kung Fu", "Hawaii Five-O", "Little House on The Prairie" "Tales From The Crypt", "Walker, Texas Ranger" and "Under Suspicion".
Despite his extensive work in episodic television, he still found time to appear in numerous made for television movies and mini-series, including such notable productions as "Centennial", "The Chisholms", "The North And South, Book II", and recently, "Asteroid" with Don Franklin.
He still found the time to work in many well-known theatrical films. These have included such well-respected and popular films as Cool Hand Luke, Will Penny, They Call Me MISTER Tibbs, Papillion, The Turning Point, and License To Kill.
If all of this wasn't enough to keep him busy, he has also appeared on the stage regularly for a number of years in various productions on Broadway and off as well as dramatized poetry readings with fellow actor Roscoe Lee Browne among others. These poetic productions include "Behind The Broken Words", "It's All Done With Mirrors - The Poetry of e.e. cummings", and "Prelude To Lime Creek".
Anthony Zerbe is waystation manager and town marshal, Teaspoon Hunter. Confidante, advisor and friend to the orphaned Pony Express riders, Teaspoon is a self-educated, highly eccentric man who was initially hired by Russell, Majors and Waddell to train and oversee the Pony Express riders. A former Texas Ranger, Teaspoon imparts the lessons he has learned during his years as a gunfighter to his young and inexperienced charges. At first, he seems to be an absent-minded old coot, but the riders soon find that there is more to Teaspoon than meets the eye. Apparently, Teaspoon has ghosts, too. He was one of the survivors of the Alamo, one of a group which was sent out to fetch reinforcements. They arrived late and found everybody in the fort dead. Teaspoon carried the guilt of living with so many dying deep in his heart. Quite handy with a gun, Teaspoon became Sweetwater's marshall when Sam Cain and Emma Shannon left town. We know he was married six times and had a daughter named Elizabeth.
Since "The Young Riders" went off the air, Anthony has kept busy by continuing his stage work, performing on tour and at colleges; appearing on television and in the movies, too. He can be seen in the upcoming film The Touch with Bridget Fonda and Christopher Walken. Or, you can hear his work as a voice actor, dramatically reading audio books like John Saul's "Darkness".
In 1998, we had the chance to see Anthony on the big screen again. He played Admiral Daughtery in the ninth installment of the Star Trek saga, Insurection. And 1999 brought about another feature film, True Crime.
The new millennium has brought Anthony another busy schedule as well. Although he has made several guest appearance in such TV shows as "Frasier" and "Total Recall 2070", Anthony's next big screen appearance will be in the sequel to The Matrix which is still in production.
A truly amazing career for an amazingly talented actor.
At The Movies
2005 Veritas Prince of Truth, Porterfield
2003 The Matrix Revolutions, Councillor Hamann
2003 The Matrix Reloaded, Councillor Hamann
2003 Behind the Broken Words
1999 True Crime, Governor Henry Lowenstein
1998 Star Trek: Insurrection, Admiral Matthew Dougherty
1997 Touch, Father Donahue
1989 Licence to Kill, Milton Krest
1989 See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Sutherland
1989 Listen to Me, Senator McKellar
1987 Steel Dawn, Damnil
1987 P.I. Private Investigations, Charles Bradley, Joey's Father
1986 Opposing Force, Captain Becker
1986 Off Beat, Mr. Wareham
1983 The Dead Zone, Roger Stuart
1980 Soggy Bottom, USA, Morgan
1980 The First Deadly Sin, Captain Broughton
1978 Who'll Stop the Rain, Antheil
1977 The Turning Point, Rosie
1975 Rooster Cogburn, Breed
1975 Farewell, My Lovely, Brunette
1974 The Parallax View, (uncredited) Schwartzkopf
1973 The Laughing Policeman, Lt. Nat Steiner SFPD
1973 Papillon, Toussaint Leper Colony Chief
1972 The Strange Vengeance of Rosalie, Fry
1972 The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean, Hustler
1971 The Omega Man, Matthias
1970 The Molly Maguires, Dan Dougherty
1970 They Call Me MISTER Tibbs!, Rice Weedon, Apartment Owner/Pimp
1970 The Liberation of L.B. Jones, Willie Joe Worth
1968 Will Penny, Dutchy
1967 Cool Hand Luke, Dog Boy
Tv Roles
1997 Asteroid, Dr. Charles Napier
1996 Jack Reed: Death and Vengeance, Sanford 'Sandy' Miller
1996 On Seventh Avenue
1994 Treasure Island: The Adventure Begins, Long
1991 To Save a Child, Lewis
1989 "Young Riders, The", Teaspoon Hunter
1989 Columbo: Columbo Goes to the Guillotine, Max Dyson
1988 Memories of Manon, Phillipe Marcel
1988 Onassis: The Richest Man in the World
1988 Baja Oklahoma, Ole Jeemy Williams
1987 Independence, General Grey
1986 One Police Plaza, Yakov Anderman
1986 "North and South II" (mini series), General Ulysses S. Grant
1986 "Dream West" (mini series), Bill Williams
1985 "A.D." (mini series), Pontius Pilate
1984 "George Washington" (mini series), St. Pierre
1983 The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E., Justin Sepheran
1982 Rascals and Robbers: The Secret Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, Arco
1982 A Question of Honor, Captain Marcus
1980 The Seduction of Miss Leona, Clem Steggman
1980 Attica, William Kunstler
1979 "Chisholms, The" (mini series), Jimmy Jackson
1978 KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park, Abner Devereaux
1978 "Centennial" (mini series), Mervin Wendell
1978 Child of Glass, Amory Timmons
1977 In the Glitter Palace, Roy Danko
1977 "How the West Was Won" (mini series), Martin Grey
1976 "Once an Eagle" (mini series), Dave Shifkin
1974 "Harry O", Lieutenant K.C. Trench (1975-1976)
1974 Up from the Ape
1974 The Healers, Dr. Albert Scanlon
1973 She Lives!, Dr. Wellman
1973 Carola
1973 Snatched, Boone
1972 The Hound of the Baskervilles, Dr. John Mortimer
1971 The Priest Killer, Vincent Wiertel
