Scott Sowers

Scott Nicolai Sowers (November 5, 1963 – April 1, 2018) was an American actor, probably best known for his roles as Detective Parker in the late 1990s ABC series Cracker and for his role as Stanley Kowalski on stage in A Streetcar Named Desire. He established the Signature Theatre Company in 1991, and the following year he won the Drama-Logue Award for Performance for his role as the colonel in "A Few Good Men" at the Shubert Theatre. In film he has played some notable minor roles, such as a mercenary in Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995), a prison guard in Dead Man Walking (1995), and a condemned man in True Grit (2010). Aside from numerous dramatic readings for audiobooks, Sowers has also provided his voice for videogames such as Batman: Dark Tomorrow (2003), Manhunt 2 (2007) and Homefront (2011).

Early life

Sowers was born on November 5, 1963, in Arlington County, Virginia. There, he graduated from Washington-Lee High School in 1982 (along with friend Sandra Bullock).[1][2][3] Sowers went on to study at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts before moving to New York City.[4]

Background and stage work

Sowers began his career as a stage actor. In 1989 New York Magazine praised his "excellent" performance as Starns in the play Heathen Valley.[5] In 1991 he established the Signature Theater Company with James Houghton.[6] In 1992 the Chicago Sun-Times noted Sowers' "formidable colonel" in a stage production of A Few Good Men at the Shubert Theatre.[7] The production later went on a national tour, which won him the Drama-Logue Award for Performance.[6][4]

In 1996, Sowers played Will Masters on stage in a Broadway production of Bus Stop.[8][9] In 2004 he played Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire at Studio 54 in New York City;[10] the following year, John C. Reilly played the part and Sowers played the more minor part of Steve.[8][11] In 2007 he appeared on Broadway in Inherit the Wind.[6][8][12]

With the Ensemble Studio Theatre, Sowers appeared in productions of Matthew and the Pastor’s Wife, Lenin’s Embalmers, Princes of Waco, Lucy and Hand to God. He has also appeared on stage in the Wilma Theater of Philadelphia, the Long Wharf Theater of New Haven, Connecticut in 2003,[13] the Actor's Theater of Louisville, the Baltimore Center Stage, and the Oslo Festival in Norway.[6] In September 2012 he appeared at the Valborg Theatre of Appalachian State University in Romulus Linney ... Back Home in the Mountains: A Tribute to Romulus Linney.[14]

Film and television roles

Sowers starred in the 1995 Steven Seagal film Under Siege 2: Dark Territory as one of the mercenaries, and has played detectives and police officers in various films and television series, including Cracker, where he played Detective Parker from 1997 to 1999, and a prison guard in the 1995 film Dead Man Walking.[15] He appeared in A Season for Miracles (1999), and several episodes of Law & Order and its spinoffs, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. He also made an appearance in Erin Brockovich in 2000.[16]

In 2009 he portrayed Uncle Drake in the TV series Get Hit.[17] This was followed by a role as Joseph Earl Dinler in the Boardwalk Empire episode "Anastasia" in 2010.[18] In 2010 he also played an unrepentant condemned man in the acclaimed Coen Brothers film True Grit opposite Jeff Bridges. In 2013 he had a minor role as Russo in an episode of the CBS series Blue Bloods.

Other work

Sowers has done dramatic readings for audiobooks, and provided voice characterization for the short documentary film An American Synagogue. California Bookwatch praised Sowers's "dramatic prowess which translates well to audio as he tells of a police chief forced into identifying a dead woman".[19] In 2003 he provided the voice of Victor Zsasz for the video game Batman: Dark Tomorrow,[20] and in 2011 he provided the voice of Arnie in the videogame Homefront.

Death

On April 1, 2018, Sowers died of a heart attack at the age of 54, at a friend's home in New York City.[21][4][22]

gollark: I think those are also mostly stupid.
gollark: It might also turn out that society is impractical to simulate over long timespans, like the weather.
gollark: And the existence of the simulators would make them probably not very good, since they'd need to simulate *themselves* or leave out important data.
gollark: Yes, that would actually be very hard.
gollark: You can't really do theory unless you have empirical stuff to look at, since you're mostly just reduced to "well my assumptions are better"/"but I prefer this".

References
  1. Washington-Lee High School Yearbook. 55. Arlington, Virginia: Washington-Lee High School. 1982. pp. 50, 84. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  2. Conant, Jennet (September 1, 1995). "Sandra Bullock's September 1995 Cover Story: America's Sweetheart". Vanity Fair. New York City: Condé Nast. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  3. "Scott Sowers". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  4. Sherratt, Scott (June–July 2018). "AudioFile Magazine Spotlight on Narrator – Remembering Scott Sowers". AudioFile Magazine.
  5. Simon, John (January 16, 1989). "Long Island Longeurs". New York. New York City: New York Media. pp. 79–80. ISSN 0028-7369.
  6. "Scott Sowers". The Ensemble Studio Theatre. Retrieved June 18, 2014.
  7. Grahnke, Lon (February 19, 1992). "Marines stand trial with very good 'Men'". Chicago Sun-Times. Chicago, Illinois: Sun-Times Media Group. Archived from the original on October 7, 2014. Retrieved June 18, 2014 – via HighBeam Research.
  8. "Scott Sowers". Broadwayworld.com. Retrieved June 18, 2014.
  9. "Bus Stop Broadway @ Circle in the Square Theatre". Playbill. New York City: Playbill, Inc. February 1996. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  10. Heller, Fran (July 9, 2004). "Great American classic, 'Streetcar ...' at Porthouse". Cleveland Jewish News. Beachwood, Ohio: Cleveland Jewish Publication Co. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved June 18, 2014 – via HighBeam Research (subscription required).
  11. "A Streetcar Named Desire Broadway @ Studio 54". Playbill. New York City: Playbill, Inc. April 2005. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  12. "Inherit the Wind Broadway @ Lyceum Theatre". Playbill. New York City: Playbill, Inc. April 2007. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  13. "Two Days. (Legit Reviews).(performance at Long Wharf Theater, New Haven, Connecticut)(Theater Review)". Daily Variety. April 21, 2003. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved June 18, 2014 – via HighBeam Research.
  14. "Free Tickets Available for Sept. 21 Romulus Linney Tribute". US Fed News Service. Archived from the original on October 11, 2014. Retrieved June 18, 2014 – via HighBeam Research (subscription required).
  15. Levich, Jacob (1996). The Motion Picture Guide 1996 Annual: The Films of 1995. CineBooks. p. 90. ISBN 978-0-933997-37-0.
  16. Grant, Susannah (2000). Erin Brockovich: the shooting script. New York City: Newmarket Press. p. 132. ISBN 978-1-55704-480-8.
  17. Terrace, Vincent (September 3, 2010). The Year in Television, 2009: A Catalog of New and Continuing Series, Miniseries, Specials and TV Movies. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. p. 60. ISBN 978-0-7864-5644-4.
  18. Wallace, John (January 26, 2012). Boardwalk Empire A-Z: The totally unofficial guide to accompany the hit HBO series. London, England: John Blake Publishing, Limited. p. 44. ISBN 978-1-85782-695-1.
  19. "Random House Audio Publishing Group.(The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell)(The Rebels of Ireland: The Dublin Saga)(Sea Change)(Isolatiton Ward)(Brief article)(Book review)". California Bookwatch. May 1, 2006. Archived from the original on September 21, 2014. Retrieved June 18, 2014 – via HighBeam Research (subscription required).
  20. "Full text of "XBOX Manual: Batman Dark Tomorrow"". Archive.org. Retrieved June 18, 2014.
  21. Clark, Charlie (June 13, 2018). "Our Man in Arlington". Falls Church News-Press. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  22. @SignatureTheater (April 5, 2018). "We are very sad about the passing of Scott Sowers, who was an integral part of Signature's founding" (Tweet). Retrieved January 3, 2020 – via Twitter.
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