|
Biography - Born 11/15/1945
Primarily known as a musical stage performer, Gunton moved into TV and film work in the 1980s.
After a stint in the US Army, Gunton made his off-Broadway debut in "Who Am I?" in 1971 and first appeared on Broadway with Meryl Streep in the musical "Happy End" (1976). He went on to win accolades and acclaim for his musical performances as Raoul, one of the asylum inmates in "King of Hearts" (1978), as Juan Peron to Patti LuPone's "Evita" (1980), the King (paired with Brent Spiner's Duke) in "Big River" (1985) and the title role in the 1989 revival of Stephen Sondheim's "Sweeney Todd". Among his dramatic stage appearances are an Obie-winning turn as 21 characters in "How I Got That Story" (1981) and Claudius in "Hamlet" (1982).
On TV, Gunton has lent his strong-boned and heavy-browed presence as Marsha Mason's husband in "Lois Gibbs and the Love Canal" (CBS, 1982), as George Wallace in "Unconquered" (CBS, 1989) and as Hugh Auchincloss, stepfather to "A Woman Named Jackie" (NBC, 1991). In the biographical miniseries "Sinatra" (CBS, 1992), he portrayed Tommy Dorsey and he also appeared as a doctor in "Wild Palms" (ABC, 1993) and as Franklin D Roosevelt in "Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long" (TNT, 1995). Gunton was a regular on three short-lived series: the variety show "Comedy Zone" (CBS, 1984); the medical drama "Hothouse" (ABC, 1988); and "Courthouse" (CBS, 1995).
Gunton made his film debut in the financial thriller "Rollover" (1981). He had meaty, villainous roles as a company spy trying to frame a striking mineworker in John Sayles' "Matewan" (1987) and as a corrupt army general in Edward Zwick's "Glory" (1989). Oliver Stone cast him in small roles in two films: as a doctor in "Born on the Fourth of July" (1989) and a reporter in "JFK" (1991). Throughout the early 1990s, Gunton played small roles in films ("Patriot Games" 1992, "Demolition Man" 1993) before Frank Darabont cast him as the Bible-toting yet totally corrupt Warden Norton in the critical and commercial hit "The Shawshank Redemption" (1994). Subsequently, he supported Kathy Bates in Taylor Hackford's "Dolores Claiborne", offered a comic turn in "Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls" (both 1995) and appeared in John Woo's thriller "Broken Arrow" (1996) with John Travolta and Christian Slater.
|
