John Getz

Acting

John Getz

Born 1946-10-15 · Davenport, Iowa, U.S.

​John Getz (born October 15, 1946) is an American actor. Getz dropped out of college to attend the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. While working in a winery, he helped found the Theater Company in Napa County, California. His location in the grape-growing Napa Valley led to Getz's television debut in a made-for-television horror film Killer Bees. Killer Bees starred Gloria Swanson, Craig Stevens, Kate Jackson, and Edward Albert. Getz then moved to New York City, where he became active in local theater while doing an 18-month stint as Neil Johnson on the soap opera Another World. Getz appeared in The Happy Hooker and followed up with several other roles before starring in the Coen Brothers' neo-noir thriller Blood Simple. He played the doomed lover of a married woman (Frances McDormand) who woefully misinterprets his increasingly complex circumstances. Getz also appeared in The Fly and The Fly II as Stathis Borans, a science magazine editor who pays a heavy price for his curiosity. Also in 1989, he played a Marine Corps Major in Born on the Fourth of July. In 1991, Getz appeared as the unpleasant boyfriend of professional women in Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead and Curly Sue. In 1990, Getz appeared as a crime boss in the Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez spoof Men At Work. In 1994, he appeared in the film Playmaker, starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Rubin. In 2007, he had a role in David Fincher's film Zodiac. Also in 2007, he appeared in Bill Guttentag and Dan Sturman's documentary film Nanking as George Ashmore Fitch, head of the local YMCA and administrative director of the International Committee for the Nanking Safety Zone. Getz also had a role in Fincher's film The Social Network, about the founding of Facebook. He appeared in the suspense thriller Elevator as a Wall Street executive trapped in an elevator with a group of strangers, one of whom has a bomb. Written and produced by Marc Rosenberg and directed by Stig Svendsen, Elevator was released in July 2012. He appeared in Trumbo (2015) as director Sam Wood. Through the decades, Getz has guest-starred in many television series, including Barney Miller and Three's Company, where he played Lee Tripper, brother of Jack Tripper. He has guest-starred in How I Met Your Mother, Prison Break, The King of Queens and Private Practice, and had recurring roles in Homeland, Timeless and Bosch. Description above from the Wikipedia article John Getz, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Acting credits

The Social Network poster
7.4

In 2003, Harvard undergrad and computer programmer Mark Zuckerberg begins work on a new concept that eventually turns into the global social network known as Facebook. Six years later, Mark is one of the youngest billionaires ever, but his unprecedented success leads to both personal and legal complications when he ends up on the receiving end of two lawsuits, one involving his former friend.

The Social Network

2010

Zodiac poster
7.5

Over the course of a decade, editors of the San Francisco Chronicle entice themselves in the murders of the Zodiac Killer. However, as time runs its course, interest in the case dwindles in the eyes of the professionals. The Killer stops interacting with the public. However, believing he has the answers, an amateur cartoonist from the initial sightings races against time to prevent what he believes is another murder.

Zodiac

2007

The Fly poster
7.4

When brilliant, eccentric scientist Seth Brundle makes a huge technological breakthrough in teleportation, he decides to test it on himself. Unbeknownst to him, a common housefly manages to get inside the device and the two become one.

The Fly

1986

Born on the Fourth of July poster
7.0

Paralyzed in the Vietnam war, Ron Kovic becomes an anti-war and pro-human rights political activist after feeling betrayed by the country he fought for.

Born on the Fourth of July

1989

Superhero Movie poster
5.3

Rick Riker is a nerdy teen imbued with superpowers by a radioactive dragonfly. And because every hero needs a nemesis, enter Lou Landers, aka the villainously goofy Hourglass.

Superhero Movie

2008

Blood Simple poster
7.2

The owner of a seedy small-town Texas bar discovers that one of his employees is having an affair with his wife. A chaotic chain of misunderstandings, lies and mischief ensues after he devises a plot to have them murdered.

Blood Simple

1985

Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead poster
6.2

Sue Ellen Crandell is a teenager eagerly awaiting her mother's summer-long absence. While the babysitter looks after her rambunctious younger siblings, Sue Ellen can party and have fun. But then the babysitter abruptly dies, leaving the Crandells short on cash. Sue Ellen finds a sweet job in fashion by lying about her age and experience on her résumé. But, while her siblings run wild, she discovers the downside of adulthood

Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead

1991

The Dead Don't Hurt poster
6.5

In the 1860s, fiercely independent French-Canadian Vivienne Le Coudy embarks on a journey with Danish immigrant Holger Olsen, attempting to forge a life together in the dusty town of Elk Flats, Nevada. When Holger decides to go fight for the Union in the burgeoning Civil War, Vivienne must fend for herself, which isn't easy in a town controlled by a corrupt mayor.

The Dead Don't Hurt

2024

Jobs poster
6.1

The story of Steve Jobs' ascension from college dropout into one of the most revered creative entrepreneurs of the 20th century.

Jobs

2013

Trumbo poster
7.2

The career of screenwriter Dalton Trumbo is halted by a witch hunt in the late 1940s when he defies the anti-communist HUAC committee and is blacklisted.

Trumbo

2015

The Fly II poster
5.8

Martin Brundle, born of the human/fly, is adopted by his father's place of employment (Bartok Inc.) while the employees simply wait for his mutant chromosomes to come out of their dormant state.

The Fly II

1989

Men at Work poster
5.7

Two garbage men find the body of a city councilman in a trash can on their route. With help from a supervisor, the duo must solve the case and find the man's killer while hiding the body from the cops.

Men at Work

1990

Curly Sue poster
6.4

Bill is a penniless drifter who scams strangers out of just enough money to feed himself and his partner in crime, an orphan girl known as Curly Sue. Bill and Curly Sue target Grey, a yuppie lawyer, but their con takes an unexpected turn when the successful woman begins to like the ramshackle duo. But there's one problem—Grey's jealous, conniving boyfriend, Walker.

Curly Sue

1991

Certain Women poster
6.0

Three strong-willed women strive to forge their own paths amidst the wide-open plains of the American Northwest: a lawyer forced to subdue a troubled client; a wife and mother whose plans to construct her dream home reveal fissures in her marriage; and a lonely ranch hand who forms an ambiguous bond with a young law student.

Certain Women

2016

The Sentinel poster
6.1

As a young girl, Alison Parker attempted suicide after being traumatized by her father's sexual exploits. Now an elite fashion model, she moves to a Brooklyn Heights apartment building where she encounters a number of bizarre, eccentric tenants and attempts to uncover the building's sinister secret.

The Sentinel

1977

The Perfect Guy poster
5.7

With a fulfilling career and a loving relationship, lobbyist Leah Vaughn seems to have it all. Things come crashing down when Dave, her long-term boyfriend, disagrees with her future plans for marriage and a family. The resulting painful breakup leaves Leah heartbroken, until she meets the charming and handsome Carter Duncan. Soon, the budding romance turns dangerous as Carter reveals his volatile nature, forcing Leah to break up with the man she thought was Mr. Right. She soon realizes that Carter doesn't want to let her go.

The Perfect Guy

2015

Tattoo poster
5.0

Karl Kinsky, an unbalanced tattoo artist, becomes obsessed with Maddy, a model he meets when he is hired to body-paint several women for a photo shoot, making the women look like they have large tattoos. As Kinsky grows more obsessed with Maddy, he becomes increasingly determined that Maddy should bear his "mark" -- forever.

Tattoo

1981

Some Girl poster
5.1

Inexperienced in love and living in Los Angeles, aspiring actress Claire longs to find that special someone. Unfortunately, she couldn't pick a more undeserving guy when she starts a relationship with womanizer Chad. Although her friend April warns her about him, it's not as if April doesn't have problems of her own -- namely a chronic inability to stay faithful to her longtime boyfriend, Neal.

Some Girl

1998

Thief of Hearts poster
5.5

A woman trapped in a boring marriage begins an affair with a handsome man who seems able to read her mind. She doesn't know that he has broken into her house and read her diaries, where she has recorded her deepest thoughts and fantasies.

Thief of Hearts

1984

Mojave Moon poster
4.9

Al McCord is hanging out at his favourite restaurant when he meets an attractive young woman (Ellie) who is looking for a ride from the city out into the Mojave Desert, where her mother lives. Little does he know that while Ellie is falling in love with him, he is falling for her mother (Julie), despite the nearby presence of Julie's boyfriend who seems likely to go berzerk at any moment. Even more strange, hilarious events follow and it's up to Al to find some explanation. His life may never again be the same.

Mojave Moon

1996

The Late Shift poster
6.4

David Letterman vies with Jay Leno and his manager to succeed Johnny Carson, retiring from "The Tonight Show."

The Late Shift

1996

Nanking poster
7.1

The story of the rape of Nanking, one of the most tragic events in history. In 1937, the invading Japanese army murdered over 200,000 and raped tens of thousands of Chinese. In the midst of this horror, a small group of Western expatriates banded together to save 250,000. Nanking shows the tremendous impact individuals can make on the course of history.

Nanking

2007

Elevator poster
4.9

Nine people are stuck in an elevator. One of them has a ticking bomb that can't be defused. The other eight will do anything to survive. There is no escape and no promise of rescue. As the tension in the elevator mounts the unthinkable soon becomes the only reasonable solution.

Elevator

2013

Fortunes of War poster
4.2

When Canadian diplomat Carl Pimmler sends his friend Peter Kernan and his wife Johanna to deliver medicine to the deep jungles of Cambodia, but Peter gets more than he bargained for when the journey ends in a fight for survival. Peter must use his experience and knowledge of South East Asia to get them out of this dangerous mess.

Fortunes of War

1994