Paul Butler

Acting

Paul Butler

Born — Died

1942-03-12 — 2010-01-12

Place of birth

Pennsylvania, USA

Known for

Acting

Credits

42 titles

Paul Butler (12 March 1942, Pennsylvania – 12 January 2010, Manhattan, New York) was an American character actor. He is best known for creating the role of Detective Walter Clemmons on Crime Story (1986–1988) and for stage work including A Few Good Men and Shylock in The Merchant of Venice. His notable film roles include Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), The Insider (1999), and Reign Over Me (2007).

Known for

Film credits

2000s · 5 titles

1990s · 19 titles

The Insider poster
7.5

A research chemist comes under personal and professional attack when he decides to appear in a 60 Minutes exposé on Big Tobacco.

The Insider

1999

Glengarry Glen Ross poster
7.3

An examination of the machinations behind the scenes at a real estate office. Unscrupulous salesmen try to hawk dubious real estate to suckers.

Glengarry Glen Ross

1992

The Rookie poster
5.9

Veteran cop Nick Pulovski is used to playing musical partners; many of the partners he's had in the past have died on the job, and often as a result of Nick's risky tactics. But the rookie who's been assigned to help Nick bust a carjacking ring is almost as hotheaded as he is … and when Nick gets kidnapped, his newbie partner is his only hope.

The Rookie

1990

Romeo Is Bleeding poster
6.2

A corrupt cop gets in over his head when he tries to assassinate a beautiful Russian hit-woman.

Romeo Is Bleeding

1993

The Spanish Prisoner poster
6.8

An inventor of a secret process suddenly finds himself alone as both his friends and the corporation he works for turn against him.

The Spanish Prisoner

1997

He Said, She Said poster
5.9

Womanising, right-wing Dan Hanson and quiet, liberal Lorie Bryer work for the Baltimore Sun. Rivals for the job of new writer of a vacant column, the paper ends up instead printing their very different opinions alongside each other, which leads to a similarly combative local TV show. At the same time their initial indifference to each other looks like it may evolve into something more romantic.

He Said, She Said

1991

Homicide poster
6.3

While investigating the ruthless murder of an elderly woman, a Jewish police detective unravels a bizarre conspiracy involving a Zionist organization.

Homicide

1991

Strictly Business poster
5.4

Waymon has a great job in real estate and a promising future, but he's also trapped in a loveless longterm relationship. He meets Natalie, a beautiful club-hopping hipster, and quickly falls in love. Realizing he's just not cool enough to attract her on his own, he seeks the help of his friend Bobby, a free-spirited smooth talker who works in the mail room at Waymon's firm and utilizes the predicament as leverage to advance in the company.

Strictly Business

1991

To Sleep with Anger poster
6.8

An enigmatic drifter from the South comes to visit an old acquaintance who now lives in South-Central LA.

To Sleep with Anger

1990

The Giraffe poster
5.3

Lena Katz, who is German, and David Fish, who is American, are Jews who live in New York. When Lena's mother, who arrives from Germany, meets her at a hotel, she finds an almost-dead woman lying on the hotel floor. She accompanies the injured woman to the hospital and meets David, who is the woman's son. After David's mother dies from the injuries, a question remains: was she murdered? The trail leads to Germany. Apparently, Lena's mother has some kind of relationship with David's mother that reaches back into the dark German history of the 1940s

The Giraffe

1999

Vanishing Son II poster
7.2

The continuing saga of the Chang brothers: Jian-Wa and Wago. Picking up where it left off, Jian-Wa has left L.A. after a gang fight that involved Wago. Jian-Wa travels to the south and finds that hatred comes in all forms, as a group of racist whites feud with harmless Vietnamese fishermen. Jian-Wa decides to side with the Vietnamese and help them defend themselves. Back in Los Angeles, Wago is enjoying his new life as a gangster.

Vanishing Son II

1994

Tracey Ullman Takes on New York poster
6.2

Tracey Ullman and her wacky cast of characters take a bite out of the Big Apple.

Tracey Ullman Takes on New York

1993

The Wedding poster
8.2

Shelby Coles (Halle Berry) is engaged to marry talented white jazz musician Meade Howell, but the pair face opposition from both Meade's family, who object to an inter-racial marriage, and Shelby's parents, who want her to marry a professional. As Shelby is afflicted by pre-marital doubts, handsome Lute McNeil arrives on the scene, determined to make Shelby his at any cost.

The Wedding

1998

Vanishing Son III poster
7.2

The saga picks up in Washington, D.C., where Jian-Wa is competing in a classical music competition. Back in L.A., Jian-Wa's brother, Wago, is wanted by the F.B.I., which manages to pull Jian-Wa back to L.A. for questioning. They also want him to infiltrate his brother's gang, in order to save Wago. Can Jian-Wa get Wago to see the truth about things before it's too late?

Vanishing Son III

1994

Vanishing Son IV poster
5.6

After the death of his brother Wago, Jian-Wa Chang now roams America's countryside while looking for his place in the world. He is hit by a van of two college students. Jian-Wa is taken in and nursed by Megan, a secluded artist. Jian-Wa is also visited by the ghost of Wago, who must act as an angel to Jian-Wa to gain acceptance into heaven. Meanwhile, the students from the hit-and-run plan to kill Jian-Wa so he doesn't talk to the police.

Vanishing Son IV

1994

Vanishing Son poster
6.2

Two students in the Peoples Republic of China are forced to flee out of China after having taken part in a protest action for freedom. They come to America, and try to build up a new life. After a while, one of the brothers pursues a musical career while the other gets entangled in a criminal organization.

Vanishing Son

1994

It Is Now Our Time: Peter Sellars’ The Merchant of Venice poster
NR

A BBC documentary about a pre-rehearsal workshop held in New York prior to the Goodman Theater’s 1994 production of The Merchant of Venice, directed by Peter Sellars in Chicago.

It Is Now Our Time: Peter Sellars’ The Merchant of Venice

1994

The Cabinet of Dr. Ramirez poster
5.2

Featuring music instead of any dialogue and set in a near Kafkaesque future, this loose remake of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari follows a bureaucrat whom mysterious Dr. Ramirez and his hideous sidekick want as their latest victim.

The Cabinet of Dr. Ramirez

1991

Color of Justice poster
5.2

Four young black men kill a white woman. Now the D.A. is very cautious how to pursue this case because it might start a riot. And adding fuel to the fire is a bombastic and vocal black community leader, who's saying that they will not have a fair trial and that they were justified in their actions because they were in fear for their lives

Color of Justice

1997

1980s · 6 titles

Silver Bullet poster
6.7

The small city of Tarker's Mills is startled by a series of sadistic murders. The population fears the work of a maniac, but sightings of a mysterious, hairy creature soon spread. People lock themselves up at night, but there's one boy who's still outside…

Silver Bullet

1985

Off Beat poster
4.7

Joe Gower's job is skating through library shelves, fetching books. A police officer/friend of his is chosen to participate in a charity dance performance. Gower agrees to take his place in the show by posing as a police officer. He falls for a female officer in the show and gets into various scrapes with fellow cops and also crooks. And he dances.

Off Beat

1986

Things Change poster
6.2

Jerry, a misfit Mafia henchman, is assigned the low-level job of keeping an eye on Gino, a shoe repairman fingered by the Mob to confess to a murder he didn't commit. But Gino's mistaken for a Mafia boss, and the two are suddenly catapulted to the highest levels of mobster status. Only friendship will see them through this dangerous adventure alive!

Things Change

1988

Old Enough poster
6.5

The 12 years old well-bred Lonnie meets the impudent Karen on the street. They spend some time together and Karen teaches Lonnie some of her favorite occupancies, like make-up, shoplifting, skipping school and lying to the parent about it, but confessing to the priest later. But Karen also learns some honesty from Lonnie. A film about social differences and growing up.

Old Enough

1984

Crime Story: Pilot poster
8.0

One former cop goes against the whole Mafia. The feature-length pilot for the cult 80s show.

Crime Story: Pilot

1986

Compromising Positions poster
5.3

An ex-newspaper woman, who is now a suburban housewife, can't resist getting involved in an investigation of the murder of a philandering dentist who had been having affairs with several of her neighbors.

Compromising Positions

1985

Series credits

Law & Order poster
7.3

In cases ripped from the headlines, police investigate serious and often deadly crimes, weighing the evidence and questioning the suspects until someone is taken into custody. The district attorney's office then builds a case to convict the perpetrator by proving the person guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Working together, these expert teams navigate all sides of the complex criminal justice system to make New York a safer place.

Law & Order

1990

Law & Order poster
7.3

In cases ripped from the headlines, police investigate serious and often deadly crimes, weighing the evidence and questioning the suspects until someone is taken into custody. The district attorney's office then builds a case to convict the perpetrator by proving the person guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Working together, these expert teams navigate all sides of the complex criminal justice system to make New York a safer place.

Law & Order

1990

Third Watch poster
8.0

The exploits of a group of men and women who serve the City of New York as police officers, firemen, and paramedics, all working the same fictional 55th precinct during the 3pm to 11pm shift - the 'Third Watch'.

Third Watch

1999

Homicide: Life on the Street poster
8.1

An American police procedural chronicling the work of a fictional version of the Baltimore Police Department's Homicide Unit.

Homicide: Life on the Street

1993

The Unit poster
7.4

A covert team of special forces operatives risk their lives on undercover missions around the globe, while their wives maintain the homefront, protecting their husbands' secrets.

The Unit

2006

Crime Story poster
8.0

The hard-boiled saga of hair-trigger cop Lieutenant Mike Torello and his obsessive pursuit of ruthless gangster Ray Luca.

Crime Story

1986

100 Centre Street poster
8.2

100 Centre Street is an American legal drama created by Sidney Lumet and starring Alan Arkin, Val Avery, Bobby Cannavale, Joel de la Fuente and Paula Devicq.

100 Centre Street

2001

Vanishing Son poster
6.8

Vanishing Son is a short-lived syndicated action television series that was part of Universal Television's Action Pack. Starting as a series of four made for television movies in 1994, the series debuted on January 16, 1995. Vanishing Son I, Vanishing Son II, Vanishing Son III, and Vanishing Son IV, were aired on February 28, July 18, July 25, and October 10, 1994, respectively. The series was ground-breaking for the casting of an Asian male in an attractive leading-man role.

Vanishing Son

1994

Golden Years poster
6.2

A science lab's elderly janitor is caught in an explosion and inexplicably begins getting younger, making him a target for a sinister agency.

Golden Years

1991