Muse Watson

Muse Watson Gravel (born Robert Gravel; July 20, 1948), commonly known as Muse Watson, is an American actor. He is notable for his recurring roles of Mike Franks on NCIS and Charles Westmoreland / D.B. Cooper in Prison Break, and film roles as Hank Corrigan in Something to Talk About, and Ben Willis, the killer in I Know What You Did Last Summer and I Still Know What You Did Last Summer.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Early life

Watson was born and raised in Alexandria, Louisiana. His father died when he was five years old, and Watson and his three siblings were raised by their mother and maternal grandfather.<ref name="tcm"/><ref name="towntalkA7"/> Watson said his grandfather had a big influence on him, and after finding out that Robert Gravel was already registered with the Screen Actors Guild, he legally changed his name to Muse Watson Gravel, in honor of his grandfather.<ref name="towntalkA1"/><ref name="towntalkA7"/> Watson graduated from Bolton High School in 1966, and then attended Louisiana Tech for two years on a music scholarship. After leaving Louisiana Tech, he transferred to Berea College in Berea, Kentucky.<ref name="towntalkA1"/><ref name="towntalkA7"/>

It was at Berea College where he became interested in acting, scoring a role as Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew.<ref name="knoxville"/> He then left Berea and went on the road starring in productions of Man of La Mancha and Promises, Promises.<ref name="knoxville"/> After a year of touring, he returned to Berea, but at graduation time, he was told his degree would be withheld because he hadn't "gone to church enough".<ref name="knoxville"/> He decided to leave school and moved to Oak Ridge, Tennessee to live with his sister. He worked for Pathway Bellows for seven years before moving to Chattanooga, Tennessee to work as a manufacturing representative, while still making time for auditions and plays.<ref name="knoxville"/>

Career

Watson is credited with appearing in more than 60 movies and 50 television episodes.<ref name="towntalkA7" /> He is best known for his recurring roles of Mike Franks on NCIS and Charles Westmoreland in Prison Break, and as Ben Willis, the killer in the horror films, I Know What You Did Last Summer and I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, and as the vampire C. W. Niles in From Dusk Till Dawn 2.<ref name="wichita"/>

Other notable appearances include: American Outlaws, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, A Day Without a Mexican, Dead Birds, Down in the Valley, IOWA, Morgan's Ferry and Songcatcher.<ref name="2008-05-11 NYT" /><ref name="2007-05-06 NYT" />

When Watson was living in Chattanooga, he was hired to do extras casting for King Kong Lives. He also made connections with people in the North Carolina film industry and became a Teamster, building his own fleet of trucks that he hired out for productions on the East Coast.<ref name="knoxville"/> After a guest appearance on Matlock and his role in Something to Talk About, he moved to Los, Angeles where Marion Dougherty helped him in obtaining an agent.<ref name="knoxville"/> Watson said he considers his appearance in the film Something to Talk About as his "breakout role".<ref name="commercial"/>

He has also directed theater for the Tennessee Performing Arts Center and the Bessie Smith Foundation, taught acting at the Georgia State Prison, and taught reading and writing at Berea College's literacy outreach program.<ref name="tcm" /> Before changing his name to Muse Watson, he had credits as Robert Gravel, working as a stunt driver in Steel Magnolias and Mississippi Burning.<ref name="towntalkA1"/><ref name="towntalkA7"/> In the film I Know What You Did Last Summer, Watson performed the majority of his own stunts, which included a very long underwater sequence.<ref name="tcm" />

In 2002, he was nominated for best supporting actor for his role in If I Die Before I Wake at the Fangoria Chainsaw Awards,<ref name="fangoria"/> and in 2011, won best actor for his performance in A Christmas Snow, at the Trail Dance Film Festival.<ref name="banner"/>

Watson starred in a stage adaptation of the TV movie A Christmas Snow at the Starlite Theater in Branson, Missouri.<ref name="springfield"/>

In 2007, Watson made a guest appearance on Ghost Whisperer in the episode Delia's First Ghost; the episode reunited with his I Know What You Did Last Summer co-star and series star Jennifer Love Hewitt, who plays Melinda Gordon on the show.

Personal life

Watson is married and has a daughter with autism, for which he has become an advocate.<ref name="springfield"/>

Filmography

Films
Year	Title	Role	Notes	Template:Abbr
1988	Mississippi Burning		Stunt driver	<ref name="encyclopedia.com" />
1989	Steel Magnolias		Stunt driver	<ref name="encyclopedia.com" />
1989	Black Rainbow	Patrol officer		<ref name="tvguide"/>
1990	The Handmaid's Tale	Guardian		<ref name="tvguide"/>
1990	Blind Vengeance	Varsac		<ref name="encyclopedia.com"/>
1993	Sommersby	Drifter		<ref name="encyclopedia.com"/>
1995	Something to Talk About	Hank Corrigan		<ref name="rotten"/>
1995	The Journey of August King	Zimmer		<ref name="tvguide"/>
1995	Assassins	Ketcham		<ref name="rotten"/>
1997	I Know What You Did Last Summer	Ben Willis		<ref name="rotten"/>
1997	Rosewood	Henry Andrews		<ref name="rotten"/>
1997	Lolita	Store clerk		<ref name="encyclopedia.com"/>
1997	Acts of Betrayal	Trenton Fraser		<ref name="encyclopedia.com"/>
1997	A Texas Birthday			<ref name="encyclopedia.com"/>
1998	Break Up	Baker cop		<ref name="tvguide"/>
1998	I Still Know What You Did Last Summer	Ben Willis		<ref name="tvguide"/>
1998	Shadrach	Captain		<ref name="tvguide"/>
1998	If I Die before I Wake	Daryl		<ref name="encyclopedia.com"/>
1999	From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money	C. W. Niles		<ref name="encyclopedia.com"/>
1999	The Art of the Bullet	Captain Walters		<ref name="rotten"/>
1999	Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me	Klansman		<ref name="rotten"/>
1999	It's the Rage	Cleaner		<ref name="tvguide"/>
2000	Songcatcher	Parley Gentry		<ref name="rotten"/>
2000	Ten Grand	Big Tony		<ref name="encyclopedia.com"/>
2001	Morgan's Ferry	Sheriff Billy Ray Barnwell		<ref name="rotten"/>
2001	American Outlaws	Burly detective		<ref name="encyclopedia.com"/>
2002	Hollywood Vampyr	Professor Fulton		<ref name="encyclopedia.com"/>
2003	Season of the Hunted	Frank		<ref name="encyclopedia.com"/>
2003	Wild Turkey		Short film	<ref name="encyclopedia.com"/>
2004	Christmas Child	Sheriff Jimmy James		<ref name="tvguide"/>
2004	Frankenfish	Elmer		<ref name="encyclopedia.com"/>
2004	Dead Birds	Father		<ref name="encyclopedia.com"/>
2004	The Last Summer	Jerimiah Shuman		<ref name="encyclopedia.com"/>
2004	A Day Without a Mexican	Louis McClaire		<ref name="encyclopedia.com"/>
2004	The Dark Agent and the Passing of the Torch Chapter	Lester King		<ref name="encyclopedia.com"/>
2005	House of Grimm			<ref name="encyclopedia.com"/>
2005	Down in the Valley	Bill Sr.		<ref name="encyclopedia.com"/>
2005	IOWA	Sheriff Walker		<ref name="encyclopedia.com"/>
2005	End of the Spear	Adolfo		<ref name="encyclopedia.com"/>
2009	White Lightnin'	D. Ray White		<ref name="rotten"/>
2009	Stellina Blue			<ref name="rotten"/>
2009	Timer	Rick O'Leary		<ref name="tvguide" />
2010	Small Town Saturday Night			<ref name="rotten"/>
2010	The Presence	Mr. Browman		<ref name="rotten"/>
2010	The Steamroom	Pat		<ref name="rotten"/>
2011	The Lamp	Sam		<ref name="tvguide"/>
2012	Meeting Evil	Frank		<ref name="tvguide"/>
2013	The Last Exorcism Part II	Frank Merle		<ref name="tvguide"/>
2014	Between the Sand and the Sky	Boss		<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2014	Suburban Gothic	Ambrose		<ref name="tvguide"/>
2016	Dark Resonance	Professor Walter Jackson		<ref name="tvguide"/>
2016	Saved From Sorrow: Mysterious Grace	Jeremiah		<ref name="tvguide"/>
2017	Valley of Bones	Terry		<ref name="tvguide"/>
2019	The Dead Ones	Gus		<ref name="tvguide"/>

Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes	Template:Abbr
1990	Blind Vengeance	Vrsac	TV movie	<ref name="encyclopedia.com"/>
1993	Matlock	Patrol officer	TV series; (2 episodes)	<ref name="rotten"/>
1994	The Birds II: Land's End	Bartender Jesse	TV movie	<ref name="tvguide"/>
1994	Justice in a Small Town	Robert Stubbs	TV movie	<ref name="encyclopedia.com"/>
1994	Leave of Absence	Guy	TV movie	<ref name="encyclopedia.com"/>
1995	American Gothic	Wash Sutpen	TV series	<ref name="rotten"/>
1995	Gramps	Father	TV movie	<ref name="rotten"/>
1995	Tad	Tom Pendel	TV movie	<ref name="tvguide"/>
1995	Tecumseh: The Last Warrior	Whitley	TV movie	<ref name="tvguide"/>
1996	The Lazarus Man	Dawkins	TV series; (2 episodes)	<ref name="encyclopedia.com"/>
1999	JAG	Admiral Arthur Fessenden	TV series	<ref name="tvguide"/>
1999	Walker, Texas Ranger	Freddie Forbes	TV series; (2 episodes)	<ref name="tvguide"/>
2003	The Last Cowboy	Otis Bertram	TV movie	<ref name="tvguide"/>
2005-2008	Prison Break	Charles Westmoreland	TV series; (19 episodes)	<ref name="tvguide"/>
2006	Close to Home	Bob Peters	TV series	<ref name="rotten"/>
2006	Jane Doe: The Harder They Fall	Captain Barnes	TV movie	<ref name="tvguide"/>
2006-2017	NCIS	Mike Franks	TV series; (20 episodes)	<ref name="rotten"/>
2007	Criminal Minds	Mickey Bates	TV series	<ref name="tvguide"/>
2007	Ghost Whisperer	Milt Charles	TV series	<ref name="rotten"/>
2009	The Mentalist	Jake Cooby	TV series	<ref name="rotten"/>
2009	Cold Case	John Norwood	TV series	<ref name="tvguide"/>
2009	iCarly	Bucky	TV series	<ref name="tvguide"/>
2010	Castle	Ivan Podofski	TV series	<ref name="tvguide"/>
2011	Franklin & Bash	Officer Tom Werth	TV series	<ref name="rotten"/>
2013	Eagleheart	Quint	TV series	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2014	Justified	Elmont Swain	TV series	<ref name="rotten"/>
2021	Diary of a Lunatic: Sylke's Tales	The Creator	TV mini-series; (8 episodes)	<ref name="buffalo"/>

External links

• [https://www.imdb.com/{{#if: 0002901

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• Muse Watson at Rotten Tomatoes