Editing Steve Railsback

{{short description|American actor}}
{{Infobox actor
| name               = Steve Railsback
| image              = Steve Railsback.jpg
| caption            = Railsback in 2010
| birth_name         = Stephen Hall Railsback
| birth_date         = {{Birth date and age|1945|11|16}}
| birth_place        = [[Dallas, Texas]], U.S.
| occupation         = Actor
| years_active       = 1967–present
| spouse             = {{Ubl
  |{{Marriage|Jacqueline Giroux|1980|1988|end=div.}}
  |{{Marriage|Marcy Sobel|1990}}
}}
| children           = 3
| website            = {{URL|steverailsbackactor.com}}
}}
'''Steve Railsback''' (born November 16, 1945) is an American theatre, film, and television actor. He is best known for his performances in the films ''[[The Stunt Man]]'' and [[Lifeforce (film)|''Lifeforce'']], and his portrayal of [[Charles Manson]] in the 1976 television mini-series ''[[Helter Skelter (1976 film)|Helter Skelter]]''.<ref name="NYT">{{cite news|author=Janet Maslin|authorlink=Janet Maslin|date=October 17, 1980|title=The Stunt Man|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C0DE1D81238F934A25753C1A966948260|accessdate=November 3, 2007}}</ref>

== Career ==
Railsback was a student of [[Lee Strasberg]] and the [[Actors Studio]] and in the late 1960s and early 1970s spent 10 years working in [[theatre]] in [[New York City]]. He once said that he found Strasberg extremely difficult to work with.

He made his film debut in ''[[The Visitors (1972 film)|The Visitors]]'', directed by [[Elia Kazan]]. He portrayed two notorious murderers, appearing as [[Charles Manson]] in the 1976 television [[miniseries]] ''[[Helter Skelter (1976 film)|Helter Skelter]]'' and as [[Ed Gein]] in the 2000 film ''[[In the Light of the Moon]]''. He also served as executive producer of the latter film.

Other notable roles include the part of Cameron in ''[[The Stunt Man]]'' with [[Peter O'Toole]],<ref name=NYT/> the astronaut Tom Carlsen in [[Tobe Hooper|Tobe Hooper's]] ''[[Lifeforce (film)|Lifeforce]],'' [[Duane Barry]] in two episodes of ''[[The X-Files]]'', and Joseph Welch in the pilot episode of ''[[Supernatural (American TV series)|Supernatural]]''.

In 2008, he appeared in the [[science fiction]]/[[horror movie]] film ''[[Plaguers]]''.<ref>[http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/34221/plaguers-dvd-art-and-specs Plaguers DVD Art and Specs]</ref>

== Filmography ==
=== Film ===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Year
!Film
!Role
!class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
|1972
|data-sort-value="Visitors, The" | ''[[The Visitors (1972 film)|The Visitors]]''
|Mike Nickerson
|
|-
|1974
|''[[Cockfighter]]''
|Junior
|
|-
|1976
|''[[Helter Skelter (1976 film)|Helter Skelter]]''
|[[Charles Manson]]
|
|-
|1978
|''[[Angela (1978 film)|Angela]]''
|Jean Lebrecque
|
|-
|1979
|''[[From Here to Eternity (TV miniseries)|From Here to Eternity]]''
|Private Robert E. Lee Prewitt
|
|-
|1980
|data-sort-value="Stunt Man, The" | ''[[The Stunt Man]]''
|Cameron
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |1982
|''[[Deadly Games (1982 film)|Deadly Games]]''
|Billy Owens
|
|-
|''[[Trick or Treats]]''
|The Boyfriend
|
|-
|''[[Turkey Shoot (1982 film)|Turkey Shoot]]''
|Paul Anders
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1983
|data-sort-value="Golden Seal, The" | ''[[The Golden Seal]]''
|Jim Lee
|
|-
|''[[Great Transport|Veliki transport]]''
|Pavle Paroški
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1985
|''[[Lifeforce (film)|Lifeforce]]''
|Colonel Tom Carlsen
|
|-
|''[[Torchlight (1985 film)|Torchlight]]''
|Jake Gregory
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |1986
|''[[Armed and Dangerous (1986 film)|Armed and Dangerous]]''
|The Cowboy
|
|-
|''[[Spearfield's Daughter]]''
|Tom Border
|-
|data-sort-value="Wind, The" | ''[[The Wind (1986 film)|The Wind]]''
|Kesner
|
|-
| rowspan="5" |1987
|''[[Scenes from the Goldmine]]''
|Harry Spiros
|
|-
|''Distortions''
|Scott Marshall
|
|-
|data-sort-value="Survivalist, The" | ''The Survivalist''
|Jack Tillman
|
|-
|''[[Blue Monkey (film)|Blue Monkey]]''
|Detective Jim Bishop
|
|-
|''[[Nukie]]''
|Dr. Eric Harvey
|
|-
|1988
|''Deadly Intent''
|Jeff Kirkwood
|
|-
|1989
|data-sort-value="Assassin, The" | ''The Assassin''
|Hank Knight
|
|-
|1990
|''La Cruz de Iberia''
|Novak
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1991
|''[[Alligator II: The Mutation]]''
|Vincent Brown
|
|-
|''[[Scissors (film)|Scissors]]''
|Alex Morgan{{\}}Cole Morgan
|
|-
|1992
|''[[Forever (1992 film)|Forever]]''
|William Desmond Taylor
|
|-
| rowspan="7" |1993
|''[[Quake (1992 film)|Quake]]''
|Kyle
|
|-
|''Private Wars''
|Jack Manning
|
|-
|''Bonds of Love''
|Ken Smith
|Television film
|-
|''[[Final Mission]]''
|Colonel Anderson
|
|-
|''Save Me''
|Robbins
|
|-
|''[[Calendar Girl (1993 film)|Calendar Girl]]''
|Roy's Father
|
|-
|''[[In the Line of Fire]]''
|David Coppinger
|uncredited
|-
| rowspan="2" |1996
|''[[Street Corner Justice]]''
|Sergeant Ryan Freeborn
|
|-
|''[[Barb Wire (1996 film)|Barb Wire]]''
|Colonel Victor Pryzer
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |1997
|''[[Stranger in the House (1997 film)|Stranger in the House]]''
|Jack Derby
|
|-
|''Pressure Point''
|Arno Taylor
|
|-
|''[[Vanishing Point (1997 film)|Vanishing Point]]''
|Sergeant Preston
|
|-
|1998
|''[[Disturbing Behavior]]''
|Officer Cox
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1999
|''Me and Will''
|Rob
|
|-
|''Made Men''
|Kyle
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |2000
|''Say Goodnight, Michael''
|Actor
|
|-
|''[[Termination Man]]''
|Dylan Pope
|
|-
|''[[In the Light of the Moon]]''
|[[Ed Gein]]
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |2001
|''[[Storytelling (film)|Storytelling]]''
|Mr. Kirk
|
|-
|''[[Double Down (2001 film)|Double Down]]''
|Charlie
|
|-
|2002
|''Slash''
|Jeremiah
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |2003
|data-sort-value="Hitcher II: I've Been Waiting, The" | ''[[The Hitcher II: I've Been Waiting]]''
|Deputy Jessup
|uncredited
|-
|data-sort-value="Box, The" | ''The Box''
|Jake Ragna
|
|-
| rowspan="4" |2005
|''[[Neo Ned]]''
|Mr. Day
|
|-
|''[[Intermedio]]''
|Old Man
|
|-
|data-sort-value="Devil's Rejects, The" | ''[[The Devil's Rejects]]''
|Sheriff Ken Dwyer
|uncredited
|-
|''[[King of the Lost World]]''
|Larry
|
|-
| rowspan="4" |2008
|''Follow the Profit''
|Senator Stanton
|
|-
|''[[Plaguers]]''
|Tarver
|
|-
|''Ready or Not''
|Pilot
|
|-
|''[[Rest Stop: Don't Look Back]]''
|Store Clerk
|
|-
| 2018
| ''[[Gone Are the Days (2018 film)|Gone Are the Days]]''
| Jaden
| 
|}

=== Television ===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Year
!Film
!Role
!class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
|1985
|data-sort-value="Hitchhiker, The" | ''[[The Hitchhiker (TV series)|The Hitchhiker]]''
|Mickey
|Episode: "Petty Thieves"
|-
|1986
|data-sort-value="Twilight Zone, The" | ''[[The Twilight Zone (1985 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]''
|Johnny Davis
|Episode: "Dead Run"
|-
|1991
|data-sort-value="Young Riders, The" | ''[[The Young Riders]]''
|Tyler
|Episode: "The Peacemakers"
|-
|1994
|data-sort-value="X-Files, The" | ''[[The X-Files]]''
|Duane Barry
|2 episodes: s02e05 "[[Duane Barry]]" and s02e06 "[[Ascension (The X-Files)|Ascension]]"
|-
|1995
|''[[Walker, Texas Ranger]]''
|Jerry Lee Stark
|Episode: "The Guardians"
|-
|1997–1998
|data-sort-value="Visitor, The" | ''[[The Visitor (TV series)|The Visitor]]''
|Colonel James Vise
|13 episodes
|-
|2000
|''[[Charmed]]''
|Litvack
|Episode: "Give Me a Sign"
|-
|2001
|data-sort-value="Practice, The" | ''[[The Practice]]''
|Walter Dawson
|Episode: "Killing Time"
|-
|rowspan="2"|2002
|''[[Family Law (American TV series)|Family Law]]''
|Gary Peres
|Episode: "Children of a Lesser Dad"
|-
|data-sort-value="District, The" | ''[[The District]]''
|Charles "Chip" Renson
|Episode: "Free-Fire Zone"
|-
|2004
|data-sort-value="Handler, The" | ''[[The Handler (TV series)|The Handler]]''
|Harley Aimes
|Episode: "Give Daddy Some Sugar"
|-
|rowspan="2"|2005
|''[[Kojak (2005 TV series)|Kojak]]''
|Edward Sawyer
|Episode: "All Bets Off: Part 2"
|-
|''[[Supernatural (American TV series)|Supernatural]]''
|Joseph Welch
|Episode: "[[Pilot (Supernatural)|Pilot]]"
|-
|2010
|data-sort-value="Mentalist, The" | ''[[The Mentalist]]''
|Kittel
|Episode: "Ball of Fire"
|-
|2012
|''[[Femme Fatales (TV series)|Femme Fatales]]''
|Doctor Daniel Duryea
|2 episodes
|-
|2013
|''[[Deadtime Stories (TV series)|Deadtime Stories]]''
|Owen
|Episode: "Invasion of the Appleheads"
|-
|2017
|''[[Decker (TV series)|Decker]]''
|Fictional General Cotter
|Episode: "Same Old Glory"
|-
|}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Official website|http://www.steverailsbackactor.com}}
* {{IMDb name}}
* {{IBDB name}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2021}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Railsback, Steve}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American male film actors]]
[[Category:American male television actors]]
[[Category:Male actors from Dallas]]
[[Category:20th-century American male actors]]
[[Category:21st-century American male actors]]
[[Category:1945 births]]


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