Edward Herrmann was an American actor of the stage and screen.
He was most known for his performances as Franklin D. Roosevelt in the limited series Eleanor and Franklin (1976), and Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years (1977) and as Richard Gilmore in Amy Sherman-Palladino's comedy-drama series Gilmore Girls (2000–2007).
Herrmann started his career working in theatre on Broadway in 1972 with his debut in Moonchildren alongside James Woods. He received two Tony Award nominations winning for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance in Mrs. Warren's Profession in 1976. For his work on television, Herrmann received five Primetime Emmy Award nominations winning for his performance in The Practice in 1999. He also received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination with the ensemble for Oliver Stone's Nixon (1995). Herrmann became known as a character actor having appeared in various films such as Warren Beatty's Reds (1981), Woody Allen's The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985), Garry Marshall's Overboard (1987), Martin Scorsese's The Aviator (2004) and Chris Rock's I Think I Love My Wife (2007). He is also known for his guest performances in television M*A*S*H, Law & Order, and The Good Wife.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Lady Liberty | Policeman | Uncredited |
| 1973 | The Paper Chase | Thomas Craig Anderson | |
| The Day of the Dolphin | Mike | ||
| 1974 | The Great Gatsby | Klipspringer | |
| 1975 | The Great Waldo Pepper | Ezra Stiles | |
| 1978 | The Betsy | Dan Weyman | |
| Brass Target | Colonel Walter Gilchrist | ||
| 1979 | Take Down | Ed Branish | |
| The North Avenue Irregulars | Reverend Michael Hill | ||
| 1981 | Harry's War | Harry Johnson | |
| Reds | Max Eastman | ||
| 1982 | Death Valley | Paul Stanton | |
| A Little Sex | Tommy | ||
| Annie | President Franklin D. Roosevelt | ||
| 1984 | Mrs. Soffel | Warden Peter Soffel | |
| 1985 | The Purple Rose of Cairo | Henry | |
| The Man with One Red Shoe | Brown | ||
| Compromising Positions | Bob Singer | ||
| 1986 | Laughter in the Dark | ||
| 1987 | The Lost Boys | Max | |
| Overboard | Grant Stayton III | ||
| 1988 | Big Business | Graham Sherbourne | |
| 1992 | Hero | Mr. Broadman | Uncredited |
| 1993 | Born Yesterday | Ed Devery | |
| My Boyfriend's Back | Mr. Dingle | ||
| 1994 | Foreign Student | Zachary "Zach" Gilmore | |
| Richie Rich | Richard Rich Sr. | ||
| 1995 | Nixon | Nelson Rockefeller | |
| 1997 | Critical Care | Robert Payne | |
| 1998 | Better Living | Jack | |
| A Civil Action | Uncredited | ||
| 1999 | Walking Across Egypt | Reverend Vernon | |
| 2001 | Double Take | Charles Allsworth | |
| Down | Matthew Milligan | ||
| The Cat's Meow | William Randolph Hearst | ||
| 2002 | The Emperor's Club | Headmaster Woodbridge | |
| 2003 | Intolerable Cruelty | Rex Rexroth | |
| 2004 | Welcome to Mooseport | Avery Hightower | Uncredited |
| Bereft | Lloyd | ||
| The Aviator | Joseph Breen | ||
| 2005 | Ape to Man | The Narrator | Direct-to-video documentary |
| 2006 | Relative Strangers | Doug Clayton | |
| Wedding Daze | Lyle | ||
| Factory Girl | James Townsend | ||
| 2007 | I Think I Love My Wife | Mr. Landis | |
| 2009 | The Skeptic | Dr. Shepard | |
| The Six Wives of Henry Lefay | Goodenough | ||
| 2010 | The Surge: The Untold Story | The Narrator | Documentary short |
| 2011 | Son of Morning | Thomas | |
| Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star | Jeremiah Larson | ||
| Redemption: For Robbing the Dead | Governor Dawson | ||
| 2012 | Price Check | Jack Bennington | |
| Treasure Buddies | Philip Wellington | Direct-to-video | |
| Christmas Oranges | Mr. Crampton | ||
| Heaven's Door | Nate Christensen | ||
| Enduring Legacy | Charles Francis Adams | Voice, Short | |
| 2013 | Are You Here | Dr. Vincent | |
| The Wolf of Wall Street | Stratton Oakmont Commercial | Voice | |
| 2014 | The Town That Dreaded Sundown | Reverend Joe Cartwright | |
| 2015 | Coach of the Year | Bill Ford |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Beacon Hill | Richard Palmer | 11 episodes |
| Valley Forge | Folsom | Television film | |
| 1976 | Eleanor and Franklin | Franklin D. Roosevelt (age 20–50) |
TV miniseries; 2 episodes |
| 1977 | Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years | Television film | |
| A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Story | Lou Gehrig | ||
| 1979 | Portrait of a Stripper | Frank Andrews | |
| Freedom Road | Stephen Holms | ||
| 3 by Cheever | Kip Lawton | TV miniseries
2 episodes | |
| 1980 | M*A*S*H | Captain Steven J. Newsome | Episode: "Heal Thyself" |
| 1981 | The Private History of a Campaign That Failed | The Stranger | Television film |
| Dear Liar | George Bernard Shaw | ||
| 1982 | The Electric Grandmother | Father | |
| The Gift of Life | Dr. Quinn | ||
| 1983 | Freedom to Speak | TV miniseries; 4 episodes | |
| Memorial Day | Ned Larwin | Television film | |
| 1984-1986 | St. Elsewhere | Priest / Father Joseph McCabe | 4 episodes |
| 1984 1991 |
American Playhouse | Alger Hiss English Professor |
Episodes: "Concealed Enemies" (4) "The End of a Sentence" |
| 1986 | Murrow | Fred Friendly | Television film |
| 1987–1989 | The Lawrenceville Stories | The Headmaster | TV miniseries; 3 episodes |
| 1987 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Dr. Maxwell Stoddard / Litton | Episode: "The Mole" |
| 1988 | Hothouse | Woods | Episode: "The Actress" |
| 1990 | So Proudly We Hail | James Wagner | Television film |
| 1991 | The General Motors Playwrights Theater | Ben Cunningham | Episode: "The Last Act Is a Solo" |
| Sweet Poison | Henry | Television film | |
| Fire in the Dark | Robert | ||
| 1993 | A Foreign Field | Ralph | |
| 1994 | Don't Drink the Water | Mr. Kilroy | |
| 1995 | The Face on the Milk Carton | Frank Jessmon | |
| Here Come the Munsters | Herman Munster | ||
| Wings | Y.M. Burg | Episode: "So Long, Frank Lloyd Wrong" | |
| 1995-1999 2009 |
Law & Order | Drew Seely Mr. Mosbeck Frederic Matson |
3 episodes |
| 1996 | Soul of the Game | Branch Rickey | Television film |
| A Season in Purgatory | Dr. Shugrue | TV miniseries; 2 episodes | |
| What Love Sees | Morton Treadway | Television film | |
| Homicide: Life on the Street | Thomas Pandolfi | Episode: "M.E., Myself and I" | |
| Doomsday Virus | President | TV miniseries; 2 episodes | |
| 1997–1998 2001 |
The Practice | Anderson Pearson | 10 episodes |
| 1997 | Biography | The Narrator | Episode: "F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Great American Dreamer" |
| Liberty! The American Revolution | TV miniseries; 6 episodes | ||
| The Fifties | TV miniseries documentary; 7 episodes | ||
| 1998 | Frank Lloyd Wright | Documentary television film | |
| Saint Maybe | Doug Bedloe | Television film | |
| 1998–2000 | Nova | The Narrator | Documentary series
7 episodes |
| 1999 | Atomic Train | President Fellwick | TV miniseries; 2 episodes |
| Vendetta | District Attorney Luzenberg | Television film | |
| RKO 281 | |||
| The Korean War: Fire and Ice | The Narrator | TV miniseries documentary | |
| Niagara: A History of the Falls | Documentary television film | ||
| 1999–2002 | Save Our History | Host / The Narrator | Documentary series; 4 episodes |
| 1999–2005 | History's Lost & Found | The Narrator | Documentary series; 65 episodes |
| 2000 | Horror in the East | Documentary television film | |
| Battle History of the U.S. Navy | TV miniseries documentary; 4 episodes | ||
| Founding Fathers | |||
| 2000–2001 2003 |
Oz | Harrison Beecher | 6 episodes |
| 2000–2007 | Gilmore Girls | Richard Gilmore | 86 episodes |
| 2001 | James Dean | Raymond Massey | Television film |
| In Search of Christmas | Host / The Narrator | ||
| 2002 | Antarctica: A Frozen History | The Narrator | Documentary television film |
| Founding Brothers | |||
| First Mothers | |||
| The World Trade Center: Rise and Fall of an American Icon | |||
| Rise and Fall of the Spartans | miniseries; 4 episodes | ||
| 2003 | The Louisiana Purchase | Documentary television film | |
| Crossing Jordan | Captain Thomas Malden | Episode: "Pandora's Trunk: Part 2" | |
| Teddy Roosevelt: An American Lion | The Narrator | Documentary television film | |
| Modern Marvels | Documentary series
Episode: "4x4" | ||
| Mavericks, Miracles and Medicine | TV miniseries documentary
4 episodes | ||
| Russia, Land of the Tsars | |||
| Nostradamus: 500 Years Later | Documentary television film | ||
| The Day They Died | |||
| The Samurai | |||
| Stalin: Man of Steel | |||
| 2004 | Isaac's Storm | ||
| First Invasion: The War of 1812 | |||
| Countdown to Armageddon | |||
| 2005 | Beyond the Da Vinci Code | ||
| The Presidents | Documentary series
8 episodes | ||
| The French Revolution | Documentary television film | ||
| FDR: A Presidency Revealed | |||
| Giganto: The Real King Kong | |||
| Decoding the Past | Episode: "Mysteries of the Bermuda Triangle" | ||
| Tom Goes to the Mayor | Benjamin Kaplan (voice) | Episode: "Porcelain Birds" | |
| The Templar Code: Crusade of Secrecy | The Narrator | Documentary television film | |
| UFO Files | Episode: "Beyond the War of the Worlds" | ||
| Bible Battles | Television special documentary | ||
| 2006 | The Ten Commandments | TV miniseries
2 episodes | |
| Titanic's Final Moments: Missing Pieces | Documentary television film | ||
| Violent Earth: New England's Killer Hurricane | |||
| Mayan Doomsday Prophecy | |||
| Desperate Crossing: The True Story of the Mayflower | |||
| Eighty Acres of Hell | |||
| 2007 | Banned from the Bible II | ||
| The States | 10 episodes | ||
| Titanic's Achilles Heel | Documentary television film | ||
| The Revolution | Documentary series
4 episodes | ||
| Columbus: The Lost Voyage | Documentary television film | ||
| Grey's Anatomy | Dr. Norman Shales | 3 episodes | |
| Andrew Jackson | The Narrator | Documentary television film | |
| How the Earth Was Made | Documentary television special | ||
| 2008 | 30 Rock | Walter | Episode: "210" |
| 2009 | Hatching Pete | Principal Fred Daly | Television film |
| 2010 | Hold at All Costs: The Story of the Battle of Outpost Harry |
The Narrator | Documentary television film |
| 2010–2013 | The Good Wife | Lionel Deerfield | 6 episodes |
| 2011 | Better with You | Judge | Episode: "Better with the Baby" |
| A Christmas Wish | Les McCallum | Television film | |
| Drop Dead Diva | Reverend Phillips | Episode: "Ah, Men" | |
| The Christmas Pageant | Garrett Clark | Television film | |
| Wonder Woman | Senator Warren | Unaired television pilot | |
| 2012-2016 | American Dad! | Old Man / Councilman | Voice; 2 episodes |
| 2012 | Harry's Law | Judge Lester Babcock | 3 episodes |
| 2013 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Mr. Vogel | Episode: "In Vino Veritas" |
| How I Met Your Mother | Reverend Lowell | Episode: "Knight Vision" | |
| 2014 | Black Box | Dr. Reynaud | 2 episodes |
| The Roosevelts: An Intimate History | Franklin D. Roosevelt (voice) | 7 episodes | |
| 2015 | Perception | Jack Pierce | Episode: "Brainstorm" |
| Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies | The Narrator | 3 episodes |
Theatre
| Year | Title | Role | Venue | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Moonchildren | Performer | Royale Theatre, Broadway | |
| 1976 | Mrs. Warren's Profession | Frank Gardner | Vivian Beaumont Theatre, Broadway | |
| 1980 | The Philadelphia Story | Macaulay Connor | ||
| 1983 | Plenty | Raymond Brock | Plymouth Theatre, Broadway | |
| 1989 | Love Letters | Andrew Makepiece Ladd II | Edison Theatre, Broadway | |
| 1998 | The Deep Blue Sea | William Collyer | Criterion Center Stage, Broadway |
Video games
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Men of Valor | Narrator |
References
- "End of a Sentence, The (1991) - Overview - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on 2017-11-07. Retrieved 2020-03-11.
- "Edward Herrmann". Playbill. Retrieved June 5, 2021.