David Clennon

Biography

A tall, lean, and often bearded actor with a career lasting more than thirty years, David Clennon is also an outspoken political activist. He has been arrested for civil disobedience, and he has clashed with the Hollywood establishment. He has turned down roles because of his beliefs (for example, "Just Cause" and "24"). After participating in several years of anti-Vietnam War protests, he began to establish himself in off-Broadway theater (starting with Sam Shepard's "The Unseen Hand"). In spite of the prevalence of type-casting, David has managed to demonstrate considerable versatility. To every role that he plays, he tries to bring a sense of reality and a spark of humanity. He tends to be cast as educated, white-collar characters, but he occasionally breaks that mold with working class characters like Palmer in "John Carpenter's The Thing." He got his first film role in 1973 in The Paper Chase (1973) and followed up with Bound for Glory (1976), Coming Home (1978), and Being There (1979). In his movies, he has worked with Jack Lemmon, Sissy Spacek, Meryl Streep, and Susan Sarandon. He made the leap to TV in 1977 in the CBS series "Rafferty" and followed up with Park Place (1980). He is most famous for his role as Miles Dentrell on the acclaimed drama Thirtysomething (1987). David was a regular on the CBS series The Agency (2001) playing the computer and forgery expert Joshua Nankin. When he publicly criticized the show for its pro-CIA, pro-Iraq invasion slant, he was attacked by Sean Hannity and political consultant Dick Morris.