Biography

Everett McGill

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Everett McGill was the leader of a popular Kansas City dance band prior to becoming an accomplished stage actor with more than 1300 performances on Broadway to his credit. He first acquired wide attention in film with his starring role in Jean-Jacques Annaud's Oscar-winning saga of primitive man, Quest for Fire. He went on to star in a broad range of movie genres playing characters that have been described in every way from malevolent to lovable. He is best known to fans of filmmaker David Lynch as the owner of Big Ed's Gas Farm in the town of Twin Peaks. He replayed the lovelorn Ed Hurley for the Showtime series Twin Peaks: The Return. He studied dance at the Kansas City Conservatory of Music and earned a BA in Speech and Theatre from the University of Missouri.
- IMDb mini biography by: Christiana Curry

Originally, J. Michael Straczynski intended to cast McGill in the role of Major Ryan in the Babylon 5 (1993) episode "Severed Dreams". However, Straczynski didn't know his full name, so when he asked to have McGill contacted to set up a meeting about casting him, his assistant asked if he meant Bruce, and Straczynski said yes. Bruce McGill was invited to meet with Straczynski, and it was only after the two met that Straczynski realized his mistake. Straczynski decided to use Bruce for the role of Major Ryan, despite this.
Like the other cast members of David Lynch's Dune (1984), McGill, who played Stilgar, was under contract to appear in sequels should the first film be a success. However, Dune performed poorly at the box office and those sequels were never made.
Graduated from Rosedale High School in Kansas City, Kansas in 1963.
No relation to fellow actor Bruce McGill, despite a popular misconception.
Best known for his role on Twin Peaks, in which McGill worked with Miguel Ferrer. The main character in O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) is named Ulysses Everett McGill, and is played by Ferrer's cousin, George Clooney. After this, McGill took a long hiatus break from acting, where he relocated to Arizona. He appeared in Twin Peaks (2017), the reboot of the original series.

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