Biography

Josef Sommer

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Josef Sommer is a classically trained stage actor who has also been a prolific performer in films. He made his debut at the age of nine in a production of "Watch on the Rhine" with the Carolina Playmakers in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He trained as an actor at the American Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Connecticut. He performed with the Seattle Repertory Theater and made his Broadway debut in 1970. Sommer made his film debut in Don Siegel's classic Dirty Harry (1971) and also appeared in Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). He is probably best remembered for his role as Harrison Ford's superior in the hugely successful Witness (1985).
- IMDb mini biography by: Anonymous

He has played 3 different historical American presidents; Gerald Ford in The Betty Ford Story (1987), Franklin D. Roosevelt in The Kennedys of Massachusetts (1990), Woodrow Wilson in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles - Paris, May 1919 (1993) as well as 1 fictional president in X-Men: The Last Stand (2006).
Appears with Michael Murphy in The Front (1976) and 30 years later in X-Men: The Last Stand (2006).
Father, Clemens Sommer, was a professor of history at the University of North Carolina.
In 1982, appeared in two films with Meryl Streep: sharing scenes with her in Still of the Night (1982) and narrating her character story in Sophie's Choice (1982). The following year they co-starred in Silkwood (1983).
Starred in two unrelated TV movies dealing with the Kennedys: "The Kennedys of Massachusetts" in which he played Franklin Roosevelt, and "A Woman Named Jackie" in which he played Joseph Kennedy Sr.

There are two things that go on in a professional actor's life. The first is finding work, making a living, pursuing a career. The other thing is the art of acting. It's so easy to lose that in the urgency of a career. Sometimes the struggle is just staying active, when you wish the struggle would be over great roles and great plays. I'm not sure you ever reconcile the two things. I guess you just remind yourself that acting is worthwhile because there is always potentially great work to be done.

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