JAMES
REMAR
James Remar, born on December 31, 1953, in the United States, is an American actor well known for his roles in films such as The Warriors (1979), Django Unchained (2012), and Oppenheimer (2023). He has been married to Atsuko Itsuki since 1984, and they have two children. He studied acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York.
His full name is William James Remar, and he was born in Boston, Massachusetts. His mother, Elizabeth Boyle, worked in mental health services for the state of Massachusetts, while his father, Roy Remar, was a lawyer. His family background includes Russian-Jewish heritage on his father’s side and English and Irish roots on his mother’s. He grew up in Newton with three sisters and two brothers.
As a teenager, he left high school at the age of 15 and later attended what he described as "a kind of alternative school" for a year. In his youth, he traveled across the United States and briefly played guitar in a rock band. Eventually, he returned home and completed high school, though he chose not to attend college. At the age of 20, after being laid off from a construction job, he remembered performing at a summer camp and decided to pursue acting. He gave himself three years to succeed in the field before considering other options.
Throughout his career, Remar has frequently portrayed tough or villainous characters. He played Ajax, a violent gang member, in the cult classic The Warriors, and the psychopathic killer Albert Ganz in the hit film 48 Hrs., both directed by Walter Hill. Another standout performance was his role as real-life gangster Dutch Schultz in The Cotton Club (1984).
Although he often played antagonistic roles, Remar has earned recognition for his work. He won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series in 2007 and shared the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2009, 2010, and 2011.