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Woody Harrelson

Acting

Born July 23, 1961 · Midland, Texas, USA

Also known as Woodrow Tracy Harrelson

Biography

Woodrow Tracy "Woody" Harrelson (born July 23, 1961) is an American actor. He first became known for his role as bartender Woody Boyd on the NBC sitcom Cheers (1985–1993), for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series from five nominations. Harrelson received three Academy Award nominations: Best Actor for The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996),  Best Supporting Actor for The Messenger (2009) and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017).  Other notable films include White Men Can't Jump(1992), Natural Born Killers (1994), The Thin Red Line (1998), No Country for Old Men (2007), Seven Pounds (2008), Zombieland (2009), Seven Psychopaths (2012), Now You See Me (2013), The Edge of Seventeen (2016), War for the Planet of the Apes (2017), Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021), and Triangle of Sadness (2022). He also played Haymitch Abernathy in The Hunger Games film series (2012–2015).  Harrelson received further Primetime Emmy Award nominations for his portrayal of Steve Schmidt in the HBO film Game Change (2012) and a detective in the HBO crime anthology series True Detective (2014). He also portrayed E. Howard Hunt in the HBO political limited series White House Plumbers (2023).

Awards & recognition

  • Independent Spirit AwardBest Supporting Male · 2009
  • Actor Awards · 2008
  • Emmy Award · 1989
  • Primetime Emmy AwardOutstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series · 1989
  • Academy AwardBest Supporting Actor · 2018 · nominated
Show all 7 awards →
  • Academy AwardBest Supporting Actor · 2010 · nominated
  • Academy AwardBest Actor · 1997 · nominated

Filmography50+ titles

Three Stooges 75th Anniversary Special

2003as Self - Host

True Detective

2014as Martin Hart

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse

2022Executive Producer

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

2017as Willoughby

No Country for Old Men

2007as Carson Wells

Curb Your Enthusiasm

2000as Woody Harrelson

The Simpsons

1989as Woody Boyd (voice)

Ladies & Gentlemen... 50 Years of SNL Music

2025as Self

Kiss the Ground

2020as Self - Narrator (voice)

Frasier

1993as Woody Boyd

Seven Pounds

2008as Ezra Turner

Cheers

1982as Woody Boyd

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

1962as Self

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

2013as Haymitch Abernathy

The Thin Red Line

1998as Sgt. William Keck

Now You See Me

2013as Merritt McKinney

Zombieland

2009as Tallahassee

War for the Planet of the Apes

2017as The Colonel

The Edge of Seventeen

2016as Mr. Bruner

The Hunger Games

2012as Haymitch Abernathy

The Graham Norton Show

2007as Self

North Country

2005as Bill White

Midway

2019as Admiral Chester W. Nimitz

The Glass Castle

2017as Rex Walls

Hot Ones

2015as Self

How to Make Money Selling Drugs

2012as Self

Nanking

2007as Bob Wilson

Natural Born Killers

1994as Mickey Knox

Triangle of Sadness

2022as The Captain

The People vs. Larry Flynt

1996as Larry Flynt

Last Breath

2025as Duncan Allcock

Breakthrough

2019as Narrator (voice)

Zombieland: Double Tap

2019as Tallahassee

The Nineties

2017as Self (archive footage)

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2

2015as Haymitch Abernathy

Game Change

2012as Steve Schmidt

Ethos

2011as Host

Will & Grace

1998as Nathan

Wag the Dog

1997as Sergeant William Schumann

Saturday Night Live

1975as Self (uncredited)

Fly Me to the Moon

2024as Moe Berkus

The Highwaymen

2019as Manny Gault

Venom

2018as Cletus Kasady / Carnage

Now You See Me 2

2016as Merritt McKinney / Chase McKinney

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1

2014as Haymitch Abernathy

Seven Psychopaths

2012as Charlie Costello

The Messenger

2009as Tony Stone

Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days

2009as Self

A Scanner Darkly

2006as Ernie Luckman

Go Further

2003as Self