- Born
- Birth nameLance James Henriksen
- Height1.79 m
- An intense, versatile actor as adept at playing clean-cut FBI agents as he is psychotic motorcycle-gang leaders, who can go from portraying soulless, murderous vampires to burned-out, world-weary homicide detectives, Lance Henriksen has starred in a variety of films that have allowed him to stretch his talents just about as far as an actor could possibly hope. He played "Awful Knoffel" in the TNT original movie Evel Knievel (2004), directed by John Badham and executive produced by Mel Gibson. Henriksen portrayed "Awful Knoffel" in this project based on the life of the famed daredevil, played by George Eads. Henriksen starred for three seasons (1996-1999) on Millennium (1996), Fox-TV's critically acclaimed series created by Chris Carter (X-Files : Aux frontières du réel (1993)). His performance as Frank Black, a retired FBI agent who has the ability to get inside the minds of killers, landed him three consecutive Golden Globe nominations for "Best Performance by a Lead Actor in a Drama Series" and a People's Choice Award nomination for "Favorite New TV Male Star".
Henriksen was born in New York City. His mother, Margueritte, was a waitress, dance instructor, and model. His father, James Marin Henriksen, who was from Tønsberg, Norway, was a boxer and merchant sailor. Henriksen studied at the Actors Studio and began his career off-Broadway in Eugene O'Neill's "Three Plays of the Sea." One of his first film appearances was as an FBI agent in Sidney Lumet's Un après-midi de chien (1975), followed by parts in Lumet's Network : Main basse sur la TV (1976) and Le prince de New York (1981). He then appeared in Steven Spielberg's Rencontres du troisième type (1977) with Richard Dreyfuss and François Truffaut, Damien : La Malédiction II (1978) and in Philip Kaufman's L'étoffe des héros (1983), in which he played Mercury astronaut Capt. Wally Schirra.
James Cameron cast Henriksen in his first directorial effort, Piranha 2 : Les Tueurs volants (1982), then used him again in Terminator (1984) and as the android Bishop in the sci-fi classic Aliens, le retour (1986). Sam Raimi cast Henriksen as an outrageously garbed gunfighter in his quirky western Mort ou vif (1995). Henriksen has also appeared in what has developed into a cult classic: Kathryn Bigelow's Aux frontières de l'aube (1987), in which he plays the head of a clan of murderous redneck vampires. He was nominated for a Golden Satellite Award for his portrayal of Abraham Lincoln in the TNT original film The Day Lincoln Was Shot (1998).
In addition to his abilities as an actor, Henriksen is an accomplished painter and potter. His talent as a ceramist has enabled him to create some of the most unusual ceramic artworks available on the art market today. He resides in Southern California with his wife Jane and their five-year-old daughter Sage.- IMDb mini biography by: frankfob2@yahoo.com
- SpousesJane Pollack(April 22, 1995 - May 16, 2006) (divorced, 1 child)Mary Jane Evans(February 10, 1985 - 1988) (divorced, 1 child)
- ChildrenSage Ariel HenriksenAlcamy Henriksen
- ParentsMargueritte HenriksenJames Marin Henriksen
- RelativesSibling(Sibling)
- Gravelly deep yet commanding voice
- Intense understated performances
- Was illiterate until the age of thirty, when he learned to read by studying movie scripts.
- He and Bill Paxton are the only two actors to face off against a Terminator, an Alien and a Predator.
- He was James Cameron's original choice for the title role in Terminator (1984) when the concept was for a machine that could blend into a crowd. Cameron had even made concept drawings of Henriksen as the Terminator. When the concept was changed, and Arnold Schwarzenegger was cast, Henriksen was re-cast as Det. Vukovich. When Cameron made Aliens, le retour (1986), he cast Henriksen as Bishop, an android.
- He is the only actor besides Sigourney Weaver to appear in more than one "Alien" movie.
- By the time he was 8 years old, he had spent time in two orphanages, a boarding school and a foster home.
- I always wanted to be an actor, even when I was a little kid. When I used to run away from home, I'd go to movies and sit all night watching Kirk Douglas. When I was 16 I tried getting into the Actors Studio and they told me to get lost. I said "I'll come back when I'm a man", and I came back when I was 30. I went to sea, I traveled the world . . . I was waiting.
- You can't do every movie--although I do a lot of them--and the thing I'm longing to do is . . . it's not that I think I'm funny . . . but I long to do a situation comedy.
- The challenge for me in a part is if it's something I haven't done.
- If I'm going to have a rough time doing it, then that's what I'll do. If I'm in the comfort zone, I can't. I have to get off-balance enough to be alive.
- I'm pretty slapstick in my life but nobody sees that. You get typecast. I'm from New York and I have a shit-detector that's outspoken. I'm very streetwise and the producers detect that. So they get me on a movie and kill me. I go into their offices and I'm sure when I leave they say, "You know, he'd be great to kill". I've been killed every way you can imagine.
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