Timothy Bottoms

This sensitive actor made a big splash in 1971 in Dalton Trumbo's "Johnny Got His Gun" and Peter Bogdanovich's "The Last Picture Show," but his initial career fanfare sputtered and he subsequently starred in TV productions and feature films of dubious artistry. Timothy Bottoms first performed on stage in his home town of Santa Barbara, CA, and toured Europe in 1967 as a member of the Santa Barbara Madrigal Society. He especially scored as Sonny, the football star who beds the coach's neglected wife (Cloris Leachman) in "The Last Picture Show." In 1973, Bottoms offered a good turn as a law student who locks horns with his authoritarian professor (John Houseman) in "The Paper Chase." He went on to appear as Mia Farrow's emotionally and sexually constricted husband in the remake of "Hurricane" (1979). More recently, after some hesitation, he reprised his role as the middle-aged, somewhat emotionally distraught Sonny in Bogdanovich's lackluster sequel "Texasville" (1990).