The Nominees: David Strathairn

(CBS)  He's been around for quite a while.

You might have seen David Strathairn as many as 25 years ago when he was in "Return of the Secaucus Seven." That marked the beginning of his movie career and also the beginning of his professional association with director John Sayles. (They went to Williams College together.)

In all, he has been in eight of Sayles' movies, including 1988's "Eight Men Out," in which he played pitcher Eddie Cicotte, and 1992's "Passion Fish," in which he played the romantic lead.

His other movie credits include Patchett the pimp in "L.A. Confidential" (1997), Tom Cruise's brother in "The Firm" (1993), and Meryl Streep's husband in "The River Wild" (1994). Under the direction of the late Christopher Reeve, he played the father of an AIDS-stricken son in the HBO movie "In the Gloaming" (1997).

If you were a fan of the old TV series "The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd," you saw him in a recurring role as Moss Goodman, the guy who sold books.

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More from CBSNews.com on David Strathairn and on the Oscars ...

See photo essay for more pictures of David Strathairn.

See Real To Reel to compare Strathairn's portrayal of Edward R. Murrow with the real deal.

See "Good Night, and Good Luck" interactive for video clips from the movies, interviews with stars, and more about the stars of the film.

Find out about all the nominees in the Academy Awards special report.

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Strathairn, 57, also appeared on Broadway in "Dance of Death" with Ian McKellen and Helen Mirren (2001-2002) and in "Salome" with Al Pacino and Marisa Tomei (2003). Earlier, in 1997, he shared a stage with Billy Crudup, Paul Giamatti, Calista Flockhart and Lili Taylor in a revival of Anton Chekhov's "Three Sisters."

And a bit of trivia: He studied at Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Clown College and followed it up by working as a circus clown for six months.

Strathairn lives in upstate New York with his wife, Logan. They have two sons.