M. C. Gainey

M. C. Gainey

Gainey at WonderCon 2010.
Born Michael Connor Gainey
(1948-01-18) January 18, 1948
Jackson, Mississippi, U.S.
Occupation Actor, comedian
Years active 1954–present
Spouse(s) Kim Novicki (m. 2002)

Michael Connor "M. C." Gainey[1] (born January 18, 1948) is an American actor whose distinctive mustache, 6'2" height, and threatening look have landed him supporting roles as Southern or Southwestern thugs and criminals. He is known for playing a major role in the 1997 Con Air action movie.

Early life

Gainey was born in Jackson, Mississippi. In the early 1970s, he attended the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, California with Ken Hixon.[2] Prior to this, he attended the University of Southern Mississippi.[2] He worked as a mortician's apprentice before he decided to study acting.[2]

Career

In 1981, he made his big-screen debut in Herbert Ross's musical Pennies from Heaven starring Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters.[2] Since the early 1980s, he has been in over 50 films, including Two Idiots in Hollywood (1988), The Mighty Ducks (1992), The Fan (1996), Breakdown (1997), Con Air (1997), Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003), Sideways (2004), Are We There Yet? (2005), The Dukes of Hazzard (2005), Wild Hogs (2007) and Mr. Woodcock (2007).

Gainey was one of the stars of the short-lived series Against the Law and played Tom Friendly on the series Lost.[3] He also played murderous drug dealer Bo Crowder in one season of the hit FX series Justified. He has guest starred on over 40 television shows, including The Dukes of Hazzard, Knight Rider, Designing Women, The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr., Walker, Texas Ranger, Criminal Minds, CSI, Cheers, Days of Our Lives, The X-Files, Desperate Housewives, Burn Notice, and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

In 2003, Gainey appeared in The Last Cowboy, playing the role of Lance Henriksen's friend, along with Bradley Cooper and Jennie Garth.[4][5] In 2004, Gainey appeared as a cuckolded husband in full frontal nudity in the award-winning arthouse film Sideways. He played Kurtz / The Wizard in the controversial road-revenge short film Apocalypse Oz. In 2007, he appeared in Mr. Woodcock, Wild Hogs, and Unearthed. In 2010, he appeared in Love Ranch and voiced the Captain of the Palace Guard in Tangled. In 2012, he appeared in Quentin Tarantino's film Django Unchained.[6]

Personal life

He has been married to his wife Kim since 2002.


On being typecast, Gainey stated:

With a face like this, there aren't a lot of lawyers or priest roles coming my way. I've got a face that was meant for a mug shot and that's what I've been doing for the past thirty years. If I play a cop, it's always a racist cop, or a trigger-happy cop or a crooked cop - but by and large I play cowboys, bikers, and convicts.[7]

On the characters he has played, Gainey said:

"Swamp Thing" in Con Air. In a movie that has so many villains, take a look at my character closely - not that it supports the weight of a careful examination - and you'll see that I don't really get in anyone's face, I don't really kill anyone, I'm not really a bad guy - I'm just a guy who likes to fly. He made the mistake of landing his plane full of controlled substances in the wrong place and finds himself in the system. In terms of bad guys though, the character I played in Breakdown was a very bad human being. There's nothing redeeming about that character.[7]

Selected filmography

1981 Pennies from Heaven Policeman
1984 Starman Cop #2
1985 The Rape of Richard Beck Sonny
1987 Fatal Beauty Barndollar
1988 Spellbinder Brock
1988 Two Idiots in Hollywood Sergeant Albert
1989 An Innocent Man Malcolm
1992 The Mighty Ducks Lewis
1992 Leap of Faith Tiny
1995 Citizen Ruth Harlan
1996 One Tough Bastard Hank
1996 The Fan Man Behind Man
1997 Breakdown Earl
1997 Con Air Earl Williams ("Swamp Thing")
1999 Horse Sense Twister
1999 Happy, Texas Robert 'Bob' Allen Maslow
2002 Run Ronnie Run! Hark Trellis
2002 Highway Steven
2003 Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines Roadhouse Bouncer
2003 Wonderland Billy Ward
2004 Club Dread Hank
2004 Sideways Cammi's husband
2005 Are We There Yet? Al
2005 The Dukes of Hazzard Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane
2006 Two Tickets to Paradise Barbosa
2006 The TV Set Hutch
2006 Beerfest Priest
2006 Relative Strangers Spicer
2007 Wild Hogs Murdock
2007 Unearthed Rob Horn
2007 The Death and Life of Bobby Z Boom Boom
2007 Mr. Woodcock Hal
2010 Love Ranch Warren Stamp
2012 Stolen Hoyt
2012 The Babymakers Officer Malloy
2012 Django Unchained Big John Brittle
2013 The Pardon Gibbs Duhon
2015 Girl Meets World Pappy Joe

Video Games

Year Title Role Notes
2008 Lost: Via Domus Tom Friendly (voice)

References

  1. According to his interview on ABC's Official Lost Audio Podcast (released April 16, 2007), he is named after Martin S. "Mike" Connor, the first Irish-American governor of Mississippi.
  2. 1 2 3 4 TV Guide Profile Retrieved on 11/28/2010
  3. Watch with Kristin - Lost Still in "Radio Silence" (Hmph)
  4. "The Last Cowboy, movie review". Dove.org. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
  5. "The Last Cowboy by Joyce Chopra". Barnesandnoble.com. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
  6. Slash Film
  7. 1 2 M.C Gainey : Interview : Dukes of Hazzard : Movies : Entertainment : Web Wombat
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