Eric Roberts’ career began with a leading role in King of the Gypsies (1978) for which he received his first Golden Globe Award nomination. He was nominated again at the Golden Globes for his role in Bob Fosse‘s Star 80 (1983). Roberts’ performance in Runaway Train (1985), as prison escapee Buck McGeehy, earned him a third Golden Globe nod and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He is the older brother of actress Julia Roberts and father of actress Emma Roberts.
In a career spanning over 40 years Roberts has amassed more than 700 credits, including Raggedy Man (1981), The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984), Runaway Train, The Specialist (1994), Cecil B. Demented (2000), National Security (2003), A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006), The Dark Knight (2008), The Expendables (2010), Inherent Vice (2014), The Institute (2017), and Head Full of Honey (2018). His equally varied television work includes three seasons with the sitcom Less than Perfect, as well as recurring roles on the NBC drama Heroes and the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless, as well as Saved by the Light, the legal drama Suits, Fox’s The Finder, and the only non-UK actor to play the Master in the 1996 Doctor Who television film.