Robert Patrick Gunton Jr. is an American character actor of stage and screen. He is known for playing strict, authoritarian characters, including Warden Samuel Norton in the 1994 prison dramaThe Shawshank Redemption, Chief George Earle in 1993's Demolition Man, Dr. Walcott, the domineering dean of Virginia Medical School in Patch Adams, and Secretary of StateCyrus Vance in Argo. He also played Leland Owlsley in the Daredevil television series, Secretary of DefenseEthan Kanin in 24, and Noah Taylor in Desperate Housewives. In addition to his film and television career, Gunton is a prolific theatre actor. He originated the role of Juan Perón in the Broadway premiere of Evita and the titular character in the 1989 revival of , roles for which he received two Tony Award nominations. He is the recipient of a Drama Desk Award, an Obie Award, and a Clarence Derwent Award.
Gunton served in the United States Army as a radio telephone operator with the 2nd Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, and was assigned to Fire Support Base Ripcord atop a mountain in the A Sầu Valley during a 23-day siege. He and a comrade were awarded Bronze Star commendations for returning to the base to retrieve important but forgotten radios in the evacuation’s final moments so they would not fall into the hands of the North Vietnamese Army, which was about to capture the base, making him one of the last people to evacuate the base. During the battle, he lost one of his dog tags, but it was returned to him over 40 years later in 2018.
Career
Gunton played the role of Juan Peron in the original 1980 Broadway production of Evita, earning a nomination for Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his performance. He later starred in the title role of a 1989 Broadway revival of Sweeney Todd and received a second Tony nomination for his portrayal. Additional Broadway credits include Working, King of Hearts, The Music Women, How I Got That Story, and Big River. Gunton portrayed President Richard Nixon in a recreation of the Watergate tapes incident for Nightline. He also played President Woodrow Wilson in the film Iron Jawed Angels. Gunton is also known for his guest starring role as Capt. Benjamin Maxwell in the well-received 1991 ' episode "The Wounded |The Wounded". Gunton played Warden Samuel Norton, the head of Shawshank State Prison and the primary antagonist in The Shawshank Redemption opposite Tim Robbins. Gunton played Cecil Dobbs in the 2011 film The Lincoln Lawyer. Gunton also guest starred in the first season of Desperate Housewives and the sixth season of 24, where he portrayed United States Secretary of Defense Ethan Kanin. He signed on as series regular afterward and reprised the role of Kanin but now as the Chief of Staff to the new president, Allison Taylor, in the show's seventh season as well as the two-hour television prequel film, '. He returned again for the eighth season but this time as the President's Secretary of State. Gunton portrays Leland Owlsley in the 2015 TV seriesDaredevil. Gunton made a guest appearance on in January 2017.
