James Marshall was born James David Greenblatt in Queens, New York,
USA, to Charlotte (Bullard), a dancer, and
William R. Greenblatt, a producer
and director. His father is of Ashkenazi Jewish descent and his mother
has English and Irish ancestry.
James grew up in Bergen County New Jersey. At the age of fifteen he
moved with his family to the Los Angeles area where he attended Santa
Monica High School. Once high school was over, James attended acting
classes and struggled to break into Hollywood. His father offered to
help James, but he didn't want to take the nepotism route. Coming from
a family of entertainers (his mother a former radio city music hall
Rockette and his sister a musician) he had Hollywood in site. Accepting
small acting parts, working as a messenger, as well as at a pizzeria,
James felt the pressures of the business. James made a big splash when
director David Lynch cast Marshall for his new series entitled Twin
Peaks. Playing the moody, biker boyfriend of Laura Palmer thrust James
Marshall into the living rooms of millions and introduced the new actor
to a captivated audience. By early 1990 his career took a turn onto the
silver screen with an appearance in the movie Cadence, starring Martin
Sheen and Charlie Sheen. This lead to his first starring role with a
major movie studio. The movie was the 1992 boxing drama, Gladiator.
Three months of rigorous training was put into the role before even
getting to the set. The buzz on Marshall was so great that director Rob
Reiner cast James and co-star Cuba Gooding Jr. in his upcoming film A
Few Good Men. The movie was an excellent springboard towards a busy
acting career. James has continued working steadily in television
movies and features. In May of 1998 James married actress Renee Allman.
They have appeared together in the features Criminal Affairs and
Doomsday Man. Together they have one child, James David, who was born
in January of 2002. The happy family live together in the Los Angeles
area. James continues to work on a host a television movies and film
projects. In addition James is an accomplished author, artist and
musician.
