James Cromwell received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his memorable performance as Farmer Hoggett in Babe. Cromwell's recent motion picture work includes Black Ball, Angels in America, Space Cowboys, The Green Mile, The General's Daughter, Snow Falling on Cedars, The Bachelor, The Sum of All Fears, and Spirit:Stallion of The Cimarron.

Additionally, he starred as Grandpa in The Education of Little Tree and as Police Captain Dudley Smith in L.A. Confidential. Among his many other films are Star Trek:First Contact, The People vs. Larry Flynt and Babe:Pig in the City.

His most recent television work includes the starring role in the series Citizen Baines. He is starring opposite Rob Lowe in Salem's Lot, portrays George Sibley on the Emmy® nominated HBO original series Six Feet Under, and played William Randolph Hearst in the HBO movie RKO 281, for which he received an Emmy nomination. He also starred in TNT's A Slight Case of Murder. His body of work encompasses dozens of miniseries and movies-of-the-week, as well as roles on such popular series as E.R. (for which he received an Emmy nomination), Picket Fences, Home Improvement, L.A. Law and Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Cromwell has also performed in many revered plays – Hamlet, The Iceman Cometh, Devil's Disciple, All's Well That Ends Well, Beckett and Othello – at many of the nation's most distinguished theatres, including the South Coast Repertory, the Goodman Theatre, the Mark Taper Forum, the American Shakespeare Festival, Center Stage, the Long Wharf Theatre and the Old Globe. He recently played A. E. Houseman in the American premiere of Tom Stoppard's The Invention of Love at A.C.T. in San Francisco.

Trained as a director at Carnegie Tech, Cromwell has directed at resident theatres across the country and was the founder and Artistic Director of his own company, Stage West, in Springfield, Massachusetts. He also co-directed a short film, which was shown at the London Film Festival.

Born in Los Angeles, Cromwell grew up in New York and Waterford, Connecticut and studied acting at Carnegie Mellon University (then Carnegie Tech). His father, John Cromwell, was an acclaimed actor and director and one of the first Presidents of the Screen Directors Guild. His mother, Kay Johnson, was a stage and film actress. Cromwell is married to actress and director Julie Cobb, daughter of the late Lee J. Cobb. He is the founder of Hecel Oyakapi, a foundation committed to assisting the Lakota People of South Dakota in preserving their language and their culture through the arts.