Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows FanStore News Showtimes

Sam Bottoms

Highest Rated: 100% Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (1991)

Lowest Rated: 40% Winter Passing (2005)

Birthday: Oct 17, 1955

Birthplace: Santa Barbara, California, USA

Sam Bottoms grew up in a family of actors. All three of his brothers have tried their hand at the craft, with brother Timothy ("Johnny Got His Gun," "The Last Picture Show") the most well known. Sam's career, however, was distinguished by Francis Ford Coppola's Vietnam War epic "Apocalypse Now," in which he played the California surfer turned riverboat gunner, Lance B. Johnson. The role of a So-Cal surfer was not far from Bottoms' real-life background; he had grown up as a surfer in Santa Barbara. Bottoms portrayed Johnson as a wide-eyed, eager-to-please greenhorn whose innocence seems to serve as his protection in the hostile jungle. Bottoms got his first acting job when he followed his brother down to the set of "The Last Picture Show." He was spotted hanging around, and wound up in the picture as Billy, the speech-impaired street sweeper. Bottoms also appeared in a couple of Clint Eastwood Westerns, "The Outlaw Josey Wales" and "Bronco Billy." He never really got to work on another film at the level of "Apocalypse Now," but he did have a solid career that, in later years, centered on television. He played Cal Trask in the TV miniseries version of "East of Eden" and guest-starred on episodes of "21 Jump Street," "Murder, She Wrote," and "NYPD Blue," among others. He died of a brain tumor at the age of 53.

Show Less Show More

Highest-Rated Movies

100% 94% Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse
Watchlist
93% 91% Apocalypse Now Redux
Watchlist
91% 91% The Outlaw Josey Wales
Watchlist
90% 94% Apocalypse Now
Watchlist
76% 57% Sherrybaby
Watchlist
75% 49% Bronco Billy
Watchlist
61% 58% Shopgirl
Watchlist
60% Looking Through Lillian
Watchlist
45% 36% Havoc
Watchlist
44% 55% Gardens of Stone
Watchlist

Filmography

Movies TV Shows
Sherrybaby 76% 57% 2006 Bob Swanson Sr. Actor Winter Passing 40% 61% 2005 Brian Actor Havoc 45% 36% 2005 Lt. Maris Actor Shopgirl 61% 58% 2005 Dan Butterfield Actor Looking Through Lillian 60% 2001 Gene Actor The Unsaid 72% 2001 Joseph Caffey Actor Shadow Fury 25% 2001 Mitchell Madsen Actor Joseph's Gift 1998 Robert Keller Actor My Neighbor's Daughter 60% 1997 Dennis Cromwell Actor Snide & Prejudice 30% 1997 Therapist Schaub Actor Project Shadowchaser III 1995 Kody Actor The Trust 1993 James Baker Actor Dolly Dearest 34% 1992 Elliot Wade Actor North of Chiang Mai 1992 Actor Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse 100% 94% 1991 Actor Picture This: The Times of Peter Bogdanovich in Archer City, Texas 69% 1991 Producer Ragin' Cajun 1990 Legs Actor The Witching of Ben Wagner 50% 1990 Mr. George `'Dad'` Wagner Actor After School 0% 1988 Father Michael McCarren Actor Gardens of Stone 44% 55% 1987 Lt. Webber Actor Island Sons 1987 Sam Faraday Actor Hunter's Blood 54% 1987 David Rand Actor In 'n' Out 1986 Murray Lewis Jr. Actor Prime Risk 25% 1985 Bill Yeoman Actor Bronco Billy 75% 49% 1980 Leonard James Actor
Load More