Tobin Bell
Tobin Bell was a prominent film and TV character actor who rose to prominence in 2004 as the chief villain, Jigsaw, in the first "Saw" movie. Born in Queens and raised in Massachusetts, Bell grew up in a very creative household. His mother was an actress, while his father was responsible for building the local radio station in his hometown of Weymouth, Massachusetts. However, despite having a longtime interest in performing, Bell set his sights on working in the field of environmental science. He earned his master's degree in environmental science from Montclair State University, and spent a brief period of his twenties working for the New York Botanical Garden. The burning urge to perform, however, never left Bell, and he quickly left his stable career to become an actor. He joined the iconic Actors Studio in New York, studying alongside Oscar winner Ellen Burstyn, and soon started to appear in various plays Off-Broadway. Bell did land some background work during this time in over two-dozen films shot in New York, but his work was mostly uncredited. It wasn't until he moved to Los Angeles in the mid-1980s that his screen acting workload really began to pick up. Over the next two decades Bell landed supporting roles in "Mississippi Burning" (1988), "Goodfellas" (1990), "The Quick and the Dead" (1995), as well as guest spots on TV shows like "Seinfeld" (NBC, 1989-1998) and "The West Wing" (NBC, 1999-2006). His big break came in 2004 when he was cast as the lead villain, Jigsaw, in the horror film, "Saw." The film became a huge hit, spawning six sequels and multiple video games, in which Bell also lent his voice. Bell acted primarily in "Saw" sequels throughout the remainder of the decade, before taking a four-year break from acting in 2010. He returned to the big screen in 2015 with a supporting role in the crime thriller "Phantom Halo" (2015). The film was the directorial debut of Antonia Bogdanovich, daughter of Oscar nominee Peter, and also starred Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Rebecca Romijn.
Photos
Tobin Bell
Filmography
Movies
Credit | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Saw XI | John Kramer (Character) | - | 2025 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Sleep No More: Director's Cut | Unknown (Character) | - | 2024 |
No Score Yet |
|
Altered Reality | Cooper Mason (Character) | - | 2024 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Cello | Vincent (Character) | - | 2023 |
81% |
|
Saw X | John Kramer (Character) | $53.4M | 2023 |
No Score Yet |
|
ReBroken | Von (Character) | - | 2023 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Clown Motel | Unknown (Character) | - | 2023 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Curse of Wolf Mountain | Dr. Avery (Character) | - | 2022 |
No Score Yet |
|
Aileen Wuornos: American Boogeywoman | Lewis Fell (Character) | - | 2021 |
22% |
|
Let Us In | Mr. Munch (Character) | - | 2020 |
80% |
|
A Father's Legacy | Billy Ford (Character) | - | 2020 |
46% |
|
The Call | Edward Cranston (Character) | $515.2K | 2020 |
No Score Yet |
|
Ice Cream in the Cupboard | Pop (Character) | - | 2020 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Gates of Darkness | Monsignor Canell (Character) | - | 2020 |
86% |
|
Belzebuth | Unknown (Character) | - | 2019 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Way We Weren't |
Jerry (Character), Producer |
- | 2019 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Way We Weren't | Unknown (Character) | - | 2019 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Devil Music | The Devil (Character) | - | 2017 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Sandman | Valentine (Character) | - | 2017 |
32% |
|
Jigsaw |
Jigsaw/ |
$38.0M | 2017 |
No Score Yet |
|
12 Feet Deep | McGradey (Character) | - | 2016 |
67% |
|
Rainbow Time | Peter (Character) | - | 2016 |
100% |
|
Manson Family Vacation | Blackbird (Character) | - | 2015 |
9% |
|
Phantom Halo | Smashmouth (Character) | - | 2014 |
No Score Yet |
|
Finders Keepers | Dr. Freeman (Character) | - | 2014 |
9% |
|
Dark House |
Seth (Character), Producer |
- | 2014 |
9% |
|
Saw: The Final Chapter |
Jigsaw/ |
$45.7M | 2010 |
39% |
|
Saw VI | Jigsaw (Character) | $27.7M | 2009 |
13% |
|
Saw V | Jigsaw (Character) | $56.7M | 2008 |
No Score Yet |
|
Buried Alive | Lester (Character) | - | 2007 |
No Score Yet |
|
Boogeyman 2 | Dr. Mitchell Allen (Character) | - | 2007 |
18% |
|
Saw IV | Jigsaw (Character) | $63.3M | 2007 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Haunting Hour: Don't Think About It | The Stranger (Character) | - | 2007 |
No Score Yet |
|
Decoys 2 | Unknown (Character) | - | 2007 |
29% |
|
Saw III | Jigsaw (Character) | $80.2M | 2006 |
38% |
|
Saw II | Jigsaw (Character) | $87.0M | 2005 |
50% |
|
Saw | John (Character) | $650.1K | 2004 |
No Score Yet |
|
Power Play | Clemens (Character) | - | 2002 |
No Score Yet |
|
Black Mask 2: City of Masks | Moloch (Character) | - | 2002 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Killer Next Door | Geoffrey Martin (Character) | - | 2001 |
50% |
|
The Road to El Dorado | Zaragoza (Voice) | $50.8M | 2000 |
No Score Yet |
|
The 4th Floor | The Lock Smith (Character) | - | 1999 |
No Score Yet |
|
Best of the Best: Without Warning | Lukasz Slava (Character) | - | 1998 |
43% |
|
Overnight Delivery | John Dwayne Beezly (Character) | - | 1998 |
50% |
|
Brown's Requiem | Stan the Man (Character) | $3.1K | 1998 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Crimes of Passion: One Hot Summer Night | Vincent 'Coupe' De Ville (Character) | - | 1998 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Unabomber: The True Story | Theodore Kaczynski (Character) | - | 1996 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Babysitter's Seduction | Frank O'Keefe (Character) | - | 1996 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Serial Killer | William Lucian Morrano (Character) | - | 1996 |
58% |
|
The Quick and the Dead | Dog Kelly (Character) | $17.3M | 1995 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | New Eden | Ares (Character) | - | 1994 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Mortal Fear | Dr. Alvin Hayes (Character) | - | 1994 |
55% |
|
Malice | Earl Leemus (Character) | $46.0M | 1993 |
96% |
|
In the Line of Fire | Mendoza (Character) | $102.2M | 1993 |
76% |
|
The Firm | The Nordic Man (Character) | $157.0M | 1993 |
17% |
|
Boiling Point | Roth (Character) | $9.0M | 1993 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Calendar Girl, Cop, Killer? The Bambi Bembenek Story | Unknown (Character) | - | 1992 |
45% |
|
Ruby | David Ferrie (Character) | $614.3K | 1992 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | False Identity | Marshall Errickson (Character) | - | 1990 |
TV
Credit | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet | 71% | MacGyver | Leland (Guest Star) | 2020 |
85% | 75% | Creepshow | Unknown (Character) | 2019 |
No Score Yet | 83% | Criminal Minds | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2014 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Revelations | Nathan Volk (Character) | 2005 |
87% | 87% | 24 | Peter Kingsley (Guest Star) | 2003 |
81% | 95% | The West Wing | Colonel Whitcomb (Guest Star) | 2002 |
86% | 88% | Alias | Karl dreyer (Guest Star) | 2001 |
No Score Yet | 83% | The Guardian | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2001 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Once and Again | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2001 |
74% | 86% | The X-Files |
Ashman/ |
2000 |
No Score Yet | 95% | The Pretender | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1999 |
19% | No Score Yet | Vengeance Unlimited | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1998 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Walker, Texas Ranger | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1998 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | High Incident | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1996 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Chicago Hope | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1996 |
83% | 95% | NYPD Blue | Donald Selness (Guest Star) | 1993 1996 |
No Score Yet | 85% | ER | Hospital Administrator (Guest Star) | 1994 |
89% | 92% | Seinfeld | Ron (Guest Star) | 1993 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Jake and the Fatman | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1990 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Equalizer | Deputy Secretary (Guest Star) | 1988 |