Stephen Lang is an American actor and playwright who began his career with Broadway Theater. He is popularly known for his performance in the movies Gods and Generals (2003) and the worldwide successful movie, Avatar (2009).
Early Life
Lang was born to Eugene Lang, a prominent entrepreneur and philanthropist, and Theresa, in New York. He has an elder brother, David, who served as an executive at REFAC - company established by their father in 1952 - and Jane, who is an attorney and activist. Lang, initially, attended a school in Queens and then completed his schooling from the George School, a Quaker boarding school in Pennsylvania. He holds a degree in English Literature and graduated from the Swarthmore College in 1973. Years later in 2010 the college Swarthmore College awarded him with an Honorary Degree for his distinguished career in theater, television, and films.
Personal Life
Stephen Lang married Kristina Watson, a costume designer and a teacher on June 1, 1980. The couple has four children, Noah, Grace, Dan, Lucy.
Movie, TV, & Theater Career
Stephen Lang began his acting career with stage plays and in 1984 he was a part of the play Death of a Salesman, essaying the role of Harold. A couple of years later he was seen in the first Hannibal Lecter movie, Manhunter, portraying the character of a reporter, named Freddy Lounds. He later went on to star in several TV series and television movies such as Crime Story (1986 - `88) and Babe Ruth (1991). However, it was his role in the movie Last Exit to Brooklyn (1989), that earned him critical acclaim. He also became the first actor to play the role of Colonel Nathan in the stage play A Few Good Men, which later was adapted into a movie with the same name, A Few Good Men, released in 1992. Further in 1992, he was also nominated for a Tony Award for his lead role in the movie The Speed of Darkness.

In the following year, he gave one of the finest performances of his career, in the movie Tombstone, directed George P. Cosmatos. His portrayal of the villainous character Ike Clanton was much appreciated by the critics. Later, in the year 2003, he was seen in the lead role as Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson in the movie Gods and Generals. Lang later stated that according to him his role in Gods and Generals is his finest performance. The year 2005 saw him playing a role in Arthur Miller`s - the American playwright and his long-time friend - last play, Finishing the Picture. Lang also performed his one-man show, Beyond Glory, for the troops deployed overseas. He next essayed the role of Colonel Littlefield, in the play Defiance written by John Patrick Shanley and also performed his play Beyond Glory at the Off-Broadway Laura Pels Theatre in 2007. His performance in the play was nominated for the Lucille Lortel award for Outstanding Solo Performance.

In 2009, Lang featured in the lead role as Colonel Quaritch in James Cameroon`s Avatar, one of the most successful movies of Hollywood. After his success with Avatar, he was next seen portraying the Texas Ranger Charles Winstead, in the biographical mob-drama, Public Enemies directed by Michael Mann. In the same year, Lang also narrated an audiobook Road Page, a combination of short stories.

In 2010, he performed the narration of `The Gettysburg Story: Battlefield Auto Tour` - a top-selling audio tour which tells the story of the Battle of Gettysburg. Continuing to shuffle between TV series and movies, in 2011 he first starred in the `Conan the Barbarian` reboot as the villain Khalar Zym and also was one of the leads in the TV series, Terra Novva, produced Steven Spielberg. Some of the other TV series that he has starred in include In Plain Sight, The Monkey`s Paw, Salem, and Into the Badlands. Lang`s 2016 release includes the horror-thriller, Don`t Breathe and Beyond Valkyrie: Dawn of the 4th Reich. His other releases include Hostiles (2017), Braven (2018), Mortal Engines (2018), The Gandhi Murder (2018), VFW (2019), Rogue Warfare (2019), Rogue Warfare 2: The Hunt (2019), Rogue Warfare: Death of a Nation (2020), Don`t Breathe 2 (2020), Avatar: The Way of Water (2022), Pep (2023), Avatar 3 (2024) and Avatar 4 (2026).