--- description: The prolific character actor passed away Friday at the age of 65 before appearing in Homeland and Meet the Fockers. title: James Rebhorn: The Actor's Many Roles image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6a36506f803dfad9/698686dd55a85962a1a7fdf4/homeland_301_0024-r.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # James Rebhorn: Remembering the Actor and His Many Roles by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 23, 2014 9:42 PM CUT  James Rebhorn as Frank Mathison (Claire Dane's father) in Showtime's Homeland. James Rebhorn as Frank Mathison (Claire Dane's father) in Showtime's Homeland.Kent Smith—Showtime by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 23, 2014 9:42 PM CUT  James Rebhorn as Frank Mathison (Claire Dane's father) in Showtime's Homeland. Kent Smith—Showtime  James Rebhorn, right, played Secretary of Defense Albert Nimziki in the 1996 Independence Day. 20th Century Fox Film Corp.  Rebhorn played the role of Dr. Larry Banks in Ben Stiller's 2000 comedy, Meet the Parents. Universal Pictures  James Rebhorn, played a wealthy shipbuilder named Herbert Greenleaf opposite Matt Damon in The Talented Mr. Ripley. Paramount  He became part of TV history when he played the lawyer that put Jerry, George, Eliane and Kramer behind bars in the finale of Seinfeld in 1998. NBC/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/34952/james-rebhorn-remembering-the-actor-and-his-many-roles/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/34952/james-rebhorn-remembering-the-actor-and-his-many-roles/"},"headline":"James Rebhorn: Remembering the Actor and His Many Roles","datePublished":"2014-03-23T21:42:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:08:32.220Z","description":"The prolific character actor passed away Friday at the age of 65. He appeared in a wide range of TV shows and films, including Homeland and Meet the Parents.","url":"https://time.com/34952/james-rebhorn-remembering-the-actor-and-his-many-roles/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6a36506f803dfad9/698686dd55a85962a1a7fdf4/homeland_301_0024-r.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6a36506f803dfad9/698686dd55a85962a1a7fdf4/homeland_301_0024-r.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"James Rebhorn","caption":"James Rebhorn","creditText":"Kent Smith—Showtime","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/34952/james-rebhorn-remembering-the-actor-and-his-many-roles/","name":"James Rebhorn: Remembering the Actor and His Many Roles"}}]}] ```