James Howard Woods (born April 18, 1947) is an American film, stage and television actor and comedian. Woods is known for starring in films such as Once Upon a Time in America, Ghosts of Mississippi, Salvador, Casino and as the Disney villain Hades in Hercules.

Early life

Woods was born in Vernal, Utah. His father, Gay Peyton Woods, was an army intelligence officer who died in 1960Warwick Online: Michael Woods remembered for a smile, and a laugh following routine surgery. His mother, Martha A. (née Smith), operated a pre-school after her husband's deathJames Woods Biography (1947-) and re-married to Thomas E. Dixon. Woods grew up in Warwick, Rhode Island, where he attended Pilgrim High School. Woods, an army brat, had been accepted to attend the United States Air Force Academy. But, several weeks before he was to depart, Woods suffered an accident involving a plate glass window which injured his hand tendons severely enough to result in his acceptance being retracted.