Bio: Peter Frederick Weller was born in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, to Dorothy Jean (Davidson) and Frederick Bradford Weller, a federal judge and career helicopter pilot for the United States Army. He traveled extensively as his father literally flew around the world. Before he was out of his teens, he had attended high schools in Heidelberg, Germany and San Antonio, Texas, then enrolled the University of North Texas -- attracted by the chance of playing trumpet in one of the college's celebrated jazz bands. Music is in his family. Three generations on his mother's side were piano players and jazz is still his overriding interest. Ask him who his favorite performer in any art form is and he will say Miles Davis. It was with a B.A. in Theatre and a scholarship to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts that he left Texas for New York. Two weeks after graduating, he made his first appearance on Broadway as David in Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival production of David Rabe's "Sticks and Bones", a role he repeated on the London stage.While a student of legendary actress and drama coach, Uta Hagen, Weller appeared on and off Broadway in works like William Inge's "Summer Brave", Thomas Babe's "Rebel Women" and "Full Circle", one of the last plays directed by Otto Preminger. He began garnering critical acclaim with his portrayal of Billie Wilson in "Streamers", directed by Mike Nichols for Joseph Papp at Lincoln Center. He continued that success with his performances as Cliff in "The Woolgatherer" and as Nick in the first American production of David Mamet's "The Woods". During this period, he became a member of the highly respected Actor's Studio, under the aegis of Elia Kazan and Lee Strasberg.Weller's film debut was in Richard Lester's Butch and Sundance: The Early Days (1979). He then co-starred with Alan King and Ali MacGraw in Sidney Lumet's Just Tell Me What You Want (1980) and, with Albert Finney and Diane Keaton, in Alan Parker's Shoot the Moon (1982). Other film credits include Firstborn (1984) with Teri Garr, the HBO made-for-TV Apology (1986), co-starring Lesley Ann Warren, and Of Unknown Origin (1983), the film which won Weller the Best Actor award at the Paris International Film Festival for his performance as an upwardly mobile bachelor with a serious rat problem. That same film also marked his first association with Leviathan (1989) director George P. Cosmatos.
Tivia: He teaches a literature and fine arts class at Syracuse University and is one of Syracuse's most popular professors. He can be seen, in his capacity as an expert, on a History Channel documentary on the Roman era.Dr. Peter Weller received his Ph.D. in Italian Renaissance Art History and Roman History from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) (2014). He had previously received his Master of Arts degree in the same subjects.Received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre from North Texas State University (now the University of North Texas) (1969).Had turned down a role in King Kong Lives (1986) to play the lead role in RoboCop (1987).In a jazz band called The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra with actor Jeff Goldblum, they performed at local clubs in Los Angeles, California. They were also in a band together in the cult movie The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984).Despite his vocal criticisms about the downhill direction the franchise was going in, as well as his physical discomfort wearing the suit, Weller admitted that he was willing to reprise the role of RoboCop in RoboCop 3 (1993) for the fans. However, he was already committed to doing Naked Lunch (1991), so he had to pass.Attended and graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) in Los Angeles, California (Class of 1972).He was chosen to play the lead role in RoboCop (1987) because of his slender build. The producers feared that having a large actor would require too large a suit that would look ridiculous, and insisted on a thinner actor. Weller found he sweated so much weight off in the suit that a fan had to be built into it.During the filming of RoboCop (1987) and while wearing the prosthetics, Weller remained in character between takes, responding only to director Paul Verhoeven's when addressed as "Robo". Though Verhoeven found this too funny to take seriously, and this was dropped after a couple of weeks.On June 24, 2006, he married his longtime girlfriend Sheri Stowe on his 59th birthday at the Santa Maria Assuna church in Positano, Italy. Among the wedding guests were Carrie Fisher and Marg Helgenberger.He was at one stage attached to appear in Alien vs. Predator (2004) in a cameo as John Yutani, the other half of the infamous Weyland-Yutani Company from the Alien series.Is a huge fan of cigar smoking, which got him into a heavy argument once in an outdoor restaurant. Though he remains defensive about his right to smoke, he has since then either put out his cigar or gone elsewhere when asked to do so.Has worked with F. Murray Abraham in Mighty Aphrodite (1995). Both stars appeared in the very popular Star Trek series. Abraham appeared in Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) and Weller appeared in Star Trek Into Darkness (2013).He was considered for the role of the Master in the television movie Doctor Who: The Movie (1996), which went to Eric Roberts.Is a huge fan of the television series 24 (2001), in which he played Jack Bauer's nemesis Christopher Henderson.Has worked with Christopher Lloyd in the cult movie The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984). Both stars appeared in the very popular Star Trek series. Lloyd appeared in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) and Weller appeared in Star Trek Into Darkness (2013).Weller and RoboCop (1987) co-star Nancy Allen were both born on June 24th, three years apart (Weller was born in 1947, Allen was born in 1950).Cousin of actor Frederick Weller (their fathers are brothers).He was considered for the role of Detective Nick Curran in Paul Verhoeven's Basic Instinct (1992), which went to Michael Douglas.Attended and graduated from Alamo Heights High School in San Antonio, Texas (1965).He and his friend Jeff Goldblum have both appeared in films by Woody Allen (Annie Hall (1977) and Mighty Aphrodite (1995)) and David Cronenberg (The Fly (1986) and Naked Lunch (1991)).He and his wife Sheri Stowe welcomed the birth of their only son in August 2011. The child can be seen in an interview with them on YouTube at the 25th Anniversary of RoboCop (1987).Along with Ronny Cox, Kurtwood Smith and Miguel Ferrer, he is one of only four actors from RoboCop (1987) to appear in the "Star Trek" universe. He appeared in Star Trek: Enterprise (2001) and Star Trek Into Darkness (2013).Cousin-in-law of Ali Marsh.Is a serious runner who finished the 1986 New York City Marathon in 3 hours and 40 minutes.Biological father of Kate Linden - manager at Development Management Group.Was in an on-off relationship with actress Ali MacGraw for several years.Has English, French, German, Irish and Welsh ancestry.Speaks Italian fluently.Once engaged to actress Sela Ward.