50 facts about James Brolin: father of actor Josh Brolin and husband of singer/actress Barbra Streisand

As a young child, he was more interested in animals and airplanes than in acting. Learn 50 interesting things you missed about actor James Brolin.

1. James Brolin is an American actor, producer and director.

2. He is best known for his roles in film and television, including sitcoms and soap operas.

3. He is the father of actor Josh Brolin.

4. He is a husband of singer/actress Barbra Streisand.

5. Brolin was born Craig Kenneth Bruderlin in Los Angeles, California.

6. He is the eldest of two brothers and two sisters.

7. His mother Helen Sue was a housewife.

8. His father Henry Hurst Bruderlin was a building contractor.

9. His family settled in Westwood after his birth.

10. As a young child, he was more interested in animals and airplanes than in acting.

11. When Brolin was 10 in 1950, he began building and flying model airplanes.

12. As a teenaged filmgoer in the mid-1950s he was particularly fascinated with actor James Dean.

13. When his parents invited a director over to his family's house for dinner before auditioning, he met another fellow actor and classmate, Ryan O'Neal, who was about a year younger than Brolin. The two clicked and later enrolled in University High School located in West Los Angeles.

14. Brolin graduated from high school in 1958, and his family was already encouraging him to become an actor like O'Neal.

15. Prior to taking acting classes in school, Brolin started out as a character actor on an episode of Bus Stop in 1961.

16. Hi part in Bus Stop led to parts in other television productions such as Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Margie, Love, American Style, Twelve O'Clock High and The Long, Hot Summer.

17. He made 3 guest appearances on the popular 1960s series Batman, alongside Adam West and Burt Ward.

18. He had roles in The Virginian, and Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law alongside Arthur Hill and Lee Majors.

19. He also had a recurring role on the short-lived television series The Monroes.

20. At the age of 20 he changed his surname from "Bruderlin" to "Brolin" to become James Brolin.

21. While in school struggling to make it big, he met actor Clint Eastwood.

22. Brolin also had small roles in several films including Take Her, She's Mine, Dear Brigitte, Von Ryan's Express, Fantastic Voyage.

23. His first big role was in The Cape Town Affair, but it did not receive any success at the box office. Brolin was ultimately fired by 20th Century Fox.

24. During the 1970s, the 6 ft 4 inch Brolin began appearing in leading roles in films, including Skyjacked, and Westworld.

25. By the mid 1970s, he was a regular leading man in films, starring in Gable and Lombard, The Car, Capricorn One, in which he costarred with Elliott Gould, Streisand's ex-husband).

26. When Roger Moore expressed his desire to leave the role of James Bond, Brolin screen tested for the role in the next film Octopussy. Ultimately, however, Moore decided to continue in the series.

27. In 1985, Brolin parodied his near-hiring as James Bond in the film Pee-Wee's Big Adventure. In a film within the film, he merged the characters of Bond and Pee-Wee Herman, the "real" version of whom was played by Paul Reubens. He is referred to as "PW" and the role of Pee-Wee Herman's girlfriend "Dottie" is played by Morgan Fairchild.

28. In 2002, Brolin played Governor Robert Ritchie of Florida, the Republican opponent of President Jed Bartlet, on the TV series The West Wing.

29. In late 2003, Brolin portrayed Ronald Reagan in the television film The Reagans. The film was originally meant to air on CBS, but after creative differences, scripts controversies, and rising costs, CBS passed on the film, and it aired on cable channel Showtime, also owned by Viacom.

30. The role in The Reagans earned Brolin his fifth Emmy Award nomination, as well as his fifth Golden Globe nomination.

31. In 2005, Brolin guest starred on the TV series Monk as casino owner Daniel Thorn.

32. In 2006, Brolin appeared in the A&E Network film Wedding Wars, playing an anti-gay marriage governor.

33. In 2008, Brolin guest starred on Law & Order: SVU as astronaut Col. Dick Finley.

34. The same year, Brolin also starred in the lead role in the Sci-Fi Channel film Lost City Raiders.

35. Brolin appeared in the 2009 comedy film The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard.

36. He also appeared in a 2009 episode of Psych, titled "High Noon-ish", in which he played the sheriff of a tourist-attracting "Wild West" town. The episode was in part a parody of the 1973 film Westworld, in which he had starred.

37. Brolin has played Richard Castle's mysterious father in two episodes of ABC's Castle, in 2013 and 2014.

38. He appeared in the NBC sitcom Community as William Winger, Jeff Winger's estranged father.

39. Brolin has been married three times.

40. He has three children.

41. In 1966, he married Jane Cameron Agee, an aspiring actress at Twentieth Century Fox, 12 days after they first met.

42. The couple had two children, Josh, and Jess.

43. They were divorced in 1984, after 18 years of marriage.

44. James Brolin is the grandfather of Trevor and Eden, from his son Josh's first marriage.

45. In 1985, Brolin met actress Jan Smithers on the set of Hotel, and they married in 1986.

46. The couple had a daughter, Molly Elizabeth. Jan Smithers filed for divorce from Brolin in 1995.

47. In 1996, Brolin met singer, actress, and director Barbra Streisand through a friend.

48. Brolin and Straisand married on July 1, 1998.

49. The couple resides in Malibu, California.

50. Brolin is the stepfather of Streisand's only son, Jason Gould.

 Source: Wikipedia.org