1. Tobin Bell had his first feature film role in Mississippi Burning.
28 Facts About Tobin Bell
1. 2.
Tobin Bell's English mother, Eileen Julia Tobin, who had Irish ancestry, was an actress who worked at the Quincy Repertory Company.
3.
Tobin Bell studied liberal arts and journalism in college, with the intention of becoming a writer and entering the broadcasting field.
4.
Tobin Bell has an interest in environmental matters, holding a master's degree in environmental science from Montclair State University as well as having worked for the New York Botanical Garden.
5.
Tobin Bell credits hearing a seminar by Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy at Boston University with inspiring him to begin an acting career.
6.
Tobin Bell later joined the Actors Studio where he studied with Lee Strasberg and Ellen Burstyn, and joined Sanford Meisner's Neighborhood Playhouse.
7.
Tobin Bell played background roles in the late 1970s and early 1980s in over 30 films, including Woody Allen's Manhattan, while performing on off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway.
8.
Tobin Bell said that other actors at the Actors Studio thought doing stand-in and background work was "stupid or degrading", but he believed otherwise.
9.
Tobin Bell worked on The Verdict for two weeks as a courtroom reporter in the trial.
10.
Tobin Bell recollected it being a "great opportunity" watching Sidney Lumet and Paul Newman, while learning the technical aspect of acting.
11.
In 1993, Tobin Bell was cast in another Pollack film, The Firm as an assassin called "The Nordic Man".
12.
Tobin Bell went on to appear in an episode of the sitcom Seinfeld titled "The Old Man" playing a record store owner.
13.
Tobin Bell appeared in two episodes of NYPD Blue playing different characters in 1993 and 1996.
14.
In 1994, Tobin Bell played a hospital administrator in the second episode of the first season of ER and went on to appear in an episode of another medical drama Chicago Hope, playing a terminally ill inmate on Death Row.
15.
In 1997, Tobin Bell guest starred in an episode of La Femme Nikita and Nash Bridges.
16.
Tobin Bell made a one-scene appearance in the 2001 episode Army of One of The Sopranos playing Major Carl Zwingli.
17.
Tobin Bell spent two weeks lying on a floor and had very few lines, but his role was pivotal to the film.
18.
Tobin Bell gives two reasons for joining the film; the opportunity to work with Danny Glover for the first time and thinking very highly of the film's ending.
19.
In March 2014, Tobin Bell played the antagonist Seth in Victor Salva's horror film Dark House.
20.
In March 2016, Tobin Bell joined the soap opera Days of Our Lives for a five-episode arc playing Yo Ling, who is revealed to be John Black's long lost father.
21.
Tobin Bell reprised his role in the ninth season for its season and series finale "A New World: Part Four".
22.
Tobin Bell was cast in April 2017 in a short film, My Pretty Pony based on Stephen King's short story My Pretty Pony.
23.
In October 2017, seven years after Saw 3D was released and marketed as the final Saw film, Tobin Bell reprises his role as Jigsaw in the standalone film Jigsaw.
24.
Tobin Bell was featured in other horror films released in October 2017, including the television film The Sandman, the Mexican film Belzebuth, and Italian film Gates of Darkness.
25.
Tobin Bell guest starred in a September 2019 episode of Creepshow, alongside Giancarlo Esposito in the segment "Gray Matter" that is based on King's short story.
26.
Tobin Bell played Kramer in Saw X, released in September 2023.
27.
Tobin Bell is set to reprise the role once more in Saw XI.
28.
Tobin Bell has coached a Little League Baseball team and flag football, with other hobbies including hiking and playing guitar.