---
name: "James Marshall"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/james-marshall-6717"
fi1m_id: "james-marshall-6717"
imdb_id: "nm0338614"
tmdb_id: 6717
wikidata_id: "Q372296"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "2 January 1967"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_fi1m_score: 82
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 2
updated: "2026-09-17T17:26:10.807962+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# James Marshall

## Identity

James Marshall

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/james-marshall-6717
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** james-marshall-6717
- **IMDb ID:** nm0338614
- **TMDB ID:** 6717
- **Wikidata ID:** Q372296
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Marshall_(actor), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q372296, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0338614/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/6717

Actor. Born 2 January 1967 in Queens, New York City, New York, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 2 January 1967, Queens, New York City, New York, USA
- **Active:** 1990–1992
- **Also known as:** James Greenblatt, Jim Greenblatt, James Marchall, James L. Marshall, Jim Marshall, جیمز مارشال, James David Greenblatt
- **Average Fi1m score:** 82, as actor, over 2 titles
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Marshall_(actor), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q372296, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0338614/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/6717

## Streaming the US now

- **Apple TV:** [*Twin Peaks*](https://film.one/tv/twin-peaks.md) (86)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on James Marshall

> James Marshall makes brooding young men seem more vulnerable than their poses suggest. We value his unshowy sincerity in *Twin Peaks* and *A Few Good Men*, though quietness alone will not carry a scene.

In *Twin Peaks* (1990), James Hurley sings ‘Just You’ as though there were nothing embarrassing about declaring a feeling so plainly. The motorcycle and leather jacket suggest a harder young man than Marshall's performance supplies. We were unexpectedly moved by the song, because the singing is so earnest that its awkwardness becomes touching. That willingness to look sentimental is his chief strength here, in a series which finds both comedy and fear in jealousy.

Hurley was his breakthrough, and David Lynch remains the director who makes the clearest use of Marshall's sensitive loner. He reprised the part in Lynch's prequel, *Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me* (1992), while *Gladiator* (1992) gave him a lead as amateur boxer Tommy Riley. We find him most persuasive as one sincere presence among more forceful characters, rather than when asked to sustain a scene on his own. His restraint needs something to work against; left with brooding alone, he can struggle to keep a scene interesting.

Rob Reiner puts that quality to work in *A Few Good Men* (1992), casting him as Pfc. Louden Downey, one of two Marines on trial. In a film driven by Aaron Sorkin's sharp dialogue, Marshall's understated performance gives us somebody who cannot compete on those terms. He allows Downey to seem outmatched without making a show of the character's limitations. His quiet manner is useful: the courtroom needs someone who is not another virtuoso talker. That is valuable supporting work, even when the film's thinking about military responsibility is less sharp than its exchanges.

The weakness is that Marshall's restraint can become passivity, particularly when *Twin Peaks* gives him scenes that need firmer handling. The wounded sincerity does not always carry him through, and some of the soapier material exposes how much he needs a director to shape the performance. His return as Hurley in the revival of *Twin Peaks* (2017) brought him back to the part that still provides the clearest reasons to watch him. Start with the original series, allowing for the stretches where everybody takes a little too long to get on with things.

## Biography

James Marshall is an American actor, born James David Greenblatt on 2 January 1967 in Queens, New York. He is best known for portraying James Hurley in the television series *Twin Peaks* (1990–1991) and the film *Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me* (1992), and for his role as Private Louden Downey in *A Few Good Men* (1992).

Marshall has appeared in other films including *Cadence* (1990) and *Gladiator* (1992). He has also worked as a musician and songwriter. He is married to actress Renee Griffin.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (2)

- *A Few Good Men* (1992), Fi1m 79, as Pfc. Louden Downey — [page](https://film.one/film/a-few-good-men.md)
- *Twin Peaks* (1990), Fi1m 86, as James Hurley — [page](https://film.one/tv/twin-peaks.md)

## Complete filmography (34)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *The Pact* (2022), series, as Kane
- *Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces* (2014), as James Hurley
- *Mom* (2013), series, as Judge
- *In the Eyes of a Killer* (2011), as Sheriff Widmer
- *The Cursed* (2010), as Bill Fisher
- *Come as You Are* (2005), as Ryan
- *Alien Lockdown* (2004), as Charlie Dryfus
- *High Crimes* (2002), as Law Court Door Guard (uncredited)
- *Wednesday 9:30 (8:30 Central)* (2002), series, as Steve
- *Down* (2001), as Mark Newman
- *Doomsday Man* (2000), as Tom
- *CSI: Crime Scene Investigation* (2000), series, as Gary Quinn
- *Luck of the Draw* (2000), as Jack Sweeney
- *Soccer Dog: The Movie* (1999), as Alden
- *Criminal Affairs* (1998), as Mark
- *The Ticket* (1997), as Keith Reicker
- *The Hunger* (1997), series, as Nicky
- *Vibrations* (1996), as TJ
- *All She Ever Wanted* (1996), as Tom Stockman
- *The Unspoken Truth* (1995), as Clay
- *She Stood Alone: The Tailhook Scandal* (1995), as Stick
- *Hits!* (1994), as Dommy
- *Don't Do It* (1994), as Robert
- *A Few Good Men* (1992), as Pfc. Louden Downey — Fi1m 79, [page](https://film.one/film/a-few-good-men.md)
- *Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me* (1992), as James Hurley
- *Gladiator* (1992), as Tommy Riley
- *Cadence* (1990), as Cpl. Harold Lamar
- *Twin Peaks* (1990), series, as James Hurley — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/tv/twin-peaks.md)
- *Twin Peaks* (1989), as James Hurley
- *Nightbreaker* (1989), as Barney Immerman
- *Into the Homeland* (1987), as Skateboard Boy
- *Growing Pains* (1985), series, as Kevin Randall, Actor (uncredited) · Stage Manager
- *Murder, She Wrote* (1984), series, as Student #3
- *Three Knee Deep*, series, as Ramon

## Gallery

- ![James Marshall](https://film.one/media/person/61420/gallery-62c148962a42.jpg) James Marshall — Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/82/James_Marshall_%2835332068804%29.jpg/1280px-James_Marshall_%2835332068804%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![James Marshall and Wendy Robie at the 1990 Emmy Awards.](https://film.one/media/person/61420/gallery-faaee12c735c.jpg) James Marshall and Wendy Robie at the 1990 Emmy Awards. — Alan Light, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/95/James_Marshall_%282081515185%29.jpg/1280px-James_Marshall_%282081515185%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![1990 Emmy Awards NOTE: Permission granted to copy, publish, broadcast or post any of my photos, but please credit "photo by Alan Light" if you can. Thanks. Scan](https://film.one/media/person/61420/gallery-5dde363c00d2.jpg) 1990 Emmy Awards NOTE: Permission granted to copy, publish, broadcast or post any of my photos, but please credit "photo by Alan Light" if you can. Thanks. Scan — Alan Light, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/James_Marshall_%282082312072%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![American actor James Marshall at the 1990 Emmy Awards](https://film.one/media/person/61420/gallery-cc0f70d7a46b.jpg) American actor James Marshall at the 1990 Emmy Awards — Alan Light, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/James_Marshall_%282082312072%29_%28crop%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![James Marshall](https://film.one/media/person/61420/gallery-603a64142ee8.jpg) James Marshall — Image via TMDB
- ![James Marshall](https://film.one/media/person/61420/gallery-f2b205e077bc.jpg) James Marshall — Image via TMDB
- ![James Marshall](https://film.one/media/person/61420/gallery-24f7ebf0e918.jpg) James Marshall — Image via TMDB
- ![1990 Emmy Awards NOTE: Permission granted to copy, publish, broadcast or post any of my photos, but please credit "photo by Alan Light" if you can. Thanks. Scan](https://film.one/media/person/61420/gallery-e1383162188e.jpg) 1990 Emmy Awards NOTE: Permission granted to copy, publish, broadcast or post any of my photos, but please credit "photo by Alan Light" if you can. Thanks. Scan — Alan Light, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/James_Marshall_%282082312424%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![42nd Emmy Awards - Sept. 1990- An actor on TWIN PEAKS - Permission granted to copy, publish or post but please credit "photo by Alan Light" if you can](https://film.one/media/person/61420/gallery-fc6f9a6910f1.jpg) 42nd Emmy Awards - Sept. 1990- An actor on TWIN PEAKS - Permission granted to copy, publish or post but please credit "photo by Alan Light" if you can — Alan Light, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/James_Marshall_%28210418781%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![James Marshall](https://film.one/media/person/61420/gallery-2a75c2374f32.jpg) James Marshall — Image via TMDB
- ![James Marshall](https://film.one/media/person/61420/gallery-9092e1d9b709.jpg) James Marshall — Image via TMDB
- ![James Marshall](https://film.one/media/person/61420/gallery-949c0f81b08f.jpg) James Marshall — Image via TMDB

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/james-marshall-6717