
Steve Railsback
Department: Acting
Biography
Steve Railsback (born November 16, 1945, in Dallas, Texas) is an American theatre, film, and television actor. He is best known for his performances in the films The Stunt Man and Lifeforce, and his portrayal of Charles Manson in the 1976 television mini-series Helter Skelter. Railsback was a student of Lee Strasberg and the Actors Studio and in the late 1960s and early 1970s spent 10 years working in theatre in New York City. He once said that he found Strasberg extremely difficult to work with. He made his film debut in The Visitors, directed by Elia Kazan. He portrayed two notorious murderers, appearing as Charles Manson in the 1976 television miniseries Helter Skelter and as Ed Gein in the 2000 film In the Light of the Moon. He also served as executive producer of the latter film. Other notable roles include the part of Cameron in The Stunt Man with Peter O'Toole, the astronaut Tom Carlsen in Tobe Hooper's Lifeforce, Duane Barry in two episodes of The X-Files, and Joseph Welch in the pilot episode of Supernatural. In 2008, he appeared in the science fiction/horror movie film Plaguers.
Known For

Night Caller
2022

The Box
2003

The Devil's Rejects
2005

Armed and Dangerous
1986

Intermedio
2005

Storytelling
2001

The Wind
1986

The Forgotten
1989

Lifeforce
1985

Barb Wire
1996

Disturbing Behavior
1998

Made Men
1999

Plaguers
2010

Cockfighter
1974

Alligator 2: The Mutation
1991

Ready or Not
2009

The Stunt Man
1980

Scissors
1991

Me and Will
1999

Helter Skelter
1976

Turkey Shoot
1982

Slash
2002

Rest Stop: Don't Look Back
2008

Ed Gein
2000

Neo Ned
2005

Nukie
1987

Deadly Games
1982

Trick or Treats
1982

Zigs
2001

Scenes from the Goldmine
1987

Final Mission
1994

Blue Monkey
1987

The Golden Seal
1983

American Pie Presents: The Book of Love
2009

Private Wars
1993

Forever
1992

Distortions
1987

Termination Man
1998

The Survivalist
1987

The Last Escape of Billy the Kid
1972

The Visitors
1972

Save Me
1994

Spearfield's Daughter
1986

Stranger in the House
1997

Best Served Cold
—

Wild in Blue
2014

Great Transport
1983

Quake
1992

Torchlight
1984

King of the Lost World
2005

Bonds of Love
1993

Infiltrators
2014

H: The Story of a Teen-Age Drug Addict
1951

In the Line of Fire
1993

Vanishing Point
1997

UnConventional
2004

Deadly Intent
1988

Calendar Girl
1993

Street Corner Justice
1996

Pressure Point
1997

Separated by Murder
1994

Gone Are the Days
2018

Angela
1977

Not Quite Hollywood
2008

Once Fallen
2010

Sunstroke
1992

The Assassin
1990

AGFA Mystery Mixtape #2: Later in L.A.
2020

The Cops Are Robbers
1990

The Hitcher II: I've Been Waiting
2003

The Cross of Iberia
1990

The Sinister Saga of Making The Stunt Man
2000

Follow the Prophet
2009

Unspeakable: Beyond The Wall of Sleep
2024

The AGFA Mystery Mixtape Vault
2020

The Making Of Lifeforce
1985

Supernatural
2005

The Twilight Zone
1985

The X-Files
1993

The Visitor
1997

Family Law
1999

From Here to Eternity
1979

The Mentalist
2008

Supernatural
2005

Decker
2014

The Great Transport
1983

Femme Fatales
2011

Charmed
1998

Helter Skelter
1976

The Practice
1997