BIOGRAPHY:

William Mapother is an American actor and former teacher, known for his role as Ethan Rom on the television series Lost.

William Reibert Mapother, Jr. (pronounced /ˈmeɪpɒθər/; born April 17, 1965) is an American actor and former teacher, known for his role as Ethan Rom on the television series Lost.

Personal life
Mapother was born in Louisville, Kentucky, the son of Louisa and William Reibert Mapother, Sr. His father was of English, Irish and German ancestries. He is a first cousin of actor Tom Cruise (as his father and Cruise's father were brothers). Mapother has appeared in four movies starring Cruise. He had a cameo role in Minority Report and supporting roles in Mission: Impossible II, Born of the Fourth of July, and Magnolia. Mapother has two sisters, Katherine and Amy (an occasional actress, born February 17, 1974), both born in Louisville, Kentucky. His father was an attorney, bankruptcy consultant and judge in Louisville, between 1967 and 1970; William Reibert, Sr., died on June 22, 2006, after fighting lung cancer and pulmonary fibrosis.

Mapother graduated from the University of Notre Dame as an English major, and then taught high school in East Los Angeles for three years before becoming an actor.

Career
Mapother has become widely known as a character actor, who sometimes plays scary or otherwise dark characters. Despite playing a pivotal role in Todd Field's In the Bedroom, Mapother is perhaps more widely known as Ethan Rom in the TV show Lost. The character was killed off early in the first season, but since then has appeared in seven episodes mainly through flashbacks, once due to time travel and another in an alternate timeline. This brings the total amount of Lost episodes he appeared in up to eleven.

Mapother has also had considerable roles in a series of independent films, such as The Lather Effect, Moola and the upcoming Hurt, in which he stars alongside Melora Walters as the 'reclusive' brother-in-law of Walters' character. Mapother starred in The Burrowers as a former Indian fighter who joins a posse to help find missing white settlers, only to discover that the hunters have become the hunted.

In September 2007 he was elected to a three-year term on the National Board of Directors for the Screen Actors Guild.

Filmography
Warrior (2011) .... David Milligan
Law & Order: Criminal Intent (TV, 1 episode, 2010) .... Dean John Silvestri
Human Target (TV, 1 episode, 2010) .... Sam Fisher
Another Earth (2010) .... John Burroughs
Hurt (2008) .... Darryl Coltrane
Prison Break (TV, 2 episodes, 2009) .... FBI Agent Chris Franco
Lost (TV, 15 episodes, 2004–2010) .... Ethan Rom
Criminal Minds (TV, 1 episode, 2008) .... Ian Corbin
The Burrowers (TV, 2008) .... Will Parcher
Lost: Missing Pieces (TV, 1 episode, 2008) .... Ethan Rom
Skip Tracer (TV, 2008) .... Henry Hargrove Jr.
WordGirl (TV animation, 2007) ... Guy Rich (voice)
Viva Laughlin (TV, 1 episode, 2007) .... Sweet Lenny Collins
K-Ville (TV, 1 episode, 2007) .... Gordon Wix
Moving McAllister (2007) .... Bob
Moola (2007) .... Steve
Robot Chicken (TV, 2 episodes, 2006) .... Alien Bully / Leprechaun #2
World Trade Center (2006) .... Jason Thomas
The Lather Effect (2006) .... Jack
Ask The Dust (2006) .... Bill
Crossing Jordan (TV, 1 episode, 2005) .... Henry Bishop
Threshold (TV, 2 episodes, 2005) .... Gunneson
Chloe (2005) .... Doctor
The Zodiac (2005) .... Dale Coverling
Lords of Dogtown (2005) .... Donnie
The Inside (TV, 1 episode, 2005) .... Ronald Ewing
The Grudge (2004) .... Matthew Williams
NCIS (TV, 1 episode, 2004) .... Kyle Grayson
CSI: Miami (TV, 1 episode, 2004) .... Pete Keller
Suspect Zero (2004) .... Bill Grieves
Line of Fire (TV, 2 episodes, 2004) .... Larry
The Kiss (2003) .... Peter
Touched by an Angel (TV, 2 episodes, 2003) .... Eddie
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (TV, 1 episode, 2003) .... Luke Edmunds
The Pennsylvania Miners' Story (TV, 2002) .... John 'Flathead' Phillippi
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (TV, 1 episode, 2002) .... Douglas Sampson
Self Storage (2002) .... Graham
Minority Report (2002) .... Hotel Clerk
Swordfish (2001) .... Gabriel's Crew
In the Bedroom (2001) .... Richard Strout
Almost Famous (Scenes Deleted, 2000) .... Bartender
Mission: Impossible II (2000) .... Wallis
Magnolia (1999) .... WDKK Show Director's Assistant
The Unknown Cyclist (1998) .... By-Stander
Trickle (1998) .... Josh Riddell
Without Limits (1998) .... Bob Peters
Born on the Fourth of July (1989) .... Platoon Member - Vietnam

TRIVIA:

Went to St. Xavier High School in Louisville Kentucky.
Last name is pronounced "MAY-pah-ther"
Is a graduate of the Joanne Baron / D.W. Brown Acting School in Santa Monica, California.
Graduated from Notre Dame with a B.A. in English.
His father, William Reibert, Sr., was an attorney and bankruptcy consultant and was a judge in Louisville, Kentucky (1967 - 1970). His mother's name is Louisa.
Elected to National Board of the Screen Actors Guild for a three-year term (September, 2007).
Was a school teacher in East Los Angeles for 3 years before becoming an actor.
Brother of 'Amy Mapother' (qv) and Katherine Mapother.

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