Gary Poulter


Gary Poulter was a street performer and an American actor known for his lead role alongside Nicolas Cage in David Gordon Green's 2013 film Joe. Poulter was homeless, living on the streets of Austin, Texas when he was cast in the role of Wade, the abusive alcoholic father of Gary, played by Tye Sheridan.

Early life

Poulter grew up in Upland, California. At 17, he joined the Navy and served on a ship in Japan. He went AWOL for 1-1/2 years in Japan and ultimately was court-martialed in Washington, D.C., whereupon he received a dishonorable discharge.

Film role

In 2013, Poulter was recruited from the streets of Austin to play the third lead, "Wade", in the film Joe, which became his sole film performance, although he worked as a background extra in 1987 in the TV series Thirtysomething. Shortly before landing the film role, Poulter worked for a traveling carnival, but he was left naked on the side of the road after he was caught stealing money.

Reviews

The Independent summed up Poulter's performance in its movie review, writing, "In his only screen role, he offers an utterly compelling portrait of a man so consumed by self-loathing that he will go to extreme lengths to destroy the life of his son."
Movie critic Peter Sobczynski in his review for RogerEbert.com described Poulter's film debut as a "stunning performance" and "one of the great one-shot performances in the history of the cinema."

Award

The Austin Film Critics Association gave Poulter the Special Honorary Award in 2014 for his performance in Joe.

Death

Before the film's 2014 release, Poulter was found dead on February 10, 2013, at the edge of Lady Bird Lake, a river-like reservoir in Austin, Texas. Director Green dedicated the film Joe to Poulter.