The Patriot Cast: Leon Rippy

Bio
Leon Rippy is from Rock Hill, South Carolina which was a filming location for The Patriot. Because of Rippy's swarthy features and 'interesting' dental work, he is often cast as a heavy or the uncaring military or government character. His first acting roles came in 1984 in Firestarter and a guest appearance on the TV series Hunter. He followed up with another small role in Stephen Speilberg's The Color Purple and a supporting role to Emilio Estevez in the film adaptation of Stephen King's Maximum Overdrive.

In 1990, Leon Rippy appeared in Roland Emmerich's Moon 44, which would lead to several more collaborations. That same year, he again worked with Emilio Estevez as well as Christian Slater, Charlie Sheen and several other young actors in Young Guns II. In 1992, he played the main henchman to Slater's hero in Kuffs. Also in 1992, he appeared in the Emmerich-directed and Jean-Claude Van Damme-starring Universal Soldier.

In 1994, Leon Rippy would again work with Emmerich on Stargate protraying the general charged with keeping Kirk Russell's character in line. In 1996, he played a government agent in the science fiction film The Arrival, where he again worked with Charlie Sheen. In 1997, he played a recurring role as another government agent in the science fiction series The Visitor, on which Emmerich served as a producer. Also in 1997, he played a detective in the Kevin Spacey-starring Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which was set in Rippy's native South Carolina.

Leon Rippy's next three roles were again each collaborations with Roland Emmerich. He appeared in the Emmerich-produced science fiction movie The Thirteenth Floor in 1999. In 2000, he appeared in The Patriot, which Emmerich directed, in a supporting role as an old acquaintance of Mel Gibson's Benjamin Martin. In 2002, he appeared in the horror knock-off Eight Legged Freaks, which Emmerich produced.

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