Rugged, intense character player with average-guy good looks and a slightly squinty stare, adept at vicious, sometimes psychopathic roles. Remar gained recognition as a punk who gets chained to a park bench by a woman cop in his second film, The Warriors. That same year he garnered acclaim on Broadway as Richard Gere's lover in the concentration camp drama "Bent". Remar subsequently kept busy primarily in features, playing gangster Dutch Schultz in Francis Ford Coppola's The Cotton Club, one of the Neanderthals in The Clan of the Cave Bear, and an experienced military officer who doubts the power of Shakespeare in Renaissance Man. Remar has occasionally garnered roles which highlight a more vulnerable side, such as his guitarist who gets a break in the Oscar-winning short, Session Man or his artist who falls in love with a gargoyle come to life in the best segment of the horror anthology, Tales from the Darkside: The Movie. Remar is, in fact, still best known for his galvanizing performances as a homicidal maniac escaped from prison in 48 Hrs. and as a no-nonsense cop in Drugstore Cowboy. Remar sent up some of his earlier roles in the half-baked spoof Fatal Instinct, as a killer released from prison out to get Armand Assante.
Was originally cast as "Hicks" in Aliens, but had to be replaced early into filming. He can be seen from the back as the marines walk along a corridor, but only because the in-camera miniature of the set had been junked, and too expensive to re-shoot. Actor-trained at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse. Made an impressive Broadway debut playing Richard Gere's lover in "Bent" in 1979. Gained a minor cult following after playing "Ajax" in The Warriors. Probably best known for the recurring TV role of "Richard," the compulsively philandering jet-set boyfriend of Kim Cattrall, in Sex and the City. The actress who handcuffed him to that park bench in The Warriors was Mercedes Ruehl, also in her second film. One of Reuhl's friends, who was a Washington Post Reporter, wrote about seeing the film and being disappointed at her friend's harsh role. Most of Remar's characters are vicious and cocky, if not evil; in real life, however, he is a proud father and a loving husband.