William Rankin Patton (born June 14, 1954) is an American actor and audiobook narrator. He starred as Colonel Dan Weaver in the TNT science fiction series Falling Skies.^[1] He also appeared in the films The Client (1994), Armageddon (1998), Gone in 60 Seconds (2000), Remember the Titans (2000), The Punisher (2004), American Honey, Halloween, and Minari (2020).^[2] He appeared opposite Kevin Costner in two films: No Way Out (1987) and The Postman (1997), as well as having a guest role in seasons 3 and 4 of Costner's Paramount Network series Yellowstone (2020–2022). Patton also played Deputy Marnes in season 1 of the 2023 TV series Silo.

Patton was nominated alongside castmates for his ensemble work in Minari and Yellowstone at the Screen Actors Guild Awards in 2020 and 2021,^[3][4] and won two Obie Awards for Best Actor in Sam Shepard's play Fool for Love and the Public Theater production of What Did He See?.^[5]

William Rankin Patton was born on June 14, 1954 in Charleston, South Carolina,^[6] the eldest of three children. His father, Bill Patton, was a playwright and acting/directing instructor who was a Lutheran minister and served as a chaplain at Duke University.^[7][8] Patton was raised on a farm, where his parents ran a foster home for wayward teenagers.^[7]

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Patton's acting work has been noted, critically and by colleagues. Speaking with regard to Patton's presence in the Yellowstone cast, executive producer and fellow cast member Kevin Costner "praise[d]" Patton as "very dynamic in his own way, formidable and detailed", adding that he was "a fantastic actor" and that "[i]t was good to see Will on the set."^[21]

Patton won two Obie Awards for best actor for his theatrical performances in Fool for Love^[22] and What Did He See?.^[23] He was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for his work in The Postman (1997).^{[citation needed]}

More recently, Patton was nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture at the 27th SAG Awards alongside his fellow cast members, for their work in Minari (2020),^[3] and for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series at the 28th SAG Awards alongside his fellow cast members, for their work in Yellowstone (in 2021).^[4]