<P> Cromwell was born in Los Angeles, California, and raised in Manhattan, New York . He is the son of actress Kay Johnson (1904--1975) and actor and director John Cromwell (1886--1979), who was blacklisted during the McCarthy era . He has English, German, Irish, and Scottish ancestry . He was educated at The Hill School, Middlebury College, and Carnegie Mellon University, where he studied architecture until he left to pursue acting . Like his parents, he was drawn to the theatre, performing in everything from Shakespeare to experimental plays . </P> <P> Cromwell's first television performance was in a 1974 episode of The Rockford Files playing Terry, a tennis instructor . A few weeks later, he began a recurring role as Stretch Cunningham on All in the Family . In 1975, he took his first lead role on television as Bill Lewis in the short - lived Hot l Baltimore, appeared on M * A * S * H as Captain Leo Bardonaro, in the episode "Last Laugh" in Season 6 and a year later he made his film debut in Neil Simon's classic detective spoof Murder by Death . </P> <P> In 1980, Cromwell guest - starred in the two - part episode "Laura Ingalls Wilder" of the long - running television series Little House on the Prairie . He played Harve Miller, one of Almanzo Wilder's (Dean Butler) old friends . </P> <P> While Cromwell continued with regular television work throughout the 1980s, he made appearances in films for his supporting roles in the films Tank and Revenge of the Nerds (both 1984). He guest starred on the sitcom Night Court, playing a mental patient, along with Predator actor Kevin Peter Hall . He had starring roles in the 1990s critically acclaimed films Babe (1995), The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996), The Education of Little Tree (1997), L.A. Confidential (1997), The Green Mile (1999), and Snow Falling on Cedars (1999). He also played Dr. Zefram Cochrane in Star Trek: First Contact (1996) and the Star Trek: Enterprise pilot episode "Broken Bow" (the Star Trek: Enterprise episode "In a Mirror, Darkly" later reused some of the First Contact footage). Appearing in other Star Trek roles on the television series The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, though not as Cochran (these episodes predated his role in First Contact), Cromwell guest - starred in several episodes, including "The Hunted", "Birthright" (Part I and II) and "Starship Down". He also voiced The Colonel in Dreamworks' Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron . </P>

Who played harv on little house on the prairie
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