bruce davison (born june 28, 1946) is an american actor and director of television, film, and theater. davison is well known for his starring role as willard stiles in the cult horror films "willard" (1971), "ben" (1972) and "willard" (2003), as well as his academy award-nominated and golden globe-winning performance in "longtime companion" (1989), and as thomas semmes in the hbo original movie "vendetta". he featured prominently in the x-men film franchise – through "x-men" (2000) and "x2" (2003) – as antagonist senator robert kelly.