Woody Harrelson’s father, although not a household name now, was rather well known in his day, but for very different reasons.
Way back in 1979, a man was charged with the assassination of U.S. District Judge John H. Wood Jr. This was the first assassination of a federal judge in the 20th century. The man responsible for this murder was Woody Harrelson’s father. He was hired by a drug dealer awaiting trial. Allegedly, he was paid $250,000 for the act.
According to the Instagram post, he was then involved in a six-hour standoff with police. During this time, he not only admitted to being responsible for numerous other killings, but also included JFK in the number. However, this is disputed.
Continuing, the post states, “In 1982, Harrelson was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive life terms. He spent the rest of his life in federal prison, where he died in 2007.” So, it appears that Woody Harrelson’s father was a known hit man. However, he didn’t have a chance to have a proper relationship with him, due to his lifelong incarceration.
Woody Harrelson Remembers His Father With Fondness
Despite his father’s dark past, Harrelson still remembers him tenderly. He even claims that he was innocent of the murder he was charged. Harrelson goes on to claim that his father was, in fact, a CIA operative.
During an interview around 20 years ago, he states it as fact, but tries to avoid getting into trouble. “I shouldn’t get into this right now. This is where we’re going to get into trouble… I know it’s true.”
Despite his incarceration, Harreson managed to reach out to his father. In an interview with The Guardian, he speaks about his meeting with him at the age of 20. “Quite a bit… I was born on his birthday. They have a thing in Japan where they say if you’re born on your father’s birthday, you’re not like your father, you are your father, and it’s so weird when I would sit and talk with him. It was just mind-blowing to see all the things he did, just like me.” Such as? “Idiosyncratic things. The way he laughed. The face, very similar.”
So, Woody Harrelson’s father was a contract killer according to the law, but a disgraced CIA agent according to him.