(1982), Dutch Schultz in The Cotton Club (1984), Jack Duff in Miracle on 34th Street (1994), Richard Wright in Sex and the City (2001–2004), and Harry Morgan, the father of the title character, in Dexter (2006–2013).

Remar's more recent roles include Frank Gordon in Gotham from 2016 to 2019; Peter Gambi in Black Lightning from 2018 to 2021; and Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson in Oppenheimer in 2023.

He is the son of Elizabeth (née Boyle), who worked in mental health affairs for the state of Massachusetts, and Roy Remar, who was an attorney.

Remar continued searching for other acting jobs, eventually landing the part of Kenickie in a touring production of Grease, and also performed at the Ensemble Studio Theatre, before making his film debut in On the Yard.

He portrayed the violent gang member Ajax in the cult film The Warriors (1979),[7] and the murdering sociopath Albert Ganz in the hit 48 Hrs.

Other films include Psycho (1998), in which he played the patrolman,[13] Drugstore Cowboy (1989), Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990), Wedlock (1991), Boys on the Side (1995), The Quest (1996), Rites of Passage (1999), Hellraiser: Inferno (2000), 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003), Fear X (2003), Blade: Trinity (2004), The Girl Next Door (2004).

Remar played two different, unrelated characters in Quentin Tarantino's film Django Unchained (2012): Ace Speck and Butch Pooch.

[15] He starred, alongside Emma Roberts, Lucy Boynton, and Lauren Holly, in the thriller film The Blackcoat's Daughter (2015).

[16] Remar's television appearances include the series Miami Vice, Hill Street Blues, Sex and the City (as the on-again, off-again boyfriend of Kim Cattrall's character),[17] Tales from the Crypt, Jericho, Third Watch, Justice League Unlimited, and Battlestar Galactica.

Remar guest-starred in the CBS crime drama Numbers, playing a weapons dealer who later turns good and helps the FBI.

[22] In 2010, he played guest roles as Giuseppe Salvatore in The CW series The Vampire Diaries[23] and as James Ermine, a general for Jericho, a black-ops military contractor, on FlashForward.

[27] He was later cast in It: Welcome to Derry, an upcoming television series prequel to the 2017 supernatural horror film It, set to debut on HBO in 2025.