Jeff Perry (American actor)

Infobox actor


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name = Jeff Perry
birthname =
birthdate = birth date and age|1955|8|16
location = Highland Park, Illinois, USA
deathdate =
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spouse = Laurie Metcalf (divorced) (1 child)

Jeff Perry (born August 16, 1955 in Highland Park, Illinois) is an American character actor.

Perry grew up in Highland Park, Illinois, where his father was a teacher at Highland Park High School.

Career

At a young age, his elder sister Jo took him to an audition at Ravinia Festival where American Conservatory Theater was staging Luigi Pirandello's "Six Characters in Search of an Author". He auditioned and got the part.

He is one of the original co-founders of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, Illinois. Perry and schoolmates Gary Sinise and Terry Kinney started the company in a city church basement. It has since grown into a notable national theater company that includes John Malkovich, John Mahoney, and Joan Allen. Perry remains an Executive Artistic Director along with co-founders Kinney & Sinise.

After spending nearly two decades with Steppenwolf, Perry made the move to Los Angeles in 1987 to pursue film and television work. Perry is perhaps best known as the diehard Grateful Dead fan and police inspector Harvey Leek on the Don Johnson police show "Nash Bridges". He was a prickly superior to Kevin Bacon's detective in the thriller "Wild Things" (1998). Many of his television and film credits include "The Human Stain" (2003) and "The Grifters" (1990) as well as appearances on "My So-Called Life" (1994), "The West Wing" (1999), "The Practice" (2003), "Lost" (2005), "Cold Case" (2006), "Raines" (2007), and several episodes of "Grey's Anatomy" (2006) as Meredith Grey's father. Recently, he replaced John Billingsley in the role of Terrence Steadman in the critically-acclaimed TV show "Prison Break".

Jeff has also been in multiple stage productions. These include "Time of your Life" (in San Francisco and Seattle), "Grapes of Wrath" (Broadway and London), and "The Caretaker" (Broadway). He is currently starring in the "Tracy Letts" "August: Osage County" on Broadway, which originated at Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago.

Personal life

Perry was married to actress Laurie Metcalf. They had a child, actress Zoe Perry, together in 1984, but subsequently divorced. He is currently married to "Grey's Anatomy"'s casting director, Linda Lowy.

External links

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* [http://www.steppenwolf.org/ The Steppenwolf Theater Company]