Xander Berkeley

Infobox actor


imagesize = 150px
name = Xander Berkeley
birthname = Alexander Harper Berkeley
birthdate = birth date and age|1955|12|16
birthplace = Brooklyn, New York

Alexander Harper Berkeley (born December 16, 1955) is an American actor.

Biography

Career

Berkeley began playing minor roles in 1981, with early appearances in "M*A*S*H", "Cagney & Lacey", "Remington Steele", "Miami Vice", "Moonlighting" and "The A-Team". Although not becoming a household name, Berkeley's face was increasingly recognizable into the 1990s. His later television guest roles included "The X-Files", "", "ER", "24" and "Law & Order".

On the big screen, Berkeley has appeared in "North Country", "", "A Few Good Men", The Rookie,"Candyman", "Apollo 13", "Leaving Las Vegas", "Gattaca", " The Rock" (uncredited), "Air Force One", "Sid and Nancy", " Spawn", "Amistad", "Shanghai Noon", "Barb Wire" with Pamela Anderson and "Timecode". Berkeley has the distinction of appearing in both the made-for-TV movie "L.A. Takedown" in 1989 and its 1995 critically-acclaimed theatrical remake "Heat", both directed by Michael Mann. Several of his earlier roles were in films by director Alex Cox. Berkeley often plays the roles of unsympathetic characters.

In 2001, Berkeley became a recurring guest star on "24" as George Mason, the head of the Counter Terrorist Unit. His character, initially presumed evil by other characters, was revealed to be one of the good guys and became a main character in season 2, only to meet an untimely but heroic end.

Berkeley appeared as Shakespeare in Tom Stoppard's "The 15-Minute Hamlet".

Berkeley has also provided voices for animated series such as "Aaahh!!! Real Monsters" and "Gargoyles". He will voice Quentin Beck/Mysterio on the 10th episode of "The Spectacular Spider-Man".

Berkeley also portrays the mysterious John Smith on the CBS drama Jericho (TV Series).

Personal life

Berkeley was born in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated from Hampshire College. Berkeley is a painter and a sculptor, as well as a make-up artist. Berkeley designed his own make-up on "24" when his character was suffering from the deteriorating effects of radiation sickness. Berkeley also met Sarah Clarke on the set of "24" in 2001, and married her the following year. On September 23 2006, Clarke gave birth to their first child, daughter Olwyn Harper.

Incidentally, both Berkeley and his wife have played turncoat federal agents: he played a traitorous Secret Service agent in the 1997 film "Air Force One", and his wife Clarke played traitorous CTU agent Nina Myers in "24".

External links

*imdb name|0075359|Xander Berkeley
*amg name|2:5693
* [http://www.greencine.com/article?action=view&articleID=374 A conversation with Xander Berkeley]