Changes: Eric Close

Revision as of 18:29, 8 June 2011

Eric Close is an American actor best known for his roles as Michael Wiseman in Now and Again, as Vin Tanner in The Magnificent Seven and as Martin Fitzgerald in Without a Trace.

Biography

Eric Close was born in Staten Island, the eldest of three brothers, of an orthopedic surgeon and a stay-at-home mother. His family moved to Indiana, then to Michigan, and finally settled in San Diego when Close was seven years old in 1975. He graduated from Valhalla High School in 1985.

He moved to Los Angeles to attend the University of Southern California, became a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity and graduated in 1989 with a Bachelor in Communications. After that he traveled to Madrid, Spain, to attend the Instituto Internacional (An institution enrolled in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1892 as an educational charity nonprofit. Since the 80s, the International Institute has become one of the most important centers of Madrid, where hundreds of U.S. students come to study Spanish language, history and culture of Spain, Hispanic literatures and many other subjects related to this country).

Close had been interested in acting from a very early age. His first stage experiences he had was when he was in elementary school, but it seemed as though his acting career was just a beautiful dream and would never come true, even though inn 1989 he appeared in a small film made by some college students.

After his graduation, he attended various auditions and did some publicity spots being determined to pursue an acting career. A role in the Los Angeles stage production Rat Songs led to a linkup with an agent and more offers of work, in the form of a part in the films American Me and Taking Liberty. After doing those two movies he returned to theater with Thanksgiving Cries.

His first recurring role in TV came with the Emmy Award-winning drama Santa Barbara as Sawyer Walker, for which he received a Soap Opera Digest Award nomination for Outstanding Male Newcomer.

Close found his breakthrough role on the prime-time serial drama Sisters, where his performance as a policeman in the sixth season of the show established his onscreen reputation as a solid and reliable actor. Alongside that role, he landed roles in low-rent films such as Hercules and the Lost Kingdom and the made-for-television soaper The Stranger Beside Me.

His regular series roles started with his portrayal of John Loengard in the paranormal drama Dark Skies and of Brick McKenna in McKenna. In 1999, he played Michael Wiseman aka Michael Newman on the eccentric, short-lived superhero and critically acclaimed series Now and Again; he was nominated for a 2000 Saturn Award in the Best Genre TV Actor category. Just after its cancellation, he received second billing in the Western series The Magnificent Seven where he played long-haired, soft-spoken sharpshooter Vin Tanner.

In 2002 he was seen co-starring in the Steven Spielberg produced miniseries Taken as alien visitor John, at the same time he landed the co-star role that would draw his largest audience as FBI Agent Martin Fitzgerald, in the crime drama Without a Trace. He remained in this role for its seven seasons, until cancellation in 2009, and received a nomination, along with the rest of the cast, for a Screen Actors Guild Award.

His last work to date is a guest role in the hit drama series Criminal Minds and a leading role in a pilot for a drama waiting to be approved for the 2010 TV fall schedule.

Eric Close is a very reserved man who likes to keep his private life separate from his work, travel around the World and enjoys outdoor sports. He also enjoys reading, especially historical books. Close's joy of reading leaded him to become a partner in the First Book Organization, which helps provide access to books to children from low-income families who have no books in their homes. He also helped to found a non-profit group in Los Angeles that sends underprivileged kids on adventure trips.

Criminal Minds

He portrayed Detective Matt Spicer in the Season Five finale episode Our Darkest Hour.

Filmography

Eric Close as Vin Tanner in *The Magnificent Seven*

Chaos (2010) TV series - Michael Dorset
Criminal Minds - Our Darkest Hour and The Longest Night (2010) TV episodes - Detective Matt Spicer
Seven Deadly Sins - Episode #1.1 and Episode #1.2 (2010) TV series - Jack Powell
Without a Trace - 160 episodes (2002-2009) TV episodes - Martin Fitzgerald
Saving Angelo (2007) - Dad
Kim Possible - Team Impossible (2005) TV episode (voice) - Crash Cranston
NTSB: The Crash of Flight 323 (2004) - N'Tom Price
Alvarez & Cruz (2003) - Charlie
Storyline Online - When Pigasso Met Mootise (2003) TV episode
Taken - 4 episodes (2002) TV episodes - John
Follow the Stars Home (2001) - Mark McCune
Liberty, Maine (2001)
The Magnificent Seven - 22 episodes (1998-2000) TV episodes - Vin Tanner
Now and Again - 22 episodes (1999-2000) TV episodes - Michael Wiseman
The Sky Is Falling (2000) - Mike
Dark Skies - 19 episodes (1996-1997) TV episodes - John Loengard
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys - The Lost City (1997) TV episode - Telamon
Sisters - 12 episodes (1995-1996) TV episodes - William 'Billy' Griffin
The Stranger Beside Me (1995) - Chris Gallagher
McKenna - Splendor in the McKenna Grass, The Pony (1994) and Racing in the Streets (1995) TV episodes - Brick McKenna
Long Island Fever (1995) - Scott Parks
Without Consent (1994) - David Mills
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys - Hercules and the Lost Kingdom (1994) - Telamon
Santa Barbara - 22 episodes (1992-1993) TV episodes - Sawyer Walker
Taking Liberty (1993)
American Me (1992) - Juvie Hall Attacker
Major Dad - The 'L' Word (1992) TV episode - Jim
MacGyver - The Prometheus Syndrome (1991) TV episode - Guard
Keeping Secrets (1991) (unaccredited) - Young Michael

DIRECTOR

Without a Trace - 4 episodes (2007-2009) TV episodes

LINKS

For an up-to-date Filmography: imdb.com/Eric Close

Notes

He used to include Bible quotes when signing autographs and is reportedly deacon of the Brentwood Presbyterian Church.
One of his brothers (Chris) had a part in a The Magnificent Seven episode.

@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 |family = Keri {{c|wife}}<br>Katie and Ella {{c|daughters}}<br>Frederick and Eva {{c|parents}}<br>Randy and Christopher {{c|brothers}}
 |yearsactive = 1991 - present
-}}'''Eric Close''' is an American actor best known for his roles as Michael Wiseman in ''Now and Again'', as Vin Tanner in ''The Magnificent Seven'',as Martin Fitzgerald in '' Without a Trace'', and as Michael Dorset in ''CHAOS''.
+}}'''Eric Close''' is an American actor best known for his roles as Michael Wiseman in ''Now and Again'', as Vin Tanner in ''The Magnificent Seven'' and as Martin Fitzgerald in '' Without a Trace''.
 ==Biography==