Jon Tenney

Last updated
Jon Tenney
Jon Tenney (cropped).jpg
Tenney in 2011
Born
Jonathan Frederick Tenney

(1961-12-16) December 16, 1961 (age 61)
Education
OccupationActor
Years active1986–present
Spouses
  • (m. 1994;div. 2003)
  • (m. 2012)
Children1

Jonathan Frederick Tenney [1] (born December 16, 1961) is an American actor. He played Special Agent Fritz Howard in TNT's The Closer and continued in its spinoff Major Crimes .

Contents

Early life

Tenney was born in Princeton, New Jersey. His mother, Dr. Lillian Sandra Baum, was a psychiatrist, and his father, Frederick Haworth Tenney, was a research physicist. [2] His maternal grandparents were Polish Jewish immigrants, while his paternal forebears were of English ancestry. [1] [3] He received his B.A. degree from Vassar College in 1984, [4] where he majored in drama and philosophy. He later attended The Juilliard School's Drama Division as a member of Group 19 (1986–1990). [5]

Career

Tenney made his acting debut in a touring production of Mike Nichols' The Real Thing . He worked steadily on and off-Broadway, and in regional theater. At New York City, his stage credits include Biloxi Blues , The Substance of Fire and The Heiress . [6] He began working on television, starring in a number of short-lived series, including Steven Bochco's Brooklyn South , Kristin Chenoweth's sitcom Kristin , and guest appearances on Cybill , Will & Grace , Murphy Brown , Spenser: for Hire and Get Real . Series with Tenney as a regular were canceled on all four major networks. [7]

From 2005 to 2012, Tenney played Special Agent Fritz Howard, the husband of Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson (Kyra Sedgwick) in TNT's The Closer . For the 4th season of Lifetime's The Division in 2004, he played Hank Riley. When The Closer ended he continued to act in its spin-off, Major Crimes, from 2012 to 2018, with Howard becoming an LAPD deputy chief in the third season. [8] Later, he portrayed Dr. Simon Craig, a love interest of Nora Walker (Sally Field) in Brothers & Sisters . [9] In 2013, he starred with Rebecca Romijn in TNT's King & Maxwell , as Sean King, a former Secret Service agent and lawyer who works as a private investigator. [10] The series was canceled after one season. In 2014, he was cast in a recurring role on Shonda Rhimes' drama series Scandal . [11]

Tenney appeared in several films, including the villainous CEO of Benbrook Oil Company in Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home and the friend of Alex Whitman (Matthew Perry) in Fools Rush In . [12] He also starred in small roles for some films, including Tombstone , Beverly Hills Cop III , Nixon , Music from Another Room and the 2009 horror film remake of The Stepfather . [13] He also appeared in John Cameron Mitchell's film, Rabbit Hole . [14] He portrayed Martin Jordan in the 2011 superhero film Green Lantern . [15]

Personal life

From 1994 to 2003, Tenney was married to Teri Hatcher, with whom he has a daughter, Emerson Rose Tenney. [16] [17] He married producer Leslie Urdang on June 16, 2012. [18]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1991 Guilty by Suspicion Shopper Husband
1993 Watch It Michael
1993 Tombstone Johnny Behan
1994 Beverly Hills Cop III Levine
1994 Lassie Steve Turner
1995 Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home John Milner
1995 Nixon Reporter #1
1996 The Phantom Jimmy Wells
1996 The Twilight of the Golds Rob Stein
1997 Fools Rush In Jeff
1997 Lovelife Alan
1998 Homegrown Helicopter Pilot
1998 Music from Another Room Eric
1998 With Friends Like These... Dorian Mastandrea
1999 Advice from a Caterpillar Suit
2000 You Can Count on Me Bob Steegerson
2002 Buying the Cow Andrew Hahn
2009 The Stepfather Jay
2010 Legion Howard Anderson
2010 Rabbit Hole Rick
2011 Green Lantern Martin Jordan
2011 Hide Away The Divorced Man
2013 As Cool As I Am Bob
2014 The Best of Me Harvey Collier
2015 Love the Coopers Dr. Morrissey
2018 The Seagull Dorn
2019 I See You Greg Harper

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1986 Spenser: For Hire GarrettEpisode: "Shadowsight"
1988Alone in the Neon JungleTodd Hansen Television film
1989 Murphy Brown Josh SilverbergEpisode: "The Brothers Silverberg"
1990–1991 Equal Justice Peter Bauer25 episodes
1993 Tales from the Crypt AlexEpisode: "Half-Way Horrible"
1993 Crime & Punishment Det. Ken O'Donnell6 episodes
1995 Almost Perfect Adams / Tony Madden2 episodes
1996 Good Company Will Hennessey6 episodes
1996 Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Lt. Ching2 episodes
1996 Cybill Jack2 episodes
1997 The Outer Limits Aidan HunterEpisode: "Bits of Love"
1997–1998 Brooklyn South Patrol Sgt. Francis 'Frank' Xavier Donovan22 episodes
1999–2000 Get Real Mitch Green22 episodes
2001 Kristin Tommy Ballantine13 episodes
2001 Will & Grace Paul TrumanEpisode: "Moveable Feast"
2004 The District Dan LustigEpisode: "Family Values"
2004 Without a Trace Mr. Benjamin PalmerEpisode: "Bait"
2004 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Charlie MacklinEpisode: "Formalities"
2005-2012 The Closer FBI Special Agent Fritz Howard109 episodes
2009 American Dad! Father Carrington / Lawyer #2 / Man (voices)3 episodes
2009–2010 Brothers & Sisters Dr. Simon Craig5 episodes
2012 The Newsroom Wade Campbell3 episodes
2012–2016 Major Crimes FBI Special Agent/LAPD deputy chief Fritz Howard23 episodes
2013 King & Maxwell Sean King10 episodes
2014–2016 Scandal Andrew Nichols15 episodes
2015 Hand of God Nick Tramble5 episodes
2017 Longmire FBI Agent Vance1 episode
2017 Story of a Girl Ray Lambert Television film
2020 Next Special Agent Brian Farrell1 episode
2022 The Lincoln Lawyer Mickey Haller Sr1 episode
2022 And Just Like That... Peter3 episodes

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References

  1. 1 2 Boone, Roger S. (1992). Marjorie, Morgan (ed.). Some Quaker Families, Scarborough/Haworth. Volume 3. Wichita, Kan.: Marjorie Morgan. p. 1582. OCLC   24404475 . Retrieved July 2, 2014.
  2. "Jon Tenney profile". FilmReference.com.
  3. "Paid Notice - Deaths TENNEY, DR. LILLIAN BAUM". New York Times. 2007-03-11. Retrieved 2014-01-11.
  4. "All in the Family". Vassar, the Alumnae/i Quarterly. Spring–Summer 2011.
  5. "Alumni News". The Juilliard School. March 2010. Archived from the original on 2011-11-11.
  6. Laura Hitchcock (February 5, 2007). "Speeding the plow once again". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
  7. "Jon Tenney Biography". Tvguide.com. Retrieved 2014-01-11.
  8. Margy Rochlin (August 3, 2012). "Case Closed? The Squad Looks Familiar". New York Times. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
  9. Matt Richenthal (October 19, 2009). "Jon Tenney Nabs Recurring Role on Brothers & Sisters". TVFanatic.com. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
  10. Vlada Gelman (January 15, 2013). "TNT Greenlights Private Eye Series Starring Jon Tenney and Rebecca Romijn". TVLine.com. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
  11. 12/07/2013 12:14 pm EST (2013-12-07). "Jon Tenney Joins 'Scandal' As Mellie's New Man". The Huffington Post . Retrieved 2014-01-11.
  12. "Fools Rush In (1997)". IMDb . Retrieved June 13, 2013.
  13. "Jon Tenney and Amber Heard Join The Stepfather Remake". MovieWeb. February 27, 2008. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
  14. "Oh, Esposito and Tenney Complete 'RABBIT HOLE' Film Casting". Broadway World. May 17, 2009. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
  15. "The Closer Star Jon Tenney Joins Green Lantern". ComingSoon.net. April 11, 2010.
  16. "Teri Hatcher biography". People.com. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
  17. Keck, William (May 2, 2006). "Hatcher has eye on love". USA Today. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
  18. Jay Bobbin (June 10, 2013). "Jon Tenney of TNT's 'King & Maxwell': It's good to be the King". Zap2it.com. Retrieved June 13, 2013.