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| Lee Tergesen | |
|---|---|
 Tergesen at the Oz convention |
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| Born | Lee Allen Tergesen July 8, 1965 Ivoryton, CT |
| Years active | 1987 — present |
| Spouse(s) | Leslie Howitt (2001 — 2004) Tanya Lewis (1994 — 1997) |
| Official website | |
Lee Allen Tergesen (born July 8, 1965) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Tobias Beecher in HBO’s prison drama Oz and as Evan Wright in Generation Kill.
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Biography
Early life
Tergesen was born in Ivoryton, Connecticut and graduated from Valley Regional High School in Deep River, Connecticut.
While Lee was in high school his grandmother worried about his choice of acting as a career. He recounts that when she asked "What are you going to fall back on?", he responded, "'Well, grandma, if I have something to fall back on, won't I fall back?', which is sort of a youthful attitude, but I've always followed my gut".
Lee moved to New York at the age of 18 to try to become an actor. He graduated from the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in Manhattan (two-year program). In 1986 - 89 he worked at the Empire Diner in New York. "I wasn't a great waiter. I was funny, but I gave a lot of attitude," he said in Rosie Magazine, March 2002. However, he said, "The place is like a vortex for me." Two marriages and a career came out of there, he explained. Both Tanya Lewis and Leslie Howitt worked there. And, in 1989, the diner was where he met Tom Fontana (Writer and Director of Oz), who lived around the corner from the diner.
Lee did some stage work during this time. "I was doing plays all the time, but there's no money in it," Lee said in a 1995 Los Angeles Times article, "After graduation, I thought I'd be making a living at it". His big brother, Chris Tergesen, kept him on track, "If you love it, you have to stick with it" he told Lee.
Lee grew his hair long to counteract the straight-arrow type of roles his agents thought he should try for. He went to Los Angeles to help Tom Fontana move house. While dining at a restaurant on the day after arriving in L.A., a casting director and friend of Fontana's asked Lee if he was an actor. "He told me there was a part in this movie and at that time, I couldn't imagine what it could be," Lee told the L.A. Times. The movie ended up being "Point Break," starring Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze. "It was the beginning of me never having to do anything else but act," Lee said on LT.com in 1990.
Career
Tergesen began his career with a bit role in the 1991 prime-time aired pilot, Acting Sheriff.[1] Tergesen then starred in Wayne's World (1992) and Wayne's World 2 (1993), the 1994 series Weird Science and a recurring role in the first season of Homicide: Life on the Street. Tergesen's career took off in 1997 with his critically acclaimed portrayal of Tobias Beecher on HBO's Oz, a role he played until the series ended in 2003.
His film credits include Point Break, Shaft, Monster, The Forgotten, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, and Wild Iris. He has made several appearances in TV shows such as ER, Rescue Me, The 4400, Law & Order, and one of its spin-offs, Law & Order: Criminal Intent. He also plays an Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor in the second season of Desperate Housewives, becoming romantically involved with Bree Hodge. Tergesen played U.S. Marshall Eddie Drake in the TNT series Wanted. Recently, he appeared in the USA Network series Royal Pains. He plays Evan Wright in the HBO mini-series Generation Kill.
Personal life
Tergesen's mother died of breast cancer in 1989. Lee has a tattoo on the back of his calf of the Japanese kanji character for 'Mother' inside a sun.
He has no feeling in one of his index fingers due to an injury he sustained while banging his hands on the prison bars in his first scene as Tobias Beecher on HBO's Oz.
He is the brother-in-law of actress Toni Lewis through her marriage to Lee's brother, Chris Tergesen.
References
- ^ Starr, Michael (August 27, 2005). "The edge of night; "Wanted" man in another gritty role". New York Post: p. 73. http://news.google.com/archivesearch?q=He+even+did+an+unaired+pilot+with+Robert+Goulet+called+%22Acting+Sheriff%22+%28Tergesen+says+Goulet+was+%22quite+good%22%29.+&btnG=Search&hl=en&um=1. Retrieved 2008-09-17.
External links
- Lee Tergesen Fan Site
- Official website
- Lee Tergesen at the Internet Movie Database
- The Annotated Lee Tergesen Site
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