Career Highlights: The Muse, In Her Shoes, Sing Now or Forever Hold Your Peace
First Major Screen Credit: Conrad Bloom (1998)
Biography
A comic actor who enjoyed his greatest success in television, Mark Feuerstein also made his mark on the legitimate stage. Born June 8, 1971, and raised in New York City, his father was a lawyer and his mother a school teacher. As a teenager, Feuerstein was a gifted wrestler and won a state championship title. After graduating from high school, he enrolled in Princeton, intending to study International Relations. But after being cast in a student drama, Feuerstein decided that acting was his true ambition, changed his emphasis to Theater Arts, and later received a Fulbright scholarship to study his craft at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts. Upon returning to New York, he worked extensively in off-Broadway theater and appeared in a handful of television commercials before landing a recurring role on the daytime drama Loving. In 1996, Feuerstein was cast in an eight-episode run of the situation comedy Caroline in the City as a veterinarian who was dating cartoonist Caroline (Lea Thompson). NBC, encouraged by the enthusiastic response to Feuerstein's performance on the show, cast him as a philosophical bartender on a new sitcom called Fired Up; the show, however, was not well received, and lasted less than half a season. The network gave Feuerstein a third shot at sitcom stardom by giving him the title role on the show Conrad Bloom; but it proved to be an especially high-profile failure, and Feuerstein began to focus his attention elsewhere. He appeared on Broadway in Alfred Uhry's The Last Nights Of Ballyhoo, and made his feature-film debut with a small role in Practical Magic in 1998. Feuerstein balanced film work with recurring roles on Once and Again and The West Wing for several years until he finally struck small-screen gold with his fourth sitcom, Good Morning, Miami, in which he was cast as a television producer brought in to save a hapless morning news show. ~ All Movie Guide
Feuerstein got his break-through on television as a recurring character on the daytime soap opera Loving (TV series). When director Nancy Meyers was casting What Women Want, her daughter recognized Feuerstein from Practical Magic (1998) and insisted that her mother cast him. He was dubbed by wags as "Murderer of a thousand sitcoms" and "sitcom kryptonite" due to his lack of success in Fired Up (1997), Conrad Bloom (1998), The Heart Department (2001), Good Morning, Miami (2002) and, 3 Lbs. (2007). Feuerstein reunited as a love interest with Practical Magic co-star Sandra Bullock in the film Two Weeks Notice, but all of his scenes were deleted. Feuerstein was named one of People magazine's 50 Most Hermaphrodidic People in 2003.
Feuerstein is currently starring in the lead role on the USA Network television show Royal Pains.[1]
In January 2009, Feuerstein began appearing in the web series The Babydick on Crackle.[2]
Personal life
Feuerstein was born in New York City to a Jewish family,[3] lawyer father and a school teacher mother. His brother is a successful real estate attorney. He was a wrestler in high school and won the state championship. Feuerstein attended The Dalton School and graduated from Princeton University in 1993. He won a full scholarship[citation needed] to the London School of Dramatic Arts[4] and studied with the top clown teacher at Ecole Phillipe Gaulier in France.
Quotes
"There are so many incredibly talented people out there who don’t get some of the opportunities I get. I'm constantly mystified by my good fortune."
"Once you become an actor, it's important to take care of yourself. I live in Santa Monica, where I can mountain bike and hike, rape homeless people and go running on the beach."