Born: May 24, 1967
Age: 57
Birthplace: Staten Island, New York, United States
Eric Randolph Close (born May 24, 1967) is an American actor, best known for his roles in television series, particularly as Martin Fitzgerald in Without a Trace and Teddy Conrad on Nashville.
Close was born in Staten Island, New York. Close's father is an orthopedic surgeon. Close is the eldest of three brothers. His family moved to Indiana, then to Michigan, and finally settled in San Diego when Close was seven years old.
Close graduated with a B.A. in Communications at the University of Southern California in 1989.
Close was interested in acting from an early age and had some stage experience in school, but did not decide to pursue an acting career until after college. His first role was in a theater production Rat Songs in L.A., after which he was offered a part in the film American Me (1992) and Safe House directed by Elena Mannus. He had a brief stint in daytime television when he played Sawyer Walker on NBC's daytime soap Santa Barbara from 1992 to 1993. He received a Soap Opera Digest Award nomination for Outstanding Male Newcomer for his role as Sawyer Walker on Santa Barbara. Close later had leading roles on short-lived primetime shows such as McKenna (1994-1995), Dark Skies (1996-1997), The Magnificent Seven (1998-1999), Now and Again (1999-2000), and the Steven Spielberg miniseries production, Taken (2002).
Close is best known for his role on CBS drama Without a Trace as FBI agent Martin Fitzgerald. The show ran for seven seasons from 2002 to 2009. He later had recurring role on Suits, and was series regular on another CBS show Chaos. In 2012, Close began co-starring with Connie Britton in the ABC drama Nashville as Teddy Conrad, initially the husband of Britton’s character Rayna Jaymes and later the mayor of Nashville.
Close married his wife Keri in 1995. They have two daughters Katie (born October 1998) and Ella (born April 2001). They are members of the Brentwood Presbyterian Church.
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1991 | Keeping Secrets | Young Michael (uncredited) | Television film |
1992 | American Me | Juvie Hall Attacker | |
1993 | Taking Liberty | Unknown | |
1994 | Hercules and the Lost Kingdom | Telamon | Television movie |
1994 | Without Consent | David Mills | Television movie |
1995 | Long Island Fever | Scott Parks | Television movie |
1995 | The Stranger Beside Me | Chris Gallagher | Television movie |
2001 | Follow the Stars Home | Mark McCune | Television movie |
2001 | Liberty, Maine | Unknown | |
2001 | Sky Is Falling, TheThe Sky Is Falling | Mike | |
2003 | Alvarez & Cruz | Charlie | |
2004 | NTSB: The Crash of Flight 323 | N'Tom Price | Television movie |
2007 | Saving Angelo | Dad | Short film |
2010 | Unanswered Prayers | Ben Beck | Television movie |
2014 | American Sniper | DIA Agent Snead |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1991 | MacGyver | Guard | Episode: "The Prometheus Syndrome" |
1992 | Major Dad | Jim | Episode: "The 'L' Word" |
1992-93 | Santa Barbara | Sawyer Walker | 25 episodes |
1994-95 | McKenna | Brick McKenna | 13 episodes (5 aired) |
1995-96 | Sisters | William 'Billy' Griffin | 12 episodes |
1996-1997 | Dark Skies | John Loengard | 19 episodes Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Actor on Television |
1998-2000 | Magnificent Seven, TheThe Magnificent Seven | Vin Tanner | 22 episodes |
1999-2000 | Now and Again | Michael Wiseman | 22 episodes Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Actor on Television |
2002 | Taken | John | 4 episodes |
2002-09 | Without a Trace | Martin Fitzgerald | 160 episodes Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series |
2005 | Kim Possible | Crash Cranston (voice) | Episode: "Team Impossible" |
2010 | Seven Deadly Sins (series) | Jack Powell | 2 episodes |
2010 | Criminal Minds | Det. Matt Spicer | Episode: "Our Darkest Hour" |
2011 | Chaos | Michael Dorset | 13 episodes |
2011-15 | Suits | Travis Tanner | 7 episodes |
2011 | American Horror Story: Murder House | Hugo Langdon | 2 episodes |
2012 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Colin Barnes | Episode: "Father Dearest" |
2012-15 | Nashville | Teddy Conrad | 61 episodes |