Early life

Jason Bradford Priestley was born on August 28, 1969 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. His mother is actress Sharon Kirk.

He is a graduate of Argyle Secondary School in North Vancouver. He has an older sister, Justine Priestley, and two step-siblings, Karin and Kristi. He became a naturalized American citizen in 2007.

Career

Priestley first started his television career doing commercials for companies such as Fletcher's Meats and then guest-starring as Bobby Conrad a.k.a. Roberto Coronado Jr., a mobster's grandson, in the early 1987 episode "A Piece of Cake" from the final 4th season of the television series Airwolf, and appeared in two episodes of 21 Jump Street in 1987-88, then moved on to the 1989 short-lived sitcom Sister Kate which starred Stephanie Beacham. He played Todd, one of the fosterchildren under the care of Sister Kate, an English nun.

In 1990, Priestley was chosen as Brandon Walsh on the hit series Beverly Hills, 90210. The show garnered worldwide fame and made Priestley a teen idol, he was nominated for two Golden Globes for his work on the show. He also directed nineteen of the show's episodes. He remained on the show until 1998, when Brandon moved to Washington, DC. Brandon was the last Walsh to leave the show; however, Priestley would continue to serve as an executive producer until the show ended in 2000.

Priestley joined the cast of Tru Calling as Jack Harper from 2004-05. He was also a regular on the 2006 program Love Monkey. His television work also includes the WB show What I Like About You and a February 2006 appearance on Without a Trace. Priestley has also made several films, his most notable role perhaps being in 1997's Love and Death on Long Island, in which he played a teen idol struggling to be taken seriously as an actor. He directed the nineteenth episode in the final season of 7th Heaven. He also directed two episodes of The Secret Life of the American Teenager: "Slice of Life" and "Just Say No". They appeared on August 26, 2008 and September 9, 2008 on ABC Family.

On July 15, 2007 he returned to series television as one of the lead males in Lifetime Television's comedy-drama Side Order of Life. Priestley made a guest appearance on NBC's My Name Is Earl in 2008. He played Blake, Earl's better-looking and more successful cousin. That year, Priestley directed five episodes of Secret Life. Priestley directed the episode when Tori Spelling returned to 90210. In 2009, Priestley directed and co-produced all 12 episodes of the web-series The Lake on TheWB.com. In December 2009 along with Dougray Scott, Brian Cox, and Eddie Izzard, Priestley was featured in The Day of the Triffids, written by Patrick Harbinson, whose credits include ER and Law & Order. The drama is based on John Wyndham's best-selling post-apocalyptic novel, The Day of the Triffids.

Priestley directed his former co-star Luke Perry in the Hallmark Channel movie Goodnight for Justice, which aired in January 2011. He guest starred as one half of a con artist couple alongside Jennifer Finnigan in a sixth season episode of USA's Psych and also appeared in the music video "Boys" by Britney Spears. Priestley has been the title role and main character of the HBO Canada TV show Call Me Fitz since 2010, which completed its second season in December 2011. In August 2011, Priestley joined the cast of sci-fi television show Haven, in a recurring role during its second season. He also directed one episode.

Priestley's feature film directorial debut was the independent road trip comedy Cas & Dylan, starring Richard Dreyfuss and Tatiana Maslany.

In April 2013 Priestley appeared in Canadian Stage's production of Race, a David Mamet play, in Toronto at the Bluma Appel Theater. In 2015, Priestely starred alongside Gael Garcia Bernal in Zoom, a comedy directed by Pedro Morelli that premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Personal life

On May 14, 2005, Priestley married make-up artist Naomi Lowde. On July 2, 2007 the couple had a daughter, Ava Veronica. On April 13, 2009, Priestley announced that he and his wife were expecting their second child, a son, who was born on July 9, 2009 and is reportedly named Dashiell Orson.

On July 9, 2007, he revealed on Late Night with Conan O'Brien that he had become an American citizen several weeks earlier.

Priestley's sister, Justine, is also an actress, and appeared in a couple of episodes on the 90210 spin-off Melrose Place in 1996.

On May 6, 2014, HarperOne published his autobiography, Jason Priestley: A Memoir.

Race car driving

Priestley's hobbies include race car driving. He rallied a Toyota Celica All-Trac ST185 in the SCCA Pro Rally Series during the early to mid-1990s. He has provided commentary and interviews of racers for ABC's TV coverage of IndyCar racing. Priestley transitioned toward circuit racing in 1996. Over the following two seasons, he drove Ford Mustangs in IMSA GTS, USRRC GT1, and Motorola Cup competition with Multimatic Motorsports. In 1999 he participated in the first Gumball 3000 rally, driving a Lotus Esprit V-8. On August 11, 2002, he was seriously injured during a practice run at the Kentucky Speedway when his Indy Pro Series car crashed into a wall at nearly 180 miles per hour.

According to a January 2008 Associated Press article, it was announced that Priestley would become a joint owner in a new IndyCar Series team. The new team was known as Rubicon Race Team managed by co-owner Jim Freudenberg. They initially entered a car in the 2008 Indianapolis 500. The car was prepared by Indianapolis-based Sam Schmidt Motorsports and the driver was Max Papis.

In the article, Priestley said, "I'm excited to be able to spend the month of May in Indy with my good friends and be a part of the greatest open wheel race," "It's been more than five years since my accident, and it's going to be so good to get to see everyone." Despite the team's enthusiasm, it suffered a crash during the second weekend of qualifying then had subsequent gearbox problems and failed to qualify for the race.

Priestley was among the owners of the FAZZT Race Team, which competed in the IndyCar Series in 2010 with Canadian racer Alex Tagliani. The car, numbered 77 and sponsored by Bowers & Wilkins, it was bought out in 2011 by Sam Schmidt Motorsports. With Tagliani retained by the team, he won the pole at the 2011 Indianapolis 500. In October 2011, two-time and defending Indy 500 winner Dan Wheldon took over at Kentucky. At the season-ending IZOD IndyCar World Championship at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Wheldon was killed in a 15-car crash.

Promotional activity for Barenaked Ladies

Priestley is a big fan of the band Barenaked Ladies and went to many of their California concerts in the early to mid-1990s. He eventually met the band and in his desire to help them succeed, suggested that he direct the music video for "The Old Apartment", and used his fame to persuade American stations to air it. He did just that, and also invited the band to play at the "Peach Pit After Dark" on an episode of 90210. Lead singer, Ed Robertson, continues to cite him as being instrumental in their American success. His final notable contribution to the band came when he directed a feature-length documentary about the band's 1999 whirlwind of success entitled Barenaked in America, intending to capture on film the fun he had while riding around on the tour bus with the band.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	The Boy Who Could Fly	Gary
1988	Watchers	Boy on Bike
1993	Calendar Girl	Roy Darpinian
	Tombstone	Deputy Billy Breckinridge
1995	Coldblooded	Cosmo Reif
1997	Love and Death on Long Island	Ronnie Bostock
	Hacks	The Dude
1998	Conversations in Limbo
	The Thin Pink Line	Hunter Green
1999	Choose Life	DJ
	Dill Scallion	Jo Joe Hicks
	Standing on Fishes	Jason
	Eye of the Beholder	Gary
2000	Lion of Oz	Lion	Voice role
	Herschel Hopper: New York Rabbit	Xavier	Voice role
	The Highwayman	Breakfast
2001	Double Down	David
	The Fourth Angel	Davidson
2002	Darkness Falling	Michael Pacer
	Cherish	Andrew
	Cover Story	JC Peck
	Time of the Wolf	Mr. Nelson
	Fancy Dancing	Asa Gemmil
2003	Die, Mommie, Die!	Tony Parker
2004	Chicks with Sticks	Steve Cooper
	Going the Distance	Lenny Swackhammer
2006	Hot Tamale	Jude
	Made in Brooklyn	D.J.
2013	Enter the Dangerous Mind	Dr. Dubrow
2015	Zoom	Dale	Completed; voice role

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1978	Stacey	Duncan	TV movie
1987	Airwolf	Bobby	Episode: "A Piece of Cake"
	21 Jump Street	Tober / Brian Krompasick	Episodes: "Mean Streets and Pastel Houses", "Two for the Road"
	Danger Bay	Derek	Episode: "Deep Trouble"
1988	MacGyver	Danny	Episode: "Blood Brothers"
1989	Teen Angel	Buzz Gunderson	Lead role, 10 episodes
	Quantum Leap	Pencil	Episode: "Camikazi Kid - June 6, 1961"
1989-90	Sister Kate	Todd Mahaffey	Main role, 19 episodes
1990	Teen Angel Returns	Buzz Gunderson	Lead role, 4 episodes
1990-2000	Beverly Hills, 90210	Brandon Walsh	Main role (seasons 1-9); 1 guest appearance (season 10), 246 episodes
1992	Saturday Night Live	Host	Episode: "Jason Priestley/Teenage Fanclub"
	Drexell's Class	Teen Priest	Episode: "Cruisin'"
	Eek! The Cat	Bo Diddly Squat	Voice role; 6 episodes
1994	Kings Island 20th Anniversary Special	Host	TV special
1995	Choices of the Heart: The Margaret Sanger Story	Narrator	TV movie
	Biker Mice from Mars	Jack McCyber	Voice role; Episodes: "Virtual Unreality", "Hit the Road, Jack"
1997	Vanishing Point	The Voice	TV movie
	The Outer Limits	Anthony Szigetti	Episode: "New Lease"
1998	Superman: The Animated Series	Reep Daggle/Chameleon Boy	Voice role; Episode: "New Kids in Town"
2000	Common Ground	Billy	TV movie
	Homicide: The Movie	Det. Robert Hall	TV movie
	The 11 O'Clock Show	Himself	4 episodes
	Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye	Jarred	TV movie
2001	Spin City	Scott	Episode: "In the Company of Dudes"
2002	Jeremiah	Michael	Episode: "...And the Ground, Sown with Salt"
	Tom Stone	Doug	Episode: "Little Bitty"
	Warning: Parental Advisory	Charlie Burner	TV movie
	The True Meaning of Christmas Specials	Santa Dude	TV special
2003	8 Simple Rules	Carter Tibbits	Episode: "Every Picture Tells a Story"
2004	Rides	Host	Documentary
	I Want to Marry Ryan Banks	Ryan Banks	TV movie
	Sleep Murder	Peter Radwell	TV movie
	Quintuplets	Steve Chase	Episode: "Thanksgiving Day Charade"
2004-05	Tru Calling	Jack Harper	Recurring role (season 1), main role (season 2), 13 episodes
2005	Colditz	Flying Officer Rhett Barker	TV movie
	Murder at the Presidio	Tom	TV movie
	What I Like About You	Charlie	Episodes: "The Perfect Date", "Halloween"
	Snow Wonder	Warren	TV movie
2006	Hockeyville	Himself
	Love Monkey	Mike Freed	Main role, 8 episodes
	Without a Trace	Allen Davis	Crossroads
	Above and Beyond	Sir Frederick Banting	TV miniseries
	Shades of Black: The Conrad Black Story	Jeff Riley	TV movie
	Masters of Horror	Alan Alstein	Episode: "The Screwfly Solution"
2007	Subs	Mr. Clayton	Unsold TV pilot
	Luna: Spirit of the Whale	Ted Jeffries	TV movie
	Medium	Walter Paxton	Episodes: "Head Games", "Heads Will Roll", "Everything Comes to a Head"
	Don't Cry Now	Nick	TV movie
	Termination Point	Caleb Smith	TV movie
	Everest '82	John Lauchlan	TV miniseries
	Side Order of Life	Ian Denison	Main role, 13 episodes
2008	The Other Woman	Pete	TV movie
	My Name Is Earl	Cousin Blake	Episode: "Earl and Joy's Anniversary"
	A Very Merry Daughter of the Bride	William	TV movie
2009	Expecting a Miracle	Pete Stanhope	TV movie
	The Day of the Triffids	Coker	TV miniseries
2010-13	Call Me Fitz	Richard "Fitz" Fitzpatrick	Lead role, 48 episodes
2011	Haven	Chris Brody	Recurring role, 5 episodes
	Stephen King's Bag of Bones	Marty	TV miniseries
2012	Psych	Clive	Episode: "Neal Simon's Lover's Retreat"
2013	How I Met Your Mother	Himself	Episode: "P.S. I Love You (How I Met Your Mother)"
2013	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Jack Witten	Episode: "Frame by Frame (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation)"
2014	Hot in Cleveland	Corey Chambers	Episode: "Rusty Banks Rides Again (Hot in Cleveland)"
2015	Welcome to Sweden	Himself	Episode: ""Ljuden"/"Searching for Bergman"
2016	Raising Expectations	Wayne Wayney	Series lead

Music videos

Year	Song	Performer	Notes
1992	I Drove All Night	Roy Orbison	with Jennifer Connelly

As a director

Year	Title	Medium	Notes
1993-97	Beverly Hills, 90210	TV episodes	15 episodes
1997	The Outer Limits	TV episode	Episode: "New Lease"
1997	Barenaked in America	Documentary film
2007	7th Heaven (TV series)	TV episode	Episode: "Some Break-Up and Some Get-Togethers"
TBA	Untitled Phil Hartman biopic

Awards and nominations

Gemini Awards

• 2003: Nominated, "Best Performance or Host in a Variety Program or Series" - The True Meaning of Christmas Specials (shared w/co-stars)

Golden Globe Awards

• 1993: Nominated, "Best Performance by an Actor in a TV-Series (Drama)" - Beverly Hills, 90210
• 1995: Nominated, "Best Performance by an Actor in a TV-Series (Drama)" - Beverly Hills, 90210

Young Artist Awards

• 1990: Nominated, "Best Young Actor Supporting Role in a Television Series" - Sister Kate

[ Source: Wikipedia ]