Life and career

Early life

Paul Johansson was born in Spokane, Washington, the son of ice hockey player Earl Johnson, but raised in Kelowna, B.C. He was an athlete like his father and played for the Canadian Olympic Basketball Team and for the University of British Columbia. After quitting basketball he began writing, which in turn led to acting.

Acting career

Johansson landed his first role on the popular soap opera Santa Barbara. He played Greg Hughes from 1989 to 1990. Soon he made appearances in other television shows such as Parker Lewis Can't Lose, Beverly Hills, 90210 and Lonesome Dove.

Johansson became well-known to fans of 90210 for playing John Sears, a fraternity brother who unsuccessfully vied for the affections of Kelly Taylor (Jennie Garth) and set up Steve Sanders (Ian Ziering) to burglarize a professor's office. Sears was later blackballed from the fraternity for the incident. Johnasson's character did not return until the season 4 finale, where he attempted to humiliate Steve at every turn, only to be brought down by Steve's friends Brenda Walsh (Shannen Doherty) and Donna Martin (Tori Spelling).

He also appeared in commercials, most notably as the delivery man in a Diet Coke commercial. He has appeared in the films Soapdish, John Q and Alpha Dog and had a small role in The Notebook. From 1995 to 1996, Johnansson appeared on Days of Our Lives in the recurring role of Wyatt St. Clair, the brother of the evil Jude St. Clair. He subsequently featured in Takashi Miike's 2003 film Gozu, appearing as a man with a cow's head. In 2003 Johansson wrote and directed the film The Incredible Mrs. Ritchie. He has also directed several episodes of One Tree Hill. In 2006 he starred in Emily Skopov's Novel Romance, alongside Traci Lords and Sherilyn Fenn. He appeared in the 7th season of The Drew Carey Show, playing a sportscaster.

He is the director of Atlas Shrugged: Part I (2011), the first third of a proposed trilogy based on the novel by Ayn Rand. The film received a "13% Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, indicating that only five of thirty-nine reviewers liked it.

Personal life

Johansson's ex-wife is actress Gabriela Oltean.

His mother, Joanne Leone Johansson, died on October 14, 2011, after a 20-year battle with breast cancer. Season 9, episode 11 of the CW's One Tree Hill (titled "Danny Boy", in which Paul's character Dan Scott dies) was dedicated to her memory. "Obituary: Joanne Leone Johansson". Newspaper. Vancouver Sun and/or The Province. . His brother Pete Johansson is a well known comedian, writer and actor currently living in London, England.

He has a son named Quinn.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991	Soapdish	Blair Brennan/Bolt
1992	Martial Law 2: Undercover	Spencer Hamilton	Video
1993	Midnight Witness	Paul
1993	When the Party's Over	Henry
1997	She's So Lovely	Intern #2
1998	Carnival of Souls	Michael
1999	Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies	Gregory	Video
2000	Glory Glory	Wes
2002	John Q	Tuck Lampley
2002	Edge of Madness	Henry Mullen
2003	Darkness Falling	Sean Leonard
2004	Berserker	Barek
2004	Window Theory	Stu
2004	The Notebook	Allie's Mom's Ex Boyfriend	Uncredited
2006	Alpha Dog	Peter Johansson
2006	Novel Romance	Jake Buckley
2008	Toxic	Gus
2009	The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day	Kuntsler
2011	Atlas Shrugged: Part I	John Galt
2013	The Winner 3D	Darkman
2013	Love and Skin	Richard	Short
2014	Kid Cannabis	Detective Morgan
2014	Dear Eleanor	Hugh

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989	Swimsuit		TV movie
1989-90	Santa Barbara	Greg Hughes	Role held: April 11, 1989 - February 12, 1990
1990	Laker Girls	Bart Jeffris	TV movie
1990	They Came from Outer Space	Doug	Episode: "Undressed for Success"
1991-92	Parker Lewis Can't Lose	Nick Comstock	Recurring, 16 episodes
1993-94	Beverly Hills, 90210	John Sears	Recurring, 13 episodes
1994	Burke's Law		Episode: "Who Killed the Beauty Queen?"
1994	The 5 Mrs. Buchanans	Jesse Buchanan	Episode: "Pilot"
1994-95	Lonesome Dove	Austin Peale	13 episodes
1995-96	Days of Our Lives	Wyatt St. Clair	Recurring
1995-96	Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years	Austin Peale	Main cast, 22 episodes
1996	Ed McBain's 87th Precinct: Ice	Det. Bert Kling	TV movie
1997	Ed McBain's 87th Precinct: Heatwave	Det. Bert Kling	TV movie
1997	7th Heaven	Tom Harrison	Episode: "Choices"
1997	Dead Man's Gun	Sanford Hogan	Episode: "Black Widow"
1998	Players	Jeff Taylor	Episode: "Confidence Man"
1998	Dharma & Greg	Leonard	Episode: "The Second Coming of Leonard"
1998	Earth: Final Conflict	Sloane	Episode: "Destruction"
1998-99	Highlander: The Raven	Nick Wolfe	Main cast, 22 episodes
1999	First Wave	Hatcher	Episode: "Night Falls"
2000	Hope Island	Steve Kramer	2 episodes
2000	Da Vinci's Inquest	Tom Sprawl	Episode: "It's a Bad Corner"
2000	The Last Dance	Charlie Parker	TV movie
2000	Andromeda	Guderian	Episode: "Double Helix"
2001	The Drew Carey Show	Ron Higgins	Episode: "Bus-ted"
2002	The District	Father Patrick Debreno	2 episodes
2003	The Incredible Mrs. Ritchie	Jack	TV movie Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Children/Youth/Family Special Nominated - Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Children/Youth/Family Special
2003-12	One Tree Hill	Dan Scott	Main cast (Seasons 1-7, 9) Special guest star (Season 8) 129 episodes (158 credited)
2006	Mind Games	Michael	TV movie
2008	IQ-145	Ben Compost	3 episodes
2012	Criminal Minds	Clark Preston	Episode: "A Thin Line"
2013	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Edward Trigg	Episode: "Sheltered"
2013	Stonados	Joe Randall	TV movie
2013	Beauty and The Beast	Curt Windsor	Episode: "Father Knows Best"
2014	House of Secrets	Rick	TV movie
2014	A Daughter's Nightmare	Adam	TV movie
2014 - 2015	Mad Men	Ferg Donnelly	3 episodes

[ Source: Wikipedia ]