Biography for
Jack Coleman (II) More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

21 February 1958, Easton, Pennsylvania, USA

Birth Name

John MacDonald Coleman

Height

6' 2" (1.88 m)

Spouse

Beth Toussaint

(21 June 1996 - present) 1 child

Trivia

A sixth-generation grandson of Benjamin Franklin, in turn related to President John Calvin Coolidge Jr. and a remote descendant of the old Earls of Orkney and the ancient Kings of Scotland.

Graduated from Duke University in 1980, where he studied acting.

Has one daughter Tess, born in 1999. His wife Beth appeared in the Wes Craven film Red Eye (2005).

In theater, he won the 1986 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for his performance in "Bouncers".

Studied acting at the National Theater Institute at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, and Writers' Boot Camp.

Gained TV notice after replacing Al Corley in the role of "Steven Carrington", one of prime-time television's first openly gay characters, on the night time soap "Dynasty" (1981).

Personal Quotes

After a hit show is over, you soon realize this is a very tough business ... brutally tough. But I'm a better actor and I have more gravitas than I had at 24 with bleached-blonde hair.

I don't want to play earnest. I'd rather play somebody who's kind of sleazy. It's much more fun, especially in a comedy. You don't want to be some earnest guy who's just trying to do the right thing but can't. I want to be doing the wrong thing intentionally.

I always thought invisibility would be cool, but then I was invisible for most of the '90s.

I am blind as a bat and I wear contact lenses because the vision they afford is much better. So I wear contacts and then I have to wear reading glasses. My eyes have been bad - I come from bad eyesight on both sides of my family.

I don't play a lot of convicts or mafia guys. I'm usually a professional, a doctor, lawyer, banker... that kind of thing. But sometimes you get to be the twisted guy, too, which is what I'm relishing so much about this [Heroes] role. There's nothing worse than playing a milquetoast. I'm happy to play a jerk, and I'm happy to play a bad guy. It really is fun to be able to play somebody who has a dark, sinister side.

I would love to do a movie like All the President's Men. A really smart, crisp political thriller.