Advanced search

Handsome, slim-faced, curly-haired actor John Shea is primarily known to TV audiences for his recurring role as the evil Lex Luthor in the early '90s TV series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993).

John Victor Shea III was born in 1949 in North Conway, New Hampshire, to Elizabeth Mary (Fuller) and Dr. John Victor Shea, a teacher, coach, and assistant Superintendent of Schools. He is of Irish and German descent. John was raised in Massachusetts, and received his BA from Bates College, which he achieved on debating and football scholarships. He then attended Yale University and earned an MFA in directing from its School of Drama.

Following New York stage work, including his portrayal of Paris in a production of "Romeo and Juliet" (1977), initial on-camera notice came on TV with his reverential portrayal of Joseph in the mini-movie The Nativity (1978). A few years later on film he appeared in the small but memorable role of the impassioned, ill-fated American idealist who becomes a casualty to Chilean war-torn politics in Costa-Gavras' Academy Award-winning thriller Missing (1982). Although Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spacek, who respectively played his despairing father and wife, were nominated for Oscars for their starring performances, John's role was central to the heart of the film and he made quite an impact. The actor was later honored by Amnesty International for his political work following the film's release.

Critical kudos, as well as awards, have come in John's direction over the years on stage, film and TV. In the film Windy City (1984) opposite Kate Capshaw, he earned the Best Actor Award at the Montreal Film Festival. On stage, he received a Drama Desk Award for "American Days", an Obie Award for "The Dining Room" and a 1976 Theatre World Award for his portrayal of the Jewish student "Avigdor" in "Yentl". The role was later portrayed by Mandy Patinkin in Barbra Streisand's 1983 film adaptation. On television, John was awarded the coveted Emmy for his depiction of the distressed husband and father wannabe who touches off a legal landmark case in the miniseries, Baby M (1988).

In a career pocked with remarkable versatility, interesting choices and challenging parts, John has played everything from a young Nazi in the miniseries Hitler's S.S.: Portrait in Evil (1985) to 'Robert F. Kennedy' in the epic-styled Kennedy (1983). He has kept his face alive in guest parts over the years on such well-received series as Sex and the City (1998), Tales from the Crypt (1989), The Hitchhiker (1983), Law & Order (1990) and Medium (2005). A budding Irish-American filmmaker, John co-wrote, directed and appeared in the low-budget film Southie (1998), a drama set in the Irish-American section of Boston. The film won the Jury Award for Best Independent Film at the 1998 Seattle International Film Festival.

Into the millennium, John found popularity on the Mutant X (2001) sci-fi series playing the role of "Adam Kane". Based on Marvel Comic's "X-Men", he received a nomination for Canada's prestigious Gemini Award as Best Actor. He also appears in a recurring role on Gossip Girl (2007) and had a regular part in the action drama series Agent X (2015) starring Sharon Stone.

In addition, he was also seen in a spat of dramas including The Insurgents (2006) with Mary Stuart Masterson; the British Framed (2008) and the Indian drama Achchamundu! Achchamundu! (2009), plus the Jessica Alba drama, An Invisible Sign (2010), the title role in Julius Caesar (2010), the horror opus 51 (2011),the psychological drama Anatomy of the Tide (2013) and the crime mystery Grey Lady (2017), which he also wrote and directed.

A screenwriter and audio book performer in addition to all his other talents, John lives with his second wife, the painter Melissa MacLeod, and his family are based in New York and on Nantucket Island where he was a founding member of the Nantucket Film Festival and is Artistic Director of the Nantucket Theatre Workshop. He has one son, Jake, from his first marriage, and two children, Miranda and Caiden, by wife Melissa.

Gordon Clapp grew up in the ski resort town of North Conway in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. He developed an interest in acting at an early age when he was cast in a production of THE HAPPY TIME at a local summer theater. He attended Williams College where he majored in English but spent most of his time with the Drama department. It was there he met John Sayles who was to cast Gordon in four films over a twenty-year span including the cult favorite, RETURN OF THE SECAUCUS SEVEN. During his Senior year at Williams he was part of the inaugural class at the National Theatre Institute at the Eugene O'Neill Center. Post college years found him performing for three seasons with a touring children's theater, and summer stock in the very hometown theater where he began as a 12 year old. The 70's and 80's found him in several regional theaters in Canada, and the States, forging a path into film and television. His work included five seasons at Canada's National Arts Centre, a number of CBC movies, a regular on a sitcom called CHECK IT OUT with Don Adams and two John Sayles films, MATEWAN and EIGHT MEN OUT. He finally took the Hollywood plunge in 1989, and soon landed a starring role along side Farrah Fawcett in the mini-series SMALL SACRIFICES. From there, numerous guest roles in such favorites as CHEERS, NIGHT COURT, WINGS and WONDER YEARS led to an audition for a guest role on NYPD BLUE where an impulsive character choice landed him 12 seasons in the role of Detective Greg Medavoy. Awards include a 1998 Emmy Award for Supporting Actor in a Drama Series and the first SAG Award for Ensemble in a Drama Series. Since then, numerous film and television roles, including recurring roles on DAMAGES and CHICAGO FIRE notwithstanding, he has returned to his first love, theatre. In 2005 he received a Theatre World Award, A Drama Desk Ensemble Award, and a Tony nomination for his portrayal of Dave Moss in the All-star Broadway revival of GLENGARRY, GLEN ROSS. Off Broadway appearances include The New Group and 59E59. But his home is in New England where he frequents Vermont's Northern Stage, Lost Nation Theatre and Dorset Theatre Festival, Connecticut's Ivoryton Playhouse, New Hampshire's New London Barn and Peterborough Players and Boston's Huntington Theatre, and Central Square Theatre. In the Fall of 2019 he portrayed J Edgar Hoover in the Lincoln Center production of THE GREAT SOCIETY. What has stayed with him through all this time is his love of the poet Robert Frost. In 2008, he stumbled across a script titled THIS VERSE BUSINESS. He and playwright A.M. Dolan have been developing it and "barding" around the country with it ever since. In 2010 Gus Kaikkonen directed the first full production of the play at Peterborough Players taking it to new heights. In 2013 they played for three weeks at Lost Nation in Montpelier, Vermont and then skipped around the state in four other locations. The 2017 run at Northern Stage saw the 100th performance.

Joe Conti was born on 24 March 1985 in North Conway, New Hampshire, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for This Is Us (2016), American Horror Story (2011) and Scandal (2012).

Scott Fortier was born on 22 September 1961 in North Conway, New Hampshire, USA. Scott is a casting director, known for Nine Months (1995) and Kid (1993).

Erik S. Barry was born on 9 April 1986 in North Conway, New Hampshire, USA.