Law & Order

Background:

“I don’t like “NYPD Blue” (1993) because it tries to pretend it’s a New York show. You know it’s shot in a Hollywood back-lot. It’s so L.A., so un-New York....They all try to talk New York. They all sound stupid. “Law & Order” (1990) is one hundred times more authentic.” Chris Noth

A versatile performer with extensive credits and a professional ease on stage and film as well as television, Chris Noth compellingly succeeded roles as high power businessmen and working class heroes. He, however, probably is best known to TV audiences as sharp-witted Detective Mike Logan on the NBC acclaimed crime drama “Law & Order” (1990-1995). Commenting about his departure, he said, “’Law and Order’ is completely story-driven and completely characterless, really. If you do that format for five years and you’re an actor, you’re bound to get bored. It wears on you. And it was really wearing on me. But you need a job, and I felt awfully blessed to be in New York City and to be doing a show that was considered intelligent in the world of TV. But hey, five years is enough time.” Chris Noth on why he departed “Law & Order”

Three years later, the Irish-American player scored a strong comeback with his memorable portrayal of Sarah Jessica Parker’s on-again, off-again romancer “Mr. Big” in the massive critical and commercial hit series “Sex and the City” (1998-2004), where he took home a Golden Globe and Golden Satellite nominations. More recently, Noth reprised his “Law & Order” character for the spin-off series “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” (2005-2006).

Aside from his notable TV series assignments, the tall, dark-haired and quietly imposing performer also has done dozens of television films as well as big screen features. Among the projects in which he has acted in include Abducted: A Father’s Love (1996, TV), the blockbuster hit Cast Away (2000), the thriller The Glass House (2001), the indie film Searching for Paradise (2002), Mr. 3000 and Tooth Fairy (both 2004) and the romantic- comedy The Perfect Man (2005).

Off screen, the 6-foot 4-inch, handsome actor once was named one of Tropopkin’s “Top 25 Most Intriguing People.” He is the owner of a Manhattan nightclub called “The Cutting Room,” which named after the cutting-room floor, where countless actors’ best performances often end up. On a more personal note, Noth is very happily a long-established bachelor. Former girlfriends include actress Winona Ryder and supermodel Beverly Johnson, with whom he had a tremendously hot-blooded relationship that ended in lawsuit. In 2003, he reportedly dated actress Tara Wilson, whom he met while she was working at his bar in 2002.



Nomadic Life

Childhood and Family:

The youngest of three sons, Christopher David Noth was born on November 13, 1954 in Madison, Wisconsin. His father, Charles, passed away when Noth was eight years old, leaving him under the care of his mother, CBS News reporter Jeanne Parr. With his Irish descendent mother, young Noth traveled and lived in several countries such as England, Spain, and Serbia and Montenegro, but never stayed in the same place for too long.

Noth spent three years as an undergraduate at Marlboro College in southern Vermont, majoring in poetry-writing, and studied with the renowned acting coach Stanford Meisner after returning to the States. He received a MFA in Theater from the Yale School of Drama in 1985.


Mr. Big

Career:

Chris Noth had done several plays before making his wide screen debut in 1982 with a cameo role as a transvestite prostitute in the Susan Seidelman-directed interesting Smithereens. Following another bit part, as Cowley’s Office, in the comedy film Waitress! (1982), he withdrew from filmmaking while studying drama at Yale, where he participated in numerous stage productions. One of his remarkable theater works was playing the title role in a production of “Hamlet” (1985) for director Zoe Caldwell at the American Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Connecticut.

After completing his studies, Noth made his return to features with small parts in such films as Off Beat (1986), the Diane Keaton comedy Baby Boom (1987, appeared as a yuppie customer of a country store) and, in 1988, was cast in the leading role for the first time in Jakarta, the first English-language film shot in Indonesia with a native company. Meanwhile, Noth had a number of television projects such as on TV series “Hill Street Blues” (1986), playing a three episodic role of a misguided young police officer named Ron Lipsky, and “Another World” (1988). Other early credits include supporting parts in the ABC TV movie Killer in the Mirror (1986) and HBO’s Apology (1986), as well as a feature role in the true crime miniseries “At Mother’s Request” (1987), starring Ray Baker, George Bartenieff and Jay Bernard.

In 1990, Noth landed a notable stage role as Sergius in the Roundabout Theater production of “Arms and the Man,” but did not create huge impact until he was cast as a regular in the premiere episode of the NBC police/courtroom drama “Law & Order,” that same year. Offering a strong portrayal of the overconfident, troubled Detective Mike Logan, Noth became the most well-liked actor on the show. Despite gaining popularity, he opted to leave “Law & Order” in 1995.

While working on “Law & Order”, Noth also took on roles in TV films and went on to work in this capacity after he departed the acclaimed series. Among his credits was playing the starring role of a perceptive but hardnosed father who kidnaps his infant daughter from her insulting mom in the fascinating NBC film Abducted: A Father’s Love (1996), opposite Loryn Locklin. Also in 1996, he portrayed the parent of a teen who searches for a captured lion to the wilds of Africa in ABC’s Born Free: A New Adventure.

No longer fastened to the timetable of series TV, Noth could assumed more feature work and appeared in several independent films like The Deli (1997), Cold around the Heart (1997) and The Broken Giant (1998). During the same time, he kept his presence on the small screen by having a guest role as a rapist recently released from jail in an episode of the CBS highly-rated “Touched By an Angel” (1997), appeared as one of the cluster of men led by Theodore Roosevelt during the Spanish-American War in the TNT telefilm Rough Riders (1997), was featured in the ABC thriller Medusa’s Child (1997) and reprised his coveted role of Det. Mike Logan on the NBC TV-movie Exiled: A Law & Order Movie (1998).

Noth’s next big break arrived in 1998 when he returned to series television to play the attractive but terminally dishonest Mr. Big, the on-again/off-again boyfriend of jet set socialite columnist Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) in the HBO cultural phenomenon “Sex and the City,” a role he held until 2004. For his impressive performance, he was handed a Golden Globe (2002) and Golden Satellite (2003) nominations for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role.

Simultaneously, the actor continued to work in independent movies. His credits include a starring role apposite Robert Patrick and Joanne Whaley in the Venice Film Festival-screened Texas Funeral (1999) and a feature role as Justin Pierce’s father in the comedy Pigeonholed (1999). The following year, in addition to making his Broadway debut with a starring role in the revival of “The Best Man,” Noth also was cast as the husband of Helen Hunt in the hit movie Cast Away (2000), starring Tom Hanks. Noth then starred in and produced the NBC movie Steve Martini’s The Judge (2001), supported Leelee Sobieski and Diane Lane in the thriller film The Glass House (2001), costarred with Susan May Pratt in the indie drama Searching for Paradise (2002, lensed in 1999), played Pompey in the non-Shakespearean in the made-for-TV film Julius Caesar (2002), starred in the comedy television film Bad Apple (2004), as well as undertook supporting turns in the movies Mr. 3000 and Tooth Fairy (both 2004).

In 2005, Noth teamed up with Hilary Duff and Heather Locklear for the romantic comedy The Perfect Man, directed by Mark Rosman. The same year, ten years after he left “Law & Order,” the actor returned to playing the coveted role of Mike Logan for the sequel series “Law & Order: Criminal Intent.” He joined the series for 16 episodes of the 2005-2006 season, alternating episodes with the series’ established lead Vincent D’Onofrio, who had been suffering from tiredness.

Noth is set to play Steve Lynde in Frame of Mind (2007), about New Jersey police detective encounters new evidence in the Kennedy murder. The upcoming drama will star Sharon Angela as Mary, Vincent Curatola as Lt. John Mangione and Carl T. Evans as David Secca.


Awards:
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