The Closer

Background:

Darkly good-looking American lead and support actor who was cast in tough guy roles in the late 1980s and 1990s Jon Tenney got his career start on Broadway while still a student at the Juilliard School and soon after his debut performance in Mike Nichols' “The Real Thing,” appeared regularly on and off-Broadway, as well as in regional theater. Tenney segued to television in 1986, but got his real notice three years later after a notable guest turn in “Murphy Brown.” He went on to star in such short-lived shows as “Equal Justice” (ABC, 1990-1991), “Good Company” (CBS, 1996), but was probably best known for playing Patrol Sgt. Francis X. Donovan in “Brooklyn South” (CBS, 1997-1998). Currently, he is popular among TV drama fans as FBI Agent Fritz Howard on the TNT series “The Closer” (2004-present), from which he jointly received a SAG nomination. Also a busy film performer, the character actor has acted in such movies as “Nixon” (1995), “Twilight of the Golds” (1997), “Fools Rush In” (1997), and “With Friends Like These... (1998), “Advice from a Caterpillar” (1999), “You Can Count on Me” (2000), “Second Born” (2003) and “Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World” (2006).

As for his personal life, Tenney has a young daughter, Emerson Rose, with his former wife, popular television actress Teri Hatcher.

Hatcher's Ex

Childhood and Family:

The youngest of four children, Jonathan F. W. Tenney was born in Princeton, New Jersey, on December 16, 1961. His father was a research physicist and his mother was a psychiatrist. He graduated from Vassar College, from which he earned a B.A degree in drama and philosophy, and then went on to study at the prestigious Juilliard School in New York City. He quit later to embark on his stage career.

On May 27, 1994, Jon was married to actress Teri Hatcher, famous for playing Susan Mayer in “Desperate Housewives” (2004-2007). The couple divorced in March 2003, citing irreconcilable differences, and has since shared a custody to their only daughter, Emerson Rose Tenney (born on November 10, 1997). Jon is the cousin of writer Jay Wolf.

Brooklyn South

Career:

While still a student at The Juilliard School, Jon Tenney made his professional debut starring in the touring company of “The Real Thing,” directed by Mike Nichols. He left his studies and upon returning to New York, acted in Neil Simon's “Brighton Beach Memoirs” and “Biloxi Blues” on Broadway and also was cast as along side stars Mary Tyler Moore and Lynn Redgrave on the short-lived Broadway production of “Sweet Sue.” Other New York stage credits include “The Substance of Fire” and “The Heiress.”

Tenney began his TV career by having an episodic role in “Spencer: For Hire” in 1986, and went on to land a regular gig on Fox's “The Dirty Dozen,” two years later. In between, he made his TV debut in 1998's “Alone in the Neon Jungle,” a police drama co-starring Suzanne Pleshette and Danny Aiello. The actor, however, did not gain attention from casting directors until after he portrayed Josh Silverberg, the brother of Miles who has a fling with Candice Bergen's Murphy, on “The Brothers Silverberg,” a 1989 episode of the hit series “Murphy Brown” (1988-1998). This performance led to Tenney's role as Sarah Jessica Parker's lover in the ABC drama series “Equal Justice” (1990).

After a role supporting role in the made-for-TV film “Night Visions,” directed and written by Wes Craven, Tenney had his first taste in front of the film camera with a small role in the Robert De Niro-Annette Bening vehicle “Guilty By Suspicion” (1991). He resurfaced two years later in the Tom Flynn comedy “Watch it” and George P. Cosmatos' “Tombstone,” which starred Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer. He next appear in Eddie Murphy's “Beverly Hills Cop III” (1994), as one of cops made to appear foolish by Murphy, and “Lassie” (also 1994), as Steve Turner, “Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home” (1995), Oliver Stone's “Nixon” (1995). Meanwhile, on the small screen, he had a regular role in “Crime & Punishment” (1993), as Ken O'Donnell, and appeared in episodes of “Almost Perfect” (1995).

The rest of the 1990s saw Tenney continue alternating between work on TV and film. He was cast as Will Hennessy, an aspiring artist who leads a group that includes Lauren Graham (as his former girlfriend copywriter), Elizabeth Anne Smith, and Timothy Fall in the cute, but short-lived series “Good Company” (1996), had a featured role in the action/adventure film “The Phantom” (1996) and played a villain, Lt. Ching, on two episodes of “Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman” (1996). Tenney next costarred with Matthew Perry and Salma Hayek in “Fools Rush In,” supported Garry Marshall and Faye Dunaway for the thought-provoking film “The Twilight of the Golds” and portrayed Alan in Lovelife” (all 1997). Later that same year, he was cast in the starring role of Patrol Sgt. Francis X. Donovan on the CBS drama series “Brooklyn South,” which was canceled after a season. Tenney returned to series TV two years later as Mitch Green on the short-lived sitcom “Get Real” (1999). Meanwhile, he resumed his film credits with roles in “Homegrown” (1998), “With Friends Like These...” (1998), “Music from Another Room” (1998), “Advice from a Caterpillar” (1999, as Cynthia Nixon's married lover) and “Entropy” (1999).

Entering the new millennium, Tenney found himself taking on the leading role of a glossy politician on David Marshall Grant's Off-Broadway play “Current Events” (2000) and acting along side Laura Linney in the drama film “You Can Count on Me” (2000), which was nominated for two Oscars, including a Best Actress in a Leading Role for Linney. After portraying Tommy Ballantine on the TV series “Kristin” (2001), he played roles in such movies as “40” (2002), “Buying the Cow” (2002), “Second Born” (2003) and returned to the TV series realm again in 2004 in with a recurring role in the 2001 show “The Division,” starring Amy Jo Johnson.

It was also in 2005 that Tenney eventually got his real TV break when he was cast as FBI Agent Fritz Howard on the TNT series “The Closer” (2004-present), starring Kyra Sedgwick as Deputy Chief Brenda Johnson. In 2006, he jointly nabbed a Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series for his performance in the great series. His last feature, The Albert Brooks' comedy, “Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World,” received limited released in the U.S. in early 2006.

Awards:
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