Homicide: Life on the Street

Background:

Beginning acting after high school in local productions, and then in commercials, Kyle Secor got his big break in the early 1990s when he played Detective Tim Bayliss on the NBC police procedural drama, "Homicide: Life on the Street" (1993-1999), which earned him a Viewers for Quality Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Quality Drama Series in 1998.

Earlier in his career, Secor has appeared in such TV shows as "Santa Barbara" and "St. Elsewhere," as well as in the films "Heart of Dixie" (1989), "Sleeping with the Enemy" (1991), "Delusion" (1991), "City Slickers" (1991), "The Doctor" (1991), and "Late for Dinner" (1991). He would later added to his resume with roles in the films "Untamed Heart" (1993), "Drop Zone" (1994), "Endsville" (2000), and "Beat" (2000).

Post "Homicide: Life on the Street," Secor played recurring or regular roles in the TV series "Party of Five" (as Evan Stilman; 1999), "City of Angels" (as Dr. Raleigh Stewart; 2000), "Philly" (as Daniel X. Cavanaugh; 2001-2002), "Commander in Chief" (as First Gentleman Rod Calloway; 2005-2006), "Veronica Mars" as Jake Kane; 2004-2007), "Hidden Palms" (as Alan 'Skip' Matthews; 2007), and "Women's Murder Club" (as Hanson North; 2007).

This 6' 5" handsome player with a wistful, boyish look has been married twice. His present wife is actress Kari Coleman, with whom he has two children.

Kyle Ivan

Childhood and Family:

Born in Tacoma, Washington, on May 31, 1957, Kyle Ivan Secor was raised in the small town of Federal Way, Washington. His father worked as a salesman for Beechnut. The youngest of three sons, Kyle has two older brothers.

Kyle graduated from Federal Way High School in 1975, where he was an avid basketball player. However, his dreams of athletics and an Air Force career were ended because of his poor vision.

After graduating from high school, Kyle was supposed to leave for England for further studies, but began his acting career instead, after visiting his brother in California and acted in some plays. Kyle once attended Green River Community College in Auburn, Washington.

On August 19, 1979, Kyle married Michele Gilbert, but they divorced on March 20, 1982. Twenty years later, on January 28, 2002, he remarried to actress Kari Coleman and they have two children.

As of 2007, Kyle has been dividing his time between Baltimore and Los Angeles. Back in 1998, before beginning "Homicide: Life on the Street" (1993), he moved to Baltimore and put all of his possessions in storage in L.A. A year later, he returned and found that everything he owned had been stolen.

Kyle, who has been practicing Buddhism for years and has been ordained as a member of the Zen Peacemakers Order, is a certified yoga instructor trained in karate and kung fu.

Commander in Chief

Career:

"My first love really is acting. The directing stuff is just something I have a great interest in now, because I want to do my own projects, at some point." Kyle Secor.

After watching a performance of the musical play "Hello, Dolly!" at a local college, Kyle Secor began interested in acting and began acting in some local plays while visiting his brother in California, including James Goldman's "The Lion in Winter," Brandon Thomas' "Charley's Aunt," Peter Shaffer's "Equus," Tennessee Williams' "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," William Shakespeare's "Antony and Cleopatra," and Ketti Frings' "Look Homeward, Angel."

Meanwhile, Secor supported himself by working as a theater usher and an assistant manager at a pizza place. He also worked as a waiter, house cleaner, and a yoga instructor.

Secor then trained at the Los Angeles Actors and Directors Lab and with the improvisational group The Groundlings. He soon caught the attention of a couple of agents and appearing in several TV commercials.

He eventually landed his first acting role as Brian Bradford, an ex-mental patient, on the NBC award-winning soap opera "Santa Barbara," where he stayed from 1986 to 1987. Afterwards, he played the recurring role of Brett Johnston (1988) on the NBC medical drama "St. Elsewhere" and made his first TV-movie in a remake of a play based on a real-life case in 1925, "Inherit the Wind" (1988; starring Kirk Douglas, Jason Robards, and Darren McGavin).

In the early 1990s, Secor got his breakthrough year in features when he acted in five major studio releases: "Sleeping with the Enemy" (starring Julia Roberts), "Delusion," "City Slickers" (starring Billy Crystal), "The Doctor" (starring William Hurt), and "Late for Dinner" (with Peter Berg and Marcia Gay Harden; all in 1991).

From 1993 to 1999, Secor played the regular role of Detective Tim Bayliss on the NBC police procedural drama, "Homicide: Life on the Street," in which he made directorial debut with episode in 1999. His character, a primary one on the show, was loosely based on the real-life Det. Tom Pellegrini from David Simon's book "Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets." His performance in the show later earned him a Viewers for Quality Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Quality Drama Series in 1998.

On having a gay relationship in "Homicide: Life in the Street," Secor commented, "I thought, well, Peter and I, or some other guy, we're gonna end up kissing, and that's gonna be really... you know, kind of interesting for me as an actor."

While starring in the show, Secor also appeared in a public service announcement about teacher appreciation from NBC's "The More You Know." And following the demise of "Homicide: Life in the Street," he played the recurring role of a book editor on Fox's teen dramatic series "Party of Five" (1999).

He also joined cast of the CBS medical drama "City of Angels," playing Dr. Raleigh Stewart (2000), and had a regular role as Daniel X. Cavanaugh on the ABC fall crime drama series "Philly" (2001-2002), alongside Kim Delaney, Tom Everett Scott, and James Denton.

After guest-starring in an episode of CBS drama "Without a Trace" and in the TV movie version of Madeleine L'Engle's children's novel, "A Wrinkle in Time" (2003), Secor went on to play Jake Kane, the father of Veronica's ex-boyfriend Duncan Kane and dead best friend Lilly Kane, who invented streaming video, in the teen drama/mystery series starring Kristen Bell, "Veronica Mars." He played the character during the series' first season and later returned for the series finale.

During this time, Secor guest-starred in an episode of CBS cop/crime drama "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and co-starred with Kim Delaney in the made-for-television movie "Infidelity" (2004), an adaptation of Ann Pearlman's book. He was also cast as First Gentleman Rod Allen, the husband of the president (played by Geena Davis) and formerly her Vice Presidential Chief of Staff, in the ABC political drama "Commander-in-Chief" (2005-2006).

2007 saw Secor played Alan 'Skip' Matthews in multiple episodes of the short-lived teen drama series on the CW, "Hidden Palms," and played the recurring role of Defense Attorney Hanson North, who has a romantic history with Jill (played by Laura Harris) and is currently seeing her boss, Denise Kwon (played by Linda Park), on ABC police procedural and legal drama series "Women's Murder Club."

Awards:

• Viewers for Quality Television: Best Supporting Actor in a Quality Drama Series, "Homicide: Life on the Street," 1998