Name	Masi Oka
Caption	Oka at the Heroes roadshow in Singapore, August 2007
Birthname	Masayori Oka
Birth date	December 27, 1974
Birth place	Tokyo, Japan
Occupation	Actor/Digital effects artist
Yearsactive	1998—

Masayori "Masi" Oka (; born December 27, 1974) is a Japanese-American actor and digital effects artist.

He has performed in numerous feature films and TV shows, most prominently as Hiro Nakamura in the NBC TV series Heroes from 2006 until its cancellation in May 2010. He resides in Los Angeles, California.

Early life

Oka was born in Tokyo, Japan. His parents divorced when he was one month old; he was raised in a single parent family and has never met his father. His mother moved to Los Angeles, California, United States when he was six years old. At age eight, he appeared on the CBS-TV game show Child's Play. In 1987, a twelve-year-old Oka was featured on the cover of Time titled "Those Asian-American Whiz Kids". Though he was not featured in the article itself, he was acquainted with the photographer who conducted the shoot.

Oka landed his first job after graduation at Industrial Light & Magic, George Lucas's motion picture visual special effects company, with the hope of one day earning an Oscar for technical work on a motion picture. Oka was also featured in the San Francisco Chronicle with ILM co-worker Anthony Shafer in a pre-dot-com article where he echoed his desire to meld acting and technology. He worked on the Star Wars prequel trilogy.

Acting career

Oka first tried his hand at acting in 2000. He earned a Screen Actors Guild card by appearing in industry films, then moved to Los Angeles. ILM stipulated in his contract that he could work at its Los Angeles branch, but would have to return to their Marin County location if he did not get cast for a recurring role that season. Oka did get cast for a pilot. Although the show was not picked up, it did satisfy the contract's requirements and he was allowed to stay in Los Angeles. He decided to continue pursuing acting. He landed several guest spots and then a recurring role as Franklyn on the ABC comedy Scrubs. He was also featured in a North American commercial for Sega's PlayStation 2 video game, Shinobi, with the catch phrase 'Shinobi's back!' in front of Sega's Shinobi arcade cabinet. Oka guest starred in the Yes, Dear episode "Dances with Couch", aired April 8, 2002.

Oka also has a 20-second spot in Austin Powers in Goldmember where he had to say "It looks like Godzilla, but due to international copyright laws, it's not".

In 2006, Oka was cast for the role of Hiro Nakamura in Heroes. Oka translates his dialogue from the show's scripts from English to Japanese; English subtitles accompany his Japanese dialogue on the show. Additionally, Oka's real voice is closer to that of "Future Hiro" than the higher-pitched voice he uses as "Present Hiro" as heard during his appearances on Heroes.

His portrayal of the role earned him a Golden Globe Award nomination that year in the "Best Supporting Actor on a TV Series" category and an Emmy Award nomination for best supporting actor in a drama series, the only actor on Heroes to be nominated for both awards. In addition to his work on the show, he continues to work at ILM up to three days a week as a Research and Development Technical Director, writing programs that create special effects. In 2007, he presented an award with Heroes co-star Hayden Panettiere on the 20th annual Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards.

Oka plays the American-born coroner Max Bergman in CBS' Hawaii Five-0 reboot.

Interests

Oka is fluent in Japanese, English and Spanish. His hobbies include kendo where he carries the rank of shodan, playing video games, watching and writing romantic comedies, playing the piano, beatboxing, and singing. He avidly collects manga; his current favorites include Eyeshield 21, One Piece and PLUTO, and he professes to be a big fan of Naoki Urasawa's other works. In 1988, he placed fourth in the California state MATHCOUNTS competition, and was one of the four students to represent the state of California in the national competition. He has been a guild leader in World of Warcraft, a popular MMORPG video game.

Filmography

As an actor

{| class="wikitable" |- ! Year || Title || Role || Notes |- |rowspan="3" valign="top"| 2001 || Dharma & Greg || Nien-Jen || Guest appearance |- | Citizen Baines || Staffer Dan || Guest appearance |- | Gilmore Girls || Philosophy Student || Guest appearance |- |rowspan="6" valign="top"| 2002 || Yes, Dear || Talking Rock || Guest appearance |- | Sabrina, the Teenage Witch || Male Council Member || Guest appearance |- | Austin Powers in Goldmember || Japanese Pedestrian || |- | She Spies || Guy || Guest appearance |- | The Jamie Kennedy Experiment || Various || 4 episodes 2002-2003 |- | Scrubs || Franklyn || 5 episodes 2002-2004 |- |rowspan="4" valign="top"| 2003 || On the Spot || Japanese Tourist || Guest appearance |- | Uh-Oh! || Asian Man || |- | || Congressional Intern || Uncredited |- | Luis || Deng Wu || |- |rowspan="3" valign="top"| 2004 || Along Came Polly || Wonsuk || |- | Still Standing || Ronald || Guest appearance |- | All of Us || Edwin || Guest appearance |- |rowspan="7" valign="top"| 2005 || Less Than Perfect || Hideki || Guest appearance |- | Reno 911! || Translator || Guest appearance |- | The Proud Family Movie || Japanese Kid/Announcer || Voice only |- | House of the Dead 2: Dead Aim || Stanley Tong || |- | Joey || Arthur || Guest appearance |- | God Wears My Underwear || Brother Eo || Voice only |- | Punk'd || Translator || Guest appearance |- |rowspan="6" valign="top"| 2006 || One Sung Hero || KJ || |- | Reba || IRS Agent Phung || Guest appearance |- | Without a Trace || Wei Fan || Guest appearance |- | The Loop || Wang || Guest appearance |- | The Sarah Silverman Program || Clerk || |- | Heroes || Hiro Nakamura || 2006–2010 |- |rowspan="5" valign="top"| 2007|| Balls of Fury || Jeff, Feng's mens room attendant || |- | Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip || Himself || Guest appearance |- | Reno 911! || Foreign Tourist || Guest appearance |- | Robot Chicken || Japanese Mr. Rogers/ Chachi || Guest appearance |- | Jane Doe: Ties That Bind || Agent Osaka || |- |rowspan="3" valign="top"| 2008|| Get Smart || Bruce || |- | || Bruce || |- | The Promotion || Loan Officer || |- |rowspan="1" valign="top"| 2009|| Fired Up || Eagle Mascot || |- |rowspan="3" valign="top"| 2010|| Searching for Sonny || Sonny Bosco || |- | Hawaii Five-0 ||Max Bergman|| |}

As a digital effects artist

{| class="wikitable" |- ! Year || Title || Notes |- | 1998 || Mighty Joe Young || CG technical assistant: Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) |- | 1999 || || visual effects production and technical support: ILM |- | 2000 || The Perfect Storm || digital artist: ILM |- | 2002 || || digital effects artist: ILM |- |rowspan="2" valign="top"| 2003 || Hulk || technical director: ILM |- | || CG artist: ILM |- |rowspan="2" valign="top"| 2005 || || digital artist: ILM |- | War of the Worlds || digital artist: ILM |- | 2006 || || digital artist: ILM |}

As narrator

{| class="wikitable" |- ! Year || Title || Notes |- | 2008 || Discovery Atlas || Episode "Japan Revealed" |}

References

External links

Daily Telegraph Article

NY Times Article

Brown University "From Special Effects to Acting, CS Alum Masi Oka is One of the 'Heroes'"

Brown Daily Herald by Alissa Cerny 9/18/06 "Brown alum snags big role in NBC series 'Heroes'"

Time magazine cover - August 31, 1987 (Masi Oka is to the farthest left)

Video of Masi Oka discussing his role on the hit TV series, Heroes, plus making special effects for the movie, Star Wars.

Nichi Bei Times Interview

San Francisco Chronicle Article

Category:1974 births Category:Actors from New York City Category:American film actors Category:American kendoka Category:American television actors Category:American actors of Japanese descent Category:Brown University alumni Category:American people of Japanese descent Category:Living people Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States Category:Japanese immigrants to the United States Category:Actors from California Category:People from Tokyo Category:Special effects people

Name	Tavis Smiley
Birthname	Tavis Smiley
Birth date	September 13, 1964
Birth place	Gulfport, Mississippi United States
Age	46
Education	Indiana University
Occupation	Talk show host Author Entrepreneur Advocate Philanthropist
Gender	Male
Status	Single
Ethnicity	African-American
Religion	Christian
Credits	Tavis Smiley host (2004–present) The Tavis Smiley Show from PRI (radio) host (2005-present) "Smiley & West" co-host (2010-present) BET Tonight with Tavis Smiley host (1996–2001)
Url	http://www.tavistalks.com/

Tavis Smiley (; born September 13, 1964) is an American talk show host, author, political commentator, entrepreneur, advocate and philanthropist. Smiley was born in Gulfport, Mississippi and grew up in Kokomo, Indiana. After attending Indiana University, he worked during the late 1980s as an aide to Tom Bradley, the mayor of Los Angeles. Smiley became a radio commentator in 1991, and starting in 1996 he hosted the talk show BET Talk (later renamed BET Tonight) on BET. Controversially, after Smiley sold an exclusive interview of Sara Jane Olson to ABC News in 2001, BET declined to renew Smiley's contract that year. Smiley then began hosting The Tavis Smiley Show on NPR from 2002 to 2004 and currently hosts Tavis Smiley on PBS on the weekdays and "The Tavis Smiley Show" from PRI. Most recently, he and best friend Dr. Cornel West have joined forces for their own radio talk show, "Smiley & West".

Early years

Tavis Smiley was born in Gulfport, Mississippi, the son of Joyce Marie Roberts, a single mother who first became pregnant at age 18. On September 13, 1966, just shy of his second birthday, his mother married Emory Garnell Smiley, a non-commisioned officer in the U.S. Air Force. It would not be until a few years later that Tavis would learn the identity of his biological father, whom he identifies in his autobiography, What I Know For Sure: My Story of Growing Up in America only as "T."

His family soon moved to Indiana because his stepfather had been transferred to Grissom Air Force Base near Peru, Indiana. Upon arriving in Indiana, the Smiley family took up residence in a crowded mobile home in the small town of Bunker Hill, Indiana. Smiley's immediate family size was increased following the homicide of his aunt, whose death left five children with no stable home. Smiley's parents agreed to take in and raise their five orphaned nieces and nephews. Joyce and her husband also had eight children of their own over the years, resulting at one point in 13 children and Mr. and Mrs. Smiley all living in the trailer-home. Smiley's mother was a very religious person, and the family attended the local New Bethel Tabernacle Church, part of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World. The Smiley children were forbidden from listening to secular music at home and going to the movie theater and could watch television shows that their parents felt were family-friendly. When Tavis Smiley was in seventh grade, New Bethel pastor Elder Rufus Mills accused Tavis and his siblings of "running wild, disobeying their teacher, disrespecting their teacher, disrespecting the sanctity of this building, and mocking the holy message being taught" during Sunday School. According to Smiley's account of the incident, Smiley's Sunday School teacher became more confused as she was asking questions about the Book of John, and while other students "responded by giggling and acting a little unruly," he and his sister Phyllis "remained quiet". Garnell whipped Tavis and Phyllis with an extension cord, wounding the two children. The next day at school, administrators found out about the children's injuries. The local newspaper in Kokomo reported on the beating and the legal proceedings against Garnell, and Tavis and Phyllis were sent to foster care temporarily, Garnell told his children that the judge decided that he had "overreacted" and found he and Joyce as "concerned parents who were completely involved in our children's lives and well-being".

Smiley became interested in politics at age 13 after attending a fundraiser for U.S. Senator Birch Bayh. Smiley was active in student council and the debate team, even though his parents were "skeptical of all non-church extracurricular activities."

College and political career

In 1982, Smiley enrolled in Indiana University Bloomington (IU). Because Smiley's parents refused to fill out financial aid papers, Smiley entered Indiana University with only $50 and a small suitcase. Administrators let Smiley complete the proper paperwork to be a full-time student. The summer after his freshman year, Smiley worked, attended summer classes, and lived off campus with Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball players, then being coached by Bobby Knight. Smiley was accepted into the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity during his sophomore year and became business manager of his dormitory, a member of the student senate, and director of minority affairs. After his friend Denver Smith was killed by Indiana police officers who claimed to have acted in self-defense, Smiley helped lead protests to defend Smith, whom he believed had been wrongfully killed. Those protests led Smiley to a work-study internship at the office of Bloomington mayor Tomilea Allison. Being paid $5 an hour, Smiley wrote letters to local residents, researched for Mayor Allison, and helped write positions on local issues. Mayor Allison rebuked Smiley for padding his time sheets and had Smiley work off the extra hours without pay. During his first semester of junior year, Smiley was under academic probation and blamed his extracurricular activities for interfering with his studies. When Smiley visited Los Angeles to attend a national student leaders' convention, the cousin of his roommate introduced Smiley to football star Jim Brown. Brown introduced Smiley to fellow football player George Hughley, who worked for Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley and connected Smiley to Mayor Bradley's staff. Every week since meeting Bradley's staff, Smiley wrote a letter to the mayor's office asking for an internship and once personally flew to Los Angeles to appeal. However, by summertime he received a letter from the city stating that all internship positions were filled. Smiley then handwrote a letter from the mayor that he said represented his feeling "from the heart", and Bradley called Smiley to say that he had a position available for Smiley. As the internship was unpaid but counted for college credit, the Bloomington Community Progress Council funded Smiley with $5,000 for living expenses in Los Angeles, and Brown allowed Smiley to live as a houseguest during September 1985. Starting the next month, Smiley lived in the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity house in the University of Southern California. At City Hall, Smiley worked at the Office of Youth Development on the 22nd floor.

Twice, Smiley considered quitting college, first during junior year, and then after finishing his internship with Mayor Bradley. Bradley successfully convinced Smiley to return to college, and Smiley did. Smiley took the LSAT twice, as he was considering attending Harvard Law School. However, in his senior year, he failed a test in a computer class after being accused of copying another student's, so he failed that class and several others and lacked nine hours of credits and thus did not graduate from IU. Following a hiring freeze by the government of Los Angeles, Smiley served as an aide to Mayor Bradley until 1990. A 1988 article in the Los Angeles Times identified Smiley as "a Bradley administrative assistant who works in South Los Angeles."

Radio and television career

Campaigning for a seat on the Los Angeles City Council in 1991 against incumbent Ruth Galanter, Smiley finished fourth among 15 candidates. Smiley became a radio commentator, broadcasting one-minute daily radio segments called The Smiley Report on KGFJ radio. For six months, Smiley worked on a community news program on a local cable network and spent six more months working on television in Montreal.

In 1996, Smiley became a frequent commentator on the Tom Joyner Morning Show, a nationally syndicated radio show broadcast on black and urban stations in the United States. He developed a friendship with host Joyner; together they began hosting annual town hall meetings beginning in 2000 called "The State of the Black Union" which were aired live on the C-SPAN cable television network. These town hall meetings each focused on a specific topic affecting the African-American community, featuring a panel of African-American leaders, educators, and professionals assembled before an audience to discuss problems related to the forum's topic, as well as potential solutions. Smiley also used his commentator status on Joyner's radio show to launch several advocacy campaigns to highlight discriminatory practices in the media and government and to rally support for causes such as the awarding of a Congressional Gold Medal to civil rights icon Rosa Parks. Smiley also began building a national reputation as a political commentator with numerous appearances on political discussion shows on MSNBC, ABC, and CNN.

Also in 1996, Smiley began hosting and executive producing BET Tonight (originally BET Talk when it first premiered), a public affairs discussion show on the Black Entertainment Television (BET) network. Smiley interviewed major political figures and celebrities and discussed topics ranging from racial profiling and police brutality to R&B; music and Hollywood gossip. Smiley hosted BET Tonight until 2001, when in a controversial move, the network announced that Smiley's contract would not be renewed. This sparked an angry response from Joyner, who sought to rally his radio audience to protest BET's decision. Robert L. Johnson, founder of BET, defended the decision, stating that Smiley had been fired because he had sold an exclusive interview to ABC News without first offering the story to BET, even though Smiley's contract with BET did not require him to do so. Smiley countered with the assertion that he had offered the story — an interview with Sara Jane Olson, an alleged former member of the Symbionese Liberation Army — to CBS, which, along with BET, was owned by Viacom. Smiley ultimately sold the interview to rival network ABC, he said, only after CBS passed on the interview, and suggested that his firing was payback for the publicity he gained as a result of providing an exclusive interview to ABC. Ultimately BET and Viacom did not reverse their decision to terminate Smiley's contract.

Smiley was then offered a chance to host a radio talk show on National Public Radio. He served as host of The Tavis Smiley Show on NPR until December 2004 when he announced that he would be leaving his NPR show, citing the network's inability to reach a more diverse audience. Smiley launched a weekly version of his radio program The Tavis Smiley Show on April 29, 2005, distributed by NPR rival Public Radio International. On October 1, 2010, Tavis Smiley turned the second hour of his PRI program into Smiley & West co-hosted by his longtime collaborator Dr. Cornel West. Smiley also hosts Tavis Smiley, a late night talk show televised on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) network and produced in association with WNET in New York.

Smiley moderated two live presidential candidate forums in 2007: a Democratic forum on June 28 at Howard University in Washington, D.C., and a Republican forum on September 27 at Morgan State University in Baltimore.

Smiley appears on the Democracy Now! show.

Controversy over Presidential Candidate Barack Obama

On April 11, 2008, Tavis Smiley announced that he would resign in June 2008 as a commentator on the Tom Joyner Morning Show. He cited fatigue and a busy schedule in a personal call to Joyner. However Joyner—referring to several commentaries in which Smiley was critical of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama—indicated otherwise on his program, stating: "The real reason is that he can't take the hate he's been getting regarding the Barack issue—hate from the black people that he loves so much." Prior to the public controversy and being elected President, Obama had been on Smiley's PBS show six times.

The Covenant with Black America

In March 2006, The Smiley Group and Third World Press published The Covenant with Black America, a collection of essays by black scholars and professionals edited by Smiley. The book covers topics ranging from education to healthcare as discussed in several "State of the Black Union" forums.

Described by the publisher as a national plan of action to address the primary concerns of African-Americans related to social and economic disparities but seen by others as a self-promoting rehash of old ideas, the book became the first non-fiction book by a Black-owned publisher to be listed as the number-one non-fiction paperback in America by The New York Times Best Seller list.

Awards and contributions

Smiley was honored with the NAACP Image Award for best news, talk, or information series for three consecutive years (1997–99) for his work on BET Tonight with Tavis Smiley.

Smiley's advocacy efforts have earned him numerous awards and recognitions including the recipient of the Mickey Leland Humanitarian Award from the National Association of Minorities in Communications.

In 1999, he founded the Tavis Smiley Foundation, which funds programs that develop young leaders in the black community. Since its inception, more than 6,000 young people have participated in the foundation's Youth to Leaders Training workshops and conferences.

His communications company, The Smiley Group, Inc., serves as the holding company for various enterprises encompassing broadcast and print media, lecturers, symposiums, and the Internet.

In 1994, Time named him one of America's 50 Most Promising Young Leaders. Time would later honor him in 2009 as one of the "100 Most Influential People in the World." In May 2007, Smiley gave a commencement speech at his alma mater, Indiana University at Bloomington, Indiana. In May 2008, he gave the commencement address at Connecticut College, where he was awarded an honorary doctorate. In May 2009, Smiley was awarded an honorary doctorate at Langston University after giving the commencement address there.

On December 12, 2008, Smiley received the Du Bois Medal from Harvard University's W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research.

He would also be awarded the 2009 Interdependence Day Prize from Demos in Istanbul, Turkey.

Indiana University recently honored Smiley by naming the atrium of its School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA) building, The Tavis Smiley Atrium.

Smiley would be named No. 2 change agent in the field of media behind Oprah Winfrey in EBONY magazine's POWER 150 list.

In 2011, Tavis Smiley will celebrate 20 years in broadcasting.

Bibliography

Just a Thought: The Smiley Report (ISBN 0-963-69523-1)

Doing What's Right: How to Fight for What You Believe—And Make a Difference (ISBN 0-385-49931-0)

Hard Left (ISBN 0-385-48404-6)

Keeping the Faith: Stories of Love, Courage, Healing, and Hope from Black America (ISBN 0-385-72169-2)

How to Make Black America Better: Leading African Americans Speak Out (ISBN 0-385-72087-4)

On Air:The Best of Tavis Smiley on the Tom Joyner Morning Show (ISBN 1-890194-33-6)

The Covenant with Black America (ISBN 0-88378-277-4)

What I Know for Sure: My Story of Growing Up in America (ISBN 978-0-385-50516-1; ISBN 0-388-50516-7)

''Accountable: Making America As Good As Its Promise

References

Further reading

LaRue, William. "Tavis Smiley: NPR Host Brings Latenight Talk to PBS." Syracuse (NY) Post-Standard, 1 February 2004, STARS section, pp. 4–6.

Slade, Scott. "Author Issues Wakeup Call." Kokomo (IN) Tribune, 20 June 1996, p. 7.

External links

www.tavistalks.com Official web site

Tavis Smiley on WNET/PBS

Tavis Smiley at NPR

Tavis Smiley: The State of the Black Union Interview

Tavis Smiley on Rev. Martin Luther King and His Opposition to the Vietnam War - video by Democracy Now!

Category:1964 births Category:Living people Category:African American radio personalities Category:American journalists Category:American memoirists Category:American Pentecostals Category:American philanthropists Category:American political writers Category:American talk radio hosts Category:American television talk show hosts Category:Indiana University alumni Category:National Public Radio personalities Category:People from Gulfport, Mississippi Category:People from Kokomo, Indiana Category:People from Los Angeles, California Category:People from Montreal Category:People from Peru, Indiana Category:Public Radio International personalities

Name	Nate Torrence
Birthdate	December 01, 1977
Birthplace	Canton, Ohio, U.S.
Birthname	Nathan Andrew Torrence
Occupation	Actor
Yearsactive	2003–present
Spouse	Christie Mullet

Nathan Andrew "Nate" Torrence (born December 1, 1977) is an American comedic actor known for his numerous roles in television advertisements.

Childhood and education

Torrence was born in Canton, Ohio where he began his education. Torrence attended Hiland High School in Berlin, Ohio. and went on to attend Kent State University: Stark Campus. His family owns and operates a bed and breakfast in Berlin. After studying with Second City's Players Workshop in Chicago, Illinois, Torrence began touring in a comedy troupe called Corn, Beef and Cabbage, where he wrote, improvised and performed with his older brother, Jay and friend Josh Ruth. Torrence additionally studied improv at Second City in Cleveland and in Los Angeles, and The Groundlings and Comedy Sportz in Los Angeles.

Career

Torrence has appeared on television programs including , Malcolm in the Middle, How I Met Your Mother, Las Vegas, House M.D., and Ghost Whisperer. He had a recurring role as Dylan Killington on the NBC drama Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.

He is best known for his role as a credit card customer service representative with David Spade, in the Capital One "What's In Your Wallet" advertising campaign. He has also appeared in several other commercials, including for Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Volkswagen, Golden Grahams, H-E-B, and NFL.com.

In December 2006, Torrence appeared in an episode of Top Chef (season 2) on Bravo TV. The contestants were showcasing holiday food; Nate Torrence was one of the tasters, although he is not credited.

He played Lloyd, a lab assistant, in the remake Get Smart and reprises the role to star in the direct-to-DVD spinoff . Torrence has also played Crazy Shirtless Boxing Man on Reno 911, and Devon in the 2010 comedy She's Out of My League.

Torrence will appear in the upcoming ABC network comedy Mr. Sunshine, which is scheduled as a midseason replacement for the 2010-11 television season.

References

External links

Category:1977 births Category:American film actors Category:American television actors Category:Living people Category:People from Canton, Ohio

Name	George Takei
Caption	Takei at UFP Con One, 1996
Birth name	George Hosato Takei
Birth date	April 20, 1937
Birth place	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Years active	1958–present
Occupation	Actor
Spouse	Brad Altman (2008–present)
Website	http://www.GeorgeTakei.com

George Hosato Takei Altman (born April 20, 1937) is an American actor of Japanese descent, best known for his role in the television series , in which he played Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the . He is an outspoken proponent of gay rights and active in state and local politics as well as continuing his acting career. He has won several awards and accolades in his work on human rights and Japanese-American relations, including his work with the Japanese American National Museum.

Early life

Takei was born in Los Angeles, California in 1937. He was named after King George VI who ascended the throne the same year. In 1942, the Takei family was originally housed in the horse stables of Santa Anita Park before being sent to the Rohwer War Relocation Center for internment in Arkansas. The family was later transferred to the Tule Lake War Relocation Center in California. Despite this experience, the family developed a renewed dedication and remained involved in the American democratic process. He and his family returned to Los Angeles at the end of World War II. He attended Mount Vernon Junior High School, where he served as student body president, and Los Angeles High School.

Upon graduation from high school Takei then enrolled in the University of California at Berkeley where he studied architecture. Later he attended the University of California at Los Angeles, where he received a bachelor of arts in theater in 1960 and a master of arts in theater in 1964. He attended the Shakespeare Institute at Stratford-Upon-Avon in England, and Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan. In Hollywood, he studied acting at the Desilu Workshop. Takei is fluent in English and Japanese.

Early career

Takei began his career in Hollywood in the late 1950s, at a time when Asian faces were rarely seen on television and movie screens. His first role was providing voiceover for several characters in the English dub of Japanese monster films such as Godzilla Raids Again and Rodan, followed by an appearance in the Emmy award winning television series Playhouse 90. Takei subsequently appeared alongside such actors as Richard Burton in Ice Palace, Jeffrey Hunter in Hell to Eternity, Alec Guinness in A Majority of One, James Caan in Red Line 7000 and Cary Grant in Walk Don't Run. He played Captain Nim, an ARVN LLDB (Luc Luong Dac Biet- Special Forces) officer alongside John Wayne's character in the 1968 Vietnam War era film, The Green Berets. He starred in "The Encounter", a controversial episode of the Emmy Award winning television show The Twilight Zone.

He had an uncredited role in the 1963 film PT-109 as the helmsman who steers the Japanese destroyer over John F. Kennedy's PT-109. He appeared in Walk Don't Run (1966) with Cary Grant and Samantha Eggar and he starred in an episode of during that show's first season in 1966. He also appeared in two Jerry Lewis comedies, The Big Mouth and Which Way to the Front?

Star Trek

In 1965, producer Gene Roddenberry cast him as Mr. Sulu in the second Star Trek pilot and eventually the television series. While working on the show he appeared as Captain Nim in The Green Berets. It was intended that Sulu's role be expanded in the second season, but due to Takei's part in Green Berets, he only appeared in half the season, with his role being filled by Walter Koenig as Pavel Chekov. When Takei returned, the two had to share a dressing room and a single episode script. Takei admitted in an interview that he initially felt threatened by Walter's presence, but later grew to be friends with him as the image of the officers sharing the ship's helm panel side-by-side became iconic.

Takei has since appeared in numerous TV and film productions, including the first six Star Trek motion pictures, and today he is a regular on the sci-fi convention circuit throughout the world. He has also acted and provided voice acting for several science fiction computer games, including Freelancer and numerous Star Trek games. In 1996, in honor of the 30th anniversary of Star Trek, he reprised his role as Captain Hikaru Sulu on an episode of , appearing as a memory of Lt. Tuvok, who served on the USS Excelsior under Sulu, during the events of .

Takei is one of a number of Star Trek supporting cast members whose difficulties with William Shatner have become public. However, in an interview in the 2004 DVD set for the second season of , Takei said of Shatner: "He's just a wonderful actor who created a singular character. No one could have done Kirk the way Bill did. His energy and his determination, that's Bill. And that's also Captain Kirk." He appeared alongside Shatner on the Comedy Central Roast of William Shatner in which the two mocked each other in good humor and embraced, Takei noting that he was "honored" to be there "despite our past tensions".

In a radio interview on The Adam Carolla Show on June 19, 2008, Takei implied that part of his problems with Shatner began when he came out of the closet for the first time and his sexuality was accepted by almost everyone on the cast and crew of Star Trek except Shatner. Shatner was a guest on the same radio show some weeks earlier and expressed complete bewilderment as to why George Takei has such difficulties with him. According to Shatner, he has asked Takei repeatedly over the years to discuss his differences with him, but has been repeatedly rebuffed.

Takei is also one of six actors (the other actors being Jonathan Frakes, Kate Mulgrew, Michael Dorn, Avery Brooks and Majel Barrett) to lend his voice to Star Trek: Captain's Chair, reprising his role of Captain Hikaru Sulu when users visit the bridge of the original Enterprise in Star Trek: Captain's Chair.

In the summer of 2007, Takei reprised his role of Sulu in the fan-made Internet based series .

After Star Trek

1970s

In 1972, Takei was an alternate delegate from California to the Democratic National Convention. The following year, he ran for City Council of Los Angeles, finishing second, losing by just 1,647 votes. During the campaign, Takei's bid for the city councilman's seat caused one local station to stop running the repeats of the original Star Trek series until after the election and KNBC-TV to substitute the premiere episode of the scheduled by the network with another in which his character did not appear, in attempts to avoid violating the FCC's equal-time rule. The other candidates in the race complained that Takei's distinctive and powerful voice alone, even without his image, on television every week created an unfair advantage.

Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley later appointed Takei to the board of directors of the Southern California Rapid Transit District, making him part of the team that initiated and planned the Los Angeles subway system. Takei was called away from the set of in 1978 to cast the tie-breaking vote for the creation of the Los Angeles subway system. He served eleven years on the board.

Also during this period Takei began his friendship with the future Mayor of West Hollywood and current member of the Los Angeles City Council Paul Koretz.

In 1979, Takei with Robert Asprin co-wrote the science-fiction novel Mirror Friend, Mirror Foe.

1980s

In 1986, Takei was featured in the comic strip Bloom County in a Binkley Bulletin report that Takei was to wed singer Marie Osmond.

In 1986, Takei starred in "The Wish Child", a second season episode of MacGyver.

In 1987, Takei guest starred in "By Hooker By Crook", a third season episode of Miami Vice. He played sushi-eating drug lord Kenneth Tagaru, whose office was filled with large fish tanks stocked with koi. This episode is noteworthy for the love scene between Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith, as well as the shoot-out finale where Tagaru is killed and several fish tanks are shot open, spilling out hundreds of gallons of water and dozens of fish.

He has also done voice-overs for two Hanna-Barbera shows. One of them include The New Adventures of Jonny Quest and the final season of The Smurfs.

1990s

In the 1990s and early part of the twenty-first century he had guest star appearances on some science fiction television series. He played himself in a 3rd Rock from the Sun episode about a science fiction convention, and an episode of Malcolm in the Middle. In 1998, he was the voice of First Ancestor Fa in Disney's Chinese-themed Mulan animated feature. He also played the villainous Mr. Fixx in the premiere episode of the acclaimed DC Animated Universe animated series, Batman Beyond. Takei has also done a voice appearance in the Spider-Man Animated series in 1994 as a monk.

In 1990, Takei appeared in the Australian film Prisoners of the Sun as a Japanese vice-admiral being tried for war crimes. The film also featured Takei's friend, Russell Crowe.

In the NBC TV series Brotherly Love, Joey goes to a sci-fi/comics convention and runs into a man dressed in a Star Trek original series uniform, who claims he is a fan of Star Trek, and of Takei himself. The man is played by Takei.

In 1993, Takei reprised his role again in the Star Trek video game .

In 1994, Takei published his autobiography, "To the Stars." At one point he had hoped to do a movie or telefilm based on chapters dealing with the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, of which he had personal experience.

In 1998, Takei supplied the voice of Ptolemy in an episode of the popular Disney TV series Hercules.

Also in 1998 Takei appeared in the eleventh episode in season two of Muppets Tonight as a parody of himself when Beaker goes on a Star Trek cruise.

Takei appeared as Warlord Shank on the hit Nickelodeon TV show Space Cases.

He has also appeared in The Simpsons three times, voicing Akira in "One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish" and "The Old Man and the Key" and voiced Wink in "Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo".

2000s

He provided the voice of his own head in a jar in the Futurama episode "Where No Fan Has Gone Before". In an episode of Scrubs aired May 4, 2004 entitled "My Best Friend's Wedding" Takei appeared as a clergyman who looked like Mr. Sulu. He also provided the voice for The Warden on the episode "Imprisoned." He also guest starred on an episode of Will & Grace as himself, after he came out for the first time on television.

In 2002, Takei guest starred on the comedy show Son of the Beach as a grandfather telling a bedtime story to his grandson.

In 2003, Takei voiced the part of Lord Hakira, a Japanese themed lord, in Microsoft and Digital Anvils space-based video game Freelancer.

Takei appeared on the NBC show, Thank God You're Here, an improvised comedy program, in the episode originally airing on April 18, 2007. Takei walked onto the set, and after a few seconds when none of the other actors uttered the standard first line ("Thank God you're here!"), Takei began the scene with "Thank God I'm here!"

In March 2006, Takei played himself again in an episode of Will & Grace entitled "Buy, Buy Baby" during the show's eighth, and final, season.

In the Cory in the House episode "Air Force One Too Many", Takei plays the Steward on Air Force One, Ronald, and utters his catch phrase when he experiences stomach problems.

In an episode of the TV series Psych, Takei guest-starred as a mildly exaggerated version of himself at a sci-fi convention, and the two main characters pose as his personal assistants in order to solve a murder mystery at the convention later becoming his personal assistants for the length of the convention.

In August 2006, Takei was a guest on the Comedy Central Roast of William Shatner. He sat on the dais, and was one of the many people who took part in the roasting, in which he took the time to verbally poke fun at Shatner.

Also in 2006, Takei played the role of the psychiatrist in a Los Angeles, Calif revival of Equus, done at East West Players.

In January 2007, Takei began appearing on Heroes, as a successful business man and also the father of one of the main characters Hiro Nakamura, who also happens to be an obsessive fan of Star Trek. In the first episode Takei is portrayed, "Distractions", the license plate of the limo he arrives in is NCC-1701, another reference to the Star Trek series. He has appeared in seasons one, two, three and four.

Takei made an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live in a mock public service announcement to show his disappointment over basketball star Tim Hardaway's homophobic remarks. Takei, speaking for the gay community, explained "We don't hate you. As a matter of fact, we like you. We like you very much." Takei then compliments Hardaway's calves and shaved head, letting his hand linger over the crotch of Hardaway's image. Takei ends by letting it be known that one day, when Hardaway least expects it, Takei will have sex with him.

Takei appeared regularly on the Howard Stern Radio Show, making quarterly week-long appearances and is credited as the show's announcer. Running themes involving Takei are plays on his deep voice, prank phone calls made with clips of his laughter, and jokes about Takei's sexuality. Takei has been welcomed to the show by its fans and he has won a loyal following with his good-natured participation in the show and his openness and candor.

It is urban legend that visitors to the Memphis International Airport can hear Takei's unmistakable voice over the intercom system. Ruth Greene, an administrator at the airport, verifies this urban legend as false.

Takei made a small cameo as himself in the 2008 movie You Don't Mess with the Zohan.

Takei played the role of a ninja trainer in the 2008 film Ninja Cheerleaders.

In 2008 Takei appeared in the short film Showdown of the Godz (a comedy about a man's obsession with a certain gigantic Japanese monster) as Ono, the owner of a sushi restaurant.

Takei serves as chair of the Council of Governors of East West Players, considered the foremost Asian Pacific American theater in the United States.

Takei appeared on the first episode of Secret Talents of the Stars, singing country music but was not selected to proceed to the next stage. However the point became moot as the series was abruptly cancelled after the opening episode.

He also played the role of the Emperor Yoshiro of the Empire of the Rising Sun in the 2008 video game .

He had a voice role as Lok Durd in , making him the first and, so far, only Star Trek: The Original Series cast member to have a role in the Star Wars franchise.

In 2008, Takei appeared as himself in The Great Buck Howard.

In April 2009, he voiced a fictitious version of himself in the NASA animated short "Robot Astronomy Talk Show: Gravity and the Great Attractor", part of the web-series IRrelevant Astronomy produced by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Later that year, he voiced another fictitious version of himself in a downloadable add-on available for the Playstation Network's Pain.

In 2009, Takei voiced an Old Man Samurai in Scooby-Doo and the Samurai Sword.

In 2009, Takei and his husband Brad Altman appeared in a documentary short titled George & Brad in Bed that profiled their relationship. He also voiced several additional characters in other animated shows and films including Samurai Jack, Kim Possible, Jackie Chan Adventures, The X's, The Super Hero Squad Show, Mulan II, , Adventure Time with Finn and Jake, and .

In 2009, Takei was a guest on NPR's Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me!

2010s

In 2010, Takei appears uncredited as a technician in an advertisement for the Sharp Aquos Quattron television line, where he uses the phrase "Oh my!"

Meanwhile, Takei guest starred in The Suite Life on Deck in the episode "Starship Tipton", a Star Trek parody, as Rome Tipton, London Tipton's descendant. He mentions "Oh my, how many times must I go through this?", a reference to his career in Star Trek.

Also in 2010, Takei played himself in an episode of the Starz! Original comedy Party Down, in which he is stalked by an obsessive fan at a gay wedding and eventually suffers an allergic reaction after ingesting shellfish.

Takei made a guest appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in the second half of the monologue called "Craigslist Confidential", reciting a poem from an ad from Craigslist.

He appeared in an episode of The Big Bang Theory on October 14, 2010. The episode included a brief skit where Takei appeared after a character said he was "a little confused".

In 2010, Takei did a voiceover for the Halloween episode of the show "Community", aired by NBC.

In 2011, Takei will appear in the Tom Hanks film Larry Crowne.

The Howard Stern Show

Takei's first appearance on The Howard Stern Show was in late 1990 and was featured in The History of Howard Stern, a radio show documenting the life and career of Howard Stern. On September 27, 1994, Takei would appear via satellite feed to promote his book To The Stars.... Clips of Takei from his audio book and television interviews would later be played on the show, with prank calls and comedy bits being made using them.

On January 9, 2006 it was announced that Takei would be the new announcer for the show when it show moved to SIRIUS XM Radio. Takei sat in the studio for the first week of broadcasts, and to this day sits in for a week of shows every few months.

In June 2006, Takei accepted a Freedom of Speech Award on behalf of Stern, with the award being presented by Talkers Magazine. Takei was in the studio again for two days in late September 2006 where he discussed his participation in an episode of as well as his participation in the film The Great Buck Howard. In a visit in December 2007, Stern stated that Takei was the only cast member who got universally positive feedback from audience e-mails; even listeners who claim to dislike Star Trek enjoy Takei's contributions. The show staff has stated that they like his upfront sense of humor and his willingness to talk about almost any issue openly and freely, particularly now that the show is uncensored on SIRIUS XM.

Takei has developed a friendly relationship with Stern cast member Artie Lange, whom Takei affectionately calls his "cuddly muffin." The two have become friends despite Lange's notorious penchant for his supposedly "homophobic" humor. Lange revealed on the air that George sent him a "lovely card" praising his guest performance on a 2007 episode of Entourage, in which Takei expressed the desire to one day act alongside Lange, and that the two talk at least once a week by telephone.

I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!

Takei appeared on the 2008 season of the UK version of reality TV series I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here! He lived in the Australian bush for 21 days and nights, doing tasks along with fellow campers in order to gain better meals and survive eviction from the show. His politeness and calmness made him popular with the other campers. Out of 15 participants the British public voted him into 3rd place behind 2nd placed Martina Navratilova and winner Joe Swash.

Personal life

in 2006]] In October 2005, Takei revealed in an issue of Frontiers magazine that he is gay and had been in a committed relationship with his partner, Brad Altman, for eighteen years. He said, "It's not really coming out, which suggests opening a door and stepping through. It's more like a long, long walk through what began as a narrow corridor that starts to widen." Nevertheless, Takei's sexuality had been an open secret among Star Trek fans since the 1970s, and Takei did not conceal his active membership in LGBT organizations including Frontrunners where he developed public friendships with fellow Frontrunners Kevin Norte and his partner Don Norte prior to coming out in 2005. In an on-air telephone interview with Howard Stern, in December 2005, Takei explained, "[LGBT people] are masculine, we are feminine, we are caring, we are abusive. We are just like straight people, in terms of our outward appearance and our behavior. The only difference is that we are oriented to people of our own gender." Takei also described Altman as "a saint" for helping to take care of Takei's terminally ill mother.

Takei currently serves as a spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign "Coming Out Project." In 2006 he embarked on a nationwide "Equality Trek" speaking tour sharing his life as a gay Japanese American, his eighteen year relationship with Altman, Frontrunners, and Star Trek, encouraging others to share their own personal stories. In the wake of the 2007 controversy over ex-NBA player Tim Hardaway's anti-gay statements, Takei recorded a public service announcement (PSA) which began as a serious message of tolerance, then turned the tables on Hardaway by proclaiming that while he may hate gay people, they love him and other "sweaty basketball players." This was aired on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Takei also appeared on the Google float at San Francisco Pride 2007.

On May 16, 2008, Takei announced that he and Brad Altman would be getting married. They were the first same-sex couple to apply for a marriage license in West Hollywood. On June 17, shortly after Takei and Altman obtained their marriage license, they spread the news by holding a press conference outside the West Hollywood city auditorium. They were married on September 14, 2008 at the Democracy Forum of the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, of which Takei is one of the founders. Walter Koenig was his best man, and Nichelle Nichols was the matron of honor. Reverend William Briones of the Nishi Hongwanji Buddhist Temple of Los Angeles presided. William Shatner has stated that he was not invited to the wedding. Takei claims Shatner was invited, but did not . Takei's friend, author Peter David, corroborated Takei's account, relating a conversation he had with the couple the previous July in which both Takei and Altman stated their intention to invite Shatner. During the December 26, 2009 episode of the NPR program Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, Takei repeated his assertion that Shatner had been invited and did not respond to the invitation.

Takei's marriage is one of thousands of same-sex marriages that took place at a time when same-sex marriage was legal in California. The California Supreme Court ruled that Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in California, did not affect Takei's marriage and other same-sex marriages entered into before its passing.

Takei and Altman appeared in a celebrity edition of The Newlywed Game TV show, which the GSN cable network aired October 13, 2009. They were the first same-sex couple to be featured on the show. Takei and Altman won the game, winning $10,000 for their charity, the Japanese American National Museum.

It was announced on November 26, 2009 that Takei and Altman will be appearing in the British Game Show All Star Mr & Mrs becoming the second same-sex couple to appear on that show.

Takei is a Buddhist.

Takei is an avid Anglophile. On his personal website he had this to say: 'Those who know me know that I am an inconvertible Anglophile – or more broadly, a Britanophile, which includes my affection for Scotland and Wales as well. I love things British. My car is British. My wardrobe, to a good extent, is British. I even love the food in London – I think British food has shaken its prevailing perception as indigestible and become quite wonderful. I try to get to Britain for holidays as often as I can. I love things British.'

Awards and recognition

In 2004, the government of Japan conferred the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette, which represents the fourth highest of eight classes associated with the award. This decoration was presented in acknowledgment of his contributions to US-Japanese relations.

Asteroid 7307 Takei is named in his honor.

:(7307) Takei = 1994 GT9 Discovered 1994 Apr. 13 by Y. Shimizu and T. Urata at Nachi-Katsuura. George Takei (b. 1937) is an actor best known for his role as Mr. Sulu in the original Star Trek television series. He also has a lengthy record of public service through his involvement with organizations such as the Japanese American Citizens League and the Human Rights Campaign. The name was suggested by T. H. Burbine.

Upon learning of the decision to name the asteroid after him, he said, "I am now a heavenly body. ... I found out about it yesterday. ... I was blown away. It came out of the clear, blue sky—just like an asteroid."

Bibliography

References

External links

George Takei's official website

George Takei Interview at the Archive of American Television portal

George Takei biography at StarTrek.com

Category:1937 births Category:Living people Category:Actors from California Category:American actors of Japanese descent Category:American bloggers Category:American film actors Category:American male singers Category:American television actors Category:American voice actors Category:Gay actors Category:I'm a Celebrity…Get Me out of Here! contestants Category:Japanese-American internees Category:LGBT Asian Americans Category:LGBT rights activists from the United States Category:Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun Category:People from Los Angeles, California Category:University of California, Los Angeles alumni Category:Video game actors

Caption	Pasdar at ComicCon, July 2008
Birthname	Adrian Kayvan Pasdar
Birth date	April 30, 1965
Birth place	Pittsfield, Massachusetts, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, film director
Spouse	Natalie Maines (2000–present)

Adrian Kayvan Pasdar (; born April 30, 1965) is an American actor and film director. He is known for playing Jim Profit on the TV series Profit, for his roles in Near Dark, Carlito's Way, Mysterious Ways and as Nathan Petrelli on Heroes. Additionally, he directed the feature film Cement.

Early years

Pasdar was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. His father, Homayoon Pasdar, was an Iranian immigrant and cardiac surgeon, with a practice near Philadelphia. His mother, Rosemarie (née Sberesny), was born in Königsberg/Kaliningrad, a former German city in Russia, working as a nurse before becoming an English teacher and travel agent in France.

Pasdar graduated from Marple Newtown Senior High School in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, and then received a football scholarship to the University of Florida to play linebacker. He was badly injured in a car accident during his freshman year. The accident left his face scarred, his legs badly injured, and kept him in a wheelchair for several months, at which time he had to finish his freshman year while undergoing intensive physical therapy.

Acting career

Pasdar turned his attention to campus stage productions and rediscovered an early interest in writing and acting. No longer able to play football, he dropped out of school and returned home, taking a job with a theater group, People's Light and Theatre Company. There he worked on sound and lighting as part of the stage crew responsible for set construction. He had a painful accident on the set, cutting off the end of his left thumb. His resulting medical compensation paid for attendance at the Lee Strasberg Theater Institute in New York.

Pasdar was also selected to play a bit part as a police officer in the Dixie Chicks video for their song, "Goodbye Earl". The music video won both the Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association's Video of the Year Awards in 2000.

Acting and directing

Film

At the age of 19, he auditioned for a role in Top Gun. Director Tony Scott was so impressed that he wrote the part of "Chipper" just for him. This led to bigger roles in Solarbabies (1986), Streets of Gold (1986), and Kathryn Bigelow's cult vampire movie Near Dark (1987), with Pasdar in the lead role of Caleb Colton. Other major roles include Vital Signs (1990). Pasdar got his biggest break in movies, when he starred as a beautiful woman opposite Julie Walters in the British movie Just Like a Woman. In 1992, he left Hollywood and returned to New York, working as a cashier for room and board, while taking the occasional small part, such as Frankie in Brian De Palma's Carlito's Way (1993).

Adrian Pasdar wrote and directed the short film Beyond Belief and directed his first feature film, the art-house neo-noir Cement, a contemporary re-telling of Othello, in 1999. The $1.7 million independent feature, which won Best Picture awards on the festival circuit, starred Chris Penn, Jeffrey Wright, Sherilyn Fenn, Henry Czerny and was written by Farscape's screenwriter Justin Monjo. "I've used every ounce of energy and every drop of money I had to make Cement," Pasdar said.

Television

Pasdar's major break into television came in 1996, when he was cast as the title character on the short-lived but critically-acclaimed Fox series Profit. He also guest starred in the 2 hour season finale of the fourth season of Touched by an Angel, "The Spirit of Liberty Moon". From 2000 to 2002, Pasdar played the lead role of Anthropology Professor Declan Dunn in the spooky cult drama series Mysterious Ways on PAX.

Pasdar played David McClaren in the final two seasons of the long-running CBS drama Judging Amy, from 2003 through 2005. In 2006, he had a high-profile guest role as Gabrielle Solis's sleazy lawyer in Desperate Housewives.

Most recently, he starred as Nathan Petrelli in the NBC superhero drama Heroes. Pasdar based his mysterious character on "the most morally liquid characters" that he's encountered in his life. The character is not based on one particular political figure, but on a melange of different ones, both good and bad. Pasdar's character was killed off in an episode that aired November 30, 2009.

Pasdar also voices Hawkeye in the animated series The Super Hero Squad Show. He also voiced Captain America in the Black Panther animated series.

Personal life

Anamarie "Pink" Pasdar is the younger sister of Adrian Pasdar. She appeared in the Mysterious Ways episode "Handshake". She was the Associate Artistic Director (c. 2007-2008) at American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco.

Pasdar married lead singer Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks in June 2000. The couple first met in May 1999, with Maines as a bridesmaid to her bandmate Emily Robison and Pasdar as a groomsman to his friend singer-songwriter Charlie Robison. They were married in Las Vegas's Little White Wedding Chapel, in a $55 no-frills ceremony officiated by the chapel's "Pastor Ann." They have two children, Jackson Slade Pasdar (born March 15, 2001) and Beckett Finn Pasdar (born July 14, 2004) and live in Los Angeles, California and Austin, Texas.

He has a tattoo of an anchor on his arm. His children's names are written on it. It symbolizes that his family is his anchor and support in life. He also has a tattoo of the Chinese character for Strength, which he got while filming Shanghai 1920 (上海1920, Shang Hai yi jiu er ling) (1991).

Pasdar was arrested on January 27, 2010 on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol.

Awards and nominations

Award Wins for Acting

*2009: Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films: Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor in Television, ''Heroes

Award Wins for Directing

*2000: Grand Remi Award (WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival): Cement

2000: AngelCiti film festival: Audience Award, Cement

Other Award Wins

*2009 (ensemble): Hollywood Note Foundation's Change the World Awards, Humanitarian Award of Inspiration: Band From TV

Filmography (as actor)

{| class="wikitable" |- style="background:#ccc; text-align:center;" | Year || Title || Role || Director/Series creator || Other notes |- | rowspan="3"| 1986 || Top Gun || Chipper || Tony Scott ||one line |- | Solarbabies || Darstar || Alan Johnson || |- | Streets of Gold || Timmy Boyle || Joe Roth || |- | rowspan="2"| 1987 || Made in USA || Dar || Ken Friedman || |- | Near Dark || Caleb Colton || Kathryn Bigelow || |- | 1989 || Cookie || Vito || Susan Seidelman || |- | rowspan="3"| 1990 || Torn Apart || Ben Arnon || Jack Fisher || |- | The Lost Capone (TV) || Ricard Hart/Jimmy Capone || John Gray || lead |- | Vital Signs || Michael Chatham || Marisa Silver || |- | rowspan="2"| 1991 || Shanghai 1920 (上海1920, Shang Hai yi jiu er ling) || Dawson Cole || Po-Chih Leong || |- | Grand Isle || Robert Lebrun || Mary Lambert || |- | 1992 || Just Like a Woman || Gerald Tilson/Geraldine || Christopher Monger || |- | rowspan="2"| 1993 || The Killing Box || Captain John Harling || George Hickenlooper || |- | Carlito's Way || Frankie Taglialucci || Brian De Palma || |- | rowspan="2"| 1994 || The Last Good Time || Eddie || Bob Balaban || |- | Shadows of Desire (TV) || Jude Snow || Sam Pillsbury || |- | rowspan="2"| 1995 || Slave of Dreams (TV) || Joseph || Robert M. Young || |- | A Mother's Gift (TV) || William Deal || Jerry London || |- | rowspan="2"| 1996 || Profit (TV series) || Jim Profit || David Greenwalt, John McNamara || lead |- | The Pompatus of Love || Josh || Richard Schenkman || |- | rowspan="5"| 1997 || Feds (TV series) || C. Oliver Resor || || regular |- | Wounded || Hanaghan || Richard Martin || |- | Love in Another Town (TV) || Jake Cantrell || Lorraine Senna || |- | Touched by Evil (TV Movie) || Jerry Braskin || James A. Contner || co-starred with Paula Abdul |- | House of Frankenstein 1997 (TV) || Detective Vernon Coyle || Peter Werner || |- | 1998 || The Outer Limits (TV series) || Tanner Brooks || David Warry-Smith || 1 episode: 4.5 In the Zone |- | 2000–2002 || Mysterious Ways (TV series) || Declan Dunn || Peter O'Fallon || lead |- |2002 || The Twilight Zone (TV series) || Andrew Lomax || Peter O'Fallon || (1.4 Dream Lover) |- | 2003–2005 || Judging Amy (TV series) || David McClaren || Amy Brenneman, Bill D'Elia, John Tinker || recurring role (seasons 5-6) |- | 2003 || Secondhand Lions || Traveling Salesman || Tim McCanlies |- | 2005 || Desperate Housewives (TV series) || David Bradley || Marc Cherry || guest appearance - 3 episodes: 2.4 My Heart Belongs to Daddy, 2.5 They Asked Me Why I Believe In You, 2.6 I Wish I Could Forget You |- | 2006–2009 || Heroes (TV series) || Nathan Petrelli, as of season 4, he portrays Sylar || Tim Kring || regular |- | 2008 || Home Movie || David Poe || Christopher Denham || |- | 2009 || The Super Hero Squad Show || Hawkeye || || Voice |- | 2010 || Black Panther || Captain America || || Voice |}

Filmography (as director)

{| class="wikitable" |- style="background:#ccc; text-align:center;" | Year || Title || Writer || Producer || Main cast || Other notes |- | 1999 || Cement || Justin Monjo || D.J. Paul, Adrian Pasdar || Chris Penn, Jeffrey Wright, Sherilyn Fenn, Anthony DeSando, Henry Czerny || also co-producer and composer |}

Further reading

References

External links

Category:1965 births Category:American film actors Category:American film directors Category:American television actors Category:American people of Iranian descent Category:American actors of Russian descent Category:Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute alumni Category:Living people Category:Actors from Massachusetts Category:People from Pittsfield, Massachusetts Category:University of Florida alumni