Gale Harold
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Gale Morgan Harold III (born July 10, 1969) is an American actor, known for his leading and recurring roles on '' Queer as Folk'', '' Deadwood'', ''
Desperate Housewives ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American comedy-drama soap opera television series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Marc Cherry, Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from Octobe ...
'', ''
Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series that premiered on March 27, 2005, on ABC as a mid-season replacement. The series focuses on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they develop into se ...
'', ''
The Secret Circle The Secret Circle is a supernatural, young-adult series of books created by L. J. Smith. The narrative follows the character of Cassie Blake as she is initiated into a "Circle" of eleven other teenage witches and the danger that ensues when they ...
'' and '' Defiance''. He also starred in the romantic comedy '' Falling for Grace''.


Early life

Harold was born in
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
,
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
. His father was an
engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...
and his mother a
real estate agent A real estate agent or real estate broker is a person who represents sellers or buyers of real estate or real property. While a broker may work independently, an agent usually works under a licensed broker to represent clients. Brokers and agen ...
. Because Harold's parents were devout
Pentecostals Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement
, he had strict religious upbringing. At age 15, he left the church. Following graduation from the
Lovett School The Lovett School is a coeducational, kindergarten through twelfth grade independent school located in north Atlanta, Georgia, United States. History In September 1926, Eva Edwards Lovett, an innovative educator who emphasized the development ...
, Harold attended
American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...
in
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, on a
soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
scholarship. He began a
Liberal Arts Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the ...
degree in romance literature, departing after a few months and moved to
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
,
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
to study photography at the
San Francisco Art Institute San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) was a private college of contemporary art in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1871, SFAI was one of the oldest art schools in the United States and the oldest west of the Mississippi River. Approximately ...
. He worked a variety of jobs including construction, bartender, waiter, and apprentice motorcycle mechanic. In 1997, Susan Landau, daughter of actor
Martin Landau Martin James Landau (; June 20, 1928 – July 15, 2017) was an American actor, acting coach, producer, and editorial cartoonist. His career began in the 1950s, with early film appearances including a supporting role in Alfred Hitchcock's ''North ...
, suggested Harold try acting. He dropped out of the
San Francisco Art Institute San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) was a private college of contemporary art in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1871, SFAI was one of the oldest art schools in the United States and the oldest west of the Mississippi River. Approximately ...
and relocated to
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, where he began a three-year period of intensive drama study. He was accepted into the Actors Conservatory Program with the classical theater company
A Noise Within A Noise Within is an American theatrical company performing classic works of the European canon as well as American playwrights, in rotating repertory. It is based in Pasadena, California. Awards and nominations External links Official websit ...
. In his theatrical debut, Harold appeared as "Bunny" in Gillian Plowman's ''Me and My Friends''.


Career

In 2000, Harold was cast as
Brian Kinney Brian A. Kinney is a fictional character from the American/Canadian Showtime television series ''Queer as Folk'', a drama about the lives of a group of gay men and women living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The character was created by Ron Cowen a ...
, a central character on
Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...
's popular gay drama '' Queer as Folk''. During the summer hiatus from ''Queer as Folk,'' Harold made his New York theatrical debut in ''Uncle Bob'' along with
George Morfogen George Morfogen (March 30, 1933 – March 8, 2019) was an American stage, film and TV actor. He is known for playing Bob Rebadow in the HBO show '' Oz'', and for his role as Stanley Bernstein in the original '' V'' miniseries. He was of Greek ...
. In 2003, Harold starred in ''Wake'', produced by Susan Landau Finch and directed by her husband Henry LeRoy Finch. Harold had the lead role of Special Agent Graham Kelton in the short-lived
FOX Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...
series '' Vanished'' in 2006. Harold also guest-starred as
Wyatt Earp Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp (March 19, 1848 – January 13, 1929) was an American lawman and gambler in the American West, including Dodge City, Deadwood, and Tombstone. Earp took part in the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral, during which law ...
in two episodes of the
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
series '' Deadwood'' and appeared twice on the
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
series ''
The Unit ''The Unit'' is an American action-drama television series created by David Mamet that aired on CBS from March 7, 2006, to May 10, 2009 with the total of four seasons and 69 episodes. The series focuses on a top-secret military unit modeled aft ...
''. Alongside
David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
, Harold was an associate producer of the documentary '' Scott Walker: 30 Century Man''. Gale Harold returned to the New York stage in
Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the thre ...
' play ''
Suddenly Last Summer ''Suddenly Last Summer'' is a one-act play by Tennessee Williams, written in New York in 1957. It opened off Broadway on January 7, 1958, as part of a double bill with another of Williams' one-acts, ''Something Unspoken'' (written in London in ...
'' on November 15, 2006, in the role of Dr. Cukrowicz ("Dr. Sugar"). Harold's co-stars in the
Roundabout Theatre The Roundabout Theatre Company is a leading non-profit theatre company based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, affiliated with the League of Resident Theatres. History The company was founded in 1965 by Gene Feist, Michael Fried and Elizab ...
repertory production, a limited Off-Broadway engagement running through January 20, 2007, were Blythe Danner and
Carla Gugino Carla Gugino (; born August 29, 1971) is an American actress. After appearing in ''Troop Beverly Hills'' (1989) and ''This Boy's Life'' (1993), she received recognition for her starring roles as Ingrid Cortez in the ''Spy Kids'' trilogy (2001 ...
. Harold was the male lead in the indie romantic comedy '' Falling for Grace'', which debuted favorably at the 2006
Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by TriBeCa Productions, Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive progra ...
(under the working title ''East Broadway''). Harold played an eligible New York bachelor in an interracial relationship with an Asian-American woman. Harold appeared in November 2007 in a guest role on ABC's ''
Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series that premiered on March 27, 2005, on ABC as a mid-season replacement. The series focuses on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they develop into se ...
'' as Shane, a paramedic and white supremacist who is injured in an ambulance crash. He appeared in ''
Desperate Housewives ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American comedy-drama soap opera television series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Marc Cherry, Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from Octobe ...
'' on the fourth season finale May 18, 2008 as Jackson Braddock, Susan Mayer's love interest. Six months after a serious motorcycle accident, Harold returned to play Jackson on the May 3, 2009 episode of the show. In January and February 2010, Harold performed alongside
Denise Crosby Denise Michelle Crosby is an American actress and model known for portraying Security Chief Tasha Yar mainly in season one of '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', and Yar's daughter, the half-Romulan Commander Sela, in subsequent seasons. She ...
and ex-model Claudia Mason in Tennessee Williams' ''
Orpheus Descending ''Orpheus Descending'' is a three-act play by Tennessee Williams. It was first presented on Broadway on March 17, 1957 but had only a brief run (68 performances) and modest success. It was revived on Broadway in 1989, directed by Peter Hall an ...
'' at Theater/Theatre in Los Angeles. The production and cast received mostly positive reviews, with the Los Angeles Times calling his performance "brilliant" and adding "Harold, ideally cast, beautifully ignites with Crosby, whose unconventional interpretation is an affecting revelation." In July 2010, it was announced at the
Television Critics Association The Television Critics Association (TCA) is a group of approximately 200 United States and Canadian television critics, journalists and columnists who cover television programming for newspapers, magazines and web publications. The TCA accepts app ...
Summer Tour that Harold had accepted a recurring role as a law professor in the upcoming series ''
Hellcats ''Hellcats'' is an American cheerleading comedy-drama television series that originally aired on The CW in the United States from September 8, 2010, to May 17, 2011. Based on the book ''Cheer: Inside the Secret World of College Cheerleaders'' b ...
''. The series concluded its season with Harold's character involved in an affair with the show's lead character Marti (played by
Aly Michalka Alyson Renae Michalka ( ; born March 25, 1989) is an American actress, singer-songwriter and musician who rose to prominence with her starring role as Keely Teslow in the Disney Channel sitcom '' Phil of the Future'' (2004–2006). Aly Michalka ...
). The series was cancelled after one season.
The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
picked up ''The Secret Circle'' for the fall of 2011. The series revolved around a coven of teenage witches in a small town in
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
, each a member of a different witch clan dating back to the 17th Century. Harold played a scheming and powerful male witch who is the father of one of the teenagers. On May 11, 2012,
The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
announced the cancellation of the series. In 2011, Harold was also featured in two movies, ''Low Fidelity'' and ''Rehab'', as one of the main characters. Harold appeared on three episodes of the first season of the show ''Defiance'' ( 1.06, 1.08 and 1.09). On May 10, 2013,
Syfy Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Lau ...
renewed ''Defiance'' for a 13 episode second season to air in 2014. Harold returned for a guest appearance in the second season of the show in the episode " Put the Damage On". In 2013, Harold appeared in a short film, ''The Spirit Game''. The film had its world premiere at the
Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
and it was released online on September 2, 2014. At the Rise 'n Shine Convention (June 9, 2013), Harold said that he was currently working on a project about Civil War, ''
Field of Lost Shoes ''Field of Lost Shoes'' is a 2014 American war drama film directed by Sean McNamara and written by Dave Kennedy and Thomas Farrell. The film stars Nolan Gould, Lauren Holly, Jason Isaacs, Tom Skerritt, Keith David and David Arquette. It is base ...
''. In 2014, Harold participated in different projects including the short film, ''Thirst,'' which was directed by Rachel McDonald and premiered at the
Locarno Film Festival The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, s ...
in Switzerland on August 7, 2014, and the film ''Echo Park'', which premiered in the
LA Film Festival The LA Film Festival was an annual film festival that was held in Los Angeles, California, and usually took place in June. It showcased independent, international, feature, documentary and short films, as well as web series, music videos, episod ...
on June 14, 2014. He also appeared in the sci-fi/action movie ''Andron''. In 2020, Harold became a co-founder o
Filmmakers First Fund
a Los Angeles-based film fund and studio space dedicated to artists with full-length narrative and documentary film projects in the early stages of development. 2020 grantees included
Rachel Lears Rachel Lears is an American independent documentary filmmaker. She is the director of ''Knock Down the House'', a documentary film about four women running for Congress in the 2018 midterms, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The film premiered a ...
fo
To the End (2022)
a documentary following
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (; ; born October 13, 1989), also known by her initials AOC, is an American politician and activist. She has served as the U.S. representative for New York's 14th congressional district since 2019, as a member of th ...
, Rhiana Gunn-Wright, Varshini Prakash, and Alexandra Rojas as they fight for the
Green New Deal Green New Deal (GND) proposals call for public policy to address climate change along with achieving other social aims like job creation and reducing economic inequality. The name refers back to the New Deal, a set of social and economic refo ...
.


Personal life

On October 14, 2008, Harold was hospitalized at the
LAC+USC Medical Center Lac is the resinous secretion of a number of species of lac insects, of which the most commonly cultivated is '' Kerria lacca''. Cultivation begins when a farmer gets a stick that contains eggs ready to hatch and ties it to the tree to be infe ...
after a motorcycle accident. He remained in critical condition after swelling of the brain was discovered as well as a fractured shoulder. Harold was subsequently released from intensive care and returned to complete his role on ''
Desperate Housewives ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American comedy-drama soap opera television series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Marc Cherry, Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from Octobe ...
''. The online motorcycle publication ''Clutch & Chrome'', which had followed his recovery closely, celebrated his new ''
Hellcats ''Hellcats'' is an American cheerleading comedy-drama television series that originally aired on The CW in the United States from September 8, 2010, to May 17, 2011. Based on the book ''Cheer: Inside the Secret World of College Cheerleaders'' b ...
'' role with an article on August 3, 2010. During the shootings of ''Vanished'' in 2006, Harold shot a short video for the Amber Watch Foundation showing his support about missing children. In the video he stated that "nationwide 1.3 million children go missing each year" and urged people to be champions for child safety. Harold is a supporter of the
LGBT community The LGBT community (also known as the LGBTQ+ community, GLBT community, gay community, or queer community) is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay men, gay, bisexuality, bisexual, transgender, and other queer individuals united by a comm ...
. On July 16, 2012, at the first Annual ''Hot 100 Party'' hosted by the website
AfterEllen AfterEllen (also known as AfterEllen.com) is an American culture website founded in 2002, with a focus on entertainment, interviews, reviews, and news of interest to the lesbian and bisexual women's community. The site covers pop culture and lifes ...
'','' he recorded an ''
It Gets Better It or IT may refer to: * It (pronoun), in English * Information technology Arts and media Film and television * ''It'' (1927 film), a film starring Clara Bow * ''It! The Terror from Beyond Space'', a 1958 science fiction film * ''It!'' (1967 f ...
'' video sending his message and advising gay teens to remember their heroes. In 2014, Harold filed a restraining order against his ex-girlfriend, actress Danielle Saklofsky. The actor's sexual orientation was the subject of speculation from the public for many years, until Harold finally identified himself as a
straight man The straight man is a stock character in a comedy performance, especially a double act, sketch comedy, or farce. When a comedy partner behaves eccentrically, the straight man is expected to maintain composure. The direct contribution to the ...
.


Filmography and other appearances


Movie


TV shows


Theater


Conventions


References


External links

*
AfterElton.com: Documenting a Musical Outsider; interview with Stephen Kijak and Gale Harold
* * Gale Harold the dream tea

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harold, Gale 1969 births Living people American Eagles men's soccer players American soccer players American agnostics American male film actors American male television actors American University alumni Former Pentecostals Male actors from Georgia (U.S. state) People from Atlanta San Francisco Art Institute alumni 21st-century American male actors LGBT rights activists from the United States Association footballers not categorized by position The Lovett School alumni