Special Agent John "Jack" Michael Malone is a character in the CBS crime drama ''

Without a Trace ''Without a Trace'' is an American police procedural drama television series created by Hank Steinberg that aired on CBS from September 26, 2002 to May 19, 2009 with the total of seven seasons and 160 episodes. The series focuses the cases of ...

'', portrayed by

Anthony LaPaglia Anthony LaPaglia (, ; born 31 January 1959) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his role as Jack Malone in the television drama ''Without a Trace'' (2002–2009), for which he received a Golden Globe Award in 2004. LaPaglia won a Prim ...

. He was the lead agent of the

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

City FBI

missing persons A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, de ...

unit. His departmental title is '' Supervisory Special Agent of New York District Unit C-8''. He appeared on a

crossover episode A crossover is the placement of two or more otherwise discrete fictional characters, settings, or universes into the context of a single story. They can arise from legal agreements between the relevant copyright holders, unofficial efforts b ...

of the ''

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', also referred to as ''CSI'' and ''CSI: Las Vegas'', is an American procedural forensics crime drama television series that ran on CBS from October 6, 2000, to September 27, 2015, spanning 15 seasons. This wa ...

'' " Who and What".

Character biography

Growing up in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

,"Malone v. Malone".

Hank Steinberg Hank Steinberg (born November 19, 1969) is an American television and film writer, producer and director. Personal life Hank Steinberg was born in Manhasset, New York, and raised in nearby Great Neck, both on Long Island. The son of Judy Hille ...

(writer & director). ''Without a Trace''.

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 ...

. 2004-12-9. Season 3 Ep. 10. Jack's mother committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

when he was 16. She attempted once before but Jack caught her and made her promise not to try again. She agreed but asked him not to tell his father. He has suffered intermittent guilt for not preventing her death and wishes he had told his father. At age 18, he enlisted in the U.S. Army (at his father's urging) and served for six years in the

82nd Airborne Division The 82nd Airborne Division is an Airborne forces, airborne infantry division (military), division of the United States Army specializing in Paratrooper, parachute assault operations into denied areasSof, Eric"82nd Airborne Division" ''Spec Ops ...

before returning to Pittsburgh, suffering from depression. Jack tried to commit suicide once at age 25 by driving his car into a telephone pole, but when asked about it, he claims that he fell asleep at the wheel. His wife, who knows the truth, later uses this information against Jack. Having taken a year off after leaving the service, Jack returned to college, where he received his bachelor's and his master's degree in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

''Without a Trace''

His marriage imploded after he had an affair with his subordinate, Agent

Samantha Spade Special Agent Samantha "Sam" Spade is a fictional character portrayed by actress Poppy Montgomery on the CBS television drama ''Without a Trace''. Samantha is a Special Agent in the New York City FBI missing persons case squad led by Special Age ...

(

Poppy Montgomery Poppy Montgomery (born Poppy Petal Emma Elizabeth Deveraux Donahue; June 19,1972) is an Australian-born actress. She played FBI agent Samantha Spade on the CBS mystery drama ''Without a Trace'' from 2002 to 2009 and played Detective Carrie Well ...

), and because of his long work hours. Although he later returned to his wife Maria, a lawyer, she left him at the end of the second season, moved to Chicago, and obtained full custody of their two daughters, Hannah and Kate (

Vanessa Marano Vanessa Nicole Marano (born October 31, 1992) is an American actress. She has starred in television movies and had recurring roles in such series as ''Without a Trace'', ''Gilmore Girls'', ''Ghost Whisperer'', '' Scoundrels'', ''Grey's Anatomy'' ...

and

Laura Marano Laura Marie Marano (born November 29, 1995) is an American actress and singer. She is known for her role in the Disney Channel series '' Austin & Ally'' as Ally Dawson. Marano was one of the five original classmates in '' Are You Smarter than a ...

). Jack's long work hours and troubled family history was used against him during the custody battle, though in the end he decided it would be better for them if they stayed with their mother. He still remains in close contact with the girls but struggles with his relationship with Hannah. Hannah resents him for the divorce and frequently refuses to speak to him. He is concerned about the future of his relationships with his daughters. In the fourth season, Jack dealt with the death of his father (played by

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 ...

) from

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

and started a new relationship with Anne (

Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (born November 17, 1958) is an American actress and singer. She made her Broadway debut in the 1980 revival of ''West Side Story'', and went on to appear in the 1983 film '' Scarface'' as Al Pacino's character's sist ...

), the

widow A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has Death, died. Terminology The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word ...

of a fellow agent. Soon after they started dating, he learned that Anne was

pregnant Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring develops (gestation, gestates) inside a woman, woman's uterus (womb). A multiple birth, multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Pregnancy usually occur ...

, which was an unpleasant surprise to both of them. In the fifth season, Jack is dealing with the aftermath of a hostage standoff involving Anne and with her unexpected pregnancy and subsequent

miscarriage Miscarriage, also known in medical terms as a spontaneous abortion and pregnancy loss, is the death of an embryo or fetus before it is able to survive independently. Miscarriage before 6 weeks of gestation is defined by ESHRE as biochemical lo ...

. The miscarriage abruptly ends their relationship and Anne leaves the New York office. At the end of the season, he deals with a young girl, Jennifer Long, who goes missing after joining a cult, which causes the teenager to get caught up in a human trafficking ring. In Season 6, Jack deals with numerous different cases while also focusing on human trafficking for a good part of the season. He's also informed that Sam is pregnant and tells her he didn't know she was seeing anyone. During the middle of the season, Jack is shot by the leader of the human trafficking ring Franklin Romar. He is left for dead, but the rest of his team finds Jack and Romar is arrested. Jack is left to recover in the hospital when he finds out that one of the victims, Jennifer Long, who he felt attached to is being targeted by one of Romar's men. Jack leaves the hospital to search for Jennifer and he finds her just in time before she is again abducted. In the season finale, Jack is demoted for his handling of the human trafficking investigation. In the season seven premiere (Closure, 7x01), Jack has been replaced by Special Agent Clark Medina (played by

Steven Weber Steven Robert Weber (born March 4, 1961) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Brian Hackett on the television series ''Wings'' which aired from April 1990 to May 1997 on NBC, as Sam Blue in '' Once and Again'', and ...

). Jack was offered another job and considered taking it, but turned it down. A few episodes later, Clark gets Jack his job back before leaving for a better job. Over the last episodes of the 6th season and the first episodes of the seventh season Jack and Sam began to grow closer. In episode eight (Better Angels, 7x08), Jack and Sam headed 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' ...

for a case, and rekindled their relationship. Also revealed in the episode is that Jack's daughter Hannah has been acting up and is going to live with Jack in New York for a while. In the series finale, Jack and Sam decide not to pursue their relationship for now as Jack needs to spend more time with Hannah and Sam needs to figure out things with Brian, the father of her child.

Reception

As of 2004, Jack Malone was named one of the 10 best current characters by '' Zap2it''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Malone, Jack Without a Trace characters Fictional Federal Bureau of Investigation personnel Fictional characters from Pittsburgh Fictional United States Army personnel Television characters introduced in 2002 Crossover characters in television de:Jack Malone fr::Jack Malone