John Todd Terlesky (born May 30, 1961) is an American actor, film director, television director and screenwriter. As an actor, he is best known for playing Deathstalker in the 1987 film ''

Deathstalker II ''Deathstalker II'', also known as ''Deathstalker II: Duel of the Titans'', is a 1987 Argentine-American fantasy comedy- adventure film directed by Jim Wynorski and a sequel to 1983's ''Deathstalker''. It was written by Neil Ruttenberg (with an ...

'', and Mike in '' Chopping Mall'' (1986).

Life and career

Terlesky was born in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, Ohio, on May 30, 1961. Since the mid-1980s, Terlesky has acted in a number of films and television series. His first notable television role was in the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

drama ''

Legmen ''Legmen'' is an American drama television series that aired on NBC on Friday nights from January 20 to March 16, 1984. Premise Jack Gage and David Taylor were two college students in southern California, who to make extra money did the legwork ...

''. His other television credits include '' The Facts of Life'', '' V'', '' Our House'', ''

Empty Nest ''Empty Nest'' is an American television sitcom that aired for seven seasons on NBC from October 8, 1988, to April 29, 1995. The series, which was created as a spin-off of ''The Golden Girls'' by creator and producer Susan Harris, starred Ri ...

'', ''

Walker, Texas Ranger ''Walker, Texas Ranger'' is an American action crime television series created by Leslie Greif and Paul Haggis. It was inspired by the film '' Lone Wolf McQuade'', with both this series and that film starring Chuck Norris as a member of the ...

'', a recurring role on ''

Guns of Paradise ''Paradise'' (later renamed ''Guns of Paradise'') is an American Western family television series, broadcast by CBS from October 27, 1988 to May 10, 1991. Created by David Jacobs and Robert Porter, the series presents the adventures of fictit ...

'' and co-starring in the sitcom '' The Last Frontier''. Some of Terlesky's film acting credits include ''

Secret Admirer A secret admirer is an individual who feels adoration, fondness or love for another person without disclosing their identity to that person, and who might send gifts or love letters to their crush. Grade school The goal of a secret admirer is ...

'' (1985), '' The Naked Cage'' (1986), '' Chopping Mall'' (1986), ''

Valet Girls ''Valet Girls'' is a 1987 American comedy film directed by Rafal Zielinski, written by Clark Carlton, and starring Meri Marshall, April Stewart, Mary Kohnert, Jack DeLeon, Jon Sharp, Michael Karm, Steven Lyon, Randy Vasquez, Stuart Fratkin, and T ...

'' (1987), '' The Allnighter'' (1987), ''

'' (1987), ''

Appointment with Death ''Appointment with Death'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 2 May 1938 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year. The UK edition retai ...

'' (1988), '' Damned River'' (1989) and ''

Crazy People ''Crazy People'' is a 1990 American black comedy film starring Dudley Moore and Daryl Hannah, directed by Tony Bill, and music by Cliff Eidelman. Plot Emory Leeson is an advertising executive who experiences a nervous breakdown. He designs a s ...

'' (1990). In 1998, Terlesky made his directorial debut with the film '' The Pandora Project'', co-directing with

Jim Wynorski Jim Wynorski (born August 14, 1950) is an American screenwriter, director, and producer. Wynorski has been making B-movies and exploitation movies since the early 1980s, and has directed over 150 feature films. His earliest films were releas ...

. He directed a number of other independent, direct-to-video and television films before getting involved in episodic television. Since 2006, he has directed episodes of '' Boston Legal'', ''

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 s ...

'', ''

Ugly Betty ''Ugly Betty'' is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which was originally broadcast on ABC. It premiered on September 28, 2006, and ended on April 14, 2010. The series is based on Fernando Gaitán's Colombi ...

'', ''

Drop Dead Diva ''Drop Dead Diva'' is an American legal comedy-drama/fantasy television series that aired on Lifetime from July 12, 2009, to June 22, 2014. The series was created by Josh Berman and produced by Sony Pictures Television. It stars Brooke Elliott ...

'', ''

Human Target The Human Target is the name of two fictional characters in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first is Fred Venable, while the second is private investigator and bodyguard Christopher Chance who assumes the identities of clients tar ...

'', '' Army Wives'', ''

Body of Proof ''Body of Proof'' is an American medical/crime comedy-drama television series that ran on ABC from March 29, 2011, to May 28, 2013, and starred Dana Delany as medical examiner Dr. Megan Hunt. The series was created by Christopher Murphey and ...

'', ''

Gossip Girl ''Gossip Girl'' is an American teen drama television series based on the novel series of the same name written by Cecily von Ziegesar. The series, developed for television by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, ran on The CW network for six sea ...

'', '' Castle'', ''

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ''Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' is an American television series created by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen for ABC, based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, an ...

'', ''

How To Get Away With Murder ''How to Get Away with Murder'' is an American legal thriller television series that premiered on ABC on September 25, 2014, and concluded on May 14, 2020. The series was created by Peter Nowalk, and produced by Shonda Rhimes and ABC Studios ...

'', and ''

The Blacklist (TV series) ''The Blacklist'' is an American crime thriller television series that premiered on NBC on September 23, 2013. The show follows Raymond "Red" Reddington (James Spader), a former U.S. Navy officer turned high-profile criminal who voluntarily s ...

''.

Filmography

Movies

Television

Personal life

Terlesky is married to actress

Jayne Brook Jayne Brook (born Jane Anderson) is an American actress, best known for her roles as Dr. Diane Grad on the medical drama ''Chicago Hope'', as a series regular for five of the show's six seasons, and Mary Ann Mitchell on ''The District'' from 200 ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Terlesky, John 1961 births Living people American male film actors American male screenwriters American male television actors 20th-century American male actors American television directors Film directors from Ohio Male actors from Cincinnati Screenwriters from Ohio Film producers from Ohio