Lee Allen Tergesen (; born July 8, 1965) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in '' Weird Science'', as Tobias Beecher in

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 ...

's prison drama '' Oz'', and as

Evan Wright Evan Alan Wright (born ) is an American writer, known for his extensive reporting on subcultures for ''Rolling Stone'' and '' Vanity Fair''. He is best known for his book on the Iraq War, '' Generation Kill'' (2004). He also wrote an exposé abo ...

in ''

Generation Kill ''Generation Kill'' is a 2004 book written by '' Rolling Stone'' journalist Evan Wright chronicling his experience as an embedded reporter with the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion of the United States Marine Corps, during the 2003 invasion of Ir ...

,'' as well as guest starring in many other series. In film, he is known for his portrayal of Terry in '' Wayne's World'' and '' Wayne's World 2'', as well as Vincent Corey in ''

Monster A monster is a type of fictional creature found in horror, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology and religion. Monsters are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive with a strange, grotesque appearance that causes terror and ...

''.

Early life

Tergesen was born in

Ivoryton, Connecticut Ivoryton is one of three villages in Essex, Connecticut in Middlesex County. Ivoryton Historic District, the historic district in the village, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 15, 2014.

"Alumnus Lee Tergesen To Speak at AMDA NY SUMMER 2013 Graduation"
amda.edu, October 5, 2013 and graduated from Valley Regional High School in nearby Deep River. He moved to New York to try to become an actor. He graduated from the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA)'s two-year program in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, where, from 1986 to 1989, he worked at the Empire Diner. "I wasn't a great waiter. I was funny, but I gave a lot of attitude", he told '' Rosie'' magazine in March 2002. He added: "The place is like a vortex for me". He met

Tom Fontana Tom Fontana (born September 12, 1951) is an American screenwriter, writer, and television producer. Fontana worked on NBC's '' Homicide: Life on the Street'' and created HBO's ''Oz.'' Early life and education Fontana was born on the west sid ...

, the future creator of ''Oz'', at the diner. He did some stage work during this time. "I was doing plays all the time, but there's no money in it", Tergesen said in a 1995 ''Los Angeles Times'' article. "After graduation, I thought I'd be making a living at it."Mendoza, N. F
"WITH AN EYE ON . . . : Lee Tergesen knows first-hand how 'Weird' the path is to acting"
''Los Angeles Times'', April 30, 1995 He went to Los Angeles to help Fontana move into his house. While dining at a restaurant on the day after arriving in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, a casting director and friend of Fontana's asked Tergesen if he was an actor. "He told me there was a part in this movie and at that time, I couldn't imagine what it could be," Tergesen told the ''L.A. Times''. The movie turned out to be ''

Point Break ''Point Break'' is a 1991 American action crime film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by W. Peter Iliff. It stars Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves, Lori Petty and Gary Busey. The film's title refers to the surfing term " point break", whe ...

'', starring

Keanu Reeves Keanu Charles Reeves ( ; born September 2, 1964) is a Canadian actor. Born in Beirut and raised in Toronto, Reeves began acting in theatre productions and in television films before making his feature film debut in '' Youngblood'' (1986). ...

and

Patrick Swayze Patrick Wayne Swayze (; August 18, 1952 – September 14, 2009) was an American actor, dancer, and singer known for playing distinctive lead roles, particularly romantic, tough, and comedic characters. He was also known for his media image and ...

. "It was the beginning of me never having to do anything else but act", he told LT.com in 1990.

Career

Tergesen began his career with a bit role in the 1991 prime-time aired pilot, '' Acting Sheriff''. Tergesen then appeared in '' Wayne's World'' (1992) and '' Wayne's World 2'' (1993), in the 1994 series '' Weird Science'' as Chester "Chett" Donnelly, and in a recurring role in the first season of '' Homicide: Life on the Street''. He portrayed Tobias Beecher on

's ''Oz'' (1997), a critically acclaimed role he played until the series ended in 2003. His film credits include ''

'', '' Shaft'', ''

'', '' The Forgotten'', '' The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning'', '' Cast A Deadly Spell'' and '' Wild Iris''. He has made several appearances in TV shows such as '' ER'', '' Rescue Me'', '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', ''

Criminal Minds ''Criminal Minds'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series created and produced by Jeff Davis. The series premiered on CBS on September 22, 2005, and originally concluded on February 19, 2020; it was revived in 2022. It ...

'', ''

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'', ''

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

'', ''

Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment, launching the '' Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire run on NBC, premiering o ...

'' and two of its

spin-offs Spin-off may refer to: * Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work * Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or g ...

, '' Law & Order: Criminal Intent'' and '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit''. He played a murderous

Navy SEAL The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main functions are conducting ...

, Andrew Larrick, in Season 2 of ''

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'' on the FX television network. He played an

Alcoholics Anonymous Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an international mutual aid fellowship of alcoholics dedicated to abstinence-based recovery from alcoholism through its spiritually-inclined Twelve Step program. Following its Twelve Traditions, AA is non-profess ...

sponsor in the second season of ''

Desperate Housewives ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American comedy-drama soap opera television series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on ABC from October 3, 2004, until May 13, 2012, for a tota ...

'', becoming romantically involved with

Bree Van de Kamp Bree Van de Kamp is a fictional character on the ABC television series ''Desperate Housewives''. She is played by actress Marcia Cross, who has received multiple awards and nominations for her portrayal, including an Emmy Award nomination, t ...

. He appeared in the

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madiso ...

series ''

Royal Pains ''Royal Pains'' (stylized ℞oyalPains) is an American comedy-drama television series that ran on the USA Network from 2009 to 2016. The series was based in part on actual concierge medicine practices of independent doctors and companies. The ca ...

'' and in Seasons 4–5 of the

Lifetime Lifetime may refer to: * Life expectancy, the length of time a person is expected to remain alive Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Lifetime (band), a rock band from New Jersey * ''Life Time'' (Rollins Band album), by Rollins Band * ...

Network series ''

Army Wives ''Army Wives'' is an American drama television series that followed the lives of four army wives, one army husband, and their families. The series premiered on Lifetime on June 3, 2007, and ran for seven seasons, ending on June 9, 2013. The s ...

''. He played Evan Wright in the HBO mini-series ''

''. He has appeared on stage in the

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer th ...

productions of ''Long Lost'' (2019) by Donald Margulies and ''Rapture, Blister, Burn'' in 2012 at Playwrights Horizons, among others.

Personal life

He married Yuko Otomo in 2011; their daughter was born December 5, 2012. Their son was born in 2017.

Filmography

Film

Sources: tcm.com allmovie.com

Television

Source: allmovie.comOther"
allmovie.com, retrieved June 2, 2019

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tergesen, Lee 1965 births Living people American male film actors American male television actors American people of Norwegian descent American people of Swedish descent Male actors from Connecticut People from Essex, Connecticut American Musical and Dramatic Academy alumni