Paul David McCrane (born January 19, 1961) is an American film, television and theatre actor, as well as a television director and singer. He is known for his portrayal of Montgomery MacNeil in the 1980 film '' Fame'', Frank Berry in the 1984 film ''

The Hotel New Hampshire ''The Hotel New Hampshire'' is a 1981 coming of age novel by American writer John Irving, his fifth published novel. Plot This novel is the story of the Berrys, a quirky New Hampshire family composed of a married couple, Win and Mary, and th ...

'', Emil Antonowsky in '' RoboCop'', and Robert Romano on 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 ...

medical drama television series ''ER''.

Early life

McCrane was born on January 19, 1961, in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

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, ...

, the son of Eileen C. (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Manyak) and James J. McCrane, Jr. His family moved to

Richboro, Pennsylvania Richboro is a census-designated place (CDP) in Northampton Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 6,378 during the 2020 census. History Hampton Hill, John Thompson House, Twin Trees Farm, and Willow Mill Complex ...

, where he lived until he moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

after graduating from

Holy Ghost Preparatory School , motto_translation = One heart and one mind , address = 2429 Bristol Pike , location = , region = , town = Bensalem , county = Bucks County , state ...

in 1978. He studied theatre at

HB Studio The HB Studio (Herbert Berghof Studio) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization offering professional training in the performing arts through classes, workshops, free lectures, theater productions, theater rentals, a theater artist residency progra ...

in New York City.

Career

An early role, when he was just 18 years of age, is in a short scene in ''

Rocky II ''Rocky II'' is a 1979 American sports drama film written, directed by, and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the sequel to ''Rocky'' (1976) and is the second installment in the ''Rocky'' franchise. It also stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl We ...

'', playing a multi-fracture patient who asks for Rocky's autograph on his head cast ("Hey Rocky...sign my head!"). With an abundance of

red hair Red hair (also known as orange hair and ginger hair) is a hair color found in one to two percent of the human population, appearing with greater frequency (two to six percent) among people of Northern or Northwestern European ancestry and ...

, McCrane portrayed the earnest Montgomery MacNeil in '' Fame''. He was the lead vocalist on three songs in the feature film: "Dogs in the Yard", "Miles from Here" and "Is it Okay if I Call You Mine?" He also had a solo in "I Sing the Body Electric". Later, he played confused Frank Berry in ''

'', murderous Emil Antonowsky in '' RoboCop'', followed by astronaut

Pete Conrad Charles "Pete" Conrad Jr. (June 2, 1930 – July 8, 1999) was an American NASA astronaut, aeronautical engineer, naval officer and aviator, and test pilot, and commanded the Apollo 12 space mission, on which he became the third person to ...

in ''

From the Earth to the Moon ''From the Earth to the Moon: A Direct Route in 97 Hours, 20 Minutes'' (french: De la Terre à la Lune, trajet direct en 97 heures 20 minutes) is an 1865 novel by Jules Verne. It tells the story of the Baltimore Gun Club, a post-American Civil W ...

'', Guard Trout in ''

The Shawshank Redemption ''The Shawshank Redemption'' is a 1994 American drama film written and directed by Frank Darabont, based on the 1982 Stephen King novella ''Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption''. It tells the story of banker Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), w ...

'',

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

-absorbing

mutant In biology, and especially in genetics, a mutant is an organism or a new genetic character arising or resulting from an instance of mutation, which is generally an alteration of the DNA sequence of the genome or chromosome of an organism. It ...

Leonard Betts in ''

The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation ...

''. After a recurring role as the snarky Dr. Robert "Rocket" Romano on ''ER'', he became a regular cast member (1997–2003) and returned for one episode during its 15th and final season (2008). McCrane guest-starred in '' 24'' Seasons 5 and 6 as

Graem Bauer The following is a list of characters in the American serial drama television series '' 24'', '' 24: Live Another Day'', and '' 24: Legacy'' by season and event. The list first names the actor, followed by the character. Some characters have their ...

. He has also appeared on ''

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 Colombian t ...

'' and ''

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 ...

''. In 2011, McCrane took on the recurring role of Assistant District Attorney Josh Peyton in the

television program ''

Harry's Law ''Harry's Law'' is an American legal comedy-drama television series created by David E. Kelley, which ran for two seasons on NBC from January 17, 2011, to May 27, 2012. On May 11, 2012, NBC announced that ''Harry's Law'' would not be renewed for ...

,'' a project of producer

David E. Kelley David Edward Kelley (born April 4, 1956) is an American television writer, producer, and former attorney, known as the creator of '' Doogie Howser, M.D.'', '' Picket Fences'', ''Chicago Hope'', ''The Practice'', '' Ally McBeal'', ''Boston Publi ...

. McCrane won the 2011 Emmy Award for Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his performance in the role.Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series, 2011
at Emmys.com Starting 2019, he has a recurring role in 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 ...

TV series '' All Rise''.

Filmography

Film

Television

Discography

*1980: "Is It Okay If I Call You Mine?" / "Dogs in the Yard"

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McCrane, Paul 1961 births Male actors from Philadelphia American male film actors American male stage actors American male television actors American television directors Living people Primetime Emmy Award winners 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors