Paul Joseph Otto Johansson (born January 26, 1964) is an American-born Canadian actor and director in film and

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

, best known for playing

Dan Scott ''One Tree Hill'' is an American television series created by Mark Schwahn for The WB in 2003. After its third season, The WB and UPN merged to form The CW, which then became the broadcaster for the show in the United States. Schwahn served a ...

on the WB/ CW series, ''

One Tree Hill One Tree Hill may refer to: * "One Tree Hill" (song), a 1987 song by U2 referencing One Tree Hill, New Zealand volcanic peak * ''One Tree Hill'' (TV series), a 2003–2012 American drama series named for the U2 song ** ''One Tree Hill'' (soundtr ...

'', and for his role as Nick Wolfe on the short lived '' Highlander: The Series'' spin-off '' Highlander: The Raven''. He directed the 2011 film adaptation of Ayn Rand's novel, '' Atlas Shrugged: Part I''.

Life and career

Early life

Paul Johansson was born in

Spokane Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Ca ...

, Washington, the son of Canadian ice hockey player Earl Johnson, but raised in Kelowna,

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Acting career

Johansson landed his first role on the soap opera '' Santa Barbara''. He played

Greg Hughes Gregory H. Hughes is an American politician who served as a member of the Utah House of Representatives representing District 51 from January 1, 2003 through December 31, 2018. Hughes is the former Speaker of the House for the House of Representa ...

from 1989 to 1990. Soon he made appearances in other television shows such as ''

Parker Lewis Can't Lose ''Parker Lewis Can't Lose'' is an American teen sitcom that originally aired on Fox from September 1990 to June 1993. It was produced by Clyde Phillips Productions in association with Columbia Pictures Television. During the last season, the s ...

'' and ''

Beverly Hills, 90210 ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (often referred to by its short title, ''90210'') is an American teen drama television series created by Darren Star and produced by Aaron Spelling under his production company Spelling Television. The series ran for ...

'', and later recurred on '' Lonesome Dove: The Series'' and starred on '' Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years''. Johansson became well-known to fans of ''90210'' for playing John Sears, a fraternity brother who unsuccessfully vied for the affections of Kelly Taylor (

Jennie Garth Jennifer Eve Garth (born April 3, 1972) is an American actress. She is known for starring as Kelly Taylor throughout the ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' franchise and Val Tyler on the sitcom '' What I Like About You'' (2002–06). In 2012, she starre ...

) and set up Steve Sanders (

Ian Ziering Ian Andrew Ziering (; born March 30, 1964) is an American actor best known for his role as Steve Sanders on the television series '' Beverly Hills, 90210'', which he played from 1990 to 2000. He is also the voice of Vinnie on '' Biker Mice from ...

) to burglarize a professor's office. The character returned for the season 4 finale. He also appeared in commercials, most notably as the delivery man in a Diet Coke commercial. He has appeared in the films ''

Soapdish ''Soapdish'' is a 1991 American comedy film directed by Michael Hoffman, from a screenplay by Robert Harling and Andrew Bergman. The film was produced by Aaron Spelling and Alan Greisman, and executive produced by Herbert Ross. The film tells ...

'', ''

John Q John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

'' and '' Alpha Dog'', and had a small uncredited role in ''

The Notebook ''The Notebook'' is a 2004 American romantic drama film directed by Nick Cassavetes, with a screenplay by Jeremy Leven and Jan Sardi, based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks. The film stars Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams ...

''. He portrayed the role of Dan Scott in One Tree Hill beginning in 2003 until the show's end in 2012. He subsequently featured in

Takashi Miike is a Japanese film director, film producer and screenwriter. He has directed over one hundred theatrical, video, and television productions since his debut in 1991. His films run through a variety of different genres, and range from violent a ...

's 2003 film Gozu, appearing as a man with a cow's head. In 2003 Johansson wrote and directed the film ''The Incredible Mrs. Ritchie''. He has also directed several episodes of ''

''. In 2006 he starred in Emily Skopov's '' Novel Romance'', alongside

Traci Lords Traci Lords (born Nora Louise Kuzma; May 7, 1968) is an American actress and singer. She entered the adult film industry using a fake birth certificate to conceal that she was two years under the legal age of eighteen. Lords starred in adult f ...

and

Sherilyn Fenn Sherilyn Fenn (born Sheryl Ann Fenn; February 1, 1965) is an American actress and author. She came to attention for her performance as Audrey Horne on the television series ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991, 2017) for which she was nominated for a Go ...

. He appeared in the 7th season of ''The Drew Carey Show'', playing a sportscaster. He is the director of '' Atlas Shrugged: Part I'' (2011), the first third of a trilogy based on the novel by Ayn Rand. The film received an approval rating of 12% on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

based on reviews from 52 critics.

Personal life

His mother, Joanne Leone Johansson, died on October 14, 2011, after a 20-year battle with breast cancer. The eleventh episode of the ninth season of the CW's ''One Tree Hill'' (titled "Danny Boy", in which Paul's character Dan Scott dies) was dedicated to her memory.

Filmography

Film

Television

As a director

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johansson, Paul 1964 births American male film actors American male television actors Male actors from Spokane, Washington Daytime Emmy Award winners Living people Canadian male film actors Canadian male television actors Canadian people of American descent Male actors from British Columbia People from Kelowna University of British Columbia alumni UBC Thunderbirds basketball players 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors