Timothy Robert DeKay (born June 12, 1963) is an American

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

. He starred 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 Madison ...

series '' White Collar'' (2009–2014)

Early life

Tim DeKay was born June 12, 1963, to Jim DeKay and Jill Vaughn in

Lansing, New York Lansing () is a town in Tompkins County, New York, United States. The population was 11,691 at the 2020 census. The town is named after John Lansing. People from Lansing were early settlers of Lansing, Michigan, and named it after their hometo ...

, where he and his brother Jamey grew up. Growing up, DeKay enjoyed athletics, having played both varsity basketball and baseball, the latter of which is a generational tradition in his family. He also enjoyed the arts and performed in his high school's production of ''

Oliver! ''Oliver!'' is a coming-of-age stage musical, with book, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the 1838 novel '' Oliver Twist'' by Charles Dickens. It premiered at the Wimbledon Theatre, southwest London in 1960 before op ...

''. He attended

Le Moyne College Le Moyne College is a private Jesuit college in DeWitt, New York.http://www.ongov.net/planning/haz/documents/Section9.7-TownofDeWitt.pdf It was founded by the Society of Jesus in 1946 and named after Jesuit missionary Simon Le Moyne. At its fo ...

to study business and philosophy, where he also played baseball, eventually deciding to pursue a career in theater. (DeKay returned to Le Moyne College in May 2010 as the commencement speaker, and he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters ''honoris causa''.) DeKay planned for a career in business or law, and he graduated with a bachelor's degree in business administration in 1985. However, he realized that he wanted to work in theater instead. After taking a few courses in directing at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

,"Sixtieth Commencement"
.

. May 16, 2010. Retrieved November 5, 12014. he attended

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

, where he received a

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admini ...

degree and met his wife, actress Elisa Taylor.

Career

DeKay has performed in plays both on Broadway and off, including ''Ridiculous Fraud'' at the

McCarter Theatre McCarter Theatre Center is a not-for-profit, professional company on the campus of Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey. The institution is currently led by Artistic Director Sarah Rasmussen and Managing Director Michael S. Rosenberg. ...

; '' Billy Budd'' at the

Circle in the Square Theatre The Circle in the Square Theatre is a Broadway theater at 235 West 50th Street, in the basement of Paramount Plaza, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It is one of two Broadway theaters that use a thrust stage that extends ...

; ''Someone to Watch Over Me'' with the Denver Theatre Company; ''

The Merchant of Venice ''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan provided by a Jewish moneylender, Shylock. Although classified as ...

'' on the Hartford Stage; and the national tour of ''

The Lion in Winter ''The Lion in Winter'' is a 1966 play by James Goldman, depicting the personal and political conflicts of Henry II of England, his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, their children and their guests during Christmas 1183. It premiered on Broadway at the ...

''. In 2009, he was both director and producer of the

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

''This Monday''. It was included in several short-film festivals, including Cannes Short Film Corner and the Palm Springs International Short Film Festival (

ShortFest The Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films (a.k.a. Palm Springs International ShortFest) held annually in Palm Springs, California is the largest film festival for short films in the United States.Larry Deon on ''

seaQuest 2032 ''SeaQuest DSV'' (stylized as ''seaQuest DSV'' and also promoted as simply ''seaQuest'') is an American science fiction television series created by Rockne S. O'Bannon. It originally aired on NBC between 1993 and 1996. In its final season, i ...

''. He was a cast member of ''

Party of Five ''Party of Five'' is an American television teen and family drama created by Christopher Keyser and Amy Lippman that originally aired on Fox for six seasons from September 12, 1994, to May 3, 2000. The series featured an ensemble cast led by Sc ...

'' from 1997 to 1999, ''

Carnivàle ''Carnivàle'' () is an American television series set in the United States Dust Bowl during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The series, created by Daniel Knauf, ran for two seasons between 2003 and 2005. In tracing the lives of disparate ...

'' from 2003 to 2005, and '' Tell Me You Love Me'' in 2007. He also appeared as Dean Stewart in the gay-themed comedy/drama film ''

Big Eden ''Big Eden'' is a 2000 romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Thomas Bezucha. Arye Gross stars as Henry Hart, a successful gay artist from New York City who returns to his rural hometown in Montana to care for his ailing grandfather. ...

'' in 2000. He appeared in two episodes of ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as Jerry Seinfeld ( ...

'': "

The Soul Mate "The Soul Mate" is the 136th episode of the American television sitcom '' Seinfeld''. This was the second episode for the eighth season, originally airing on September 26, 1996. In this episode, George tries to figure out what caused the damage to ...

" and "

The Bizarro Jerry "The Bizarro Jerry" is the 137th episode of the American television sitcom ''Seinfeld''. This was the third episode of the eighth season, originally airing on the NBC network on October 3, 1996. The title and plot extensively reference Bizarro Sup ...

", as Elaine's boyfriend Kevin. He would work with

Julia Louis-Dreyfus Julia Scarlett Elizabeth Louis-Dreyfus ( ; born January 13, 1961) is an American actress, comedian, and producer who worked on the comedy television series ''Saturday Night Live'' (1982–1985), ''Seinfeld'' (1989–1998), ''The New Adventures ...

again in ''

The New Adventures of Old Christine ''The New Adventures of Old Christine'' (often shortened to simply ''Old Christine'') is an American sitcom television series starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Christine Campbell, a divorced mother doing her best to keep pace with those around her ...

'', playing a temperamental boyfriend of Louis-Dreyfus's character in a three-episode story arc. He has also guest-starred on several other TV series, including ''

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa ...

'', '' CSI'', ''

My Name Is Earl ''My Name Is Earl'' is an American television sitcom created by Greg Garcia that aired on the NBC television network from September 20, 2005, to May 14, 2009, in the United States. It was produced by 20th Century Fox Television and starred Ja ...

'', '' NCIS'', '' Scrubs'', and ''

Chuck Chuck is a masculine given name or a nickname for Charles or Charlie. It may refer to: People Arts and entertainment * Chuck Alaimo, American saxophonist, leader of the Chuck Alaimo Quartet * Chuck Barris (1929–2017), American TV producer * C ...

''. In 2009, DeKay began starring in the

comedy–drama '' White Collar'' as FBI agent Peter Burke. He made his directorial debut in the episode " Stealing Home", which premiered in 2012. DeKay played Duvall Pritchard in Fox Television's 2016

sci-fi Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universe ...

drama series '' Second Chance''. He is a member of the

Actors Studio The Actors Studio is a membership organization for professional actors, theatre directors and playwrights at 432 West 44th Street between Ninth and Tenth avenues in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded ...

. He taught as an adjunct professor at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

Personal life

DeKay and his wife, actress Elisa Taylor, reside in California. They have a daughter, Danna, and a son, Jamis.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

*
Team DeKay
Tim DeKay fansite
VIdeo of Tim Dekay's 2010 Commencement speech at LeMoyne College
via YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Dekay, Tim 1963 births American male film actors American male television actors American male stage actors Le Moyne College alumni Living people Male actors from New York (state) People from Tompkins County, New York Le Moyne Dolphins baseball players