Sean Whitesell (March 11, 1963 – December 28, 2015) was an American film and television actor, writer and producer.

Early life and education

Whitesell was born in

Iowa Falls Iowa Falls is a city in Hardin County, Iowa, United States. Iowa Falls is the home of Ellsworth Community College. It is also a regional transportation center, located along U.S. Routes 20 and 65 and the Canadian National and Union Pacific Rai ...

, Iowa,Variety Magazine: "Sean Whitesell, Producer for ‘Oz,’ ‘House,’ ‘The Killing,’ Dies at 52" by Carmel Dagan
December 31, 2015Times of India: "'Oz' producer Sean Whitesell dead at 52"
January 1, 2016Deadline: "Sean Whitesell Dies: Television Writer-Producer And Brother Of WME’s Patrick Whitesell Was 52" by Ross A. Lincoln
December 31, 2015 the son of Patricia and John Patrick "Jack" Whitesell.
Mar 12, 2001 He had five brothers:

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, Christopher, Thomas, Patrick, and

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguati ...

.The Wrap: "Sean Whitesell, TV Writer and Brother of WME’s Patrick Whitesell, Dead at 52" by Jeff Sneider
December 31, 2015 He graduated from the

University of Northern Iowa The University of Northern Iowa (UNI) is a public university in Cedar Falls, Iowa. UNI offers more than 90 majors across the colleges of Business Administration, Education, Humanities, Arts, and Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences and gr ...

and then studied acting at the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is t ...

, where he received an MFA in acting.

Career

Whitesell is best known for his portrayal of cannibalistic inmate Donald Groves, the initial cellmate of Miguel Alvarez ( Kirk Acevedo), in season one of HBO's '' Oz'', on which he was a regular until his character's execution. In 2002, Whitesell returned to the show, but not to act; he wrote and produced several episodes in the show's later seasons. Whitesell acted almost exclusively in television, aside from some early minor film roles, such as in '' Calendar Girl'' opposite

Jason Priestley Jason Bradford Priestley (born August 28, 1969) is a Canadian actor and television director. He is best known as the virtuous Brandon Walsh on the television series ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (1990–1998, 2000), as Richard "Fitz" Fitzpatrick in t ...

. He also served as both a writer and a recurring guest actor on '' Homicide: Life on the Street'', in addition to appearing in the television movie that concluded the series in 2000. Although Whitesell did no further acting after the end of ''Homicide'' ended, he was a producer for most of the fourth season of '' House'', and also wrote one episode, "Ugly". He also produced and wrote for several other successful series, including ''

The Black Donnellys ''The Black Donnellys'' is an American drama television series that debuted on NBC on February 26, 2007, and last aired on May 14, 2007. Thereafter, NBC began releasing new episodes weekly on NBC.com until the series was canceled. ''The Black D ...

'', ''

Boston Public ''Boston Public'' is an American drama television series created by David E. Kelley and broadcast on Fox. Set in Boston, the series centers on Winslow High School, a fictional public high school in the Boston Public Schools district. It feature ...

'' and ''

Cold Case A cold case is a crime, or a suspected crime, that has not yet been fully resolved and is not the subject of a current criminal investigation, but for which new information could emerge from new witness testimony, re-examined archives, new or r ...

''.

Personal life

Whitesell was married to KTTV weather anchor and morning meteorologist Maria Quiban Whitesell; they had one son, Gus. He died on December 28, 2015, in Los Angeles from

glioblastoma multiforme Glioblastoma, previously known as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), is one of the most aggressive types of cancer that begin within the brain. Initially, signs and symptoms of glioblastoma are nonspecific. They may include headaches, personality cha ...

, aged 52. Services were held at Saint Paul the Apostle Catholic Church 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 ...

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Whitesell, Sean 1963 births 2015 deaths American male film actors American male television actors American television writers American male television writers Television producers from California University of California, San Diego alumni People from Iowa Falls, Iowa Male actors from Iowa Deaths from brain cancer in the United States Deaths from glioblastoma 20th-century American male actors Burials at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery Screenwriters from Iowa Screenwriters from California Whitesell family