Jonathan Frederick Tenney (born December 16, 1961) is an American actor. He played Special Agent Fritz Howard in TNT's '' The Closer'' and continued in its spin-off '' Major Crimes''.

Early life

Tenney was born in

Princeton, New Jersey The Municipality of Princeton is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey, Borough of Princeton and Pri ...

. His mother, Dr. Lillian Sandra Baum, was a

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry. Psychiatrists are physicians who evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments or strictly ...

, and his father, Frederick Haworth Tenney, was a research

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

. His maternal grandparents were Polish Jewish immigrants, while his paternal forebears were of English ancestry. He received his A.B. degree from Vassar College in 1984, where he majored in drama and philosophy. He later attended

The Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

's Drama Division as a member of ''Group 19'' (1986–1990).

Career

Tenney made his acting debut in a touring production of Mike Nichols' '' The Real Thing''. He worked steadily on and

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 tha ...

, and in regional theater. At

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, his stage credits include '' Biloxi Blues'', '' The Substance of Fire'' and '' The Heiress''. He began working on television, starring in a number of short-lived series, including Steven Bochco's '' Brooklyn South'', Kristin Chenoweth's sitcom '' Kristin'', and guest appearances on '' Cybill'', '' Will & Grace'', '' Murphy Brown'', '' Spenser: for Hire'' and '' Get Real''. Series with Tenney as a regular were canceled on all four major networks. From 2005 to 2012, Tenney played Special Agent Fritz Howard, the husband of Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson ( Kyra Sedgwick) in TNT's '' The Closer''. For the 4th season of Lifetime's '' The Division'' in 2004, he played Hank Riley. When ''The Closer'' ended he continued to act in its spin-off, '' Major Crimes,'' from 2012 to 2018, with Howard becoming an LAPD deputy chief in the third season. Later, he portrayed Dr. Simon Craig, a love interest of Nora Walker ( Sally Field) in '' Brothers & Sisters''. In 2013, he starred with Rebecca Romijn in TNT's '' King & Maxwell'', as Sean King, a former Secret Service agent and lawyer who works as a private investigator. The series was canceled after one season. In 2014, he was cast in a recurring role on Shonda Rhimes' drama series ''

Scandal A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way a ...

''. Tenney appeared in several films, including the villainous CEO of Benbrook Oil Company in '' Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home'' and the friend of Alex Whitman ( Matthew Perry) in '' Fools Rush In''. He also starred in small roles for some films, including '' Tombstone'', '' Beverly Hills Cop III'', '' Nixon'', '' Music from Another Room'' and the 2009 horror film remake of '' The Stepfather''. He also appeared in John Cameron Mitchell's film, '' Rabbit Hole''. He portrayed Martin Jordan in the 2011 superhero film ''

Green Lantern Green Lantern is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They fight evil with the aid of rings that grant them a variety of extraordinary powers, all of which come from imagination, fearlessness, ...

''.

Personal life

From 1994 to 2003, Tenney was married to

Teri Hatcher Teri Lynn Hatcher (born December 8, 1964) is an American actress best known for her portrayals of Lois Lane on the television series ''Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman'' (1993–1997). She also played Paris Carver in the ''Production ...

, with whom he has a daughter, Emerson Rose Tenney. He married producer Leslie Urdang on June 16, 2012.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tenney, Jon 1961 births American people of English descent American people of Polish-Jewish descent American male film actors American male stage actors American male television actors American male voice actors Living people Male actors from Princeton, New Jersey Vassar College alumni Juilliard School alumni 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors Jewish American male actors 21st-century American Jews American Ashkenazi Jews