Gregory Harrison

Gregory Neale Harrison (born May 31, 1950)[1] is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Chandler in the 1987 film North Shore, as Dr. George Alonzo "Gonzo" Gates, the young surgeon assistant of Dr. Trapper John MacIntyre (played by Pernell Roberts) on the CBS series Trapper John, M.D.(1979–86), and as ruthless business tycoon Michael Sharpe in the CBS series Falcon Crest (1989–1990). Since 2015, he has played Joe O'Toole, father of Oliver, in the Hallmark Channel expansion films of Signed, Sealed and Delivered.

Gregory Harrison
Harrison and Heather Menzies in Logan's Run (1977–78).
Born	Gregory Neale Harrison (1950-05-31) May 31, 1950 Avalon, Santa Catalina Island, California, United States
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1973–present
Spouse(s)	Randi Oakes (1980–present)
Children	4
Website	gregoryharrison.com

Early life and career

Harrison was born in Avalon, California, in 1950, the son of Ed, a ship's captain and poet.[1][2]

Harrison served for two years in the United States Army during the Vietnam War era as a medic.[3]

He was the title character on the 1977–78 science fiction series Logan's Run, after which he played the role of Levi Zendt on the 1978 NBC miniseries Centennial.

In 1979, after years of being a relatively unknown actor, Harrison finally won the role of surgeon Dr. George "Gonzo" Gates on Trapper John, M.D., starring opposite Pernell Roberts on the medical drama spun off from M*A*S*H.[4] Harrison had guest-starred on an episode of M*A*S*H the year after Wayne Rogers departed from his role as Trapper John on that series. Harrison remained as Gonzo on Trapper John until the middle of the show's seventh season, when he decided to leave for other ventures. The series continued for several more episodes without Harrison, but concluded its run at the end of the 1985–86 season. Harrison had been a fan of Roberts' role as the eldest son of the Cartwright family on the series Bonanza (1959–1973). The two remained friends until Roberts' death from pancreatic cancer on January 24, 2010.

Harrison's later role as stripper John Phillips in the 1981 TV movie For Ladies Only made him a favorite with women and gay men in the 1980s. He spoofed that role in the 1986 miniseries Fresno where his character appeared shirtless at every opportunity. Fresno was also a spoof of the prime-time series Falcon Crest, where Harrison became a regular three years later in the final season (1989–90).[5] As Falcon Crest ended production in early 1990, the series' parent studio, Lorimar Television, cast Harrison in its upcoming CBS sitcom The Family Man, from producers Thomas L. Miller and Robert L. Boyett. The series, which premiered that fall, featured Harrison as a single fireman father raising his four children with the help of his father-in-law, played by Al Molinaro. Despite a few attempts by CBS to help it build an audience, The Family Man was cancelled after one season.

Harrison later joined the cast of NBC's Sisters for the 1994–95 season, playing Daniel Albright. In 1996, he starred opposite Eric Roberts in It's My Party, a film based on the true events of a man diagnosed with AIDS who planned a two-day party to say goodbye to his friends and family, and who then took his own life with pills.

He also starred in the WB Network's Safe Harbor and One Tree Hill and has made guest appearances on other shows such as Touched by an Angel, Judging Amy, Reunion, Joey, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Drop Dead Diva and Hot in Cleveland.

He has played the lead in a touring version of the musical Chicago and was the male lead in each film of the Au Pair trilogy. He also appeared as Benjamin Stone in the Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim's Follies and created a role in the original Broadway production of Kander & Ebb's Steel Pier. In 2011 he had a guest-starring role as a doctor on ABC's Body of Proof.

Personal life

Harrison has been married since 1980 to actress Randi Oakes. The couple have four children, three girls and a boy. He lived in Gold Beach, Oregon, for 15 years; as of 2007, he lives in Eugene.[6]

Harrison became addicted to cocaine during the 1980s and was able to break the addiction with the help of the Betty Ford Center.[7]

Filmography

Film
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1973	The Harrad Experiment	Student	Film debut
1976	Jim the World's Greatest	Jim Nolan
1977	Fraternity Row	Zac Sterling
1984	Razorback	Carl Winters
1987	North Shore	Chandler
1992	Body Chemistry II: The Voice of a Stranger	Dan
1993	Cadillac Girls	Sam
1994	Tis a Gift to Be Simple	Daniel Hanover	Short film
1995	Hard Evidence	Trent Turner
1996	It's My Party	Brandon Theis
1998	Air Bud: Golden Receiver	Dr. Patrick Sullivan	Alternative title: Air Bud 2
2000	Canone Inverso - Making Love	Jeno Piccolo	Alternative title: The Inverse Canon
2009	Love N' Dancing	Uncle Carl
	Give 'Em Hell, Malone	Whitmore
2014	The M Word	Mack Riley
2016	Fair Haven	Dr. Gallagher
2020	Hour of Lead	Dr. Bradley
Television films
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1975	Trilogy of Terror	Arthur Moore	Segment: "Julie"
1977	The Gathering	Bud Jr.
1979	The Best Place to Be	Rick Jawlosky
1980	The Women's Room	Ben Volper
	Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb	Captain Bob Lewis
1981	For Ladies Only	John Phillips
1983	The Fighter	Merle Banks
	The Hasty Heart	Sgt. Lachlen McLachlen
1985	Seduced	Mike Riordan
1986	Oceans of Fire	Ben Laforche
	Picnic	Hal Carter
1988	Hot Paint	Willie
	Red River	Cherry Valance
1990	Dangerous Pursuit	Political Assassin
	Angel of Death	Gary Nicholson
1991	Bare Essentials	William "Bill" Buzell
1992	Breaking the Silence	Paul Danner
	Duplicates	Bob Boxletter
	Split Images	Robbie Daniels
1993	Caught in the Act	Scott McNally
	A Family Torn Apart	Tom Kelley	Alternative title: Sudden Fury
1994	Lies of the Heart: The Story of Laurie Kellogg	Bruce Kellogg
	Mortal Fear	Philip Montgomery
	A Christmas Romance	Brian Harding
1995	A Dangerous Affair	Robert Kenzer
	Nothing Lasts Forever	Dr. Benjamin "Ben" Wallace
1996	Summer of Fear	Lucas Marshall
1997	When Secrets Kill	Greg Newhall
1998	Running Wild	Matt Robinson
	Murder at 75 Birch	Rick Todson
1999	First Daughter	President Jonathan Hayes
	Au Pair	Oliver Caldwell
2000	First Target	President Jonathan Hayes
2001	Au Pair II	Oliver Caldwell
2002	First Shot	President Jonathan Hayes
	St. Sass	Adam Patrick
2009	Au Pair 3: Adventure in Paradise	Oliver Caldwell
2012	Undercover Bridesmaid	Mr. Thompson
2013	After All These Years	David Larabee
2014	The Nine Lives of Christmas	Chief Sam
2015	Cloudy with a Chance of Love	Grant
	Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Truth Be Told	Joe O'Toole
2016	Signed, Sealed, Delivered: One in a Million	Joe O'Toole
	Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Lost Without You	Joe O'Toole
	My Christmas Love	Tom Manning
2017	Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Higher Ground	Joe O'Toole
	Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Home Again	Joe O'Toole
2018	Signed, Sealed, Delivered: To the Altar	Joe O'Toole
2019	Love, Fall & Order	Hank Hart
Television series
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1976	Barnaby Jones	Ritchie Ridder	Episode: "Blood Vengeance"
	M*A*S*H	Lt. Tony Baker	Episode: "The Nurses"
1977–78	Logan's Run	Logan 5	Main cast (14 episodes)
1978–79	Centennial	Levi Zendt	Miniseries
1979–86	Trapper John, M.D.	Dr. George Alonzo "Gonzo" Gates	Main cast (142 episodes)
1986	Fresno	Torch	Miniseries
1987	The Greatest Adventure: Stories from the Bible	Joseph (voice)	Episode: "The Nativity"
1989–90	Falcon Crest	Michael Sharpe	Main cast (22 episodes)
1990–91	The Family Man	Jack Taylor	Main cast (22 episodes)
1995	500 Nations	Narrator (voice)	8 episodes
	Sisters	Daniel Albright	Recurring role (5 episodes)
	Touched by an Angel	Pete Taylor	Episode: "There But for the Grace of God"
	New York News	Jack Reilly	Main cast (13 episodes)
1996–97	Dark Skies	Old John Loengard (voice)	20 episodes (uncredited)
1998	Touched by an Angel	Richard	Episode: "Flights of Angels"
	The Outer Limits	Dr. Larry Chambers	Episode: "To Tell the Truth"
	Dead Man's Gun	Boucher / Trapper	Episode: "The Trapper"
	Maggie Winters	Mr. Wiehe	Episode: "And Those Who Can't"
1999	Safe Harbor	Sheriff John Loring	Main cast (10 episodes)
2000	Ed	Nick Stanton	Recurring role (5 episodes)
2000–01	Judging Amy	Tom Gillette	Recurring role (4 episodes)
2002	Touched by an Angel	Don	Episode: "Forever Young"
2002–03	Strong Medicine	Dr. Randolf Kilner	Recurring role (4 episodes)
2003	Miracles	Sheriff Ed Prescott	Episode: "The Bone Scatterer"
2005–06	Reunion	Russell Brewster	Recurring role (7 episodes)
	Joey	Dean	Recurring role (5 episodes)
2006	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Nathan Speer	Episode: "Clock"
2008	Rodney	Duke Lewis	Episode: "Potty Mouth"
2009	Drop Dead Diva	Brandon Tharpe	Episode: "Crazy"
	Maneater	Teddy Alpert	Miniseries
2009–11	One Tree Hill	Paul Norris	Recurring role (11 episodes)
2010	CSI: NY	Roland Carson	Episode: "Out of the Sky"
2011	Hot in Cleveland	Dave	Episode: "Elka's Snowbird"
	Body of Proof	Dr. Cameron Fischer	Episode: "Gross Anatomy"
2012	Outside the Box	Thorn	Episode: "Soylent Green"
	Ringer	Tim Arbogast	Recurring role (5 episodes)
2013	Psych	Ted Lomax	Episode: "Nip and Suck It"
2014	Reckless	Decatur "Dec" Fortnum	Main cast (13 episodes)
2015	Castle	Danny Valentine	Episode: "Dead from New York"
	NCIS	Navy Capt. Roland Ebbakey	Episode: "Viral"
2015–16	Rizzoli & Isles	Ron Hanson	Recurring role (6 episodes)
2017–18	Chesapeake Shores	Thomas O'Brien	Recurring role (9 episodes)
2017	The Middle	Bennett Brooks	Episode: "Meet the Parents"
2018–19	American Housewife	Dan	2 episodes

References

1. Brady, James (1990-02-25). "In Step With: Gregory Harrison". Parade. Retrieved 2011-02-05.
2. "Gregory Harrison Biography (1950-)". Filmreference.com. Retrieved 2012-01-15.
3. Harris, Harry (December 3, 1979). "Hospital Routine Familiar to Actor Gregory Harrison". Boca Raton News. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
4. Gross, Ed (February 5, 2020). "101 Classic (and Not-So-Classic) TV Shows From the 1970s". Closer Weekly. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
5. "Deutscher FALCON CREST - Fanclub / German FALCON CREST Fan Club". www.falconcrest.org. Retrieved 2013-12-03.
6. Wang, K.L. Connie (February 6, 2015). "Connie Chats with Gregory Harrison". Parade. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
7. Simross, Lynn (September 5, 1989). "From Addict to Role Model Gregory Harrison Bares Soul to Help Drug-Abuse Victims". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 26, 2018.

External links

• Gregory Harrison on IMDb
• Gregory Harrison at the Internet Broadway Database
• Gregory Harrison at the Internet Off-Broadway Database