Terry O'Quinn
Terrance Quinn (born July 15, 1952), known professionally as Terry O'Quinn, is an American actor. He played John Locke on the TV series Lost, the title role in The Stepfather and Stepfather II, and Peter Watts in Millennium, which ran for three seasons (1996–1999). He has also hosted Mysteries of the Missing on The Science Channel.
Terry O'Quinn | |
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.jpg) Terry O'Quinn in 2008. | |
| Born | Terrance Quinn July 15, 1952 |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1980–present |
| Spouse(s) | Lori O'Quinn
( m. 1979; div. 2010) |
| Children | 2 |
Early life
O'Quinn was born at War Memorial Hospital in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, one of 11 siblings, and grew up in nearby Newberry, Michigan. He is of Irish descent, and was raised Catholic.[1][2] He attended Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, and the University of Iowa in Iowa City. He changed his surname from Quinn to O'Quinn as another registered actor already had the name Terrance Quinn.[3]
In the 1970s he went to Baltimore to act in the Center Stage production of Tartuffe. He remained at Center Stage for some years and often appeared with the late Tana Hicken, most notably as Benedick to her Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing. His first movie role was in Heaven's Gate.
Career
O'Quinn began acting in the 1970s during his time at Central Michigan University. He not only was an actor but also playwright/director. He wrote and directed the musical Orchestrina. This musical featured five main characters: The Man (played by Jeff Daniels), The Boy (Harold Downs), The Woman (Ann O'Donnell), The Girl (Debbie Penwarden), and The Drunk (James Hilliker), plus a female and a male chorus. He was roommates at CMU with actor Brad Slaight.
Starting in 1980, O'Quinn has appeared in various feature films such as Silver Bullet, Tombstone, Heaven's Gate, Young Guns, alongside Rutger Hauer in Blind Fury, and as Howard Hughes in The Rocketeer.
O'Quinn also appeared in the Canadian horror movie, Pin (1988) alongside British-born Canadian actor, David Hewlett.
His early television roles include guest appearances on Miami Vice (episode "Give a Little, Take a Little"), Moonlighting, Star Trek: The Next Generation (episode "The Pegasus"), The Twilight Zone (1985 revival; episode "Chameleon"), Homicide: Life on the Street (episode "Hate Crimes"), a recurring role on Earth 2, another recurring role as Captain (& later Rear Admiral) Thomas Boone on JAG, as well as Colonel Will Ryan in episode 15 of season 1 on the JAG spin-off series NCIS (episode "Enigma").
Around 1995, O'Quinn made guest appearances in The X-Files and Harsh Realm, produced by Chris Carter, who also cast him in the film The X-Files: Fight The Future and then once again in the final season. In 1996 O'Quinn started acting in the television series Millennium as Peter Watts, also produced by Chris Carter. O'Quinn held this role for all three seasons of the series. O'Quinn holds the distinction of having played four different characters within the extended X-Files/Millennium continuum (the two shows being classed together since both Lance Henriksen's character of Frank Black and Charles Nelson Reilly's character of Jose Chung have appeared in both shows).[4][5]
The Stepfather films
O'Quinn made his breakthrough by starring as the deranged serial-killing title character in The Stepfather. He was praised by critics, including Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times, who commented: "'The Stepfather' has one wonderful element: Terry O'Quinn's performance".[6] Ebert wrote: "He is a journeyman actor from TV and many movies, usually in supporting roles, and you may or may not recognize him. What's clear at once is that he is a strong actor, and given this leading role he brings all kinds of creepy dimensions to it. He has the thankless assignment of showing us a completely hateful, repellent character – and he approaches the task as an exercise in cloying middle-class good manners."[6] O'Quinn was nominated for both a Saturn Award and an Independent Spirit Award for his performance. In the film, O'Quinn plays a deranged serial killer going by the name "Jerry Blake" (his character's real name and identity are never revealed), who is obsessed with having an ideal family. When a widowed mother and daughter do not comport with his expectations, he spirals into a spell of madness and attempts to brutally murder them. A sequel was released two years after the first film, in which his character escapes from the asylum in which he is placed, and steals the identity of a man named Gene Clifford after reading his obituary in a local newspaper. It grossed almost a million dollars less at the box office.[7][8] Not impressed with the second movie, O'Quinn declined to appear in the third installment, in which the stepfather character was portrayed by Robert Wightman.
O'Quinn was approached by director of the 2009 reboot of The Stepfather, Nelson McCormick, to make a cameo appearance in the film, but according to the producers O'Quinn turned down the offer.[9][10]
Lost
After a string of recurring appearances on Alias (2002–2003), as the FBI Director Kendall, O'Quinn became a favorite of television producer J.J. Abrams. Following a seven-episode guest run on The West Wing in 2003–2004, O'Quinn received a call from Abrams indicating that the producer wanted to cast him in his new television drama Lost without any audition. In 2005 O'Quinn received an Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama for his work as John Locke on the series Lost. O'Quinn admitted on the TV Guide Channel that he did not have much faith in Lost at first, calling it "The Mysterious Gilligan's Island of Dr. Moreau".[11] The show, however, became one of the most popular on television, and on September 16, 2007 he won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Drama Series for his role, and was nominated again for an Emmy for the role in 2010, which he did not win. In a Tv.com interview O'Quinn commented that the reason he felt comfortable playing this character is because he's a bit like him.[12]
2010–present
O'Quinn has made a number of television appearances since Lost. From 2012–2013, O'Quinn starred in the short-lived series 666 Park Avenue as Gavin Doran. In 2012, he appeared in the second season of Falling Skies.[13] Additionally, O’Quinn starred for two seasons in Amazon Studios' Patriot.
In 2016, it was announced that O'Quinn would be joining the second season of Secret and Lies.[14] In 2019, O'Quinn starred in the only season of Perpetual Grace, LTD on Epix.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Heaven's Gate | Capt. Minardi | |
| 1981 | The Doctors | Dr. Jerry Dancy | |
| 1983 | All the Right Moves | Freeman Smith | |
| 1984 | Places in the Heart | Buddy Kelsey | |
| Mrs. Soffel | Detective Buck McGovern | ||
| 1985 | Silver Bullet | Sheriff Joe Haller | |
| Mischief | Claude Harbrough | ||
| 1986 | Between Two Women | Dr. Wallace | |
| SpaceCamp | Launch Director | ||
| 1987 | The Stepfather | Jerry Blake | Nominated—Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead Nominated—National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Actor |
| Black Widow | Bruce | ||
| 1988 | Young Guns | Alex McSween | |
| 1989 | Pin | Dr. Linden | |
| Blind Fury | Frank Deveraux | ||
| Stepfather II | Dr. Gene Clifford | ||
| The Forgotten One | Bob Anderson | ||
| 1990 | Blood Oath | Major Beckett | |
| Kaleidoscope | Henry | ||
| 1991 | Son of the Morning Star | General Alfred Terry | |
| The Rocketeer | Howard Hughes | ||
| Company Business | Colonel Pierce Grissom | ||
| 1992 | The Cutting Edge | Jack Moseley | |
| My Samurai | James McCrea | ||
| 1993 | Tombstone | Mayor John Clum | |
| Born Too Soon | Dr. Friedman | ||
| 1995 | Shadow Warriors | Dr. Connors | |
| 1996 | Ghosts of Mississippi | Judge Hilburn | |
| Primal Fear | Bud Yancy | ||
| 1997 | My Stepson, My Lover | Richard Cory | |
| Breast Men | Hersch Lawyer | ||
| Shadow Conspiracy | Frank Ridell | ||
| 1998 | The X-Files | Darius Michaud | |
| 2000 | Rated X | J.R. Mitchell | |
| 2001 | American Outlaws | Rollin H. Parker | |
| 2002 | Hometown Legend | Buster Shuler | |
| The Locket | Casey Keddington | ||
| 2003 | Old School | Goldberg | Uncredited |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Tales of the Unexpected (TV series) | cop | Episode: "In the Bag" |
| 1984 | Miami Vice | Richard Cain | Episode: "Give a Little, Take a Little" |
| 1985 | The Twilight Zone | Dr. Curt Lockridge | Episode: "Chameleon" |
| Remington Steele | Chuck McBride | Episode: "Coffee, Tea or Steele" | |
| 1987 | Moonlighting | Bryant Wilbourne | Episode: "Take a Left At the Altar" |
| 1990 | Jake and the Fatman | Vincent Novak | Episode: "You're Driving Me Crazy" |
| 1992 | L.A. Law | Nick Moats | Episode: "Beauty and the Breast" |
| 1993 | Tales from the Crypt | Inspector Martin Zeller | Episode: "The Bribe" |
| Visions of Murder | Admiral Truman Hager | Television movie | |
| 1994 | Star Trek: The Next Generation | Admiral Erik Pressman | Episode: "The Pegasus" |
| Earth 2 | Reilly | 6 episodes | |
| Matlock | Malcolm Engle | Episode: "The Dare" | |
| 1995 | The X-Files | Lt. Brian Tillman | Episode: "Aubrey" |
| 1995 – 2002 | JAG | Capt./RAdm. Thomas Boone, CAG | 10 episodes |
| 1996 | Diagnosis: Murder | Dr. Ronald Trent | Episode: "The Murder Trade" |
| 1996 – 1999 | Millennium | Peter Watts | 41 episodes |
| 1999 – 2000 | Harsh Realm | General Omar Santiago | 9 episodes |
| 2001 | Roswell | Carl | Episode: "Michael, the Guys, and the Great Snapple Caper" |
| 2002 | The X-Files | Shadow Man | Episode: "Trust No 1" |
| 2002 – 2004 | Alias | FBI Asst. Director Kendall | 18 episodes |
| 2003 | Phenomenon II | Military officer Jack Hatch | Television movie |
| 2003 – 2004 | The West Wing | General Nicholas Alexander | 7 episodes |
| 2004 | NCIS | Col. Will Ryan | Episode: "Enigma" |
| Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Gordon Buchanan | Episode: "Mis-Labeled" | |
| 2004 – 2010 | Lost | John Locke/The Man in Black | 101 episodes Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor on Television Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Nominated—Golden Nymph Award for Outstanding Actor – Drama Series (2007, 2009–11) Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (2005, 2010) Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor on Television (2006, 2008, 2011) Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice TV: Villain |
| 2011 | Taken from Me: The Tiffany Rubin Story | Mark Miller | Television movie |
| 2011 – 2018 | Hawaii Five-0 | Commander Joe White | 15 episodes |
| 2012 – 2013 | Falling Skies | Arthur Manchester | three episodes Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Guest Starring Role on Television |
| 2012 | 666 Park Avenue | Gavin Doran | 13 episodes |
| 2014 | Gang Related | Sam Chapel | 12 episodes |
| Phineas and Ferb | Professor Mystery (voice) | Episode: "Lost in Danville" | |
| 2015 | Full Circle | Jimmy Parerra | six episodes |
| 2015 – 2018 | Patriot | Tom Tavner | 18 episodes |
| 2016 | Secret and Lies | John Warner | Main role; seven episodes |
| 2017 | The Blacklist | Howard Hargrave | Episode: "Isabella Stone (No. 34)"; uncredited |
| The Blacklist: Redemption | Howard Hargrave | Recurring; seven episodes | |
| Mysteries of the Missing[15] | Himself (host) | Recurring | |
| 2018 | Castle Rock[16] | Dale Lacy | four episodes |
| 2019 (June) | Perpetual Grace, LTD | Texas Ranger Wesley Walker | 10 episodes |
| 2019 (September) | Emergence | Richard Kindred | Recurring |
References
- interview with miriam o'callaghan
- Loudermilk, Suzanne (May 2010). "Lost and Found". Baltimore. Retrieved 2010-07-15.
He's come a long way, literally and figuratively, from his days in small-town Newberry, MI, where he was one of 11 children in a close-knit, Irish-Catholic family.
- Hatch, Rachel (2008-03-04). "TV Actor Terry O'Quinn Visits With Illinois Wesleyan Theatre Students". Illinois Wesleyan Theatre. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
- Thomas J. Wright (director), Vince Gilligan & Frank Spotnitz (writers). "Millennium". The X-Files. Season 7. Episode 5. Fox.
- Darin Morgan (director and writer). "Jose Chung's Doomsday Defense". Millennium. Season 2. Episode 9. Fox.
- Ebert, Roger (2 March 1987). "The Stepfather". RogerEbert.com. Chicago Sun-Times.
- "The Stepfather". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
- "The Stepfather 2". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
- "Interview: Never Back Down's Amber Heard". Cinemablend. Retrieved 2009-07-17.
- "How Dylan Walsh makes the new Stepfather a killer remake". Sci-Fi Wire. Retrieved 2009-07-18.
- "Terry O'Quinn". Flixster. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
- O'Quinn, Terry; Kim, Yunjin; Kim, Daniel Dae; Bender, Jack (2006-10-05). "Jack Bender, Yunjin Kim, Daniel Dae Kim & Terry O'Quinn (Exclusive Interview)". TV.com (Interview). Interviewed by Tiffany O'Quinn. Archived from the original on 2008-06-14. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
- Elavsky, Cindy (2012-03-05). "Celebrity Extra". Downriver Sunday Times. Retrieved 2012-03-16.
- "'Secrets And Lies' Season 2 Cast Photos Released; No Premiere Date Announced Yet". International Business Times. Retrieved 2016-01-23.
- "Terry O'Quinn To Host New Science Channel Series Mysteries Of The Missing – Discovery Communications, Inc". corporate.discovery.com. Retrieved 2017-09-05.
- Andreeva, Nellie (2017-08-29). "'Castle Rock': Terry O'Quinn Cast In Hulu's J.J. Abrams/Stephen King Series". Deadline. Retrieved 2017-09-05.
External links
- Terry O'Quinn on IMDb
- Terry O'Quinn at the TCM Movie Database
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