Johnathon Schaech

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Johnathon Schaech
Actor Johnathon Schaech.jpg
Johnathon Schaech in 2009
Born (1969-09-10) September 10, 1969 (age 43)
Edgewood, Maryland, US
Nationality American
Occupation Actor, writer, producer
Years active 1993–present

Johnathon Schaech (pronounced Shek) born September 10, 1969 is an American actor, writer, and director.

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Early life [edit]

Schaech was born in Edgewood, Maryland, to Joseph, a Baltimore City law enforcement officer, and Joanne Schaech, a human resources executive.[1] He is of German and Italian descent,[2] and was raised Roman Catholic.[3][4] Schaech has a sister Renee, who now lives in Cumberland and is director of Western Maryland's agency on aging.[5]

Career [edit]

Schaech began his acting career doing commercials in Baltimore and he packed up his Toyota truck and moved to Los Angeles in 1989, where he met acting coach Roy London. He studied with London for four years, getting bit parts until he won the lead role in Franco Zeffirelli's period feature Storia di una Capinera (Sparrow) opposite Academy Award winner Vanessa Redgrave. Schaech was sent to London to study dialect prior to production. The feature was filmed in parts of Sicily and Cinecittà studios in Rome.[5]

After over a year working on the movie, Schaech went back to Hollywood to discover London had become ill and would soon pass away. He was also greatly disappointed to discover Zeffirelli had dubbed his entire performance. He used this disappointment as motivation to immediately seek and win a role in How to Make an American Quilt opposite Winona Ryder, and the part of Xavier Red in Greg Araki's The Doom Generation.

In 1995 two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks cast Schaech as the ambitious and self-absorbed lead singer of The Wonders in That Thing You Do!, which was Hanks's writing and directing debut. Next, Schaech took the male lead opposite Academy Award winners Gwyneth Paltrow and Jessica Lange in the1998 thriller Hush.

Schaech was featured as one of the most promising leading men on a 1996 Vanity Fair cover that also featured Leonardo DiCaprio, Will Smith and Benicio del Toro.

Instead of pursuing more studio jobs, Schaech followed his primary interest back to independent films. The indies allowed him to play more diverse, challenging characters. In a film with a leading role, Schaech was opposite Harvey Keitel in Finding Graceland. He next tried a comedy role in Stephan Elliott's Welcome to Woop Woop.

Schaech then accepted the role of Harry Houdini in TNT's Houdini in 1998. A Variety review mentioned "An exceptional performance by Johnathon Schaech."

Taking the role of a military man, Schaech headed to the UK to film the independent feature Woundings opposite Ray Winstone and Guy Pearce. This time he received glowing reviews and praise for his acting work and his English dialect. Variety wrote "Johnathon is a standout, limning a character with a complex moral credo." The film was not widely seen.

Johnathon Schaech went on to work in various TV movies with co-stars including James Caan (Blood Crime), Christina Applegate (whom he later married and divorced), (James Paterson's Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas), and Heather Locklear (Nora Roberts' Angels Fall). He then appeared as a regular cast member on a television series, playing opposite Jennifer Love Hewitt in the Party of Five spin off Time of Your Life in 2001. The series lasted less than one season and just 12 of the 19 filmed episodes aired.

Schaech played the title character in Tom Fontana's feature Judas for ABC. The film was highly controversial. In fact, it was shelved for several years until the Mel Gibson's the Passion of Christ was released in 2004, opening a window for the network to air the film Judas. Meanwhile, Schaech attempted two more television series pilots: first, Carl Franklin's 2000 pilot titled Partners opposite Marg Helgenberger and in 2004, one titled Commuters opposite David Arquette. Neither pilot was picked up. He also starred in independent films such as Mummy and the Armadillo, Sea of Dreams and Little Chenier (2006) opposite Clifton Collins, Jr.

From 2008 to 2010 Johnathon Schaech made a series of fairly successful mainstream films. Prom Night, Quarantine and Takers collectively made approximately $150 million at the US Box Office. In 2009 he received an MTV award nomination for best villain in Prom Night.

Schaech enjoys writing for film. His business partner and childhood friend Richard Chizmar and Schaech have written ten screenplays together, including their adaptation of Stephen King's From a Buick 8. They co-wrote the sequel to Roadhouse (Roadhouse2) for Sony as well as the Ed Gorman adaptation, The Poker Club, which they both produced and Schaech starred in. The pair wrote for 2008's Showtime's Masters of Horror seriesand went on to write the pilot for NBC's Fear Itself, titled Eater. Eater was directed by horror legend Stuart Gordon and starred Mad Men's Elizabeth Moss.

In 2011 Schaech penned his first comedy for Adam Sandler’s production company, Happy Madison and Columbia pictures. The screenplay is titled "Caught Stealing" and centres on a 1963 little league coach who was robbing banks to fund his son's team's journey to the first Pony League World Series. The story is based on Baltimore Orioles’ great Rick Dempsey's recapping of events (Dempsey was a member of that 1963 team), and Dempsey and Schaech are working on a book about the episode.

Personal life [edit]

Schaech was married to actress Christina Applegate from October 2001 to August 10, 2007. In December 2009 Schaech became engaged to singer/actress Jana Kramer. They wed on July 4, 2010 in Michigan. They separated a month later and divorced in 2011. On March 21, 2013 People.com published an article announcing that Schaech and fiancée, publicist Julie Solomon, were expecting their first child, a boy, due September 2013.[6]

Filmography [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ Respers, Lisa (1998-12-05). "O's a great escape for 'Houdini' actor; Movies: Johnathon Schaech is hot in Hollywood. But local product is always listening for the buzz on Baltimore". 
  2. ^ "Johnathon Schaech on being halfway famous in Hollywood". The Washington Post. 2011-08-08. 
  3. ^ Magazine, People (1998-10-05). "Fascinating TV Stars!". People. Retrieved 2010-05-24. "..., while Schaech is Catholic." 
  4. ^ Doyle, Paula (2004-04-05). "'What if Judas almost got it?'". The Tidings. Retrieved 2010-10-07. "Fontana's Judas, played with a passionate intensity by 34-year-old Catholic actor Johnathon Schaech,..." 
  5. ^ a b http://johnathonschaech.net
  6. ^ Leonard, Elizabeth. "Baby Boy on the way for Johnathon Schaech". People Magazine. People Magazine. Retrieved 21 March 2013. 

The Client List (2013)- Greg Carlisle

External links [edit]

Authority control
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