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Neal Bledsoe

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Neal Bledsoe
Born (1981-03-26) March 26, 1981 (age 43)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
EducationUniversity of North Carolina School of the Arts (BFA)
Occupation(s)Actor, writer, filmmaker
Years active2005–present

Neal Bledsoe (born March 26, 1981) is a Canadian-American actor, writer, and filmmaker.

Early life

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Bledsoe was born in Toronto, but grew up in Seattle, Washington. Both of his grandfathers served in the Air Force during World War II and his maternal grandfather was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his part in the bombing of the Nazi oil refinery at Ploiești. His mother was a life insurance underwriter and estate planner before becoming an executive for a company that worked all over the world. His father has a PhD in Sociology from the University of Toronto where he studied under the philosopher Marshall McLuhan.[1]

He moved fourteen times around Seattle area growing up, living in Magnolia, Ballard, Fremont, Edmonds, Magnolia again, Ravenna, Downtown, Queen Anne, West Seattle, Queen Anne again, Fremont again, Queen Anne a third time, Bainbridge Island and Capitol Hill. He attended Roosevelt High School (Seattle) and Garfield High School (Seattle) in Seattle, including a brief stint at Ascent within the CEDU system of schools, before finally graduating from the Shawnigan Lake School and then spending a post-graduate year at the Idyllwild Arts Academy,[2] to grow as an actor and a writer. It was at the last of these two schools where he began to first publish his writing.

He went on to study at the prestigious North Carolina School of the Arts where he was mentored by the renowned theater director, Gerald Freedman, earning a BFA in 2005.[3]

Career

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Actor

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Bledsoe got a quick start out of school, booking a pilot opposite Kelly Lynch less than a month after leaving school. He worked steadily for the next few years, until he had his breakthrough in 2009 on Gossip Girl and Ugly Betty. He then went on to star on the shows Law and Order: SVU, Smash, Ironside, The Man in the High Castle, The Mysteries of Laura, Timeless, Code Black and most recently, Shameless.

He has won several awards for his work in independent films such as Junction, West End and After the Sun Fell. He also has appeared in both Revolutionary Road and Sex and the City 2 in blink-and-you'll-miss-him types of roles. Recently, he starred opposite Val Kilmer in the western A Soldier's Revenge.

On the stage, he worked on the Broadway production of Impressionism, the world premiere of Stephen Wadsworth's Figaro Plays at the McCarter Theatre and Michael Arden's award-winning production of The Pride at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.[4]

He appeared in several campaigns for Tiffany and Co, opposite Dutch model, Doutzen Kroes.[5]

He also was an Old Spice Man.[6]

In December 2022, Bledsoe announced that he was leaving the Great American Family network because of their anti-LGBTQ stance.[7] Bledsoe stated, "the thought that my work could be used to deliberately discriminate against anyone horrifies and infuriates me."[8]

Writer

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As a writer, he has written films, poems, short stories, cartoons, essays and articles. In 2014, he became a contributor to Sports Illustrated's MMQB. His long-form series, The Delicate Moron, chronicled his attempt to play for the Los Angeles Kiss of the Arena Football League.[9] Recently, he published a profile in Men's Health magazine on former NFL running back and Ballers writer, Rashard Mendenhall.[10]

Filmmaker

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In 2015, he received a commission to write and direct and star in the short film Primary. The film examines the subject of open relationships and was heavily influenced by the work of John Cassavetes, Esther Perel and Helen Fisher, as well as months of extensive interviews with a diverse range of people from across the relationship spectrum.[11]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
2005 The Ridge Noah Direct-to-video
2008 Revolutionary Road Party guest
2009 Winked Out Satan Short film
2009 Under New Management FBI agent #1
2010 Sex and the City 2 Kevin
2011 The Walken Dead The Walkens Short film
2011 Highrise Rory Short film
2011 A Kiss for Jed Jed Wood
2012 Junction Donald
2013 You There? Lance Short film
2013 West End Vic Trevi
2013 Amateurs Brad
2014 Grand Street Hewitt Devoe
2016 The Morning the Sun Fell Down Brandon
2017 Police State John
2017 Primary Mike Short film
2018 The Labyrinth & The Long Road The client
2020 A Soldier's Revenge Frank
2022 Susie Searches Brady Wren

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2005 Guiding Light Quinn 2 episodes
2007 CSI: NY Sam Friar Episode: "...Comes Around"
2007 Six Degrees Roger Episode: "Objects in the Mirror"
2007 As the World Turns Gary Bradshaw 3 episodes
2008 Lipstick Jungle Leading man Episode: "Pilot"
2008 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Kevyn Episode: "Please Note We Are No Longer Accepting Letters of Recommendation from Henry Kissinger"
2009 The Beautiful Life: TBL Dmitiri Kane Episode: "The Beautiful Aftermath"
2009 Gossip Girl Josh Elis Episode: "Enough About Eve"
2009–2010 Ugly Betty Tyler Meade-Hartley 7 episodes
2010–2011 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit CSU Clifton Montgomery 3 episodes
2011 Body of Proof Stephen Burnett Episode: "Society Hill"
2011 Blue Bloods Cassidy Episode: "Silver Star"
2012 Smash John Goodwin 7 episodes
2013 Ironside Teddy Main role
2015–2016 The Mysteries of Laura Tony Abbott 11 episodes
2015 The Man in the High Castle Captain Connolly 4 episodes
2016 Timeless Robert Todd Lincoln Episode: "The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln"
2016 Code Black Paul Wentworth Episode: "1.0 Bodies"
2017 The Last Tycoon Axel Episode: "A Brady-American Christmas"
2017 Coming Home for Christmas Robert Marley Television film (Hallmark)
2018–2019 Shameless Max Whitford 4 episodes
2019–2020 NCIS: New Orleans Man in the red suit 3 episodes
2020 Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector Greg Vaughn Episode: "Requiem"
2020 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Wilfred "Freddy" Malick 2 episodes
2020 The Christmas Carousel Prince Whitaker Television film (Hallmark)
2021 Younger Vince Episode: "The Last Unicorn"
2022 The Winter Palace[12] Prince Henry of Concordia Television film (GAC Family)
2022 The Blacklist Maverick Sawyer Episode: "Genuine Models Inc. (No. 176)"
2022 Christmas at the Drive-In Television film (GAC Family)

References

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  1. ^ Bledsoe, James Barry (1979). The Autobiography of Inquiry Reflexive Comparisons Between Children's Culture and the Culture of Science. [S.N.]
  2. ^ "Neal Bledsoe – Alumni of Idyllwild Arts". Retrieved 2019-01-07.
  3. ^ Journal, Ken Keuffel, Winston-Salem (2 December 2011). "Gerald Freedman to step down as drama dean at UNCSA". Winston-Salem Journal. Retrieved 2019-01-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ Vankin, Deborah (14 June 2017). "Neal Bledsoe on the love triangle of 'The Pride' and finding home onstage — and in downtown L.A." Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2019-01-07.
  5. ^ Melody (2010-11-25). "Magically yours, Tiffany & Co". ♡ Pretty Fashion Forward. Retrieved 2019-01-07.
  6. ^ "Old Spice keeping Danger Zone pitchman Neal Bledsoe abroad (for now?)". EW.com. Retrieved 2019-01-07.
  7. ^ Stephanie Wenger (5 Dec 2022). "Neal Bledsoe Exits Great American Family in Support of LGBTQ Community After Candace Cameron Bure Drama".
  8. ^ Nolfi, Joey (6 December 2022). "Neal Bledsoe leaves Candace Cameron Bure's Great American Family over 'hurtful, wrong' LGBT exclusion". Entertainment. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  9. ^ "Articles by Neal Bledsoe". 25 December 2018.
  10. ^ Bledsoe, Neal (2018-09-06). "What Happens to NFL Stars When They Retire at 26?". Men's Health. Retrieved 2019-01-07.
  11. ^ "Primary". MONROWE Magazine. 2017-10-27. Retrieved 2019-01-07.
  12. ^ The Winter Palace
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