Terry O'Quinn

Terry O'Quinn was born as Terrance Quinn at War Memorial Hospital in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, one of 11 siblings born to Irish American parents. 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.

Terry began acting in the 1970s during his time at Central Michigan University. He not only was an outstanding 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.

Also in the 1970s, he came to Baltimore to act in the Baltimore regional theater play "Tartuffe." He was cast in his first movie role, "Heaven's Gate," but it required horse riding. O'Quinn took riding lessons from Lori Binkley at Wood Gait Farm in northwest Baltimore County. He took on the role of Captain Minardi in "Heaven's Gate," a Western that starred a slew of big names like Kris Kristofferson, Christopher Walken, Jeff Bridges and John Hurt. O'Quinn ended up marrying Lori in 1979. They have sons Oliver and Hunter.

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." His early television roles include guest appearances on "Miami Vice," "Earth 2," "Moonlighting," "Star Trek: The Next Generation," "The New Twilight Zone," "Homicide: Life on the Street" and a recurring role as Rear Admiral Thomas Boone on "JAG."

O'Quinn made his breakthrough by appearing as the deranged serial-killing title character in "The Stepfather." His acting performance was praised by film critic Roger Ebert, from the Chicago Sun Times, who commented: "'The Stepfather' has one wonderful element: Terry O'Quinn's performance." O'Quinn was nominated for both a Saturn Award and an Independent Spirit Award for his performance. A sequel was released two years after the first movie.

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. O'Quinn also appeared in the second season of "Falling Skies" in 2012.

After a string of recurring appearances on "Alias" 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 2003-04, 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." The show 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.

In 2011, O'Quinn began appearing as Joe White on "Hawaii Five-O." In 2012, he starred in the ABC drama "666 Park Avenue" alongside Vanessa Williams. O'Quinn portrayed Gavin Doran, owner of The Drake apartment building.

Now, O'Quinn is set to appear in the new FOX drama "Gang Related," about a gang member who is sent in to infiltrate the San Francisco Police Department and rises through its ranks but must balance his obligations to his crime family with an increasing sense of loyalty to his new "family."