Editing Eric Close

{{short description|American actor|bot=PearBOT 5}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Eric Close
| image = Eric Close.JPG
| caption = Close at the 16th Annual MovieGuide Faith and Values Awards in 2008
| birth_date = <!-- Valid citation required for date of birth for BLP. (WP:BLPPRIVACY) -->
| birth_place = [[Staten Island]], [[New York (state)|New York]], [[United States]]
| death_date =
| death_place =
| alma_mater = [[University of Southern California]] (BA)
| occupation = Actor
| years_active = 1991&ndash;present
| spouse = {{marriage|Keri Close|1995}}
| children = 2
| awards =
| website =
| birthname = 
| othername =
}}

'''Eric Close''' <!-- Valid citation required for date of birth for BLP. (WP:BLPPRIVACY) --> (24 May
1967) is an American actor, best known for his roles in television series, particularly as FBI agent [[Martin Fitzgerald (Without a Trace)|Martin Fitzgerald]] in the [[CBS]] mystery drama ''[[Without a Trace]]'' (2002&ndash;2009), Michael Wiseman in the [[CBS]] sci-fi drama ''[[Now and Again]]'' (1999-2000), Teddy Conrad in the [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] musical drama ''[[Nashville (2012 TV series)|Nashville]]'' (2012&ndash;2017), and Travis Tanner in ''[[Suits (American TV series)|Suits]]'' (2011&ndash;2015).

==Early life==
Close was born on Staten Island, New York. Close's father is an [[orthopedics|orthopedic surgeon]]. Close is the eldest of three brothers. His family moved to [[Indiana]], then to [[Michigan]], and finally settled in [[San Diego]] when Close was seven years old.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2010-11-28 |title=Eric Close credits faith for guiding him to right path |url=https://www.deseret.com/2010/11/28/20156672/eric-close-credits-faith-for-guiding-him-to-right-path/ |access-date=2024-12-16 |website=Deseret News |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Crisp |first=Jeremiah |date=2020-05-04 |title=Inside the Tumalo Home of Actor and Director Eric Close |url=https://bendmagazine.com/inside-the-tumalo-home-of-actor-and-director-eric-close/ |access-date=2024-12-16 |website=Bend Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref>

Close was a member of the [[Sigma Chi]] fraternity and graduated with a [[Bachelor of Arts|B.A.]] in [[Communication studies|communications]] from the [[University of Southern California]] in 1989.<ref name=tvg>{{cite web|url=http://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/eric-close/bio/189913 |title=Eric Close Biography |publisher=Tvguide.com |access-date=2013-12-08}}</ref>

==Career==
Close was interested in acting from an early age and had some stage experience in school, but did not decide to pursue an acting career until after college. His first role was in a theater production ''Rat Songs'' in [[Los Angeles|L.A.]], after which he was offered parts in the crime drama ''[[American Me]]'' (1992) and the TV movie ''Safe House'' directed by Elena Mannus. He had a brief stint in daytime television when he played [[List of Santa Barbara cast and characters#Sawyer Walker|Sawyer Walker]] on the [[NBC]] daytime soap opera ''[[Santa Barbara (TV series)|Santa Barbara]]'' from 1992 to 1993. He received a [[Soap Opera Digest Awards|Soap Opera Digest Award]] nomination for Outstanding Male Newcomer for his role as Sawyer Walker on ''Santa Barbara''.<ref name=tvg/> Close later starred on short-lived primetime shows such as ''[[McKenna (TV series)|McKenna]]'' (1994–1995), ''[[Dark Skies]]'' (1996–1997), ''[[The Magnificent Seven (TV series)|The Magnificent Seven]]'' (1998–1999), ''[[Now and Again]]'' (1999–2000), and the [[Steven Spielberg]] miniseries production, ''[[Taken (miniseries)|Taken]]'' (2002). He starred on storyline online and read ''When Pigasso met Mootisse''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://storylineonline.net/ |title = Storyline Online - Home}}</ref>

Close is best known for his role as [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] agent Martin Fitzgerald on the [[CBS]] mystery drama ''[[Without a Trace]]''. The show ran for seven seasons from September 26, 2002, to May 19, 2009.<ref name=tvg/>  From 2011 to 2015, Close had a recurring role as Travis Tanner in the [[USA Network|USA]] legal drama ''[[Suits (American TV series)|Suits]]'', and starred as Michael Dorset in the short-lived CBS comedy-drama ''[[Chaos (TV series)|Chaos]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/eric-close-suits-usa-network-300692 |title=Eric Close Set to Reprise Role on USA's 'Suits' (Exclusive) |publisher=Hollywoodreporter.com |date=2012-03-15 |access-date=2013-12-08}}</ref> In 2012, Close began co-starring with [[Connie Britton]] in the [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] musical drama ''Nashville'' as Teddy Conrad, initially the husband of country singer [[Rayna Jaymes]] (Britton) and later the mayor of Nashville.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/ustv/a369605/eric-close-boards-abc-pilot-nashville.html?imdb |title=Eric Close boards ABC pilot 'Nashville' - US TV News |publisher=Digital Spy |date=2012-03-06 |access-date=2013-12-08}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/05/11/abc-scandal/|title=ABC orders 10 shows: Connie Britton, Alyssa Milano, Sarah Chalke, Terry O'Quinn star|author=James Hibberd|date=May 11, 2012|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|access-date=2012-08-03}}</ref>

== Filmography ==
=== Film ===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| 1991
| ''Keeping Secrets''
| Young Michael (uncredited)
| Television movie
|-
| 1992
| ''[[American Me]]''
| Juvie Hall Attacker
|
|-
| 1993
| ''Taking Liberty''
| Adam
| 
|-
| 1994
| ''[[Hercules and the Lost Kingdom]]''
| Telamon
| Television movie
|-
| 1994
| ''[[Without Consent]]''
| David Mills
| Television movie
|-
| 1995
| ''Long Island Fever''
| Scott Parks
| Television movie
|-
| 1995
| ''[[The Stranger Beside Me (film)|The Stranger Beside Me]]''
| Chris Gallagher
| Television movie
|-
| 2001
| ''[[Follow the Stars Home]]''
| Mark McCune
| Television movie
|-
| 2001
| ''[[Liberty, Maine]]''
| Unknown
|
|-
| 2001
| ''{{sortname|The|Sky Is Falling|The Sky Is Falling (2000 film)}}''
| Mike
|
|-
| 2003
| ''Alvarez & Cruz''
| Charlie
|
|-
| 2004
| ''NTSB: The Crash of Flight 323''
| N'Tom Price
| Television movie
|-
| 2007
| ''[[Saving Angelo]]''
| Dad
| Short film
|-
| 2010
| ''[[Unanswered Prayers]]''
| Ben Beck
| Television movie
|-
| 2014
| ''[[American Sniper (film)|American Sniper]]''
| DIA Agent Snead
|
|-
|2017
|''[[Christmas Eve (2017 film)|Christmas Crime Story]]''
| Randal Edwards
|
|-
| 2017
| ''Christmas in the Air''
| Robert Trent
| Television movie
|-
| 2018
| ''[[Indivisible (2018 film)|Indivisible]]''
| Ltc. Jacobsen
|
|-
| 2018
| ''Legal Action'' 
| Casey McKay
|
|-
| 2021
| ''The Mulligan'' 
| Paul McAllister
| Currently Filming
|-
| 2024
| ''Average Joe''
| Joe Kennedy
| Post-Production
|}

===Television===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| 1991
| ''[[MacGyver (1985 TV series)|MacGyver]]''
| Guard
| Episode: "The Prometheus Syndrome"
|-
| 1992
| ''[[Major Dad]]''
| Jim
| Episode: "The 'L' Word"
|-
| 1992–93
| ''[[Santa Barbara (TV series)|Santa Barbara]]''
| Sawyer Walker
| 25 episodes
|-
| 1994–95
| ''[[McKenna (TV series)|McKenna]]''
| Brick McKenna
| 13 episodes (5 aired)
|-
| 1995–96
| ''[[Sisters (American TV series)|Sisters]]''
| William 'Billy' Griffin
| 12 episodes
|-
| 1996–1997
| ''[[Dark Skies]]''
| John Loengard
| 19 episodes<br>Nominated—[[Saturn Award for Best Actor on Television]]
|-
| 1998–2000
| ''{{sortname|The|Magnificent Seven|The Magnificent Seven (TV series)}}''
| Vin Tanner
| 22 episodes
|-
| 1999–2000
| ''[[Now and Again]]''
| Michael Wiseman
| 22 episodes<br>Nominated—[[Saturn Award for Best Actor on Television]]
|-
| 2002
| ''[[Taken (miniseries)|Taken]]''
| John
| 4 episodes
|-
| 2002–09
| ''[[Without a Trace]]''
| [[Martin Fitzgerald (Without a Trace)|Martin Fitzgerald]]
| 160 episodes<br>Nominated—[[Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series]]
|-
| 2005
| ''[[Kim Possible]]''
| Crash Cranston (voice)
| Episode: "Team Impossible"
|-
| 2010
| ''Seven Deadly Sins''
| Jack Powell
| 2 episodes
|-
| 2010
| ''[[Criminal Minds]]''
| Det. Matt Spicer
| Episode: "Our Darkest Hour"
|-
| 2011
| ''[[CHAOS (TV series)|Chaos]]''
| Michael Dorset
| 13 episodes
|-
| 2011–15
| ''[[Suits (American TV series)|Suits]]''
| Travis Tanner
| 7<ref>Suits Season 5 episode 5</ref> episodes
|-
| 2011
| ''[[American Horror Story: Murder House]]''
| Hugo Langdon
| 2 episodes
|-
| 2012
| ''[[Law & Order: Special Victims Unit]]''
| Colin Barnes
| Episode: "[[Father Dearest (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit)|Father Dearest]]"
|-
| 2012–18
| ''[[Nashville (2012 TV series)|Nashville]]''
| Teddy Conrad
| 65 episodes; Main Role (Seasons 1–3), Guest (Seasons 4–6)
|-
| 2019
| ''A Christmas Love Story''
| Shane
| Hallmark Movie; Also director
|-
| 2019
| ''Angel Falls: A Novel Holiday'' 
| Anthony 
| Hallmark Movie  
|}

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
{{Commons}}
* {{IMDb name|0167086}}
* [https://twitter.com/EricRClose Eric Close's Official Twitter]
* [http://www.cbs.com/primetime/without_a_trace/bios/eric_close_bio.shtml Eric Close - CBS Bio]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Close, Eric}}
[[Category:Male actors from San Diego]]
[[Category:American male film actors]]
[[Category:American male stage actors]]
[[Category:American male television actors]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American Presbyterians]]
[[Category:Male actors from Staten Island]]
[[Category:USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism alumni]]
[[Category:Male actors from New York (state)]]
[[Category:20th-century American male actors]]
[[Category:21st-century American male actors]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]