Ron Eldard

RON ELDARD

Date of Birth: February 20, 1965

The second youngest in a family of seven children, Ron Eldard lost his mother when he was very young. He dabbled in boxing when he was a teen and was a runner-up in the New York State Golden Gloves competition. Ron graduated from the New York High School of the Performing Arts in the early 1980s, and frequently worked on stage, despite being fired by Neil Simon from his first Broadway role in 1986 after the playwright saw his performance during an understudy run-through of Biloxi Blues. Ron made his television debut in the soap opera One Life to Live in 1989, playing the role of Blade.

His film debut came shortly after, playing a lead role in True Love (1989). In 1992, he landed a regular role in the sitcom Arresting Behavior, playing a police officer. It would be the first of several police officer roles for Ron, including playing the cop who puts an end to Al Pacino's blind driving spree in Scent of a Woman (1992) and another regular role in the television series Bakersfield P.D. (1993), playing Detective Preston. The show didn't last, and he next landed a role on the long-running series E.R., staying with it from 1995 to 1997. On the show, his character played a paramedic who falls in love with Julianna Margulies' character. The two developed a relationship off screen as well.

In 1996, he landed a lead role in the powerful TV movie Bastard out of Carolina, playing an abusive stepfather, then returned to the big screen with roles in Sleepers (1996) opposite Robert De Niro, and Deep Impact (1998), with Robert Duvall. In Mystery, Alaska (1999) he took a crash course to learn to play hockey for his role in the film, which starred Russell Crowe.

Over the years, Ron has often returned to his stage roots, appearing off Broadway in numerous plays, and finally making his Broadway debut in the 1995 stage production of On the Waterfront, playing the same role that Marlon Brando played in the movie.

He teamed up again with Julianna Margulies in the thriller Ghost Ship (2002) and played the misguided Leonard in the critically-acclaimed House of Sand and Fog (2003), opposite Jennifer Connelly. In 2011, he played a key role in J.J. Abrams' sci-fi thriller Super 8 (2011) then appeared in the Steve Jobs biopic Jobs (2013).

His most recent role was a starring one in Magnolia Pictures' sci-fi thriller Higher Power (2018), playing Joe Steadman alongside Colm Feore.

Although Ron has been linked to several actresses throughout the years, he has never married or had children.