Ronald Jason Eldard (born February 20, 1965) is an American film, television and stage actor known for his understated character roles on both the screen and the stage.

Biography

Early life

Eldard, the second youngest of seven children (4 sisters and 2 brothers), was born in Long Island, New York New York. His mother passed away when he was a child, having been the victim of a car accident and as a result he and his siblings) were sent to live with various family members. He attended grade school in Utah while living with his Aunt and Uncle. At age 13, Ron moved to Ridgewood, Queens to live with his sister Lana and her husband on Fresh Pond Road. Ron attended J.H.S 93 from 7th through 9th grade. He worked at a local fast food restaurant called Chicken Galore where he often wore the "Chicken Suit", similar to the then popular San Diego Chicken mascot - to promote the establishment; perhaps showing his first true colors for acting. Ron was a popular person in J.H.S. and often referred as the “Class Clown”, given his desire to make people laugh. He was locally known to copy the performances of Steve Martin and Robin Williams and would perform various skits when given the opportunity. He graduated from the prestigious New York High School for the Performing Arts' Drama Department. During his H.S. years, Ron performed as an “audience” member in a lower Manhattan Hypnotist show whom was picked randomly to be on stage. Ron also performed street magic throughout Manhattan. Prior to acting, Eldard was a Golden Gloves boxer and in school he was able to bench press an impressive 312lbs. He still remains physically active today.

Career

Eldard made his film debut in the 1989 comedy True Love, written and directed by Nancy Savoca, and co-starring Annabella Sciorra. This film won the Grandy Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. Eldard has performed on Broadway in critically acclaimed productions of On the Waterfront, Biloxi Blues, Bash: Latterday Plays, and Death of a Salesman. The latter two were filmed for Showtime productions.

Vanity Fair's April 2001 issue contained an article entitled The Co-Stars, including Eldard among a group of often overlooked actors (also included were Chris Cooper, William Fichtner, Dylan Baker, and David Morse). The article stated that

"every Tom Cruise, Harrison Ford, and Brad Pitt needs actors like these, the men who can hold their own on-screen against anyone, even if they don't have the biggest trailer on the set. In literally hundreds of films, these five actors have done a lot of the dirty work so that the stars can shine a little more brightly. Without them, who would play the guy who doesn't get the girl? Who would play "the friend", and who would play "the villain"? Who would drive the other car in the chase sequence? Who would move the plot forward? And who would die in Reel Four? Leave the heroics to the leading men.

On January 9, 2006 he debuted in the role of Father Flynn in the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winning Broadway production of Doubt opposite the esteemed British actress Dame Eileen Atkins.

Personal life

Eldard met his former girlfriend, Julianna Margulies, in an acting class in 1991. They co-starred in NBC's hit show ER together, with Eldard playing the role of a paramedic by the name of Shep. They also starred together in Ghost Ship in 2002. Their relationship ended in 2003.

Filmography and other credits

Had minor role as a soap star & rehab entrant at the end of 28 Days in 2000

Year	Title	Character
1989	True Love	Michael
1991	Drop Dead Fred	Mickey Bunce
1992	Arresting Behavior	Officer Donny Walsh
	Scent of a Woman	Officer Gore
1993	Bakersfield, P.D.	Detective Wade Preston
1995	Sex & the Other Man	Bill
	The Last Supper	Pete
1995-1996	ER (TV series)	Paramedic Ray 'Shep' Shepard (guest starring role)
1996	Bastard Out of Carolina	Glen Waddell
	Sleepers	John Reilly
	Men Behaving Badly	Kevin Murphy (1996-1997)
1998	Delivered aka Death by Pizza (USA: TV title)	Reed
	Deep Impact	Oren Monash
	When Trumpets Fade aka Hamburger Hill 2 (Australia)	Pvt. David Manning
1999	The Runner	Edward Harrington
	Mystery, Alaska	Matt 'Skank' Marden
2000	Bash: Latter-Day Plays
	Death of a Salesman	Biff Loman
2001	Black Hawk Down	CWO Michael Durant
2002	Ghost Ship	Dodge
	Just a Kiss	Dag
2003	House of Sand and Fog	Lester
2004	Fathers and Sons	Tom
2005	Blind Justice (Television series)	Detective Jim Dunbar
2006	Freedomland	Danny Martin
2007	Diggers	Jack
	Already Dead	Thomas Archer
2008	The Tenth Circle	Daniel Stone

References

External links