Jon Gries
| Jon Gries | |
|---|---|
 Gries at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con | |
| Born |
Jonathan Francis Gries June 17, 1957 Glendale, California, U.S. |
| Other names |
Jon Francis Jonathan Gries |
| Occupation | Actor, writer, director |
| Years active | 1968–present |
Jonathan Francis "Jon" Gries (born June 17, 1957) is an American actor, writer and director. He is also credited under the names Jon Francis and Jonathan Gries. He is best known for his role in Napoleon Dynamite as Uncle Rico, and also more recently as recurring character Roger Linus on Lost. He is also known for his roles in Martin, The Pretender, and Running Scared.
Life and career
Gries was born in Glendale, California, the son of Mary Eleanor Munday, an actress, and Thomas Stephen "Tom" Gries, a writer, director, and producer.[1][2][3] His first film role came at the age of 11, when he played the Boy Horace in the Charlton Heston film Will Penny, which was written and directed by his father. Some of his signature roles have come in cult classics. He played Lazlo Hollyfeld in Real Genius (1985), Azzolini in Rainbow Drive, Shawn McDermott in the TV series Martin (1992-1994), Ronnie Wingate in Get Shorty (1995), Harvey in The Rundown, and Uncle Rico in Napoleon Dynamite (2004). Gries has played a werewolf on several occasions, such as Fright Night Part II and The Monster Squad. In the historical Western film September Dawn, he played executed murderer John D. Lee, in a performance praised by critics who otherwise panned the film.[4] [5][6] He played Casey in the films Taken (2008), Taken 2 (2012), and Taken 3 (2015), and was also in TerrorVision, as O.D. He also lent his voice for the video game Hitman: Absolution.
Among his television roles are that of a terrorist in season two of the hit show 24 and as Broots on the NBC series The Pretender. He had a guest role on The X-Files in the episode "Sleepless". He played Dylan McKay's drug dealer in season 5 of Beverly Hills, 90210. He played Ben Linus' father Roger in a recurring role on the TV series Lost. He played Shawn on the Fox sitcom Martin during the first two seasons. He appeared twice in the TV series "Quantum Leap". First, as a bookie in the episode "The Right Hand of God" and as a band member in the episode "Glitter Rock". He appeared as Rusty the Bum in two episodes of Seinfeld. In "The Beard", when Elaine rips George's toupee off and tosses it out the window, Rusty finds it and puts it on. In "The Bookstore" Kramer and Newman start a rickshaw business powered by bums, but on its maiden run, Rusty takes off with the conveyance. In 2007 he played the menacing dad to Samaire Armstrong in Around June. In 2008, he appeared in the CSI: NY episode "The Box" as the father of that episode's victim. In 2010 Jon wrapped production on A True Story. Based on Things that Never Actually Happened. ...and Some that Did and appeared in one episode of Nikita. He also played Martin in the TV Show Supernatural in the episodes "Sam, Interrupted" (2010), "Hello, Cruel World" (2011) and "Citizen Fang" (2012). He played Bob, a former drug addict who operates a safe haven for abused Mexican women, in The Bridge (2013 TV series). He played Strabinsky in the TV Show Psych in the episode "One, Maybe Two, Ways Out" (2010).[7]
Filmography
Movies
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | Will Penny | Horace (Button) | Credited as Jon Francis |
| 1976 | Born of Water | Friend | |
| 1977 | The Chicken Chronicles | Tom | Credited as Jonathon Gries |
| 1979 | Sunnyside | Wild Child | Credited as Jonathon Gries |
| More American Graffiti | Ron | Credited as Jonathon Gries | |
| Swap Meet | Doug | ||
| 1983 | Joysticks | King Vidiot | Credited as Jonathon Gries |
| 1985 | Real Genius | Lazlo Hollyfeld | Credited as Jonathon Gries |
| 1986 | TerrorVision | O.D. | Credited as Jonathon Gries |
| Running Scared | Det. Tony Montoya | Credited as Jonathon Gries | |
| 1987 | Number One with a Bullet | Bobby Sweet | Credited as Jonathon Gries |
| The Monster Squad | Desperate Man | Credited as Jonathon Gries | |
| Che's Revenge | Jack | Short | |
| 1988 | Fright Night Part 2 | Louie | Credited as Jonathon Gries |
| 1989 | Kill Me Again | Alan Swayzie | Credited as Jonathon Gries |
| Pucker Up and Bark Like a Dog | Max | Credited as Jonathon Gries | |
| 1990 | The Grifters | Drunk's Friend | Credited as Jonathon Gries |
| 1993 | Ed and His Dead Mother | Rob Sundheimer | |
| 1995 | Get Shorty | Ronnie Wingate | |
| 1997 | Casualties | Bill Summers | |
| Men in Black | Van Driver | ||
| The Maze | Dr. Holmes | ||
| Mitzi & Joe | Joe | ||
| 1999 | Twin Falls Idaho | Lawyer Jay Harrison | |
| 2001 | The Beatnicks | B Cool | |
| Jackpot | Sunny Holiday / Glen Allen Johnson | ||
| 2003 | Northfork | Arnold | |
| The Big Empty | Elron | ||
| The Snow Walker | Pierce | ||
| The Rundown | Harvey | ||
| 2004 | Napoleon Dynamite | Uncle Rico | |
| 2005 | Confessions of an Action Star | Donald Buckheim | |
| Waterborne | Ritter | ||
| Last Best Chance | Bernard Wheeler | Video | |
| 2006 | The Sasquatch Gang | Chilcutt | |
| Stick It | Brice Graham | ||
| The Astronaut Farmer | FBI Agent Killbourne | ||
| Car Babes | Gary | ||
| 2007 | Frank | Colin York | |
| American Pastime | Ed Tully | ||
| Bicentennial Curious | Mick Jones | Short | |
| Fathom | Short | ||
| September Dawn | John D. Lee | ||
| The Comebacks | Barber | ||
| 2008 | Taken | Casey | |
| Bar Starz | Ricky Fabulous | ||
| South of Heaven | Hood #1 | ||
| So Long Jimmy | Levi Franklin | ||
| Around June | Murry | ||
| 2009 | Elsewhere | Mr. Tod | |
| The Smell of Success | Early Dunchamp | ||
| A Lone Star State | Wyatt Kinney | Short | |
| 2010 | Crazy on the Outside | Edgar | |
| Good Intentions | Sherriff Ernie | ||
| Pearblossom | Harry | Short | |
| 2011 | 5 Time Champion | Melvin Glee | |
| Natural Selection | Peter | ||
| Not Quite College | Tone Cash | ||
| Redemption: For Robbing the Dead | Tom Sutter | ||
| 2012 | Deep in the Heart | Dick Wallrath | |
| Unicorn City | Shadowhawk | ||
| Noobz | Greg Lipstein | ||
| Taken 2 | Casey | ||
| Byron's Theme | Butcher | Short | |
| 2013 | Bad Turn Worse | Sheriff Shep | |
| A True Story | Richard Simpkins | ||
| Skinwalker Ranch | Hoyt | ||
| 2014 | Eternity: The Movie | Barry Goldfield, Jr. | |
| Faults | Terry | ||
| Locker 13 | Archie | Segment: Title Story | |
| After We Rest | Mr. Norman | Short | |
| The Last Survivors | Carson | ||
| Taken 3 | Casey | ||
| Brothers | Ronnie | Short | |
| 2015 | Americons | Billy | |
| Pass the Light | Franklin | ||
| Endgame | Principal Thomas | ||
| A Country Called Home | Tyler | ||
| Mucho Dinero | Jon Waters | ||
| 2016 | Villisca | Greg | |
| Falsely Accused | Gus | ||
| Durant's Never Closes | Dizzy Dean | ||
| The Knife Thrower | Circus Manager | ||
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Helter Skelter | William Garretson | TV Movie |
| 1977 | Alexander: The Other Side of Dawn | Uncredited | TV Movie |
| Mulligan's Stew | Adams | 1 Episode, Melinda Special | |
| 1979 | 240-Robert | Brad | 1 Episode, Poison Air |
| 1980 | The White Shadow | Uri Kogenski | 1 Episode, The Russians Are Coming |
| 1983 | The Powers of Matthew Star | Brad | 1 Episode, The Road Rebels |
| September Gun | Brian Brian | TV Movie | |
| The Jeffersons | Frank | 1 Episode, I Do, I Don't | |
| High School U.S.A. | Dirty Curt | TV Movie | |
| 1987 | The Twilight Zone | Nick Gatlin, Segment: Shelter Skelter | 1 Episode, Joy Ride/Shelter Skelter/Private Channel |
| Cagney & Lacey | Hands Callahan | 1 Episode, The City is Burning | |
| 1988 | Tattingers | Rick Jurasky | 2 Episodes |
| 1989 | Paradise | Emmett | 1 Episode, Dead Run |
| 1990 | Falcon Crest | Stone | 1 Episode, Finding Lauren |
| Jake and the Fatman | Lenny Maddox | 1 Episode, By Myself | |
| Tour of Duty | Maj. Rex Chapman, USAF | 1 Episode, The Raid | |
| Rainbow Drive | Azzolini | TV Movie | |
| 1991 | Quantum Leap | Flash McGrath | 1 Episode, Glitter Rock - April 12, 1974 |
| Fever | Bobby | TV Movie | |
| 1992 | L.A. Law | Dr. Harold Benson | 1 Episode, I'm Ready for My Closeup, Mr. Markowitz |
| Four Eyes and Six Guns | TV Movie | ||
| 1992 - 1994 | Martin | Shawn McDermott | 54 Episodes |
| 1993 | Bakersfield P.D. | Ray Coombs | 1 Episode, A Bullet for Stiles |
| 1994 | The X-Files | Salvatore Matola | 1 Episode, Sleepless |
| Beverly Hills, 90210 | Mr. Trilling, Dope Dealer | 4 Episodes | |
| 1995 | Chicago Hope | Jack Kimball | 1 Episode, Hello Goodbye |
| Strange Luck | Henry Bloom | 1 Episode, Last Chance | |
| Seinfeld | Homeless Man | 1 Episode, The Beard | |
| 1996 | Race Against Time: The Search for Sarah | Steve | TV Movie |
| 1996 - 2000 | The Pretender | Broots | 82 Episodes |
| 1998 | Seinfeld | Rusty | 1 Episode, The Bookstore |
| 2001 | The Pretender 2001 | Broots | TV Movie |
| ER | Defense Attorney Marty Nesmith | 1 Episode, Fear of Commitment | |
| The Pretender: Island of the Haunted | Broots | TV Movie | |
| 2002 | 24 | Joseph Wald | 1 Episode, Day 2: 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. |
| 2003 - 2005 | Carnivàle | Texas Ranger | 2 Episodes |
| 2004 | Las Vegas | Greg Walker | 1 Episode, Sons and Lovers |
| 2007 - 2010 | Lost | Roger Linus | 6 Episodes |
| 2008 | CSI: NY | Jim Warren | 1 Episode, The Box |
| 2010 | Cold Case | Bill Shepard '78 | 2 Episodes |
| Sons of Anarchy | Passport Forger | 1 Episode, So | |
| Psych | Strabinsky | 1 Episode, One, Maybe Two, Ways Out | |
| Nikita | The Engineer | 1 Episode, Dark Matter | |
| Supernatural | Martin Creaser | 2 Episodes | |
| 2011 | Hawaii Five-0 | Liam Miller | 1 Episode, Lapa'au |
| 2012 | Dr. Fubalous | Dr. Reed | 2 Episodes |
| Napoleon Dynamite | Uncle Rico | 6 Episodes | |
| BlackBoxTV | Dad | 1 Episode, Silverwood: The Hunger | |
| 2013 - 2014 | The Bridge | Bob | 7 Episodes |
| 2014 | Criminal Minds | Clifford Walsh | 1 Episode, The Road Home |
Video Games
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Hitman: Absolution | Sheriff Clive Skurky (voice) |
References
- ↑ "Jon Gries Biography ((?)-)". Filmreference.com. Retrieved 2011-01-14.
- ↑ http://www.tcmuk.tv/movie_database_results.php?action=participant&id=76706&afiId=0
- ↑
- ↑ "The movie's one emotionally honest performance is handed in by Jon Gries (Uncle Rico from “Napoleon Dynamite”), who brings some weight and a sense of guilt to his portrayal of John D. Lee."
- ↑ The Hollywood Reporter Archived September 16, 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Fry, Ted. "Movies | Mormon massacre story "September Dawn" mixes fact, fiction | Seattle Times Newspaper". Seattletimes.nwsource.com. Retrieved 2011-01-14.
- ↑ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0340973/
External links
- Jon Gries at the Internet Movie Database
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