Chris Ellis
Acting
Biography
Chris Ellis (born April 14, 1956) is an American film and television actor. Ellis always wanted to be an actor because of television. He grew up in the 50's in the deep south in a "world of privation and violence", but saw on television people who seemed to have lives of ease and privilege. It took him seven years to finish college however, because "I have always been shiftless". During those years Chris became involved in community theatre in Memphis, where "I did and do still think the quality of the work has always been quite good". By the time he moved to New York, he had worked with many excellent actors in about two dozen plays, classical and contemporary. "I cannot imagine what might have supplanted that background for a newcomer in New York." His first part in either television or film came in 1979, where he played a truck driver in the TV movie The Suicide's Wife, which starred Angie Dickinson. The role resulted in very little TV or film work. After working in regional theatre for a year or so, Chris fell off the radar screen and did not work for about ten years. During that time he lived in "bone-grinding poverty" in Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen. In one nine-month period of 1987, Chris accepted 102 dinner invitations. "I don't know why they kept arriving, nor why I counted them, though I do know why I accepted them." In 1990, a break came when he got a part in Days of Thunder, which starred Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Cary Elwes, Robert Duvall, and Randy Quaid. John C. Reilly and Fred Dalton Thompson also appear. This seemed to jump-start Ellis' career as parts in films like My Cousin Vinny with Joe Pesci and Marisa Tomei, a small part in Addams Family Values, and a larger one in Apollo 13 as former NASA Mercury Seven astronaut Deke Slayton, alongside Tom Hanks, followed. He also began picking up credits on well-known television shows like Melrose Place, NYPD Blue, and The X-Files. Since working with Hanks on Apollo 13, the two have worked together on That Thing You Do, the TV miniseries From the Earth to the Moon, and Catch Me If You Can. Ellis returned to a fictional NASA Mission Control when he played a Flight Director in 1998's Armageddon. Additional films in which Ellis has appeared include Home Fries, October Sky, Live Free or Die Hard, and Transformers. His television credits also include The West Wing, Ghost Whisperer, Chicago Hope, The Pretender, Alias, JAG, CSI: NY, Burn Notice, and Cold Case. He appeared in three season one episodes of Millennium as group member Jim Panseayres. He has established a reputation as being particularly talented at portraying Southern lawmakers or serious military or police-type characters. He also appeared in Criminal Minds as Sheriff Jimmy Rhodes who calls for the BAU's help in investigating a string of murders in New Mexico. In addition to that, he also had two guest appearances in NCIS as Gunnery Sergeant John Deluca. Ellis's appearance in the Season 1 episode, "The Curse" was uncredited while his second and final appearance in Season 2's "The Bone Yard" was credited. Description above from the Wikipedia article Chris Ellis (actor), licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Born: April 14, 1956
Place of Birth: Dallas, Texas, USA
Known For
Filmography
as Doug Kane
as Mr. Adler
as Derek Poole
as Richard Lehmann
as Al
as Hank
as Harvey
as Marty Steinbecker
as Keller
as Senator Thaddeus Williams
as Principal Don Bishop
as Christos Markos
as Sheriff Pruitt
as Hendricks
as Dad
as Fr. Reilly
as Jubal Jacobs
as Warden Nick Larsen
as Maddox Resor
as Walter Exley
as Beau Teague
as Douglas Cooper
as Pops
as NSA Director
as Colonel Arnold Cassell
as Sherrif Mullery
as Reidell
as Glen the Carousel Manager
as L Donn Murray
as Del Hill
as Virgil Watkins
as Admiral Brigham
as Capt. Jack Scalvino
as Jim Stovall
as Willinger McDodey
as Congressman Bruce Gelber
as Vice President - Grand Cayman Bank
as Captain Ken Nilsen
as Sheriff Rhodes
as Coggs
as Aces & Spades Barman
as Chris O'Keefe
as Reverend Ted Capistrano
as Vincent Williams
as Captain Anderson
as Sgt. Whiteley
as Phillip Brodeur
as Samuel Littleton
as Captain Nimziki
as Jim Horn (2008)
as John Deluca
as Dr. Sassen
as Sergeant
as Patriot Model Aeronautics Clerk
as Special Agent Witkins
as Larry Ketterly
as Det. Hanson
as Detective Warren
as Dewey
as Agent Chapman
as Commander Karl Vasich
as Construction Worker #2
as Clinton Malton
as Hollis
as T. Greer
as Congressman Fields
as Mr. Reese
as Principal Turner
as Henry Lever
as Flight Director Clark
as General Anderson
as Bob Parker
as Officer
as Buddy #1
as Detective Butler
as BOP Official Grant
as Zoning Board Chairman Donald Blane
as Wes
as Jim Penseyres
as Phil Horace
as Daniel Crockett
as Brian Pascal
as Crowd Leader
as Henneman
as Adm. Stenner
as Mr. Switzer
as Security Guard #1
as Deke Slayton
as Additional Magician
as Policeman
as News Vendor
as Moving Man
as Leonard Wilson
as Marshal
as Sheriff Lance Hindt
as Burt
as Cop
as J.T.
as Harlem Hoogerhyde
as Bobby Patrick