Chris Bruno is an American film and television actor, director, and producer,as well as a former Pro-MMA fighter and a commercial helicopter pilot. He is best known for his role as Sheriff Walt Bannerman on the television series '' The Dead Zone''.

Early life

Bruno was born in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

, to actor Scott Bruno and the late Nancy M. Bruno. His younger brother, Dylan, is also an actor (best known for his role as Colby Granger in ''

Numb3rs ''Numbers'' (stylized as ''NUMB3RS'') is an American crime drama television series that originally aired on CBS from January 23, 2005, to March 12, 2010, with a total of six seasons consisting of 118 episodes. The series was created by Nico ...

''). The brothers grew up in Milford with their mother, Nancy, but spent a substantial amount of time with their father on Manhattan's Upper West Side. During college, Bruno was active in both theater and sports. After an injury sidelined his skiing career while attending college in

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

, he auditioned for and was cast in the lead in ''

The Mandrake ''The Mandrake'' (Italian: ''La Mandragola'' ) is a satirical play by Italian Renaissance philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli. Although the five-act comedy was published in 1524 and first performed in the carnival season of 1526, Machiavelli likel ...

''.. Transferring to the

State University of New York at Stony Brook Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public university, public research university in Stony Brook, New York, United States, on Long Island. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is on ...

as a theatre major, he became the starting pitcher for the school's baseball team.

Career

Soon after graduating college, Bruno joined the cast of '' Another World'' as Dennis Carrington Wheeler and was nominated for a Soap Opera Award for Outstanding Newcomer. After ''Another World'', he was cast as Michael Delaney on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

's ''

All My Children ''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 2 ...

''. Bruno spent some time as a stand up comedian in the years following his soap opera stints and landed several guest-starring spots on the sitcoms ''

The Nanny ''The Nanny'' is an American sitcom that originally aired on CBS from November 3, 1993, to June 23, 1999, starring Fran Drescher as Fran Fine, a Jewish wikt:fashionista, fashionista from Flushing, Queens, who becomes the nanny of three children ...

'', ''

Jesse Jesse may refer to: People * Jesse (biblical figure), father of David in the Bible * Jesse (given name), including a list of people * Jesse (surname), a list of people Music * ''Jesse'' (album), a 2003 album by Jesse Powell * "Jesse" (s ...

'' and ''

Suddenly Susan ''Suddenly Susan'' is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from September 19, 1996, to December 26, 2000. The series was created by Clyde Phillips and starred Brooke Shields in her first regular series. Shields played Susan Keane, a ...

''. In 2001, he was cast as Walt Bannerman in

USA Network USA Network (or simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was launched in 1977 as Madison Square Garden Sports Network, one of the first national sports ...

's sci-fi drama '' The Dead Zone'', the premiere of which was the highest-rated cable television series premiere at that time. In the series' fifth season, Bruno's directorial debut was the episode "Independence Day", which was dedicated in memory of his mother, who died of cancer. Bruno remained a star on the show for the first five seasons; his character was killed off during the sixth-season premiere. Bruno made three additional guest appearances for the remainder of the final season. He also starred opposite

Anthony Hopkins Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh actor. Considered one of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actors, he is known for List of Anthony Hopkins performances, his performances on the screen and stage. Hopkins ha ...

in the 2005

Roger Donaldson Roger Lindsey Donaldson (born 15 November 1945) is an Australian and New Zealand film director, screenwriter, and producer. His 1977 debut film, ''Sleeping Dogs (1977 film), Sleeping Dogs'', is considered landmark work of Cinema of New Zealand ...

film ''

The World's Fastest Indian ''The World's Fastest Indian'' is a 2005 New Zealand biographical Sports film, sports Drama (film and television), drama film based on the story of New Zealand speed bike racer Burt Munro and his highly modified 1920 Indian Scout (motorcycle), I ...

'', which according to Bruno was "one of the most exciting jobs" he's ever done. In 2009, he appeared in 2 episodes of ''

Prison Break ''Prison Break'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Paul Scheuring for Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox. The series revolves around two brothers: Lincoln Burrows (Dominic P ...

'' and then appeared in the television movie '' Prison Break: The Final Break''. He voiced Jack Slate in the 2002 video game

Dead to Rights ''Dead to Rights'' is a third-person shooter action video game series focusing on Jack Slate, a police officer in the fictional Grant City, and his K-9 partner Shadow. There are four games in the series. Games ''Dead to Rights'' ''Dead t ...

. In 2014 Bruno started playing the recurring role of Adam Stevens on ABC Family's '' The Fosters''. In 2014 he also did two episodes of MTV's ''

Awkward Awkward may refer to: * Awkwardness or embarrassment, an emotional state of intense discomfort with people * ''Awkward'' (TV series), an American teen comedy series * ''Awkward'' (album), a 2001 album by Ty * ''Awkward'', a 1999 graphic novel by ...

'' playing the role of Danny, Matt's biological father. In 2020 Bruno was cast by Director Gavin O'Connor in "The Way Back" with Ben Affleck. Bruno is a professional MMA Fighter and was the oldest person in history to make his professional debut at 51 years old. Bruno is also a commercial helicopter pilot.

Selected filmography

References

External links

*
Chris Bruno's biography
USAnetwork.com; accessed August 29, 2015. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bruno, Chris Living people American male film actors American male television actors American male soap opera actors Male actors from Connecticut 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors People from Milford, Connecticut Year of birth missing (living people)