Eric Randolph Close (born May 24, 1967) is an American actor, best known for his roles in television series, particularly as FBI agent Martin Fitzgerald in the CBS mystery drama ''

Without a Trace ''Without a Trace'' is an American police procedural drama television series created by Hank Steinberg that aired on CBS from September 26, 2002 to May 19, 2009 with the total of seven seasons and 160 episodes. The series focuses the cases of ...

'' (2002–2009) and Teddy Conrad in the ABC musical drama ''

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...

'' (2012–2017).

Early life

Close was born in Staten Island, New York. Close's father is an

orthopedic surgeon Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternatively spelt orthopaedics), is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeleta ...

. Close is the eldest of three brothers. His family moved to

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

, then to

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, and finally settled in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

when Close was seven years old. Close was a member of the

Sigma Chi Sigma Chi () International Fraternity is one of the largest North American fraternal literary societies. The fraternity has 244 active (undergraduate) chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has initiated more tha ...

fraternity and graduated with a B.A. in

communications Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inqui ...

from the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8. ...

in 1989.

Career

Close was interested in acting from an early age and had some stage experience in school, but did not decide to pursue an acting career until after college. His first role was in a theater production ''Rat Songs'' in L.A., after which he was offered parts in the crime drama '' American Me'' (1992) and the TV movie ''Safe House'' directed by Elena Mannus. He had a brief stint in daytime television when he played Sawyer Walker on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...

daytime soap opera '' Santa Barbara'' from 1992 to 1993. He received a

Soap Opera Digest Award ''The Soap Opera Digest Awards'', originally known as ''The Soapy Awards'' when introduced in 1977, is an awards show held by the daytime television magazine '' Soap Opera Digest''. History 1977 until 1983 The Soapy Awards were an award prese ...

nomination for Outstanding Male Newcomer for his role as Sawyer Walker on ''Santa Barbara''. Close later starred on short-lived primetime shows such as '' McKenna'' (1994–1995), '' Dark Skies'' (1996–1997), ''

The Magnificent Seven ''The Magnificent Seven'' is a 1960 American Western film directed by John Sturges. The screenplay by William Roberts is a remake – in an Old West–style – of Akira Kurosawa's 1954 Japanese film '' Seven Samurai'' (itself initially ...

'' (1998–1999), ''

Now and Again ''Now and Again'' is an American science fiction comedy-drama television series created by Glenn Gordon Caron that aired from September 24, 1999 until May 5, 2000 on CBS. The story revolves around the United States government engineering the ...

'' (1999–2000), and the

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spi ...

miniseries production, '' Taken'' (2002). He starred on storyline online and read when Picasso met Mootise. Close is best known for his role as FBI agent Martin Fitzgerald on the CBS mystery drama ''

''. The show ran for seven seasons from September 26, 2002 to May 19, 2009. From 2011 to 2015, Close had a recurring role as Travis Tanner in the USA legal drama '' Suits'', and starred as Michael Dorset in the short-lived CBS comedy-drama '' Chaos''. In 2012, Close began co-starring with

Connie Britton Constance Elaine Britton ( Womack; born March 6, 1967) is an American actress. Britton made her feature film debut in the independent comedy-drama film '' The Brothers McMullen'' (1995), and the following year, she was cast as Nikki Faber on th ...

in the ABC musical drama ''

'' as Teddy Conrad, initially the husband of country singer Rayna Jaymes (Britton) and later the mayor of Nashville.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

*
Eric Close's Official Twitter

Eric Close - CBS Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Close, Eric 1967 births Male actors from San Diego American male film actors American male stage actors American male television actors Living people American Presbyterians People from Staten Island USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism alumni Male actors from New York (state) 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors