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Sean Maher (born April 16, 1975) is an American
actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lit ...
. He is known for his portrayal of Simon Tam in the
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
series ''
Firefly The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production ...
'' and follow-up movie '' Serenity''.


Early life

Maher was born in Pleasantville, New York to Joseph and Margaret Maher. After graduating from Byram Hills High School, Maher trained at
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...
where he earned his
drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...
degree in 1997. He acted on
stage Stage or stages may refer to: Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper * Sta ...
in several productions, including ''
Yerma ''Yerma'' is a play by the Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca. It was written in 1934 and first performed that same year. García Lorca describes the play as "a tragic poem." The play tells the story of a childless woman living in rura ...
'' and ''
Into the Woods ''Into the Woods'' is a 1987 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. The musical intertwines the plots of several Brothers Grimm fairy tales, exploring the consequences of the characters' wishes and quests. T ...
''.


Career

Maher starred as the title character, a rookie police officer, on the short-lived TV series '' Ryan Caulfield: Year One''. In 2000 he played one of the main characters on the short-lived (dropped after seven episodes) Fox series ''
The $treet ''The Street'' (stylized as ''The $treet'') is an American drama television series that aired on Fox from November 1 to December 13, 2000. Created by Jeff Rake and Darren Star, only 12 episodes were produced, and the series was pulled from U.S. ai ...
'', and he has also appeared on the television series ''
Party of Five ''Party of Five'' is an American television teen and family drama created by Christopher Keyser and Amy Lippman that originally aired on Fox for six seasons from September 12, 1994, to May 3, 2000. The series featured an ensemble cast led by ...
'' (as Adam Matthews) and on ''
CSI: Miami ''CSI: Miami'' (''Crime Scene Investigation: Miami'') is an American police procedural drama television series that ran from September 23, 2002 until April 8, 2012 on CBS. Featuring David Caruso as Lieutenant Horatio Caine, Emily Procter as Detec ...
''. He reprised his role from ''
Firefly The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production ...
'' in the film '' Serenity'' (2005). Maher was also cast as a chief resident in a hospital on the new series ''Halley's Comet''. He appeared in the 2005 Lifetime network movie '' The Dive From Clausen's Pier'' as
Michelle Trachtenberg Michelle Trachtenberg (; born October 11, 1985) is an American actress and model. Trachtenberg began her career at age three, appearing in a number of commercials, films, and television series as a child. Her starring role on the Nickelodeon tel ...
's new love interest. He also appeared as
Brian Piccolo Louis Brian Piccolo (October 31, 1943 – June 16, 1970) was an American professional football player, a halfback for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL) for four years. He died at age 26 from embryonal cell carcinoma, an a ...
in the 2001 remake of ''
Brian's Song ''Brian's Song'' is a 1971 ABC Movie of the Week that recounts the life of Brian Piccolo (James Caan), a Chicago Bears football player stricken with terminal cancer after turning pro in 1965, told through his friendship with teammate Gale Sayer ...
''. In 2006, he appeared in the television movie '' Wedding Wars''. After taking a brief break from acting, Maher came back to TV in 2009 as a guest star in
Lifetime Television Lifetime is an American basic cable channel that is part of Lifetime Entertainment Services, a subsidiary of A&E Networks, which is jointly owned by Hearst Communications and The Walt Disney Company. It features programming that is geared toward ...
's pilot episode of ''
Drop Dead Diva ''Drop Dead Diva'' is an American legal comedy-drama/fantasy television series that aired on Lifetime from July 12, 2009, to June 22, 2014. The series was created by Josh Berman and produced by Sony Pictures Television. It stars Brooke Elliott ...
'', followed by 2010 guest appearances in the second season of ''
The Mentalist ''The Mentalist'' is an American drama television series that ran from September 23, 2008, until February 18, 2015, broadcasting 151 episodes over seven seasons, on CBS. Created by Bruno Heller, who was also its executive producer, the show f ...
'' (CBS), the first season of ''
Human Target The Human Target is the name of two fictional characters in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first is Fred Venable, while the second is private investigator and bodyguard Christopher Chance who assumes the identities of clients tar ...
'' (FOX) and the second season of ''
Warehouse 13 ''Warehouse 13'' is an American science fiction television series that originally ran from July 7, 2009, to May 19, 2014, on the Syfy network, and was executive produced by Jack Kenny and David Simkins for Universal Cable Productions. Describ ...
'' (on
Syfy Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. La ...
). In 2011 Maher landed a role in the television series ''
The Playboy Club ''The Playboy Club'' is an American historical crime drama television series that aired on NBC from September 19 to October 3, 2011. Set in 1961, the series centers on the employees (known as Bunnies) of the original Playboy Club operating in C ...
''. He played Sean, a closeted gay man who is in a sham marriage with a closeted lesbian
Playboy Bunny A Playboy Bunny is a waitress who works at a Playboy Club and selected through standardized training. Their costumes were made up of lingerie, inspired by the tuxedo-wearing Playboy rabbit mascot. This costume consisted of a strapless corset te ...
. He appeared in eight episodes, in 2011 and 2012, in another series, ''
Make It or Break It ''Make It or Break It'' ( ''MIOBI)'' is an American teen/family drama television series that focused on the lives of teen gymnasts who strived to make it to the Olympic Games in 2012. The series was inspired by Touchstone's 2006 teen comedy-dra ...
'', as the character Marcus. He played the villainous Don John in
Joss Whedon Joseph Hill Whedon (; born June 23, 1964) is an American filmmaker, composer, and comic book writer. He is the founder of Mutant Enemy Productions, co-founder of Bellwether Pictures, and is best known as the creator of several television serie ...
's 2012 adaptation of ''
Much Ado About Nothing ''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' ( W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. 1387 The play ...
''. In 2014, Maher starred as
Dick Grayson Richard John "Dick" Grayson is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with Batman and Teen Titans. Created by writer Bill Finger and artist Bob Kane, he first appeared in ''Detective Comics ...
/
Nightwing Nightwing is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character has appeared in various incarnations; the identity was adopted by Dick Grayson when he left his role as Batman's vigilante partner Robin. Although ...
in ''Son of Batman'', a direct-to-video animated film. It is part of the
DC Universe Animated Original Movies The DC Universe Animated Original Movies (DCUAOM; also known as DC Universe Original Movies or DC Universe Movies or DC Animated Movies) are a series of American direct-to-video superhero animated films based on the DC Comics characters and sto ...
. This was followed by the same role in ''
Justice League vs. Teen Titans ''Justice League vs. Teen Titans'' is a 2016 American animated superhero film directed by Sam Liu from a screenplay by Alan Burnett and Bryan Q. Miller. It is the 25th film of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies and the seventh film in the ...
'' and '' Batman: Bad Blood'' in 2016 and '' Teen Titans: The Judas Contract'' in 2017.


Personal life

Maher publicly
came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...
as gay in 2011, using his role as a closeted gay man on ''The Playboy Club'' as a platform. He and his husband Paul have two adopted children: a daughter, Sophia, and a son, Liam. Following the birth of their daughter in 2007, Maher took two years off from acting to be a stay-at-home dad.


Filmography


Film


Television


Other media


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maher, Sean 1975 births Living people 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors Male actors from New York (state) American male film actors American male television actors American male voice actors American gay actors LGBT people from New York (state) Tisch School of the Arts alumni People from Pleasantville, New York