Craig Eric Sheffer (born April 23, 1960) is an American film and television

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 leading roles as

Norman Maclean Norman Fitzroy Maclean (December 23, 1902August 2, 1990) was a Scottish-American professor at the University of Chicago who became, following his retirement, a major figure in American literature. Maclean is best known for his collection of n ...

in the film '' A River Runs Through It, ''Aaron Boone in the film ''

Nightbreed ''Nightbreed'' is a 1990 American dark fantasy horror film written and directed by Clive Barker, based on his 1988 novella ''Cabal''. It stars Craig Sheffer, Anne Bobby, David Cronenberg, Charles Haid, Hugh Quarshie, and Doug Bradley. The film f ...

'', Joe Kane in the film '' The Program'', and Keith Scott on the

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

'' One Tree Hill''.

Early and personal life

Sheffer was born in

York, Pennsylvania York (Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Yarrick''), known as the White Rose City (after the symbol of the House of York), is the county seat of York County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the south-central region of the state. The populatio ...

. His father worked as a prison guard. Before becoming an actor, Sheffer sold newspapers in New York City and "slept under the marble staircase" in

Grand Central Terminal Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Grand Central is the southern terminus ...

for weeks while living off

Unification Church The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, widely known as the Unification Church, is a new religious movement, whose members are called Unificationists, or " Moonies". It was officially founded on 1 May 1954 under the name Holy Sp ...

spaghetti dinners."

Career

Sheffer was first seen on a nationwide basis as Ian Hayden on the ABC daytime

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio drama ...

One Life to Live ''One Life to Live'' (often abbreviated as ''OLTL'') is an American soap opera broadcast on the ABC television network for more than 43 years, from July 15, 1968, to January 13, 2012, and then on the internet as a web series on Hulu and iTunes ...

'', and on the 1983 prime time series''

The Hamptons The Hamptons, part of the East End of Long Island, consist of the towns of Southampton and East Hampton, which together comprise the South Fork of Long Island, in Suffolk County, New York. The Hamptons are a popular seaside resort and one o ...

''. His earliest starring assignment in films was as the best friend of troubled teenager

Emilio Estevez Emilio Estevez (; born May 12, 1962) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the son of actor Martin Sheen and the older brother of Charlie Sheen. Emilio Estevez started his career as an actor and is known for being a member of the acting Br ...

in '' That Was Then... This Is Now'' (1985), a reformatory camp inmate in '' Fire with Fire'' (1986), an antagonistic rich kid in '' Some Kind of Wonderful'' (1987), and the romantic love interest of an overweight cosmetician in ''

Baby Cakes "Baby Cakes" is the only single released by British garage trio 3 of a Kind. It debuted atop the UK Singles Chart on 15 August 2004, becoming the band's only chart hit. '' Mixmag'' included "Baby Cakes" on their "40 of the best UK garage tr ...

'' (1989). Sheffer played the lead role of Aaron Boone/Cabal in ''

'' (1990), author

in '' A River Runs Through It'' in (1992), and played

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and har ...

candidate

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Am ...

Joe Kane in '' The Program'' in 1993. Sheffer's other films include '' Fire in the Sky'' (1993), ''

Head Above Water ''Head above Water'' is a 1986 non-fiction book by Nigerian novelist Buchi Emecheta. It was published in 1986 in the African Writers Series by Heinemann and has been described as "anecdotal autobiography." Plot summary ''Head above Water'' is an ...

'' (1996), and '' Sleep With Me'' (1994) (top-billed, as the apex of a romantic triangle which included

Eric Stoltz Eric Cameron Stoltz (born September 30, 1961) is an American actor, director and producer. He played the role of Rocky Dennis in the biographical drama film ''Mask'', which earned him the nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Suppor ...

and

Meg Tilly Meg Tilly (born Margaret Elizabeth Chan on February 14, 1960) is an American-Canadian actress and writer. For her role in the 1985 film ''Agnes of God'', she won a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting A ...

). Sheffer played the leading role in

Clive Barker Clive Barker (born 5 October 1952) is an English novelist, playwright, author, film director, and visual artist who came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a series of short stories, the ''Books of Blood'', which established him as a leading h ...

's franchise sequel, '' Hellraiser: Inferno''. He also played the main character in 1997's '' Bliss'' which starred

Sheryl Lee Sheryl Lynn Lee (born April 22, 1967) is a German-born American film, stage, and television actress. After studying acting in college, Lee relocated to Seattle, Washington to work in theater, where she was cast by David Lynch as Laura Palmer and ...

Terence Stamp Terence Henry Stamp (born 22 July 1938) is an English actor. Stamp is known for his sophisticated villain roles. He was named by ''Empire Magazine'' as one of the 100 Sexiest Film Stars of All Time in 1995. He has received various accolades inc ...

and

Leigh Taylor-Young Leigh Taylor-Young (born January 25, 1945) is an American actress who has appeared on stage, screen, podcast, radio and television. The most famous films in which she had important roles include ''I Love You, Alice B. Toklas'' (1968), '' The Hors ...

. Sheffer played Constant Bradley in the 1996

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format ...

A Season in Purgatory ''A Season in Purgatory'' is a 1993 novel by Dominick Dunne. It was inspired by the 1975 murder of Martha Moxley, for which Ethel Skakel Kennedy's nephew Michael Skakel was eventually convicted. Dunne became fascinated with the story after cove ...

.'' He played Keith Scott on the

CW Network CW may stand for: Science and technology * centiwatt (cW), one hundredth of a watt * Cω, a programming language * CW complex, a type of topological space * Carrier wave, in radio communications * CodeWarrior, an integrated development environm ...

series '' One Tree Hill'' for three seasons before his character was killed off halfway through season 3 (he also had several guest appearances in season 4). He directed the feature film ''American Crude'', a dark comedy starring

Ron Livingston Ronald Joseph Livingston (born June 5, 1967) is an American actor. He is known for playing Peter Gibbons in the 1999 film ''Office Space'' and Captain Lewis Nixon III in the 2001 miniseries '' Band of Brothers.'' Livingston's other roles include ...

and

Rob Schneider Robert Michael Schneider (; born October 31, 1963) is an American actor, comedian, and screenwriter. A stand-up comic and veteran of the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'', he went on to a career in feature films, including starri ...

; it was released straight to DVD in June 2008. Sheffer had a cameo appearance in the movie '' Stand Up Guys''. In 2016, Sheffer starred alongside

Steven Seagal Steven Frederic Seagal (; born April 10, 1952) is an American actor, screenwriter and martial artist. A 7th-dan black belt in aikido, he began his adult life as a martial arts instructor in Japan and eventually ended up running his father-in-l ...

in '' Code of Honor''.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sheffer, Craig 1960 births American male film actors American male soap opera actors American male television actors Living people People from York, Pennsylvania Male actors from Pennsylvania