Gerald Raymond Rosenthal is an American musician, singer-songwriter and actor. He has starred in films and short films and has guest starred in television series such as ''

Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment and Universal Television, launching the ''Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire ...

'' and ''

Celebrity Deathmatch ''Celebrity Deathmatch'' is an adult stop-motion claymated series created by Eric Fogel and produced by John Worth Lynn Jr. for MTV. A parody of sports entertainment programs, ''Celebrity Deathmatch'' depicted various celebrities engaging ...

''. He is best known for providing the voice for Jimmy Hopkins, the main playable character in the 2006 video game ''

Bully Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing, comments, or threats, in order to abuse, aggressively dominate, or intimidate one or more others. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perc ...

'', for which he was nominated for a 2006 Spike VGA Award for Best Performance by a Human Male and a 10th Annual Interactive Achievement Award for Outstanding Achievement in Character Performance - Male.

Early life

Rosenthal graduated from North Plainfield High School in 1998 in

North Plainfield, New Jersey North Plainfield is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Somerset County, New Jersey, Somerset County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located within the Raritan River, Raritan Valley region. As of the 2020 United States census, the boroug ...

, where he was active in theater programs. He attended college at

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

New Brunswick, New Jersey New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. He graduated from Rutgers University in 2003 with a degree in history.

Career

Acting

Rosenthal was about 6 years old when his mother took him into

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to audition for an acting agent, which led to auditions. He acted in commercials as a child starting at the age of seven. He says that acting was something his parents essentially dragged him to do, but around the beginning of ninth grade he realized that he truly wanted to act. Rosenthal has appeared in television commercials and radio voice-overs, along with television series including ''

'' and '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'', as well as the films ''

Liberty Heights ''Liberty Heights'' is a 1999 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Barry Levinson. The film is a semi-autobiographical account of his childhood growing up in Baltimore in the 1950s. The film portrays the racial injustices experienc ...

'', ''

Finding Forrester ''Finding Forrester'' is a 2000 American drama film directed by Gus Van Sant and written by Mike Rich. In the film, a black teenager, Jamal Wallace (Rob Brown (actor), Rob Brown), is invited to attend a prestigious private high school. By chanc ...

'', and ''Wirey Spindell''. Rosenthal also provided the voice for the main playable character Jimmy Hopkins in the 2006 video game ''

'', from

Rockstar Games Rockstar Games, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in New York City. The company was established in December 1998 as a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive, using the assets Take-Two had previously acquired from BMG Interactive. Foun ...

. He reprised his role for new missions featured in the remastered ''Scholarship Edition'' of the game.

Music

Rosenthal's father began teaching him guitar and piano at 7 years old. Between the ages of ten and thirteen he attended the St. Thomas Choir School in New York City, a boarding school for young male choristers. He sang in five or six services a week at St. Thomas Church Fifth Avenue with the St. Thomas Choir of Men and Boys under the direction of Dr. Gerre Hancock. While at St. Thomas, Rosenthal studied piano with concert pianist Leslie Singer and music theory with composer Scott Eyerly (composer of the

Opera house An opera house is a theater building used for performances of opera. Like many theaters, it usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, backstage facilities for costumes and building sets, as well as offices for the institut ...

of Seven Gables, as well as a faculty member at The

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

). He toured with the St. Thomas Choir, traveling to Austria, Italy, Vienna, and Ireland. In high school Rosenthal continued his piano studies privately with jazz pianist Paul Salamone. While earning a History degree at Rutgers University, Rosenthal attended a semester at

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, where he studied guitar privately with John Marasco (

Eartha Kitt Eartha Mae Kitt (née Keith; January 17, 1927 – December 25, 2008) was an American singer and actress. She was known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 recordings of "C'est si bon" and the Christmas novelty song "Santa Baby" ...

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) and John Thomas (

Kenny Drew Kenneth Sidney "Kenny" Drew (August 28, 1928 – August 4, 1993) was an American-Danish jazz pianist. Biography Drew was born on August 28, 1928, in New York City, United States, and he received piano lessons from the age of five. Feather, ...

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) as well as music theory with Jim Stinnett (bass instructor for

Mike Gordon Michael Eliot Gordon (born June 3, 1965) is an American bass guitarist and vocalist most recognized as a founding member of the band Phish. In addition to bass, Gordon plays banjo, piano, and guitar. He is a filmmaker ('' Rising Low'', '' Outs ...

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) While in college he also studied guitar privately with Karl Cochran (

Ace Frehley Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley (, ; born April 27, 1951) is an American musician who was the original lead guitarist, occasional lead vocalist and founding member of the rock band Kiss (band), Kiss. He invented the persona of The Spaceman (a.k.a. ...

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.) He also played with different groups for fun in college, so within six months of moving home He was playing in about four bands in the New Brunswick, New Jersey, area. Over the years his focus gradually shifted more and more towards music, and that's how he makes his living today. He says that he still goes on acting auditions, but music is his life at this point. He is the guitarist of the music groups The Gerry Rosenthal Trio and Big Wake and is also the bassist of the music groups

Hey Bulldog "Hey Bulldog" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles released on their 1969 soundtrack album '' Yellow Submarine''. Credited to Lennon–McCartney, but written primarily by John Lennon, it was finished in the recording studio by both L ...

and The Jersey Joint.

Personal life

Rosenthal grew up with two brothers, also musicians. His younger brother Hank died of a drug overdose at the age of 26 on September 30, 2017. Rosenthal and his wife Megan McGrath became parents of their son James sometime in late 2018. Today, Rosenthal and his family currently live in

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

. He teaches private music lessons and performs in gigs professionally. He freelances with as many different projects as possible, and performs solo and duo acoustic sets all over the area.