Jilon Ghai VanOver (/‘ʒɪloʊn ‘gaɪ ‘vænoʊvər/; born August 24, 1978) is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of "Ransom Bray" in the

History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Dis ...

’s

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

winning miniseries, '' Hatfields & McCoys,'' as well as "Tecton" in the Disney XD Original Series, ''

Mighty Med ''Mighty Med'' is an American television series created by Jim Bernstein and Andy Schwartz and produced by It's a Laugh Productions for Disney XD. It stars Bradley Steven Perry, Jake Short, Paris Berelc, Devan Leos, and Augie Isaac. The series ...

.''

Early life

VanOver was born in

Loma Linda, California Loma Linda ( Spanish for "Beautiful Hill") is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States, that was incorporated in 1970. The population was 24,791 at the 2020 census, up from 23,261 at the 2010 census. The central area of the ...

. His father, James Otto “Jim” VanOver, is a

Muay Thai Muay Thai ( th, มวยไทย, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, is a combat sport that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. This discipline is known as the "art of eight limbs", as it is characterise ...

trainer and university professor, and his mother, Geni Elizabeth King, is an auditory-sensory integration therapist. He was raised in the high desert of

Baldy Mesa, California Baldy Mesa is an unincorporated community in the Victor Valley of the Mojave Desert, within San Bernardino County, California. It is a rural desert community north of the Cajon Pass Cajon Pass (; Spanish: ''Puerto del Cajón'' or ''Paso del ...

, with his older sister, Guebri, and three younger brothers, Gaven, Jamiel, and Jerid. He has a black belt in Shorin-Ryu and he has been known to perform with various local Los Angeles bands, playing a number of instruments including the

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

, clarinet, and

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica in ...

. VanOver attended

Serrano High School Serrano High School is a public high school in the California High Desert community of Phelan, California. It serves students from Phelan, Wrightwood and Piñon Hills. It is part of the Snowline Joint Unified School District. The school is na ...

Phelan, California Phelan is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in San Bernardino County, California, in the Victor Valley of the Mojave Desert, north of the San Gabriel Mountains. The population was 14,304 in the 2010 census. Geography Situ ...

, before receiving a football scholarship to attend

Murray State University Murray State University (MSU) is a public university in Murray, Kentucky. In addition to the main campus in Calloway County in southwestern Kentucky, Murray State operates extended campuses offering upper level and graduate courses in Paducah, ...

Murray, Kentucky Murray is a home rule-class city in Calloway County, Kentucky, United States. It is the seat of Calloway County and the 19th-largest city in Kentucky. The city's population was 17,741 during the 2010 U.S. census, and its micropolitan area's popu ...

. In 2001, he graduated with a degree in

Theatre Arts Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

and returned to California to pursue an acting career.

Career

He has had several guest starring roles in popular television series including ''

Cold Case A cold case is a crime, or a suspected crime, that has not yet been fully resolved and is not the subject of a current criminal investigation, but for which new information could emerge from new witness testimony, re-examined archives, new or re ...

'', '' NCIS: Los Angeles'', ''

Psych ''Psych'' is an American Detective fiction, detective comedy-drama television series created by Steve Franks for USA Network. The series stars James Roday Rodriguez, James Roday as Shawn Spencer, a young crime consultant for the Santa Barbara P ...

'', ''

Lab Rats A laboratory rat is a rat of the species ''Rattus norvegicus'' which is bred and kept for scientific research. Labrat, lab rat, or lab rats may also refer to: People and characters * Dunash ben Labrat (920–990), medieval Jewish commentator ...

'', and ''

''. On July 22, 2015, VanOver made a special appearance in a series crossover episode of ''

'' as the ''

'' superhero, "Tecton." In 2013, VanOver portrayed “Lucas Holst,” an Amish farmer in the Lifetime movie, ''An Amish Murder'', opposite

Neve Campbell Neve Adrianne Campbell (born October 3, 1973; ) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her work in the drama and horror genres. She has appeared on ''People'' magazine's list of "50 Most Beautiful People" twice. Following a series of minor a ...

and directed by

Stephen Gyllenhaal Stephen Roark Gyllenhaal (; born October 4, 1949) is an American film director and poet. He is the father of actors Jake Gyllenhaal and Maggie Gyllenhaal. Personal life Gyllenhaal was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Virginia Lowrie (née Childs) a ...

. He also co-starred as super agent “Ray Harris” in the television movie ''Strawberry Summer'' and as movie star “Bobby Savage” in the digital series ''Chasing the Hill''. In a voice-over role, VanOver lent his voice to the post-apocalyptic creatures of the film '' I Am Legend'' starring

Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968), also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor and rapper. He began his acting career starring as a fictionalized version of himself on the NBC sitcom '' The Fresh ...

, which was released in 2007.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vanover, Jilon 1978 births Living people American male voice actors American male television actors American male film actors 21st-century American male actors People from Loma Linda, California Shōrin-ryū practitioners