John Todd Terlesky (born May 30, 1961) is an American actor, film director, television director and screenwriter. As an actor, he is known for playing Deathstalker in the 1987 film ''

Deathstalker II ''Deathstalker II'', also known as ''Deathstalker II: Duel of the Titans'', is a 1987 Argentine-American fantasy comedy-adventure film directed by Jim Wynorski and a sequel to 1983's ''Deathstalker''. It was written by Neil Ruttenberg (with an e ...

'', and Mike in ''

Chopping Mall ''Chopping Mall'' is a 1986 American independent techno-horror film co-written and directed by Jim Wynorski, produced by Julie Corman, and starring Kelli Maroney, Tony O'Dell, John Terlesky, Russell Todd, Paul Bartel, Mary Woronov, and Barb ...

'' (1986).

Life and career

Terlesky was born in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, Ohio, on May 30, 1961. Since the mid-1980s, Terlesky has acted in a number of films and television series. His first notable television role was in the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

drama ''

Legmen ''Legmen'' is an American drama television series that aired on NBC on Friday nights from January 20 to March 16, 1984. Premise Jack Gage and David Taylor were two college students in southern California, who to make extra money did the legwork ...

''. His other television credits include '' The Facts of Life'', '' V'', '' Our House'', ''

Empty Nest ''Empty Nest'' is an American television sitcom that aired for seven seasons on NBC from October 8, 1988, to June 17, 1995. The series, which was created as a spin-off of ''The Golden Girls'' by creator and producer Susan Harris, starred Richa ...

'', ''

Walker, Texas Ranger ''Walker, Texas Ranger'' is an American action fiction, action Crime drama, crime television series created by Leslie Greif and Paul Haggis. It was inspired by the film ''Lone Wolf McQuade'', with both the film and the series starring Chuck Norr ...

'', a recurring role on ''

Guns of Paradise ''Paradise'' (later renamed ''Guns of Paradise'') is an American family Western television series, broadcast by CBS from October 27, 1988, to May 10, 1991. Created by David Jacobs and Robert Porter, the series presents the adventures of fict ...

'' and co-starring in the sitcom ''

The Last Frontier The Last Frontier may refer to: Film * ''The Last Frontier'' (1926 film), a Western by George B. Seitz * ''The Last Frontier'' (serial), a 1932 American film serial starring Lon Chaney, Jr * ''The Last Frontier'' (1955 film), a Western by Anth ...

''. Some of Terlesky's film acting credits include ''

Secret Admirer A secret admirer is an individual who feels adoration, fondness or love for another person without disclosing their identity to that person, and who might send gifts or love letters to their Puppy love, crush. Grade school The goal of a secret a ...

'' (1985), ''

The Naked Cage ''The Naked Cage'' is a 1986 American drama thriller film written and directed by Paul Nicholas. The film stars Shari Shattuck, Angel Tompkins, Lucinda Crosby, Stacey Shaffer, Christina Whitaker and Nick Benedict. The film was released on March 7 ...

'' (1986), ''

Valet Girls ''Valet Girls'' is a 1987 American comedy film directed by Rafal Zielinski, written by Clark Carlton, and starring Meri Marshall, April Stewart, Mary Kohnert, Jack DeLeon, Jon Sharp, Michael Karm, Steven Lyon, Randy Vasquez, Stuart Fratkin, and Ton ...

'' (1987), '' The Allnighter'' (1987), ''

'' (1987), ''

Appointment with Death ''Appointment with Death'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 2 May 1938 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year. The UK edition retai ...

'' (1988), ''

Damned River ''Damned River'' is a 1989 American action film directed by Michael Schroeder and co-written by John Crowther and Bayard Johnson. The film stars Stephen Shellen, Lisa Aliff, John Terlesky, Marc Poppel, Bradford Bancroft and Louis van Niekerk. The ...

'' (1989) and ''

Crazy People ''Crazy People'' is a 1990 American black comedy film starring Dudley Moore and Daryl Hannah, directed by Tony Bill, and music by Cliff Eidelman. Plot Emory Leeson is an advertising executive who experiences a nervous breakdown. He designs ...

'' (1990). In 1998, Terlesky made his directorial debut with the film ''

The Pandora Project ''The Pandora Project'' is an action film released in 1998. The film stars Daniel Baldwin, Erika Eleniak, Tony Todd and Bo Jackson. Film synopsis When a former CIA agent steals a weapon that kills people without harming buildings, a former CIA ...

'', co-directing with

Jim Wynorski Jim Wynorski is an American screenwriter, director, and producer. He is known for making B movies, softcore pornography, and exploitation films, such as '' The Witches of Breastwick''. In 2009, the documentary '' Popatopolis'', directed by C ...

. He directed a number of other independent, direct-to-video and television films before getting involved in episodic television. Since 2006, he has directed episodes of ''

Boston Legal ''Boston Legal'' is an American legal comedy drama television series created by former lawyer and Boston native David E. Kelley, produced in association with 20th Century Fox Television for ABC. The series aired from October 3, 2004, to Decem ...

'', ''

Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series focusing on the personal and professional lives of surgical internship (medicine), interns, residency (medicine), residents, and attending physician, attendings at the fictional ...

'', ''

Ugly Betty ''Ugly Betty'' is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from September 28, 2006, to April 14, 2010. It is based on the Colombian telenovela ''Yo soy Betty, la fea' ...

'', ''

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 Elliot ...

'', ''

Human Target The Human Target is the name of two 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 targeted by a ...

'', ''

Army Wives ''Army Wives'' is an American drama television series that followed the lives of four army wives, one army husband, and their families. The series premiered on Lifetime on June 3, 2007, and ran for seven seasons, ending on June 9, 2013. The sh ...

'', ''

Body of Proof ''Body of Proof'' is an American medical drama, medical/crime drama, crime comedy-drama television series that ran on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from March 29, 2011, to May 28, 2013, and starred Dana Delany as medical examiner List of B ...

'', ''

Gossip Girl ''Gossip Girl'' is an American teen drama television series created and developed by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage and based on the series of novels of the same name by Cecily von Ziegesar. It follows a group of students on Manhattan's ...

'', ''

Castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

'', ''

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ''Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' is an American television series created by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen for ABC based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, ...

'', ''

How To Get Away With Murder ''How to Get Away with Murder'' is an American legal drama thriller television series that premiered on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) on September 25, 2014, and concluded on May 14, 2020. The series was created by Peter Nowalk and pro ...

'', ''

The Blacklist (TV series) ''The Blacklist'' is an American crime thriller television series created by Jon Bokenkamp and developed by John Eisendrath. It stars James Spader as Raymond Reddington, an international criminal and one of the FBI's FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugit ...

'', and ''

Criminal Minds ''Criminal Minds'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series created by Jeff Davis that premiered on CBS on September 22, 2005. It follows a group of criminal profilers who work for the FBI as members of its Behavioral ...

''.

Filmography

Movies

Television

Personal life

Terlesky is married to actress

Jayne Brook Jayne Brook (born Jane Anderson) (born September 16, 1960) is an American actress, best known for her roles as Dr. Diane Grad on the medical drama '' Chicago Hope'', as a series regular for five of the show's six seasons, and Mary Ann Mitchell o ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Terlesky, John 1961 births Living people American male film actors American male screenwriters American male television actors 20th-century American male actors American television directors Film directors from Ohio Male actors from Cincinnati Screenwriters from Ohio Film producers from Ohio