John Terry (born January 25, 1950) is an American retired film, television and stage actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as

Christian Shephard Dr. Christian Shephard is a fictional character on the ABC television series '' Lost'' played by John Terry. He is the father of lead characters Jack Shephard ( Matthew Fox), who becomes the de facto leader of the survivors of Oceanic 815 aft ...

in the TV series '' Lost'', as Larry McCoy in the TV series ''

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

'' and for portraying Slim in ''

Of Mice and Men ''Of Mice and Men'' is a 1937 novella written by American author John Steinbeck. It describes the experiences of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant worker, migrant ranch workers, as they move from place to place in California ...

'' (1992). His daughter is professional

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player Hanna Terry.

Early life

Terry was born in Vero Beach, Florida, where he attended Vero Beach High School. He was also educated at the prestigious

Loomis Chaffee The Loomis Chaffee School (; LC or Loomis) is an Independent school, independent, coeducational, college preparatory school for boarding and day students in grades 9–12, including postgraduate year, postgraduate students, located in Windsor, ...

prep school in

Windsor, Connecticut Windsor is a New England town, town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, and was the first English settlement in the state. It lies on the northern border of Connecticut's capital, Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. The town is part of ...

, and began a career building original custom log homes in

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. He played roles in local theater before moving to

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

where he founded a river rafting company. But his interest in acting did not diminish. At age 30 he moved to

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 ...

and became a full-time

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

Career

Terry's debut role was as the title character in the 1980 fantasy film '' Hawk the Slayer'', followed by roles in films such as '' There Goes the Bride'' (1980), ''Tuxedo Warrior'' (1982) and the action sequel '' Wild Geese II'' (1985), as Barbara Carrera's brother. His career then took a major upswing as he was assigned the roles of Lieutenant Lockhart in

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American filmmaker and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Stanley Kubrick filmography, his films were nearly all adaptations of novels or sho ...

's ''

Full Metal Jacket ''Full Metal Jacket'' is a 1987 war film directed and produced by Stanley Kubrick from a screenplay he co-wrote with Michael Herr and Gustav Hasford. The film is based on Hasford's 1979 autobiographical novel '' The Short-Timers''. It stars ...

'' (1987) and

Felix Leiter Felix Leiter is a fictional character created by Ian Fleming in the ''James Bond'' books, films, and other media. The character is an operative for the CIA and James Bond's friend. After losing a leg and a hand to a shark attack, Leiter joined ...

in the

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

film '' The Living Daylights'' (1987). Nothing as prominent followed immediately, though he received good notices for his role as a traumatized Vietnam veteran in

Norman Jewison Norman Frederick Jewison (July 21, 1926 – January 20, 2024) was a Canadian filmmaker. He was known for directing films which addressed topical Social issue, social and political issues, often making controversial or complicated subjects acces ...

's '' In Country'' (1989). Terry subsequently played the lead in a well-regarded but short-lived TV series '' Against the Grain''. Terry played Slim in the 1992

film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...

of ''

'' and also appeared in '' The Resurrected'' (1992), an adaption of the

H. P. Lovecraft Howard Phillips Lovecraft (, ; August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American writer of Weird fiction, weird, Science fiction, science, fantasy, and horror fiction. He is best known for his creation of the Cthulhu Mythos. Born in Provi ...

novella '' The Case of Charles Dexter Ward''. He found new success on television. He appeared in the first episodes of '' ER'' playing Dr. Div Cvetic, the love interest of Dr. Lewis, who disappeared after a nervous breakdown. He later played a recurring role in season two of Fox's real-time thriller '' 24'', as Bob Warner, the father of both the love interest of hero

Jack Bauer Jack Bauer is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Fox television series '' 24''. Throughout the majority of the series' running, Bauer serves as a key member of the fictional CTU and other institutions. Bauer's job usually involv ...

and of another daughter whose fiancé is suspected of being a terrorist. After a brief stint on

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 ...

's ''

'', he was cast as

, the father of

Jack Shephard Dr. Jack Shephard is a fictional character and the protagonist of the ABC television series '' Lost'', played by Matthew Fox. ''Lost'' follows the journey of the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 on a mysterious island and their attempts to sur ...

and

Claire Littleton Claire Littleton is a fictional character played by Emilie de Ravin on the ABC drama television series '' Lost'', which chronicles the lives of the survivors of a plane crash in the South Pacific. Claire is introduced in the pilot episode as a p ...

on ABC's '' Lost''. Terry reprised his role as Shephard on several occasions in flashbacks before appearing frequently in real time on the island as an incarnation of "the man in black". He had a guest role in a 2006 episode of ''

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 ...

'', as well as the part of older Jacob Wheeler in

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

's '' Into the West'' mini series, which was nominated for 16

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

in 2006. He also appeared in

David Fincher David Andrew Leo Fincher (born August 28, 1962) is an American film director. Often described as one of the preeminent directors of his generation, David Fincher filmography, his films, of which most are psychological thrillers, have collectiv ...

's ''

Zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north and south celestial latitude of the ecliptic – the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. Within this zodiac ...

'',

Matthew McConaughey Matthew David McConaughey ( ; born November 4, 1969) is an American actor. He achieved his breakthrough with a supporting performance in the coming-of-age comedy '' Dazed and Confused'' (1993). After a number of supporting roles, his first su ...

's ''

Surfer, Dude ''Surfer, Dude'' is a 2008 American comedy film directed by S.R. Bindler and starring Matthew McConaughey. Woody Harrelson claims the film is the most "non-work" he has ever done. McConaughey and Harrelson, who previously appeared together in ''E ...

'', and the horror thriller '' Nine Dead''.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Terry, John 1950 births American male film actors American male stage actors American male television actors American people of Irish descent Living people Male actors from Florida Vero Beach High School alumni Place of birth missing (living people) Loomis Chaffee School alumni