Jonathan Frederick Tenney (born December 16, 1961) is an American actor. He played Special Agent

Fritz Howard Formerly an FBI Special Agent, Fritz Howard, who is now Deputy Chief of the LAPD Special Operations Bureau, is a fictional character featured in the TNT programs '' The Closer'' and '' Major Crimes'', and is portrayed by Jon Tenney. Fritz rece ...

in TNT's ''

The Closer ''The Closer'' is an American television police procedural starring Kyra Sedgwick as Brenda Leigh Johnson, a Los Angeles Police Department deputy chief. A CIA-trained interrogator originally from Atlanta, Georgia, Brenda has a reputation as a cl ...

'' and continued in its spinoff '' Major Crimes''.

Early life

Tenney was born in

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

. His mother, Dr. Lillian Sandra Baum, was a

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their ...

, and his father, Frederick Haworth Tenney, was a research

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate ca ...

. His maternal grandparents were Polish Jewish immigrants, while his paternal forebears were of English ancestry. He received his B.A. degree from Vassar College in 1984, where he majored in drama and philosophy. He later attended The Juilliard School's Drama Division as a member of ''Group 19'' (1986–1990).

Career

Tenney made his acting debut in a touring production of Mike Nichols' '' The Real Thing''. He worked steadily on and

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer th ...

, and in regional theater. At

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

, his stage credits include '' Biloxi Blues'', '' The Substance of Fire'' and '' The Heiress''. He began working on television, starring in a number of short-lived series, including Steven Bochco's '' Brooklyn South'', Kristin Chenoweth's sitcom '' Kristin'', and guest appearances on '' Cybill'', '' Will & Grace'', '' Murphy Brown'', '' Spenser: for Hire'' and '' Get Real''. Series with Tenney as a regular were canceled on all four major networks. From 2005 to 2012, Tenney played Special Agent

, the husband of Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson ( Kyra Sedgwick) in TNT's ''

''. For the 4th season of Lifetime's '' The Division'' in 2004, he played Hank Riley. When ''The Closer'' ended he continued to act in its spin-off, '' Major Crimes,'' from 2012 to 2018, with Howard becoming an LAPD deputy chief in the third season. Later, he portrayed Dr. Simon Craig, a love interest of

Nora Walker Nora Walker is a fictional character on the ABC television series '' Brothers & Sisters''. She is portrayed by veteran actress Sally Field. Nora is the main character of the series. Field was one of the two characters to appear in all the episo ...

( Sally Field) in '' Brothers & Sisters''. In 2013, he starred with Rebecca Romijn in TNT's '' King & Maxwell'', as Sean King, a former Secret Service agent and lawyer who works as a private investigator. The series was canceled after one season. In 2014, he was cast in a recurring role on Shonda Rhimes' drama series ''

Scandal A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way. Th ...

''. Tenney appeared in several films, including the villainous CEO of Benbrook Oil Company in '' Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home'' and the friend of Alex Whitman ( Matthew Perry) in '' Fools Rush In''. He also starred in small roles for some films, including '' Tombstone'', '' Beverly Hills Cop III'', '' Nixon'', '' Music from Another Room'' and the 2009 horror film remake of '' The Stepfather''. He also appeared in John Cameron Mitchell's film, '' Rabbit Hole''. He portrayed Martin Jordan in the 2011 superhero film ''

Green Lantern Green Lantern is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They fight evil with the aid of rings that grant them a variety of extraordinary powers, all of which come from imagination, fearlessness ...

''.

Personal life

From 1994 to 2003, Tenney was married to Teri Hatcher, with whom he has a daughter, Emerson Rose Tenney. He married producer Leslie Urdang on June 16, 2012.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tenney, Jon 1961 births American people of English descent American people of Polish-Jewish descent American male film actors American male stage actors American male television actors American male voice actors Living people Male actors from New Jersey People from Princeton, New Jersey Vassar College alumni Juilliard School alumni 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors Jewish American male actors 21st-century American Jews American Ashkenazi Jews