Luke Zimmerman (born September 11, 1980, in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Chicago Loop, Downtown Chicago, ...

, United States) is an American actor who is best known for his role as Tom Bowman on

ABC Family The American cable and satellite television network that is now known as Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through several different owners (and six different name changes) during its h ...

's ''

The Secret Life of the American Teenager ''The Secret Life of the American Teenager'' (often shortened to ''Secret Life'') is an American teen drama television series created by Brenda Hampton. It aired on ABC Family from July 1, 2008 to June 3, 2013. The series received mixed to s ...

''.

Early life

Zimmerman was born with

Down syndrome Down syndrome or Down's syndrome, also known as trisomy 21, is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21. It is usually associated with child development, physical growth delays, mild to moderate ...

. He played Romeo in the play

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with ''Ham ...

and performed in the 1990 television movie drama ''Daughter of the Streets''. In 2007, Zimmerman tried out for the role of Tom Bowman, Grace Bowman's adopted older brother on ''

'', which began airing in July 2008. He also appeared on

Glee Glee means delight, a form of happiness. Glee may also refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 30 ...

in November 2013.

Personal life

Zimmerman was a student at Performing Arts Studio West.

Filmography

External links

*http://abcfamily.go.com/abcfamily/path/section_Shows+Secret-Life-Of-The-American-Teenager/page_Luke-Zimmerman *http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0956751/ *http://www.backstage.com/bso/news-and-features-news/rising-to-the-challenge-1003985122.story {{DEFAULTSORT:Zimmerman, luke 1980 births Living people Actors with Down syndrome American actors with disabilities American male television actors