Matt Letscher is an American actor, director and playwright, known for his roles as Captain
Harrison Love in ''
The Mask of Zorro'' and Colonel
Adelbert Ames in ''
Gods and Generals''. He co-starred in ''
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi.'' He was also
Eobard Thawne / Reverse-Flash in ''
The Flash
The Flash is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date, cover-dated Jan ...
'' and ''
Legends of Tomorrow''.
Early life and education
Letscher was born on June 26, 1970 in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. He attended college at the
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
in
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...
, where he was a member of the
Sigma Nu fraternity and a drama major.
Career
Acting
Letscher got his first professional acting job with a role in ''The Tropic Pickle'', during the second season of
Jeff Daniels'
Purple Rose Theatre Company in
Chelsea, Michigan. Letscher impressed Daniels enough that the veteran arranged a meeting for Letscher with
Ron Maxwell, the director of ''
Gettysburg''. After appearing in a small role, Letscher took advice from Daniels and moved to Los Angeles. He quickly found work in guest roles on television.
In 1995, Letscher was cast as the naive television writer in the
Nancy Travis sitcom ''
Almost Perfect'', which lasted for a season and a half. He went on to appear as series regular in ''
Living in Captivity'' in 1998. The same year, he appeared in the film ''
The Mask of Zorro'' as the villain Captain
Harrison Love. He appeared in the miniseries ''Jackie, Ethel, Joan: Women of Camelot'' and in the television films ''
King of Texas'', ''
The Beach Boys: An American Family'', ''
When Billie Beat Bobby'', and ''Stolen Innocence''. He also reunited with Daniels in ''
Gods and Generals'' (the prequel of Gettysburg) and Daniels' directorial effort ''
Super Sucker''. Letscher also returned to The
Purple Rose Theatre in the world premiere of Landford Wilson's play ''
Rain Dance''.
In 2002, the comedy pilot ''
Good Morning, Miami'' was picked up by
NBC as part of
Must See TV
Must See TV was an American advertising slogan that was used by NBC to brand its primetime blocks during the 1990s, and most often applied to the network's Thursday night lineup, which featured some of its most popular sitcoms and drama series ...
Thursday comedy block, but
Burke Moses was replaced by Letscher and a second pilot had to be filmed. The romantic comedy sitcom featured Letscher as a smarmy former network anchor who was the primary romantic rival to main character Jake Silver (
Mark Feuerstein) for the affection of Dylan (
Ashley Williams). Despite the series receiving negative reviews, Letscher and
Constance Zimmer
Constance Zimmer (born October 11, 1970) is an American actress. She rose to prominence playing Dana Gordon on the HBO series ''Entourage (American TV series), Entourage'' (2005–11) and List of Boston Legal characters#Claire Simms, Claire Sim ...
were standouts in the series and eventually paired up as a combative couple. But the show was canceled midway though its second season due to low ratings.
His performance in ''Good Morning, Miami'' led to him being cast in the lead in the film ''
Straight-Jacket'', opposite
Carrie Preston, about a gay Hollywood actor forced to marry a beard in the 1950s. His flair for classical farce also led to him being cast in the leading role of Capt. Jack Absolute in the Lincoln Center theater production of
Richard Brinsley Sheridan's
The Rivals. Letscher was praised for his spirited performance and his costar
Robert Easton referred to Letscher as "a perfect classical actor."
Letscher was in the cast of ''
Joey'', and had a recurring role on ''
The New Adventures of Old Christine'' and numerous guest starring roles. After appearing as a kind neighbor in
Alan Ball's ''
Towelhead'', Letscher was cast in ''
Eli Stone
''Eli Stone'' is an American Legal drama, legal Musical film, musical comedy drama television series that was created by Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim, who also served as executive producers alongside Ken Olin who directed the pilot, with M ...
'', as Nathan Stone, the prophet's kind-hearted older brother. Despite low ratings, the dramedy series had loyal fans and critical acclaim, earning it a second season which included a larger role for Letscher. His work on
Greg Berlanti's ''Eli Stone'' lead to his arc on Berlanti's ''
Brothers & Sisters'' as a love interest for the married
Kitty Walker.
In 2012, Letscher starred in the series ''
Bent'' and ''
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 a ...
'', and was cast in the series ''
The Carrie Diaries'' as Tom Bradshaw,
Carrie Bradshaw's widowed father. The show ran for two seasons from 2013 until 2014. He appeared in the 2013 films,
Atom Egoyan's ''
Devil's Knot'' (about
The West Memphis Three) and
Spike Jonze's comedy ''
Her'', opposite
Amy Adams. Letscher portrayed
Eobard Thawne / Reverse-Flash, initially in a recurring role on ''
The Flash
The Flash is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date, cover-dated Jan ...
'' and later as a regular in
season two of ''
Legends of Tomorrow'', and reprised the role in two episodes of its
seventh season.
Writing
In June 2007,
Jeff Daniels'
Purple Rose Theatre Company in Chelsea,
Michigan
Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
, staged the world premiere of Letscher's original play ''Sea of Fools'', a farce set in
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican Party (United States), Republican United States Senate, U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death at age ...
-era
Hollywood. Film director
Elia Kazan
Elias Kazantzoglou (, ; September 7, 1909 – September 28, 2003), known as Elia Kazan ( ), was a Greek-American film and theatre director, producer, screenwriter and actor, described by ''The New York Times'' as "one of the most honored and inf ...
is a character in the play. Daniels initially planned to direct the play but pulled out, allowing Letscher to also direct the play.
In 2009, his play ''Gaps in the Fossil Record'' was staged at the Pacific Resident Theater, then had its world premiere production at the
Purple Rose Theatre in 2016.
In 2010, he co-wrote (with Nipper Knapp and Andrew Newberg) and starred in the comedy pilot ''Gentrification'', which won best writing at the Comedy Central New York Television Festival.
Personal life
Letscher has a wife, Jennifer,
and two children.
Filmography
Theater
References
External links
*
*
*
Matt Letscherinterview with Super Hero Speak
{{DEFAULTSORT:Letscher, Matt
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
21st-century American dramatists and playwrights
American male film actors
American male stage actors
American male television actors
Living people
Male actors from Michigan
University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance alumni
Year of birth missing (living people)