Matt Rippy (born January 26, 1968) is an American actor, born in St. Louis, Missouri and raised in

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. He is most known for the recent Netflix series ''Glória'', his role as the 'real' Captain Jack Harkness in ''

Torchwood ''Torchwood'' is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. A spin-off of the 2005 revival of '' Doctor Who'', it aired from 2006 to 2011. The show shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growin ...

'' in 2007 and his comic stage performances with the

Reduced Shakespeare Company The Reduced Shakespeare Company (RSC) is an American touring acting troupe that performs fast-paced, seemingly improvisational condensations of different topics. The company's style has been described as "New Vaudeville," combining both physical a ...

. Rippy began acting at an early age putting on performances in the family living room for family and friends which led to his first public performance at The Country Playhouse at the age of 12. He attended the drama department at Houston's prestigious

High School for the Performing and Visual Arts Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (Kinder HSPVA, HSPVA or PVA) is a secondary school located at 790 Austin Street in the downtown district of Houston, Texas. The school is a part of the Houston Independent School District. ...

(HSPVA) and was a member of the

Alley Theatre The Alley Theatre is a Tony Award-winning theatre company in Houston, Texas. It is the oldest professional theatre company in Texas and the third oldest resident theatre in the United States. Alley Theatre productions have played on Broadway at L ...

repertory company for three seasons. In 1994 Rippy moved to England where he joined th
Reduced Shakespeare Company
for a record breaking run in London's

West End West End most commonly refers to: * West End of London, an area of central London, England * West End theatre, a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London, England West End may also refer to: Pl ...

, performing ''

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) ''The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)'' (also known as ''The Compleat Wrks of Wllm Shkspr (Abridged)'') is a play written by Adam Long, Daniel Singer, and Jess Winfield. It parodies the plays of William Shakespeare with all ...

'', ''The Complete History of America (abridged)'' and ''The Bible: The Complete Word of God (abridged)''. In 2002 he was a

Helen Hayes Award The Helen Hayes Awards are theater awards recognizing excellence in professional theater in the Washington, D.C. area since 1983. The awards are named in tribute of Helen Hayes, who is also known as the "First Lady of American Theatre." They ar ...

nominee for Outstanding Lead Actor for his role in ''The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)'' at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. He toured with the company on numerous occasions around the United States, UK, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Rippy would continue off and on to perform, direct and help develop new plays with the Reduced Shakespeare Company for the next twenty years. Rippy launched his TV and film career in 1995 with a guest appearance on '' Goodnight Sweetheart'' with

Nicholas Lyndhurst Nicholas Simon Lyndhurst (born 20 April 1961) is an English actor. He began his career as a child actor and became best known for his role as Rodney Trotter in the sitcom '' Only Fools and Horses'' (1981–2003). He also had major roles in oth ...

for the BBC. He has worked extensively in UK television, including appearances in ''Cracker'', ''

Jonathan Creek ''Jonathan Creek'' is a long-running British mystery crime drama series produced by the BBC and written by David Renwick. It stars Alan Davies as the titular character, who works as a creative consultant to a stage magician while also solvi ...

'', ''

Ultimate Force ''Ultimate Force'' is a British television action drama series that was shown on ITV, which deals with the activities of Red Troop of the SAS (Special Air Service). The first episode was broadcast on 16 September 2002, and a total of four seri ...

'', ''Doctors'', ''

Holby City ''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama '' Casualty'', and ...

'', ''

Secret Diary of a Call Girl ''Secret Diary of a Call Girl'' is a British drama television series that aired from 27 September 2007 to 22 March 2011 on ITV2, based on the blog and books by the pseudonymous Belle de Jour. It stars Billie Piper as Belle, a high-end London ...

'' and ''The Crown''. In a 2007 television appearance, Rippy portrayed the namesake of

Jack Harkness Captain Jack Harkness is a fictional character played by John Barrowman in ''Doctor Who'' and its spin-off series, '' Torchwood''. The character first appears in the 2005 ''Doctor Who'' episode " The Empty Child" and subsequently features in t ...

of ''

'' in the first series' twelfth episode, " Captain Jack Harkness". In this critically acclaimed episode, Captain Jack (Rippy) was a young American volunteer serving as an RAF Group Captain stationed in Cardiff. He was in a heterosexual relationship, and was eventually revealed to be attracted to Torchwood's Jack, who after an unfortunate "temporal shift", landed in 1941 during the height of the Cardiff blitz. The episode was the favorite selected by fans for the 2020

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...

Watch-along simulcast. He also appears in the films ''

Day of the Dead The Day of the Dead ( es, Día de Muertos or ''Día de los Muertos'') is a holiday traditionally celebrated on November 1 and 2, though other days, such as October 31 or November 6, may be included depending on the locality. It is widely obser ...

'', '' Boogeyman 3, Beyond the Sea,

The Monuments Men ''The Monuments Men'' is a 2014 war film directed by George Clooney and written and produced by Clooney and Grant Heslov. The film stars an ensemble cast including Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, Bob Balaban, ...

'' and ''

Black Beauty ''Black Beauty: His Grooms and Companions, the Autobiography of a Horse'' is an 1877 novel by English author Anna Sewell. It was composed in the last years of her life, during which she was bedridden and seriously ill.Merriam-Webster (1995). ...

.'' Rippy starred in the cult B-movie '' Roboshark'' released on the SyFy Channel in 2015. ''SciFi & Scary'' gave the film 5/5: "Overall, ''Roboshark'' was a delight to watch and to interact with, because, yes, folks, ''Roboshark'' will follow you on Twitter." In 2016, he appeared in '' Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'' as Corporal Rostok. Almost all of his scenes were cut from the film, however there is a Lego mini-figure of his character. Rippy is most recently seen as CIA agent James Wilson in the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

series
Glória
'.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Matt Rippy's personal websiteMatt Rippy on Spotlight
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rippy, Matt American male actors Living people 1968 births