Scott Patterson

Scott Gordon Patterson (born September 11, 1958) is an American actor and musician. He is known for his role as Luke Danes in ''Gilmore Girls'' and as Special Agent Peter Strahm in the ''Saw'' films. He also starred as Michael Buchanan in the NBC drama series '' The Event'' and as a Tenctonese alien commander in the TV film '' Alien Nation: Dark Horizon''.

Early life

Patterson was born September 11, 1958, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is a direct descendant of Richard Stockton (signer of the Declaration of Independence and The Constitution of the United States), and Richard Leeds, who fathered thirteen children in the Pine Barrens section of South Jersey. Leeds' thirteenth child was known as the Jersey Devil.

Patterson formed The Unknowns, his first band, in the third grade with longtime friend Tommy Poitras. They played just two songs – ''Back in the U.S.S.R.'' and '' (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone''. The Unknowns added to their set list and performed throughout grade school and high school but disbanded after high school graduation.

Patterson was raised in Haddonfield, New Jersey and attended Haddonfield Memorial High School, graduating in 1977. He attended Rutgers University, pursuing a degree in Comparative Literature. He studied acting in New York with renowned coaches Robert Lewis and Sondra Lee. He was exposed to the teachings of Paul Newman, Arthur Penn, and Frank Corsaro at the Actors Studio, where he also participated in the Producer's Unit chaired by Penn. He appeared in numerous productions, including ''Rasputin'' and ''Miss Julie''.

Baseball career

Patterson spent seven years, from to , as a professional pitcher in minor league baseball, topping out at the Triple-A level, the highest before the major leagues. He played in two major league farm systems for seven different minor league teams and was selected to four all-star teams (two with Atlanta and two with the New York Yankees). Patterson was initially selected by the Atlanta Braves in the first round (12th overall) of the 1980 Major League Baseball secondary draft (an event distinct from the amateur draft). He played his first pro season with their Class A Anderson Braves in 1980. In 1981 Patterson won 13 consecutive games as a starting pitcher between Class A Durham and Double-A Savannah to set a Braves record for most consecutive wins to start a season. He was named the Braves Minor League Pitcher of the Month twice.

Patterson was traded from the Braves to the New York Yankees for Bob Watson on April 23, 1982, and was placed on the Yankees Major League roster in 1983. Patterson was named as an All-Star both with the Yankees' Double-A Albany-Colonie Yankees and Triple-A Columbus Clippers in 1986."Scott Patterson Statistics".
''The Baseball Cube''. 24 January 2008. In 1985 he was selected by the Texas Rangers in the Rule 5 draft but subsequently returned to the Yankees. While in the Yankees organization Patterson was named their minor league Pitcher of the Month once, and Pitcher of the Week three times. Patterson also pitched in the Puerto Rican Winter League with the Lobos de Arecibo in 1984–85, and the Dominican Professional Baseball League with Santo Domingo in 1985–86. Patterson signed a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers affiliate, the Albuquerque Dukes, in late 1986 but never played at the major league level.

Acting career

In 1988, Patterson formed the Arclight Theatre Company in Soho, NYC with John Bishop. Patterson played Jedediah Kohler in Bishop's ''The Great, Great Grandson of Jedediah Kohler'' in the company's debut production. One night, George Wolfe was in the audience and offered Gordon-Patterson a role in the European Traveling Company's ''Tamara'' but he turned it down to continue work with Arclight.

In 1993, Patterson was slated to play the lead in Castle Rock's '' Little Big League'' opposite Sela Ward. The producers recast the role at the last minute with ''Revenge of the Nerds'' star Timothy Busfield, opting to offer Patterson the role of Mike McGrevey.

Patterson completed filming the leading role in the feature film '' Her Best Move'', directed by Norm Hunter and co-starring Lisa Darr. He also appeared on the big screen in '' Little Big League'', with Jason Robards, and in ''Three Wishes'', with Patrick Swayze and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. He also appeared in the independent films ''Highway 395'' and ''Rhapsody in Bloom'' with Penelope Ann Miller and Ron Silver, ''Boys of Abu Ghraib'' with Sean Astin, and '' Other People's Children'' with Diane Marshall-Green.

On television, he has landed romantic roles; his most notable role, which he played for seven years on the television show ''Gilmore Girls'', is Luke Danes, the backwards baseball cap-wearing on-again, off-again love interest of the show's protagonist, Lorelai Gilmore, played by Lauren Graham.

On ''Seinfeld'', Patterson's character was deemed "spongeworthy" by Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). In the "Das Boob" episode of '' Will & Grace'', his character had a profound effect on Grace ( Debra Messing). Patterson also played the love interests of Jennifer Grey in '' It's Like, You Know'' and Sharon Lawrence's character in '' Fired Up''. He has also appeared on '' Arli$$'' and '' Get Real''.

Among Patterson's recent projects are a co-starring role on ''Aliens in America'' and voicing the character of King Faraday in the 2004 animated series ''Justice League Unlimited'', from Warner Bros. Animation. He has also starred as Agent Strahm in two iterations of the Saw franchise, '' Saw IV'' and '' Saw V'', also appearing through flashback sequences in ''Saw VI''.

Patterson appeared in some episodes of the second season of '' 90210'' as Liam Court's ex-con father who has recently been released from prison and wants to reconnect with his son.

Patterson starred as Michael Buchanan in the NBC drama series '' The Event'', which premiered on September 20, 2010. His character was killed off in episode 18.

In 2016, Patterson reprised his role as Luke Danes for the revival miniseries '' Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life'', which streamed on Netflix on November 25, 2016 and consisted of four 90-minute episodes featuring most of the original cast.

Personal life

Patterson met his wife Kristine Saryan in 2001 during the intermission of a play they were both attending. The couple married in 2014, the same year they welcomed their son Nicholas.

Saryan was seen on ''Gilmore Girls'' twice, once as Chrissy, Miss Patty's dance assistant (episode 4.21 - Last Week Fights, This Week Tights), and once as an interview subject in the 2016 limited series, ''Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life'' (episode 2 - Spring).

In 2017, Patterson founded a coffee company, Scotty P's Big Mug Coffee.

I Am All In podcast

In 2021, Patterson partnered with I Heart Radio to launch the 'I Am All In' podcast dedicated to fans of ''Gilmore Girls''. For the podcast, he watches an episode and discusses the content with his producers and guests. Guests have included Sean Gunn (Kirk Gleason), Yanic Truesdale (Michel Gerard), Sally Struthers (Babette Dell), Keiko Agena (Lane Kim), Grant Lee Phillips (Troubadour), Rose Abdoo (Gypsy), and many others. The show is available on I Heart Radio, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

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Scott Patterson cast bio on The CW

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patterson, Scott
1958 births
Male actors from New Jersey
Male actors from Philadelphia
Albany-Colonie Yankees players
American male film actors
American male television actors
Anderson Braves players
Baseball players from Pennsylvania
Columbus Clippers players
Durham Bulls players
Haddonfield Memorial High School alumni
Living people
People from Haddonfield, New Jersey
Nashville Sounds players
Richmond Braves players
Rutgers University alumni
Savannah Braves players
Sportspeople from Camden County, New Jersey
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors