Dead at 21

Background:

An American brilliant supporting player whose many movie roles may have detained the very essence of rarely showered Gen-X angst, Jack Noseworthy is probably well-remembered for frequently playing besmirched rockers with a dreadful attitude and a machete to grind. The green-eyed, blond-haired dancer-turned-actor first came to national prominence for playing the lead in the short-lived television series “Dead at 21” (1994), the first drama series made by MTV, and with his memorable appearance as the jealous jilted beau in the video for the 1994 Bon Jovi hit single “Always.”

Since then, the fruitful player has racked up countless movie credits, including the hits S.F.W. (1994), The Brady Bunch Movie (1995), Breakdown (1997), Idle Hands (1999), and the star-studded U-571 (2000), in which he memorably played Seaman BillWentz/Radioman. His more recent and upcoming credits include Unconditional Love (2002), Poster Boy (2004), Phat Girlz (2006) and Pretty Ugly People (2007). He also has acted in many television projects, like playing Jason Lobdel on several episodes of the CBS series “Judging Amy” (2002), and for stage productions such as “Pippin” (2000) and “Mother Courage” (2006).


Massachusetts Native

Childhood and Family:

In Lynn, Massachusetts, Jack Noseworthy was born on December 21, 1969. His father is Jack Noseworthy and his mother is Thelma. He received a BFA degree from The Boston Conservatory in 1987.


U-571’s Radioman

Career:

After graduating from high school, 17-year-old Jack Noseworthy began his career on the stage as a chorus dancer. He joined a national touring production of “Cats,” the next year, and was handed many other roles after moving to New York City. In 1989, the struggling actor participated in the original production of “Jerome Robbins’ Broadway” and then created a theater history of being the last actor hired for Broadway cast of “A Chorus Line.”

In 1990, Noseworthy moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting more professionally. A natural in front of the camera, he subsequently was cast as the backslapping student of music teacher Phill Lewis in the four-week sitcom “Teech” (CBS, 1991), appeared as the brother of Suzanne Somers in his TV movie debut, Keeping Secrets (1991), chronicling Somers’ alcoholic, dysfunctional family, and played Billy the bag boy in the Anne Bancroft TV vehicle Mrs. Cage (PBS, 1992).

Also in 1992, Noseworthy made his feature film debut with a small part in the Pauly Shore comedy Encino Man, which he followed by playing the chain-smoking survivor of an Andes plane crash in Alive (1993) and the sidekick of Stephen Dorff in the popular S.F.W (1994). It was also in 1994 that Noseworthy came to the national fame with his starring turn in the MTV Sci-fi series “Dead at 21,” playing Ed, the genius who discovers on his 20th birthday that he has been used for intelligence enhancing research and will combust before his next birthday. He gained additional popularity that same year after appearing as the envious jilted boyfriend in Bon Jovi’s music video, “Always.”

Noseworthy’s rising career was further confirmed in the following years with more and more roles came his way. He costarred with Shelley Long in the well-received based-on-TV-series comedy The Brady Bunch Movie (1995, as the grime rock neighbor Eric), supported Pamela Anderson in the David Hogan-directed Barb Wire (1996), and after appearing in The Trigger Effect (1996), enjoyed a hit with the Kurt Russell thriller Breakdown (1997). He rejoined with his Breakdown co-star, Kathleen Quinlan, for the futuristic Event Horizon (1997) and starred opposite Laura Leighton in the indie-drama Clean and Narrow (1999) before returning to supporting role as Randy in the hit comedy/horror Idle Hands (1999), opposite Devon Sawa.

2000 saw Noseworthy reunite with Breakdown director Jonathan Mostow to play a German-speaking radio operator in the all-star ensemble of the WWII submarine drama U-571, along side Matthew McConaughey, Bill Paxton and the singer-turned-actor Jon Bon Jovi. The same year, he also revisited the stage by starring in the revival of “Pippin” at Papermill Playhouse in New Jersey. He followed it up with a feature role in the stage musical of “Sweet Smell of Success,” the next year. On the movie front, the busy performer could be seen in John Waters’ Cecil B. Demented (2000), the blaxploitation parody Undercover Brother (2002) and Kathy Bates’ Unconditional Love (2002).

Returning to series TV, Noseworthy took on the recurring role of Jason Lobdel on the CBS drama “Judging Amy” (2002). He went on to appear in episodes of “Crossing Jordan” (2003), “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (2003), “Wild Card” (2004), “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” (2006) and “Law & Order” (2006). He also costarred as Steve Binder in the CBS miniseries “Elvis” (2005). Meanwhile, on the wide screen, he played Anthony, a politically active gay man, in Poster Boy (2004) and Richard ‘Dick’ Eckhard in Phat Girlz (2006). On the stage, he found himself acting in the Public Theater’s 2006 production of “Mother Courage,” with Meryl Streep, and debuted as a nightclub performer with director Gary Griffin’s act, “You Don’t Know Jack,” at the Metropolitan Room in New York City, in 2006.

As for his upcoming projects, Noseworthy will soon appear as David Bratcher in the direct-to-video A Dennis the Menace Christmas (2007). He is also set to play the supporting role of Trevor in the comedy Pretty Ugly People (2007), directed and written by Tate Taylor.


Awards:
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