The Jericho Mile

Background:

Emmy winning American actor Peter Strauss became famous in the late 1970s and 1980s for his work in television movies and miniseries. He received Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for his portrayal of Rudy Jordache in the miniseries “Rich Man, Poor Man” (ABC, 1976), a role he recreated for the TV series sequel “Rich Man, Poor Man - Book II” (1976-1977). He was also handed Spain's TP de Oro Award for Best Foreign Actor for his work in both shows. The leading man won his Emmy Award for his work in Michael Mann's “The Jericho Mile” (ABC, 1979). He also earned an Emmy and Golden Globe nomination for the miniseries “Masada” (ABC, 1981) and Golden Globe nominations for ABC's “Heart of Steel” (1983, also a co-executive producer), CBS' “Kane & Abel” (1985) and CBS' “Men Don't Tell” (1993). His TV credits include regular roles in “Moloney” (1996-1997) and “Body & Soul” (2002) and guest roles in “Law & Order” and “Dirty Sexy Money.” He has done voiceover work and could be heard in the animated series “Kids' Ten Commandments” (2003) and the 1990s and 2006 versions of “Biker Mice From Mars.” On the wide screen, Strauss has appeared in “Hail, Hero” (1969), “Soldier Blue” (1970), “Nick of Time” (1995), “Keys to Tulsa” (1996), “xXx: State of the Union” (2005) and “License to Wed” (2007).

Now the husband of actress Rachel Ticotin, Strauss has been married three times. He is the father of Justin and Tristan (mother is second wife Nicole Fons) and the stepfather of Greta (born in June 1, 1984), Ticotin's daughter from her previous marriage to actor David Caruso.

Gardener

Childhood and Family:

Peter Lawrence Strauss was born on February 20, 1947, in New York City, New York. He was raised in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, and attended the Hackley School for Boys in Tarrytown, New York. In 1969, he graduated from Northwestern University, in Evanston, Illinois, with a B.A. in theater. He performed with the Croton Shakespeare Festival in such productions as “As You Like It” and “Romeo and Juliet” when he was a teenager and went on to work in summer stock while attending college. Upon completing his studies, he headed to Los Angeles to find more opportunities.

Peter was married to Beverly Baker Paulding from January 21, 1973, to December 11, 1979. He then married Nicole Fons on July 9, 1983, but the marriage ended in divorce in 1994. The marriage produced two sons, Justin and Tristan Strauss. Peter married actress Rachel Ticotin (born on November 1, 1958) on December 31, 1998. The couple (with his sons and stepdaughter) lives in Ojai, California, where Peter also runs a commercial citrus enterprise.

A devout gardener, Peter loves cacti and Mediterranean plants and his gardens have been featured on television and in several publications, including “The LA Times Magazines” and “Martha Stewart Living.” He is on the advisory board of the LA Arboretum and donated property in Agoura, California, to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. It has since been acquired by the National Park Service and is opened to the public as the Peter Strauss Ranch. Peter is the spokesperson for the National Search Dog Foundation and serves on the Ojai Music Festival, the Ojai Youth Foundation, and the Ojai Film Society committees. He also teaches public speaking at local high schools in California.

Rich Man, Poor Man

Career:

Peter Strauss made his Los Angeles stage debut in “The Dance Next Door” at the Mark Taper Forum in 1969. The same year, he appeared on the big screen with the supporting role of Frank Dixon, the black sheep brother of Michael Douglas, in “Hail, Hero” a dramatic film directed and scripted by David Miller that was based on John Weston's novel. His first lead role in a picture arrived with his second film, “Soldier Blue” (1970), a movie helmed by Ralph Nelson and based on Theodore V. Olsen's novel “Arrow in the Sun.” In the movie, he played Honus Gantz, opposite Candice Bergen as Cresta Maribel Lee and Donald Pleasence as Isaac Q. Cumber. It was followed by roles in Sergio Grieco's “Sergeant Klems” (1971) and “The Trial of the Catonsville Nine” (1972), a film adaptation of Daniel Berrigan's play of the same name.

Strauss made his television acting debut in an episode of ABC's “The Young Lawyers” called “The Two Dollar Thing” (1970), where he appeared as Stuart. He then appeared in “Young Dr. Kildare” (1972), “Mary Tyler Moore” (1973), “Hawaii Five-O” (1974), “Cannon” (2 episodes, 1974), “Barnaby Jones” (1974), “The Streets of San Francisco” (3 episodes, 1972-1975) and “Medical Center” (2 episodes, 1971-1975) and made his TV movie debut in the ABC drama “The Man Without a Country” (1973), in which he portrayed Arthur Danforth. After appearing as a lawyer in the ABC TV film “Judgement: The Court Martial of the Tiger of Malaya - General Yamashita” (1974), he costarred as Ben Jacobs in the two part CBS television film “Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan” (1975), which dramatized the events about the disappearance and murder of three Civil Rights workers in Mississippi in 1964.

Strauss' first real television success came in 1976 with the ABC miniseries “Rich Man, Poor Man,” an adaptation of the 1970 best selling novel of the same title by Irwin Shaw. The successful miniseries collected four Emmy Awards and four Golden Globe Awards, including Best TV-Series - Drama and Strauss was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series and a Golden Globe for Best TV Actor - Drama for his outstanding portrayal of Rudy Jordache in the series. He went on to recreate the role on the subsequent TV series installment “Rich Man, Poor Man Book II,” which ran on ABC from September 21, 1976, to March 8, 1977.

Also in 1976, Strauss returned to features with a big screen adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel “The Love of The Last Tycoon: A Western” titled “The Last Tycoon” (1976). The film was directed by Elia Kazan, scripted by Nobel Prize winning playwright Harold Pinter and starred Robert De Niro as Monroe Stahr. He then starred as Joseph Kennedy Jr. in the TV film “Young Joe, the Forgotten Kennedy” (ABC, 1977), but it was his portrayal of Larry 'Rain' Murphy in the made for TV movie “The Jericho Mile” (ABC, 1979), written and directed by Michael Mann, that earned the actor an Emmy in the category of Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or a Special.

Following a starring role in the TV film “Angel on My Shoulder” (1980), a remake of the 1946 comedy of the same name, Strauss made his debut as a producer with the TV film “A Whale for the Killing” (ABC, 1981), where he also starred in as Charles Landon. He then delivered an outstanding performance as Jewish commander Eleazar Ben Yair in the historical miniseries “Masada” (ABC, 1981), for which he nabbed a 1981 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or a Special and a 1982 Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV. Still in 1981, he made his Broadway debut in Tom Griffin's “Einstein and the Polar Bear.”

Next up for Strauss, he provided the voice of Justin in director Don Bluth's animated film “The Secret of NIMH” (1982), which also starred the voices of Derek Jacobi, Dom DeLuise, Shannen Doherty and Wil Wheaton, starred with Molly Ringwald, Ernie Hudson and Michael Ironside in the Lamont Johnson directed science fiction film “Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone” (1983) and starred as steelworker Emory on ABC's “Heart of Steel” (1983), which he co-executive produced. He was nominated for a Golden Globe in the category of Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV for the latter film. Strauss next portrayed Dick Diver in the miniseries adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's “Tender Is the Night” (Showtime, 1985), opposite Mary Steenburgen, John Heard and Sean Young, Abel Rosnovski in the CBS miniseries “Kane & Abel” (1985), where he received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV, FBI director John Garry on NBC's political thriller “Under Siege” (1986), Judge Kenneth Hoffman in CBS' “The Penalty Phase” (1986), Charley MacLeod Jr. in ABC's “Proud Men” (1987), Romulus in NBC's “Brotherhood of the Rose” (1989, opposite Robert Mitchum and David Morse) and starred in ABC's “Peter Gunn” (1989).

Strauss worked in many television films during the 1990s. He portrayed Wayne Stracton in CBS' “83 Hours 'Til Dawn” (1990), Colonel Matt Ryan in “Flight of Black Angel” (1991), Max Cole in “Fugitive Among Us” (1992), Warren Blackburn in “Trial: The Price of Passion” (1992) and Ed MacAffrey, a husband physically abused by his wife, in CBS' “Men Don't Tell” (1993), where he netted a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV for his performance. He also starred in CBS' “Thicker Than Blood: The Larry McLinden Story” (1994, opposite future wife Rachel Ticotin), the CBS remake of Marjorie Kinnan Rawling's “The Yearling” (1994, as Ezra 'Penny' Baxter), “Reunion” (1994, with Marlo Thomas), ABC's “Texas Justice” (1995, as a millionaire), Fox's “In the Lake of the Woods” (1996, with Kathleen Quinlan, Peter Boyle and Nancy Sorel), CBS' “My Father's Shadow: The Sam Sheppard Story” (1998), the based on book “Seasons of Love” (1999, also served as executive producer) and CBS' “Joan of Arc” (1999, as La Hire). Strauss returned to series TV as a regular on the CBS show “Maloney” (1996-1997), where he starred as Dr. Nicholas Moloney. His voice could also be heard in episodes of “Batman” (1994), “Biker Mice from Mars” (1996, as Stoker), “Adventures from the Book of Virtues” (1996), “The Incredible Hulk” (1996) and “The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest” (1996). Strauss also appeared in the films “Nick of Time” (1995), a drama helmed by John Badham that starred Johnny Depp, and an adaptation of Bryan Fair Berkey's “Keys to Tulsa” (1996), directed by Leslie Greif and starring Eric Stoltz and James Spader.

Entering the new millennium, Strauss starred as Charlie 'Mac' McClain in the CBS made for TV film “A Father's Choice” (2000), opposite Mary McDonnell and Michelle Trachtenberg, and Samuel Ratchett in the CBS television movie “Murder on the Orient Express” (2001), alongside Alfred Molina, Meredith Baxter and Leslie Caron. He also played Ben Stanton in an episode of “Strange Frequency” called “Don't Stop Believin” (2001) before starring as Dr. Isaac Braun in the short lived drama series “Body & Soul” (2002). In 2003, Strauss provided the voice of Moses in the “Kids' Ten Commandments” five part series that were released directly to videos, and worked with Frank Langella, Erica Durance and Brittany Daniel in the ABC TV film “111 Gramercy Park.”

After guest starring in “Law & Order” (2004), Strauss returned to the big screen with “xXx: State of the Union” (2005), which was directed by Lee Tamahori and starred Ice Cube and Willem Dafoe. 2005 also saw him making a guest appearance in “Killer Instinct.” He next appeared in the TV series pilot “The Way” (2006), reprised his voice role of Stoker in the 2006 version of “Biker Mice From Mars” (5 episodes, 2006), guest starred in “Dirty Sexy Money” (2007) and portrayed Mr. Jones in the Ken Kwapis comedy “License to Wed” (2007), starring Robin Williams and Mandy Moore.

From 2008 to 2010, Strauss narrated 8 episodes of Showtime's “State of the Union,” a sketch comedy series created by and starring comedian Tracey Ullman. He then portrayed 'Wild' Bill Cohen on the TV film “Jack's Family Adventure” (Hallmark Channel, 2010) and Graham Barnes in an episode of “Royal Pains” called “Comfort's Overrated” (2010).

Awards:

• TP de Oro: Best Foreign Actor (Mejor Actor Extranjero), “Rich Man, Poor Man,” 1980 (Also for “Rich Man, Poor Man - Book II,” 1976)

• Emmy: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or a Special, “The Jericho Mile,” 1979