Christian Clemenson
Born	March 17, 1959 (1959-03-17) (age 50) Humboldt, Iowa, USA
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1985–present

Christian Clemenson (born March 17, 1959)^[1] is an American film and television actor.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life 1.2 Career 2 References 3 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Clemenson spent his childhood in Humboldt, Iowa, as the son of drug store owners Ernest and Ruth Clemenson. In his early teens he delivered the Des Moines Register, which had a long tradition of awarding scholarships to top east-coast preparatory schools to a select few "paper boys".^[2] Clemenson, a straight-A junior high school student, won a Register scholarship to Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts.^[3] In 1973, while Chris was enrolled at Phillips Academy, his father died at age 58.^[4]

Upon graduation from Phillips, he entered Harvard College. From his freshman year onward he received important roles in campus stage productions, often receiving more praise from critics than the productions received. When Clemenson starred in a Harvard Lampoon sketch comedy show, a Harvard Crimson theatre critic panned the show but described Clemenson as "hugely talented actor who can trigger hysteria with any of a dozen subtle expressions or inflections."^[5] Other Crimson critics described his performances in Shakespeare plays as "a tour de force of sheer talent and intelligence" (in The Winter's Tale)^[6] and "a very fine and subtle performance" (in Measure for Measure).^[7]

During many summers he would return to Humboldt to star in, and later direct, local community theatre plays at Humboldt's Castle Theatre.^[1]

After graduating from Harvard College and the Yale School of Drama, he moved to Los Angeles.^[1]

[edit] Career

Many of Clemenson's early roles in television and film matched his personality as a bright, soft-spoken professional. He was a law student in the television version of The Paper Chase, Alex Keaton's English teacher in the television show Family Ties, the bailiff in the Ivan Reitman movie Legal Eagles, the flight surgeon in the movie Apollo 13, a cop in The Big Lebowski and Dr. Dale Lawrence in the movie And the Band Played On. While he has been a familiar face for over a decade, until recently his name was not so well-known.

Recently, Clemenson has become known for his role as Jerry "Hands" Espenson on the television series Boston Legal. For playing Espenson, he won an Emmy Award for Best Guest Actor in a Drama Series in 2006 and was nominated for the same award in 2007.^[8] He remained with the series through to its finale in 2008.

In film, he starred as real-life 9/11 victim Tom Burnett in United 93. On television, he was a regular on The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. and had a recurring role on Veronica Mars. He also has appeared in a season 6 episode of NCIS, "Dead Reckoning".

Clemenson will join CSI: Miami for at least two episodes as a medical examiner, according to The Hollywood Reporter.^[9]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Christian Clemenson at the Internet Movie Database

v • d • e Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor - Drama Series Michael Emerson (2001) · Charles S. Dutton (2002) · Charles S. Dutton (2003) · William Shatner (2004) · Ray Liotta (2005) · Christian Clemenson (2006) · John Goodman (2007) · Glynn Turman (2008) · Michael J. Fox (2009) Complete list: (1975–2000) · (2001–present)