Brian Kerwin

Brian Kerwin is an American actor born on October 25, 1949, in Chicago, Illinois, who was raised in Flossmoor, Illinois. He has three siblings: Anne, Dennis, and Terrence. Kerwin married Jeanne Marie Troy on September 2, 1990, and the couple had three children together — Finn, Matilda, and Brennan. Troy died on February 11, 2016, at the family's home in Venice, California, at age 55, following a three-year battle with brain cancer. After graduating from USC Film School in 1972, Kerwin relocated to New York to pursue a career in theater.

His stage work spans Broadway, off-Broadway, and regional productions. On Broadway, his credits include the 1997 revival of The Little Foxes, the Elaine May comedy After the Night and the Music in 2005, the play Torch Song, and the original Broadway production of August: Osage County in 2007. He received a Theatre World Award in 1988 for his performance in the off-Broadway play Emily. Beyond Broadway, Kerwin appeared in Edward Albee's The Goat or Who Is Sylvia? at the Mark Taper Forum in 2005. In 1989, he played Nick in a revival of Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at the Doolittle Theatre in Los Angeles, a production directed by the playwright himself and starring Glenda Jackson and John Lithgow, with Cynthia Nixon as Honey. He also appeared opposite Kathy Baker in the South Coast Repertory production of The Man from Nebraska in 2006.

Kerwin's film work includes Murphy's Romance, Hard Promises, Torch Song Trilogy, Love Field, Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain, Jack, King Kong Lives, The Myth of Fingerprints, Debating Robert Lee, and 27 Dresses, in which he played the father of Katherine Heigl's character. His television career began in 1976 with the daytime serial The Young and the Restless and has since encompassed a wide range of roles. He held a regular role on the Showtime series Beggars and Choosers and recurring roles on The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo, The Chisholms, Roseanne — where he played Gary Hall — The West Wing, Nip/Tuck, and Big Love. From 2007 to 2012, he appeared on the soap opera One Life to Live. His guest appearances include The Love Boat, Simon & Simon, Highway to Heaven, Murder She Wrote, St. Elsewhere, Frasier, Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Blue Bloods, Boston Legal, Medium, Without a Trace, and Desperate Housewives.