Tom Pelphrey

Tom Pelphrey is an American actor born on July 28, 1982, in Howell Township, New Jersey, to Laurie (née Demgard) and Richard Pelphrey (1950–2007). He has one brother, Robert. Pelphrey graduated from Howell High School in 2000 and went on to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of the Arts in 2004.

Pelphrey entered professional acting immediately after completing his degree, joining the cast of the CBS daytime drama Guiding Light in September 2004. He portrayed Jonathan Randall, the son of Reva Shayne and her late former husband Richard Winslow, a character described as an anti-hero. The role brought him significant recognition, including a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Younger Actor in 2005. He won the award in 2006, received a third consecutive nomination in 2007, and claimed a second win in the same category in 2008. Following his run on Guiding Light, Pelphrey joined the cast of As the World Turns as Mick Dante, appearing from October 2009 through February 2010. That performance earned him an Emmy pre-nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

His television work extended across multiple genres and networks. He made guest appearances on Numb3rs in March 2007, Ghost Whisperer in October 2008, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit the following season. In 2015, he took on the recurring role of Kurt Bunker, a former neo-Nazi working to reintegrate into society, on Cinemax's action drama Banshee. To prepare for the part, Pelphrey began a weightlifting regimen and researched the neo-Nazi movement through books. In 2017, he appeared in the Marvel series Iron Fist as Ward Meachum. His portrayal of Ben Davis in the third season of Netflix's Ozark, released in March 2020, generated considerable critical attention and earned him nominations for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, the Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or Television Film, and a Screen Actors Guild Award shared with the ensemble cast. He reprised the role of Ben Davis as a guest in Ozark's final season in 2022, receiving an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series. That same year, he starred as Perry Abbott in the Amazon Prime Video series Outer Range, and in 2023 he appeared as Don Crowder in the HBO miniseries Love & Death.

Pelphrey's film credits include the role of Joe Mankiewicz in David Fincher's Mank and Jason Derek Brown in the true crime film American Murderer. He also appeared in the film Task as Robbie Prendergrast.

His stage career includes off-Broadway work as well as two Broadway engagements. He performed in Kevin Mandel's A New Television Arrives Finally at Theatre 54 in New York from September 6 to September 30, 2007, and appeared in In God's Hat at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater through August 7, 2010. On Broadway, Pelphrey appeared in the musical drama End of the Rainbow in 2012, playing Mickey Deans. He returned to Broadway in 2015 in a revival of Fool for Love, in the role of Martin.

In his personal life, Pelphrey began dating actress Kaley Cuoco in 2022, and the two made their first public appearance as a couple at a Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony in May of that year. They announced in October 2022 that they were expecting a child, and Cuoco gave birth to their daughter on March 30, 2023. Pelphrey and Cuoco announced their engagement on August 14, 2024. He is a fan of the New York Giants.