Peter Gallagher Biography
Born: August 19, 1955
A handsome, brooding actor equally at home in mainstream Hollywood fare and in American independent projects -- as well as on the theatrical stage -- Peter Gallagher was born August 19, 1955, in Armonk, NY. While attending Tufts University, he spent his summers appearing with area theater groups, and after graduating in 1977, he acted on Broadway in a revival of +Hair. Gallagher then starred as Danny Zuko in +Grease, a performance which led to his portrayal of a '50s-era pop singer in his film debut, 1980's The_Idolmaker. Summer_Lovers followed two years later, but proved such a miserable experience that Gallagher fled Hollywood to return to the stage. He won a Theatre World Award that same year for his work in the Broadway musical +A Doll's Life, and earned a Clarence Derwent Award in 1984 for his turn in Tom_Stoppard's +The Real Thing.
In 1985, Gallagher returned to film in the Dennis_Potter-scripted Dreamchild, followed in 1987 by My_Little_Girl. After garnering a Tony nomination for his work in a controversial revival of +Long Day's Journey into Night, he enjoyed his motion picture breakthrough as an adulterous attorney in Steven_Soderbergh's influential 1989 debut sex, lies, and videotape. The performance earned Gallagher considerable credibility within the independent filmmaking community, but his next several efforts were more mainstream productions like 1990's Tune in Tomorrow and the television drama Love and Lies. However, a subsequent turn in Peter_Sellars' 1991 avant-silent The Cabinet of Dr. Ramirez brought acclaim from art-house audiences, and with a lead role in Robert_Altman's 1992 comeback The_Player, Gallagher's stock rose even higher. That same year, the actor wowed theater audiences with his portrayal of Sky Masterson in the Broadway revival of +Guys and Dolls, a widely praised production that also starred Nathan_Lane.
Over the following years, Gallagher split his time between edgier material (Tim_Robbins' Bob_Roberts, Altman's Short_Cuts, and Soderbergh's The_Underneath) and lighter, glossier projects (Malice, While_You_Were_Sleeping, and To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday). In 1999, he gave smarm a good, or at least convincing, name, starring as a sleazy physician in The House on Haunted Hill, a remake of William_Castle's 1958 horror classic, and as a similarly repugnant real estate salesman in American_Beauty. The following year he took on a substantially lighter assignment with his role as a dance troupe leader in Nicholas_Hytner's Center_Stage. Jason Ankeny, Rovi
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