Tom Amandes

Tom grew up in the small towns of Richmond and Crystal Lake, Illinois. He began performing at home, with his 10 brothers and sisters, creating puppet shows, short films, music and radio dramas, before moving on to school plays and community theater.He graduated from The Goodman School of Drama, as it became the Theatre School at DePaul University. His work on the Chicago stage began in the ensemble of the "Body Politic Theatre", where he starred in such memorable productions as "Translations", "The Playboy of the Western World" and "Falstaff & Hal". Other notable stage work includes "What the Butler Saw", "Candida" and "The Mystery Cycle" at the Court Theatre, and "Free Advice from Prague" and "The Courtship of Carl Sandburg" at Northlight.Tom was head writer and announcer of the NPR musical variety show, "The Flea Market". He directed plays for the Curious Theater, played music with both 'Balderdash' (qv) and 'Jamie O'Reilly' (qv) & 'The Rogues' (qv), and was artistic director of the Call to Action Theater.While working on-stage in Chicago, Tom was cast as "Eliot Ness" in the television series, _The Untouchables (1993)_ (qv) and spent two years shooting on his home turf. Moving to L.A., Tom starred in the NBC comedy, _The Pursuit of Happiness (1995)_ (qv), with 'Melinda McGraw' (qv) and 'Brad Garrett' (qv). He's played recurring roles on _Big Love (2006)_ (qv), _Boston Legal (2004)_ (qv), _Eli Stone (2008)_ (qv), _The Guardian (2001)_ (qv), _Spin City (1996)_ (qv), _From the Earth to the Moon (1998)_ (qv) and, most recently, _Parenthood (2010)_ (qv). Other favorite TV work include _Grey's Anatomy (2005)_ (qv), _Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000)_ (qv), _Just Shoot Me! (1997)_ (qv), _ER (1994)_ (qv) and _The Larry Sanders Show (1992)_ (qv).Traveling to the western Rockies, Tom spent four years portraying the beloved "Dr. Harold Abbott" on the family drama, _Everwood (2002)_ (qv), opposite 'Treat Williams' (qv). He went on to direct episodes of "Everwood" as well as ABC's _Brothers & Sisters (2006)_ (qv) and the new CW series, _Hart of Dixie (2011)_ (qv).Tom's film credits include _The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)_ (qv), opposite 'Geena Davis' (qv), _Brokedown Palace (1999)_ (qv) with 'Claire Danes' (qv) and 'Kate Beckinsale' (qv), _Billboard Dad (1998)_ (qv) with the Olsen twins, 'Mary-Kate Olsen' (qv) and Ashley Olsen', _Second Chances (1998)_ (qv), _Straight Talk (1992)_ (qv), HBO's _Live from Baghdad (2002)_ (qv) and the recent black-comedy, _Lucky (2011)_ (qv), with 'Colin Hanks' (qv) and 'Ari Graynor' (qv).His work on the Chicago stage continues at the Victory Gardens Theater, where he's starred, most recently, in "Cynical Weathers" and 'Edward Albee' (qv)'s "At Home At The Zoo", both directed by Dennis Zacek.Tom plays "Dr. Peter Pelikan" on the hit NBC series, _Parenthood (2010)_ (qv), opposite 'Ray Romano' (qv). He stars as "President Abraham Lincoln" in the 'Salvador Litvak' (qv) film, _Saving Lincoln (2013)_ (qv), alongside 'Penelope Ann Miller' (qv) and 'Lea Coco' (qv). He also appears as "Governor Samuel Reston" on the ABC political thriller, _Scandal (2012)_ (qv), opposite 'Kerry Washington' (qv) and 'Tony Goldwyn' (qv).Tom is married to actress 'Nancy Everhard' (qv), who played "Katherine Ness" on _The Untouchables (1993)_ (qv). His daughters, 'Meg O'Reilly Amandes' (qv) and 'Nia O'Reilly Amandes' (qv) make up two-thirds of the Chicago band, "Midnight Moxie". And his son, Ben Amandes, is himself a budding hyphenate.::Nippersink Inc.