Dan Lauria
Encyclopedia
Daniel Joseph "Dan" Lauria (born April 12, 1947) is an American
television and film actor
.
Luongo) and Joseph J. Lauria. He also lived in Lindenhurst, New York
. He graduated from Lindenhurst High School in 1965 as a varsity football player, and he briefly taught physical education at Lindenhurst High School. A Vietnam War
veteran, Lauria served as an officer in the US Marine Corps in the early 1970s, at the same point in his life that Jack Arnold, his character in The Wonder Years
did during the Korean War
. He got his start in acting while attending Southern Connecticut State University
in New Haven, CT, on a football scholarship.
, that ran from 1988 to 1993. He also played James Webb
in the 1998 TV miniseries
From the Earth to the Moon and Commanding Officer, USA in 1996's Independence Day
. More recently he has appeared in a War Veterans public service announcement and as Police Commissioner Eustace Dolan in The Spirit
. He appeared as Coach Hamstrung in The Three Stooges N.Y.U.K. on AMC in 2000. Lauria appeared on stage in New York in the summer of 2006 in an Off Broadway production of "A Stone Carver" by William Mastrosimone
with Jim Iorio and Elizabeth Rossa. Lauria also had a small role in a Season two episode of Army Wives
, as well as a season one episode of The Mentalist
. In 2009, Dan has appeared as General Lee Whitworth, M.D. on T.V. series Criminal Minds
Season 4. He's also appeared in an episode of Boy Meets World
, starring Ben Savage
, the younger brother of The Wonder Years
s Fred Savage
. In late 2009, Lauria returned to the Off Broadway stage, appearing as Jimmy Hoffa
in Brian Lee Franklin's Good Bobby, a fictionalized account of Robert Kennedy's rise.
In 2010, Lauria appears as Vince Lombardi
in the Broadway play Lombardi
, The play has received positive reviews, as has Lauria's performance, with sports writer Jim Hague
commenting, "Lauria truly becomes Vince Lombardi. You almost forget you're watching an actor. He's Lombardi through and through, down to the wire-framed glasses and intimidating scowl." North Bergen football coach Vince Ascolese, who met Lombardi, raved, "I really felt like he was Lombardi. It was uncanny."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television and film actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
.
Early life
Lauria, an Italian-American, was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Carmela (néeMarried and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Luongo) and Joseph J. Lauria. He also lived in Lindenhurst, New York
Lindenhurst, New York
Lindenhurst is a village in Suffolk County, New York, on the southern shore of Long Island in the Town of Babylon. The population was 27,819 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Lindenhurst is located at ....
. He graduated from Lindenhurst High School in 1965 as a varsity football player, and he briefly taught physical education at Lindenhurst High School. A Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
veteran, Lauria served as an officer in the US Marine Corps in the early 1970s, at the same point in his life that Jack Arnold, his character in The Wonder Years
The Wonder Years
The Wonder Years is an American television comedy-drama created by Carol Black and Neal Marlens. It ran for six seasons on ABC from 1988 through 1993. The pilot aired on January 31, 1988 after ABC's coverage of Super Bowl XXII....
did during the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
. He got his start in acting while attending Southern Connecticut State University
Southern Connecticut State University
Southern Connecticut State University is one of four state universities in Connecticut, and is located in the West Rock neighborhood of New Haven, Connecticut...
in New Haven, CT, on a football scholarship.
Career
Lauria is best known for his portrayal of Jack Arnold, the intimidating and money conscious father on the TV series The Wonder YearsThe Wonder Years
The Wonder Years is an American television comedy-drama created by Carol Black and Neal Marlens. It ran for six seasons on ABC from 1988 through 1993. The pilot aired on January 31, 1988 after ABC's coverage of Super Bowl XXII....
, that ran from 1988 to 1993. He also played James Webb
James E. Webb
James Edwin Webb was an American government official who served as the second administrator of NASA from February 14, 1961 to October 7, 1968....
in the 1998 TV miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
From the Earth to the Moon and Commanding Officer, USA in 1996's Independence Day
Independence Day (film)
Independence Day is a 1996 science fiction film about an alien invasion of Earth, focusing on a disparate group of individuals and families as they converge in the Nevada desert and, along with the rest of the human population, participate in a last-chance counterattack on July 4 – the same...
. More recently he has appeared in a War Veterans public service announcement and as Police Commissioner Eustace Dolan in The Spirit
The Spirit (film)
The Spirit is a 2008 American superhero noir film, written and directed by Frank Miller and starring Gabriel Macht, Eva Mendes, Sarah Paulson, Dan Lauria, Paz Vega, Jaime King, Scarlett Johansson, and Samuel L. Jackson. The film is based on the newspaper comic strip The Spirit by Will Eisner...
. He appeared as Coach Hamstrung in The Three Stooges N.Y.U.K. on AMC in 2000. Lauria appeared on stage in New York in the summer of 2006 in an Off Broadway production of "A Stone Carver" by William Mastrosimone
William Mastrosimone
William Mastrosimone is an American playwright and screenwriter from Trenton, New Jersey. He attended high school at The Pennington School and received a graduate degree in playwrighting from Mason Gross School of the Arts, a part of Rutgers University....
with Jim Iorio and Elizabeth Rossa. Lauria also had a small role in a Season two episode of Army Wives
Army Wives
Army Wives is an American drama series that follows the lives of four army wives, their families, and an army husband whose wife is in the army. The series, shot at ABC Studios, premiered on Lifetime on June 3, 2007...
, as well as a season one episode of The Mentalist
The Mentalist
The Mentalist is an American police procedural television series which debuted on September 23, 2008, on CBS. The show was created by Bruno Heller, who is also the show's executive producer...
. In 2009, Dan has appeared as General Lee Whitworth, M.D. on T.V. series Criminal Minds
Criminal Minds
Criminal Minds is an American police procedural drama that premiered September 22, 2005, on CBS. The series follows a team of profilers from the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit based in Quantico, Virginia. The BAU is part of the FBI National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime...
Season 4. He's also appeared in an episode of Boy Meets World
Boy Meets World
Boy Meets World is an American comedy-drama series that chronicles the events and everyday life lessons of Cory Matthews, played by Ben Savage, a kid from suburban Philadelphia who grows up from a young boy to a married man. The show aired for seven seasons from 1993 to 2000 on ABC, part of the...
, starring Ben Savage
Ben Savage
Bennett Joseph "Ben" Savage is an American film and TV actor and child star of late 1980s and 1990s. Savage is best known for his role as lead character Cory Matthews on the TV sitcom Boy Meets World from 1993 to 2000....
, the younger brother of The Wonder Years
The Wonder Years
The Wonder Years is an American television comedy-drama created by Carol Black and Neal Marlens. It ran for six seasons on ABC from 1988 through 1993. The pilot aired on January 31, 1988 after ABC's coverage of Super Bowl XXII....
s Fred Savage
Fred Savage
Fredrick Aaron "Fred" Savage is an American actor, director and producer of television and film.He is best known for his role as Kevin Arnold in the American television series The Wonder Years and as the grandson in The Princess Bride...
. In late 2009, Lauria returned to the Off Broadway stage, appearing as Jimmy Hoffa
Jimmy Hoffa
James Riddle "Jimmy" Hoffa was an American labor union leader....
in Brian Lee Franklin's Good Bobby, a fictionalized account of Robert Kennedy's rise.
In 2010, Lauria appears as Vince Lombardi
Vince Lombardi
Vincent Thomas "Vince" Lombardi was an American football coach. He is best known as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers during the 1960s, where he led the team to three straight league championships and five in seven years, including winning the first two Super Bowls following the 1966 and...
in the Broadway play Lombardi
Lombardi (play)
Lombardi is a play by Eric Simonson, based on the book When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi by Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Maraniss.-Synopsis:...
, The play has received positive reviews, as has Lauria's performance, with sports writer Jim Hague
Jim Hague
Jim Hague is a long-time sportswriter in northern New Jersey as well as a public address announcer for Rutgers University and local high schools.-Early career:...
commenting, "Lauria truly becomes Vince Lombardi. You almost forget you're watching an actor. He's Lombardi through and through, down to the wire-framed glasses and intimidating scowl." North Bergen football coach Vince Ascolese, who met Lombardi, raved, "I really felt like he was Lombardi. It was uncanny."
Filmography
- Stakeout (1987)
- The Big One: The Great Los Angeles EarthquakeThe Big One: The Great Los Angeles EarthquakeThe Great Los Angeles Earthquake is a 1990 television film about a massive earthquake that strikes Los Angeles, California. The movie stars Joanna Kerns in the movie's lead role, seismologist Clare Winslow, who tries to warn city leaders of the possibility that a powerful earthquake may strike...
(1990) - Another StakeoutAnother StakeoutAnother Stakeout is a 1993 comedy film, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Emilio Estevez and Rosie O'Donnell. It is a sequel to the 1987 film, Stakeout. Unlike its predecessor, the film was neither a critical nor a commercial success.-Plot:...
(1993) - In the Line of Duty: Ambush in Waco (1993)
- Amazing GraceAmazing Grace"Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn with words written by the English poet and clergyman John Newton , published in 1779. With a message that forgiveness and redemption are possible regardless of the sins people commit and that the soul can be delivered from despair through the mercy of God,...
(1995) - Excessive Force II: Force on Force (1995)
- FaithfulFaithful (film)Faithful is a comedy film released in 1996 about a wife, her husband and a hit man. It was directed by Paul Mazursky and produced by Robert De Niro and written by Chazz Palminteri....
(1996) - Independence DayIndependence Day (film)Independence Day is a 1996 science fiction film about an alien invasion of Earth, focusing on a disparate group of individuals and families as they converge in the Nevada desert and, along with the rest of the human population, participate in a last-chance counterattack on July 4 – the same...
(1996) - No One Could Protect Her (1996)
- From the Earth to the Moon (1998)
- Wide Awake (1998)
- Stranger In My House (1999)(Guest star in Portrait Of Maddie )
- Big Momma's House 2Big Momma's House 2Big Momma's House 2 is a 2006 American crime comedy film directed by John Whitesell and written by Don Rhymer. The film is a sequel to Big Momma's House and stars Martin Lawrence reprising his role as FBI agent Malcolm Turner. The film was released theatrically on 27 January 2006, and was...
(2006) - The Bronx is Burning (2007)
- PsychPsychPsych is an American detective comedy-drama television series created by Steve Franks and broadcast on USA Network. It stars James Roday as Shawn Spencer, a young crime consultant for the Santa Barbara Police Department whose "heightened observational skills" and impressive detective instincts...
(2007) - The SpiritThe Spirit (film)The Spirit is a 2008 American superhero noir film, written and directed by Frank Miller and starring Gabriel Macht, Eva Mendes, Sarah Paulson, Dan Lauria, Paz Vega, Jaime King, Scarlett Johansson, and Samuel L. Jackson. The film is based on the newspaper comic strip The Spirit by Will Eisner...
(2008) - How I Met Your Mother (TV series) (2008)
- Alien TrespassAlien TrespassAlien Trespass is a 2009 science-fiction comedy film based on 1950s sci-fi B movies. It stars Eric McCormack and Robert Patrick . The film was shot in Ashcroft, B.C.-Plot:...
(2009) - Criminal MindsCriminal MindsCriminal Minds is an American police procedural drama that premiered September 22, 2005, on CBS. The series follows a team of profilers from the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit based in Quantico, Virginia. The BAU is part of the FBI National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime...
(TV series) (2009) - Donna On DemandDonna on DemandDonna On Demand is a 2009 dark comedy film written, directed and produced by Corbin Bernsen. The film was launched on DVD on September 15, 2009...
(2009) - Life Of LemonLife of LemonLife of Lemon is a 2011 drama film. It stars Barry Kneller, Rachel Miner, Dan Lauria and Beth Grant. It is directed by Randy Kent and written by Barry Kneller.-Cast:*Barry Kneller as Lemon*Rachel Miner as Esther*Beth Grant as Phyllis...
(2010) - Law and Order: Criminal Intent (2010)
Television
- Jack Arnold, The Wonder YearsThe Wonder YearsThe Wonder Years is an American television comedy-drama created by Carol Black and Neal Marlens. It ran for six seasons on ABC from 1988 through 1993. The pilot aired on January 31, 1988 after ABC's coverage of Super Bowl XXII....
(1988–1993) - Todd Martin, "Terror In The Family" (1996)
- Judge Lamb, "Wheels" Boy Meets WorldBoy Meets WorldBoy Meets World is an American comedy-drama series that chronicles the events and everyday life lessons of Cory Matthews, played by Ben Savage, a kid from suburban Philadelphia who grows up from a young boy to a married man. The show aired for seven seasons from 1993 to 2000 on ABC, part of the...
(1997) - Salvatore Matacio, "A Father's Image" Walker, Texas RangerWalker, Texas RangerWalker, Texas Ranger is an American television action crime drama series created by Leslie Greif and Paul Haggis, and starring Chuck Norris as a member of the Texas Ranger Division. The show aired on CBS in the spring of 1993, with the first season consisting of three pilot episodes. Eight full...
(1997) - Coach Walt Arnold, "Hothead", SmallvilleSmallvilleSmallville is the hometown of Superman in comic books published by DC Comics. While growing up in Smallville, the young Clark Kent attended Smallville High with best friends Lana Lang, Chloe Sullivan and Pete Ross...
(2001) - Allen Blaisdell, "Secret Agent Man" JAGJAG (TV series)JAG is an American adventure/legal drama television show that was produced by Belisarius Productions, in association with Paramount Network Television and, for the first season only, NBC Productions...
(2003) - Allen Blaisdell, "The One That Got Away" JAG (2003)
- Allen Blaisdell, "Touchdown" JAG (2003)
- Allen Blaisdell, "Back in the Saddle" JAG (2003)
- Boxing Gym Owner, "Traffic" Law and Order: Criminal Intent (2010)
- Ray Stephens, "Personal Fouls" Law and Order: Special Victims Unit (2011)
- Judge Raymond Gillot, "Head Games" Harry's LawHarry's LawHarry's Law is an American legal comedy-drama television series created by David E. Kelley. which premiered on January 17, 2011.On May 12, 2011, NBC renewed the show for a second season, which premiered Wednesday September 21, 2011...
(2011)