Terry Kinney filmography and biography
Date of birth: 29 January 1954, Lincoln, Illinois, USA
Terry Kinney biography
Terry Kinney, the stage, film and television actor, was born on January
29, 1954 in Lincoln, Illinois and attended Illinois State University.
While at university, his friend, the aspiring actor
Jeff Perry (I), took Kinney to Chicago to see a production of
"Grease" in which his best friend, Gary Sinise, was appearing.
The like-minded trio of Sinise, Perry and Kinney opened their own
Chicago theatrical troupe, the Steppenwolf Theater, in 1973 in the
basement of a church in Highland Park. The company's metamorphosis into
one of the country's great regional theatrical companies began in 1976,
after Kinney and Perry joined it full-time after graduating from
college. The theater has, since 1976, put on a full season of ensemble
works.
The founders of Steppenwolf supported the theater and themselves with
odd jobs until he company began financially self-supporting in the
early 1980s. Re-located in the old St. Nicholas Theater, Steppenwolf's
productions began to attract a steady audience. Steppenwolf flourished
artistically and financially in the '80s, and moved once again to its
permanent home at 1650 N. Halsted Street in Chicago.
At the height of the company's fame, Kinney and Sinise were
Steppenwolf's artistic co-directors, winning numerous awards, and even
transferring some productions, such as their monumental adaptation of
John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath", to Broadway. In addition
to Kinney and Sinise, the company included such first rate actors as
John Malkovich, Joan Allen (I) and
John Mahoney (I). As an actor, Kinney was nominated for a Tony
Award for his appearance as the "Reverend Casey" in "Grapes".
Kinney made his movie debut in 1986, with a bit part in
Seven Minutes in Heaven (1986) (V), and has been much in demand
as a supporting actor ever since. On television, he had a small but
recurring role on thirtysomething and appeared as a
regular on the HBO prison drama Oz.
Terry Kinney trivia
- Co-founder of the Steppenwolf Theater Company.
- Second child with Kathryn Erbe, son Carson Lincoln Kinney, born
October 15, 2003.
- Daughter, Maeve Elsbeth Erbe Kinney, born Oct. 26, 1995.
- Was nominated for Broadway's 1990 Tony Award as Best Actor (Featured
Role - Play) for playing Reverend Jim Casey in "The Grapes of Wrath," a
part he recreated in the television version of the same title,
The Grapes of Wrath (1991) (TV).
- He was nominated for a 1979 Joseph Jefferson Award for Actor in a
Supporting Role in a Play for "The Glass Menagerie" at the Steppenwolf
Theatre in Chicago, Illinois.
- He was nominated for a 1980 Joseph Jefferson Award for Actor in a
Supporting Role for his performance in "Death of a Salesman" at the
Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, Illinois.
- He was awarded the 1983 Joseph Jefferson Award for Director of a Play
for "And a Nightingale Sang" at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in
Chicago, Illinois.
- He was nominated for a 1984 Joseph Jefferson Award for Actor in a
Supporting Role in the Play, "Tracers," at the Steppenwolf Theater
Company in Chicago, Illinois.
- He was nominated for a 1984 Joseph Jefferson Award for Actor in a
Supporting Role in a Play for "Tracers" at the Steppenwolf Theatre
Company in Chicago, Illinois.
- He was nominated for a 1985 Joseph Jefferson Award for Actor in a
Principal Role in a Play for "Orphans" at the Steppenwolf Theatre
Company in Chicago, Illinois.
- He was nominated for a 1989 Joseph Jefferson Award for Actor in a
Supporting Role in a Play for "The Grapes of Wrath" at the Steppenwolf
Theatre Company in Chicago, Illinois.
- He was nominated for a 1991 Joseph Jefferson Award for Actor in a
Supporting Role in a Play for "Another Time" at the Steppenwolf Theatre
Company in Chicago, Illinois.