Robert Patrick

Robert Patrick — Biography

The eldest of five children, Robert Patrick (Robert Hammond Patrick at birth) arrived on November 5, 1958, in Marietta, Georgia, and was raised in Boston, Dayton, Detroit and Bay Village, Ohio. He was a track and football athlete at Bowling Green State University before dropping out to pursue acting, worked for a time as a house painter, and nearly drowned in 1984 while helping others to safety during a boating accident on Lake Erie; that same year he moved to Los Angeles.

He broke into the industry through low-budget Roger Corman productions shot in the Philippines, then landed a small role in Die Hard 2 before his breakthrough as the shape-shifting T-1000 in Terminator 2: Judgment Day, marrying his girlfriend Barbara during that film's production. He went on to appear in Fire in the Sky, Cop Land, The Faculty, and Walk the Line as Johnny Cash's father Ray Cash, and played Vernon Presley in the miniseries Elvis. On television he took lead roles including agent John Doggett in The X-Files, Colonel Tom Ryan in The Unit, Cabe Gallo in Scorpion, and White Dragon in Peacemaker, with guest turns on The Sopranos, True Blood, 1923 and Tulsa King. A Saturn Award winner with four further nominations, he has earned a reputation among colleagues for his work ethic and consistent performances.