Tom Pelphrey

Thomas J. Pelphrey^[1] (born July 28, 1982)^[2] is an American actor. He is known for playing the roles of Jonathan Randall on the CBS television series Guiding Light (for which he won two Daytime Emmy Awards), Mick Dante on the CBS television series As the World Turns, Kurt Bunker on the Cinemax television series Banshee, Ward Meachum on the Netflix series Iron Fist, Ben Davis on the Netflix series Ozark, Perry Abbott on the Prime Video series Outer Range, Don Crowder on the Max limited series Love & Death, Joe Mankiewicz in David Fincher's film Mank, and Jason Derek Brown in the true crime film American Murderer. For his performance on Ozark, Pelphrey received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.

Tom Pelphrey
Born	Thomas J. Pelphrey (1982-07-28) July 28, 1982 (age 42) Howell, New Jersey, U.S.
Education	Rutgers University, New Brunswick (BFA)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2004–present
Partner	Kaley Cuoco (2022–present)
Children	1

Early life and education

Pelphrey was born in Howell, New Jersey to Jewish parents.^[1] He graduated from Howell High School in 2000, and from Rutgers University (Mason Gross School of the Arts) in 2004 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.^[3]

Career

Guiding Light

Pelphrey's first notable role was Jonathan Randall, the son of Reva Shayne and her late former husband, Richard Winslow, on the CBS soap opera Guiding Light. He joined the cast in September 2004 and received critical acclaim for his portrayal of anti-hero Jonathan.

He was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Younger Actor" in 2005 and won the award the following year in April 2006. He received a third consecutive nomination in the same category in 2007 but lost to Bryton McClure. Pelphrey won his second Daytime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Younger Actor" in 2008.

As the World Turns

Pelphrey signed a contract to play "Mick" on As the World Turns beginning in October 2009.^[4] His run ended in February 2010 when his character was sent to prison for his misdeeds. Pelphrey earned an Emmy pre-nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Mick Dante.

Other television roles

On March 30, 2007, he appeared in an episode of Numb3rs, "Pandora's Box".^[5] On October 17, 2008, he appeared in an episode of "Ghost Whisperer", and the following season in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. In 2015 Pelphrey landed the recurring role of Kurt Bunker, a former neo-nazi trying to reintegrate into society, on Cinemax's action drama Banshee. To prepare for this role he started lifting weights and did research by reading books on the neo-Nazi movement in America.^[6] In 2017, he appeared in Iron Fist as Ward Meachum and portrayed Ben Davis on the third season of the Netflix crime drama Ozark which was released on March 27, 2020.^[7] His portrayal in the latter received critical acclaim and the lack of an Emmy nomination was perceived as a snub by fans and critics.^[8] Nonetheless, Pelphrey received nominations for Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film and Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (shared with the cast). In the final season of Ozark (2022), Pelphrey reprised the role of Ben Davis as a guest appearance, for which he received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.^[9]

In 2022, he starred on the Amazon Prime Video series Outer Range as Perry Abbott.

In 2023, he starred on the HBO miniseries Love & Death as Don Crowder.

Theater

From September 6, 2007, to September 30, 2007, Pelphrey performed in Kevin Mandel's A New Television Arrives Finally as the title character, at Theatre 54, in New York.^[10] Pelphrey starred in In God's Hat at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater, in New York City, through August 7, 2010.^[11] In 2012, he appeared in the Broadway cast of the musical drama End of the Rainbow as Mickey Deans; in 2015, he returned to Broadway in a revival of Fool for Love, playing Martin.^[12]

Personal life

In 2022, Tommy Pelphrey began dating actress Kaley Cuoco. The two made their first public appearance as a couple at a Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony in May 2022.^[13] Pelphrey and Cuoco announced on Instagram in October 2022 that they were expecting their first child together.^[14] Cuoco gave birth to their daughter on March 30, 2023. They announced their engagement on August 14, 2024.^[15]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2008	Birds of America	Hitchhiker
2010	The Elastic	Marty	Short film
2012	Junction	David	ReelHeart International Film Festival Award for Best Ensemble Cast
	Excuse Me for Living	Dan
2013	Turtle Island	Tim
	Tiger Lily Road	Ricky Harden
2014	A Cry from Within	Carl
2015	Anchors	Denny
	The Girl Is in Trouble	Eric
	Sam	Stephen
	#Lucky Number	Bret Reynolds
	Blink	Actor
2019	Crazy Alien	Captain Zach Andrews
2020	Mank	Joseph L. Mankiewicz
2022	American Murderer	Jason Derek Brown
	She Said	Jim Rutman

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	The Burg	Douche Bag Dave	Episode: "Out"
	Numb3rs	Mike Daley	Episode: "Pandora's Box"
2008	Ghost Whisperer	Brian	Episode: "Ghost in the Machine"
	CSI: Miami	Mick Ragosa	Episode: "Wrecking Crew"
2004–2009	Guiding Light	Jonathan Randall	154 episodes; Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series (2006, 2008) Nominated – Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series (2005, 2007) Nominated – Gold Derby Award for Younger Actor – Daytime Drama (2006–2007) Nominated – Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Male Newcomer (2005)
2009–2010	As the World Turns	Mick Dante	29 episodes
2009–2016	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Various	2 episodes
2010	The Good Wife	Josh Mundy	Episode: "Doubt"
2011	Body of Proof	Dean Avery	Episode: "Talking Heads"
2012	Blue Bloods	Mike Galatis	Episode: "The Uniform"
2013	The Following	Brock	Episode: "Guilt"
2014	Black Box	Joseph Morgan	Episode: "Forget Me"
2015–2016	Banshee	Kurt Bunker	15 episodes
2017	Chicago P.D.	Thomas Cade	Episode: "Favor, Affection, Malice or Ill-Will"
2017–2018	Iron Fist	Ward Meachum	Main role; 21 episodes
2019	Blindspot	Cameron Gibbs	Episode: “Frequently Recurring Struggle for Existence”
2020–2022	Ozark	Ben Davis	Main role (season 3) Guest role (season 4) Nominated – Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series Nominated – Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
2022–2024	Outer Range	Perry Abbott	Main role
2023	Love & Death	Don Crowder	Miniseries
2024	A Man in Full	Raymond Peepgrass	Miniseries
TBA	Untitled task force project	Robbie	Upcoming miniseries[16]

Video games

Year	Title	Voice role
2011	Homefront	Connor J. Morgan

References

1. "Tom Pelphrey". TV Guide. Retrieved July 22, 2023. Birth name: Thomas J. Pelphrey ... Birth place: Howell, New Jersey, United States
2. Dupre, Elyse (July 28, 2022). "Kaley Cuoco Says Boyfriend Tom Pelphrey "Saved Me in All the Ways"". E! News. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
3. "Meet Tom Pelphrey: Kristen Hamill chats with the Mason Gross graduate, who now can be seen on The Guiding Light". The Daily Targum. October 5, 2004. Archived from the original on June 10, 2011.
4. Potter, Courtney (September 1, 2009). "Tom Pelphrey to Join "As The World Turns"". SoapNet. Archived from the original on September 4, 2009. Retrieved September 19, 2009.
5. "CBS Daytime | Guiding Light". CBS. Archived from the original on March 24, 2007. Retrieved March 23, 2007.
6. "Interview with Tom Pelphrey on Banshee". myFanbase. March 26, 2015.
7. Petski, Denise (June 14, 2019). "'Ozark': Tom Pelphrey, Jessica Frances Dukes Among Four Cast; Two Promoted For Season 3 Of Netflix Series". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
8. Davies, Alex (July 31, 2020). "Ozark fans outraged as Tom Pelphrey snubbed by Emmys for Ben role: 'Robbed!'". Daily Express. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
9. Andreeva, Nellie; Hipes, Patrick (July 12, 2022). "Emmy Nominations: The Complete List". Deadline. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
10. Propst, Andy (September 10, 2007). "A New Television Arrives, Finally". Backstage.
11. Jaworowski, Ken (July 26, 2010). "Richard Taylor's Vision From the Gates of Jail". The New York Times.
12. "Tom Pelphrey at the Internet Broadway Database".
13. "Kaley Cuoco and Tom Pelphrey Make First Public Appearance as a Couple". People. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
14. Slater, Georgia (October 12, 2022). "Pregnant Kaley Cuoco Shares New Baby Bump Photos After Revealing She's Expecting with Tom Pelphrey". People. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
15. Andalora, Angela (April 1, 2023). "Kaley Cuoco and Tom Pelphrey Welcome First Baby Together, Daughter Matilda: 'Little Miracle'". People. Retrieved April 1, 2023.
16. Porter, Rick (December 11, 2023). "Tom Pelphrey Boards 'Mare of Easttown' Creator's Next HBO Drama". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 12, 2024.

External links

• Tom Pelphrey at IMDb 
• CBS website biography of Tom Pelphrey (archived 2004)