Joe Chrest

Joseph Chrest (born May 26, 1963) is an American academic and actor. He has had roles in numerous films and television shows including 21 Jump Street, 22 Jump Street, Oldboy, Lee Daniels' The Butler, The Perfect Date, and as Ted Wheeler in Stranger Things.^[1][2]

Joe Chrest
Chrest at Stranger Things 4 New York premiere in 2022
Born	Joseph Chrest (1963-05-26) May 26, 1963 (age 62) Saint Albans, West Virginia, U.S
Occupations	Academic actor
Years active	1993–present

Early life and education

Chrest was born and raised in St. Albans, West Virginia, where he attended St. Albans High School.^[3][4] He earned his undergraduate degree from Marshall University.^[5][4] In the late 1980s, he earned an MFA in acting from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.^[4][6]

Career

Chrest is an adjunct professor at the School of Theatre in Louisiana State University's College of Music & Dramatic Arts.^[7] He teaches a film acting class.^[2] Since 1992, he is a founding member of LSU's Swine Palace.^[1][8]

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	King of the Hill	Ben
	The Pelican Brief	Song and Dance Man from Bar
1995	The Underneath	Mr. Rodman
1997	Clockwatchers	Detective
	Yukie	Michael
1998	Dangerous Proposition	Mark
	Out of Sight	Andy
2000	Erin Brockovich	Tom Robinson
	Lush	Greg
	Auggie Rose	Rhineback	Uncredited
2002	Full Frontal	Sex Shop Man #1
	The Ring	Doctor
2003	Runaway Jury	Owens
2004	The Aviator	Hell's Angels Director of Photography
2005	The Skeleton Key[9]	Paramedic
2007	Ocean's Thirteen	Fender Roads' Manager
2008	The Secret Life of Bees	Mr. Forrest
	Miracle at St. Anna	MP Doyle Ellis
	Who Do You Love?	Malcolm Chisholm
2009	I Love You Phillip Morris	Steven's Dad
	Kink	Ed	Short film
	The Informant!	Visiting Client
	The Blind Side	Clemson Coach
2010	Welcome to the Rileys	Jerry
	Louis	Tom Anderson
	Red	Retirement Home Detective
	Secretariat	Sports Broadcaster
	Knucklehead	Child Services Inspector
2011	Drive Angry	F***ing Passenger
	Battle Los Angeles	1st Sgt. John Roy
	Mask Maker	Electrician
	That's What I Am	Mr. Clear
	Love, Wedding, Marriage	John
	Seeking Justice	Detective Rudeski
	Butter	Butter Fan
	Texas Killing Fields	Salter
	Jeff, Who Lives at Home	Paul
2012	21 Jump Street	David Schmidt
	Battleship	JPL Controller
	The Lucky One	Deputy Moore
	Killing Them Softly	Business Suit Agent
	On the Road	Virginia Cop
	The Campaign	Rainbowland Audience
	The Baytown Outlaws	ATF Agent
	Playing for Keeps	Referee
2013	The Last Exorcism Part II	Pastor
	G.I. Joe: Retaliation	Chief of Staff
	The Hot Flashes	Millie's Dad
	Now You See Me	Elkhorn Janitor Agent
	The Butler	White Usher
	Oldboy	Johnny / Schizophrenic Man
	Homefront	DEA Agent #1
	King of Herrings	The Professor
2014	Barefoot	Trooper
	22 Jump Street	David Schmidt
	Black or White	Dave
	American Heist	Captain Sullivan
2015	Focus	Jeweler	Uncredited
	Ant-Man	Frank
	I Saw the Light	Oscar Davis
	The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2	Mitchell
2016	Showing Roots	Fuzzy Canaday
	Cold Moon	Charles Darrish
	Free State of Jones	James Eakins
	LBJ	McGeorge Bundy	Uncredited
	Deepwater Horizon	Sims
	Like Son	Jeff Rugger
2017	Gifted	Kevin Larsen
2018	Assassination Nation	Lawrence
	The Front Runner	Ira Wyman
2019	The Dirt	David Lee
	The Perfect Date	Harvey Lieberman
	Average Guys	Tommy
	Turducken	Bob Miller	Short film
2020	The Lovebirds	Red Robe Man
2021	The Cran	Isaac
2022	Where the Crawdads Sing	Dr. Cone
2023	Ganymede	Big Lee
	Killers of the Flower Moon	Lawyer Freeling
	Quiz Lady	Mr. Walters
2024	Lisa Frankenstein	Dale
	Fly Me to the Moon	Senator Vanning

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	Law & Order	Lt. Charles Bates	Episode: "Conduct Unbecoming"
	House of Secrets	Batist	Television film
1994	Family Matters	Officer Carmichael	Episode: "Good Cop, Bad Cop"
	Columbo	Mercer	Episode: "Undercover"
	Cries from the Heart	Brandon Richards	Television film
1995	Sweet Justice	Dylan	Episode: "Bloodlines"
	Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long	Carl Weiss	Television film
	Fallen Angels	Dino	Episode: "The Professional Man"
1996	The Lottery	Deputy Jeff Simmons	Television film
	Nash Bridges	Kevin McMillan	Episode: "The Brothers McMillan"
	Millennium	Raymond Dees	Episode: "5-2-2-6-6-6"
	Desert Breeze	Jack	Television film
1997	Promised Land	Gary McNeely	Episode: "Downsized"
1998	Chicago Hope	Judas	Episode: "Tantric Turkey"
1999	Snoops	Joel Hilburn	Episode: "Singer in the Band"
	Hefner: Unauthorized	Ed Gunn	Television film
2000	Touched by an Angel	Joe	Episode: "Finger of God"
2001	Level 9	Derek Santos	Episode: "Wetware"
2004	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Al Maguire	Episode: "Getting Off"
	Deadwood	Persimmon Phil	Episode: "Deep Water"
	Star Trek: Enterprise	Bar Patron	Episode: "Home"
	3: The Dale Earnhardt Story	Jake Elder	Television film
	Nikki and Nora	Charlie
2005	Medium	Henry Yellen	Episode: "Coded"
	Faith of My Fathers	Craner	Television film
	Surface	Rich's Friend	Episode: "Episode 5"
2006	Thief	Art Luster	Episode: "Everything That Rises Must Converge"
2007	K-Ville	Det. Ray McPherson	Episode: "Ride Along"
2008	Front of the Class	Jim Ovbey	Television film
2010	House of Bones	Benjamin
	One Tree Hill	Investor	Episode: "We All Fall Down"
2011	Hound Dogs	Trainer	Television film
2012	Breakout Kings	Detective Estes	2 episodes
	Treme	James Townsend
2013	Occult	Agent Colquitt	Television film
2014	Nashville	Ed Marshall	Episode: "I'll Keep Climbing"
	True Detective	Detective Demma	5 episodes
2016–present	Stranger Things	Ted Wheeler	20 episodes
2016	Killing Reagan	Jerry Parr	Television film
2017	Sun Records	Vernon Presley	7 episodes
2018	Mr. Mercedes	Detective	2 episodes
	The Purge	Ross Bailes	3 episodes
2019	Looking for Alaska	Walter Halter[8]	4 episodes
2020	When the Streetlights Go On	Mr. Chambers	Pre-production

Theatre

Month/Year	Venue	Title	Role	Notes
October 1986	LSU Theatre	The Rimers of Eldritch	Lanford Wilson[10]
May 1987	LSU Theatre	The Rose Tattoo		"In a large and energetic cast, Joe Chrest and Amanda P. White bring credibility to their small (unaccented) roles."[11]
April 1988	LSU Theatre	Fool for Love	Martin[12]	The cast also performed at the Kennedy Center as part of the American College Theater Festival.[13][14]
December 1988	LSU Theatre	The Wild Duck	Gregers Werle[15]
August 2001	Theatre West Virginia (Charleston, WV)	The Sound of Music	Captain von Trapp	He was also director of the play.[16]