Dylan McDermott's Main TV Roles Show Character(s) American Horror Story Ben Harmon Dark Blue Lt. Carter … The Practice Bobby Donnell Big Shots Duncan Coll… Hostages Agent Dunca… The Grid FBI Agent M…

Main Movie Roles 2010 - Burning Palms 2007 - The Messengers 2007 - Have Dreams, Will Travel 2005 - Edison 2005 - The Tenants 2003 - Runaway Jury 2003 - Party Monster 2003 - Wonderland 2001 - Texas Rangers 1999 - Three to Tango 1995 - Home for the Holidays 1994 - The Cowboy Way 1994 - Miracle on 34th Street 1993 - In the Line of Fire 1990 - Hardware 1989 - Steel Magnolias 1987 - Hamburger Hill

BIOGRAPHY:

Dylan is the son of Diane and Richard "Mac" McDermott. Diane was only 15 and Mac was 17 when Dylan was born. Mac earned money by hustling pool. During Dylan's early years, his parents separated. In 1967, when Dylan was five, his mother was accidentally shot and killed by her live-in boyfriend, who was reportedly cleaning his gun when it went off. Dylan and his sister Robin, who was then six months old, were taken in by their grandmother, Avis Marino. When Dylan was 15, his father met and married playwright/activist Eve Ensler. Eve adopted Dylan. Eve encouraged him to go to acting school and Fordham University in New York City.

He met his now ex-wife, Shiva Rose, at a coffee shop in Venice, California, on the same day he got his first big acting break by being cast in the film In the Line of Fire (1993) with Clint Eastwood. As a result of his connection with Eastwood, Dylan attended a dinner honoring Clint. There he met Jeffrey Kramer (I), a man who used to frequent a bar where Dylan had earlier worked. Kramer was at that time the president of David E. Kelley Productions. He asked Dylan to meet David Kelly for an upcoming series about lawyers, "The Practice" (1997), and the rest was history. Another mentor of Dylan is Joanne Woodward (I), who discovered him while he was doing workshops at the Neighborhood Playhouse.


TRIVIA:

• Studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse in NYC under Sandford Meisner.
• Changed his name from Mark to Dylan in tribute to his ex-stepmother, 'Eve Ensler' (qv), who suffered a miscarriage and who would have given her own child that name. Dylan and Eve have an extremely close and caring relationship.
• Hosted VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Rock and Roll.
• Dylan's mother died when he was 5. Fourteen years later, his dad, Richard, owner of Manhattan's West 4th St Saloon, married 'Eve Ensler' (qv).
• Favorite Television Show- _"I Dream of Jeannie" (1965)_ (qv).
• He jokes about the fact that he is often confused with actor/musician 'Dermot Mulroney' (qv).
• Dated 'Julia Roberts (I)' (qv) during and after filming _Steel Magnolias (1989)_ (qv)
• His ex-wife, 'Shiva Rose' (qv), is Iranian/French.