Loren Dean Biography

Loren Dean (born July 31, 1969) is an American actor. He has appeared onstage and in feature films.

Early life

Loren Dean Jovicic was born in Las Vegas, Nevada. His mother worked as a family and marriage counselor and his father was in the clothing business. His parents divorced when he was a small child. His mother won custody of Loren, and the family moved to Los Angeles, California. When visiting his father, the two often went to the movies"?which Dean says led to his love of film. His childhood was a difficult one, and he ran away from home when he was 16 years old. He graduated from Santa Monica High School in Santa Monica, California in 1986.

Dean moved to New York City to pursue an acting career. After two years a friend introduced him to an agent, and he began appearing in stage plays in New York. He won a Theatre World Award in 1989 for his Off Broadway debut in the play Amulets Against the Dragon Forces at the Circle Repertory Company. He is a playwright and one of Academy Award-winning screenwriter John Patrick Shanley's favorite actors, having appeared in many of the author's plays, notably 4 Dogs and a Bone and Beggars in the House of Plenty.

During his time in New York, Dean became an animal lover. After his income rose, he also developed a love of shopping.

Film career

Dean's first film was 1988's Plain Clothes. He made his big break a year later, cast as a bad ex-boyfriend in Say Anything... starring John Cusack. His third film, the 1991 crime drama Billy Bathgate, cast him opposite Nicole Kidman, Dustin Hoffman and Bruce Willis. Although the film did not do well at the box office, Dean won positive reviews for his performance.

Dean was also lauded for his role as a cocaine-addicted, has-been movie star who is accidentally re-launched on the road to fame and fortune by a fan in Starstruck. Variety noted that Dean "nails his role with precision". He was also lauded for his performance as a mysterious small-town psychologist in Mumford (1999). Dean's performance was considered "plausible and generous," and he was favorably compared to a "young Charles Grodin."

Much of his acting career, however, has been in supporting roles. His films include Apollo 13 (1995), How to Make an American Quilt (1995), Gattaca (1997), Enemy of the State (1998) and Space Cowboys (2000). In the last half-decade, Dean has appeared in a number of independent films (most notably, The War Bride) and several well-received television miniseries (such as The Bronx Is Burning). He has also played Russ, the brother of Temperance "Bones" Brennan on the TV series Bones.

Dean's most recent effort was a 2007 independent film, The Poker Club. The suspense story was written by Johnathon Schaech and co-produced by Schaech and Richard Chizmar. It is about four buddies who accidentally kill a burglar during one of their poker nights.

Dean has supported filmmakers behind the scenes as well. In 1999, he was a juror for the third annual Shorts International Film Festival.

Partial filmography

• Plain Clothes (1988)
• Say Anything... (1989)
• Billy Bathgate (1991)
• 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992)
• J.F.K.: Reckless Youth (1993) (mini-series)
• The American Clock (1993)
• Apollo 13 (1995)
• The Passion of Darkly Noon (1995)
• Mrs. Winterbourne (1996)
• How to Make an American Quilt (1996)
• Gattaca (1997)
• The End of Violence (1997)
• Rosewood (1997)
• Enemy of the State (1998)
• Starstruck (1998)
• Mumford (1999)
• Space Cowboys (2000)
• The War Bride (2001)
• Bones (2006"08) (TV)
• The Bronx Is Burning (2007) (TV)
• The Poker Club (2008)
• Reservations (2008)
• Middletown (2009)
• Conviction (2010)
• Who is Simon Miller? (2011)