John Shea
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Biography
John Shea began a successful stage career soon after his graduation from the Yale School of Drama. He made his New York stage debut in "Yentl" as Avigdor (played by Mandy Patinkin in Barbra Streisand's film version). Shea went on to win plaudits for his performances in "The Sorrows of Stephen" (1979), "The Dining Room" (1982) and "End of the World" (1984). In London, he played the leading role in Larry Kramer's searing AIDS drama "The Normal Heart" (1986).
Shea's first screen role in "It's My Turn" (1980) ended on the cutting room floor. He was seen to good effect as the son of Jack Lemmon who disappears in Costa-Gavras' "Missing" (1982), won a Best Actor citation at the Montreal Film Festival for his role in "Windy City" (1984) and delivered a villainous turn in "Honey, I Blew Up the Kid" (1992).
Shea is also a popular TV actor and won an Emmy for his performance in the 1988 "surrogate mother" miniseries, "Baby M." He co-starred in the short-lived CBS series "WIOU" (1990) and was featured during the run of "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman" (ABC, 1993-97) as the charmingly corrupt Lex Luthor.
Filmography
Director (Feature Film)
Cast (Feature Film)
Writer (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1975
New York stage debut in "Yentl", opposite Tovah Feldshuh; play opened Off-Broadway and later moved to Broadway
1978
TV acting debut in "The Rock Rainbow" (ABC)
1978
Played Joseph in the ABC holiday movie "The Nativity"
1979
Co-starred in the NBC miniseries "The Last Convertible"
1979
First work as film actor, "It's My Turn" (scenes cut from 1980 released version)
1979
First released feature, "Hussy"
1982
Played Charlie Hormann who goes "Missing" in Costa-Gavras' acclaimed feature
1983
Portrayed Robert F Kennedy in the NBC miniseries "Kennedy"
1988
Won an Emmy for playing adoptive father William Stern in the ABC docudrama "Baby M"
1988
Co-starred in the feature "Stealing Home"
1990
TV series deut as regular in the short-lived "WIOU"
1990
TV series deut as regular in the short-lived "WIOU" (CBS)
1992
Co-starred in the Lifetime remake of "Notorious"
1993
Played villain Lex Luthor on the ABC series "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman"
1998
Feature directorial debut, "Southie"; also acted
2000
Appeared Of-Broadway in "The Director"
2001
Starred in the syndicated series "Mutant X"
Family
Companions
