Scott Gordon Patterson (born September 11, 1958) is an American actor and musician, best known known for his roles in Gilmore Girls and the Saw franchise. He also starred as Michael Buchanan in the NBC drama series The Event and as a Tenctonese alien commander in the TV film Alien Nation: Dark Horizon.
He played Special Agent Peter Strahm in Saw IV and Saw V.
Early Life[]
Scott Patterson was born on September 11, 1958, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Hope Gordon, a homemaker, actress in the Haddonfield Plays and Players Theatre Troupe and journalist, and Francis Ford Patterson IV, an advertising executive. His parents divorced in 1974. Patterson formed his first band in the third grade with longtime friend Tommy Poitras. They played just two songs – Back In The USSR by The Beatles and I'm Not Your Stepping Stone. The name of the band was The Unknowns. The Unknowns added to their set list and performed throughout grade school and high school, but disbanded after graduation. Patterson was raised in Haddonfield, New Jersey and attended Haddonfield Memorial High School. He also attended Rutgers University, pursuing a degree in Comparative Literature, and studied acting in New York with renowned coaches Robert Lewis and Sondra Lee. At The Actor's Studio, he was exposed to the teachings of such luminaries as Paul Newman, Arthur Penn and Frank Corsaro and also participated in the Producer's Unit chaired by Arthur Penn. He appeared in numerous productions, including Rasputin and Miss Julie.
Baseball Career[]
Patterson spent seven years, from 1980 to 1986, as a professional pitcher in minor league baseball, topping out at the Triple-A level, the highest before the major leagues. In 1982, Patterson was traded from the Braves to the Yankees for Bob Watson. He played in two major league farm systems for seven different minor league teams and was selected to four All-Star Teams, two with Atlanta and two with the New York Yankees. He was placed on the New York Yankees Major League Roster in 1983. In the winter of 1985–86, he was selected by the Texas Rangers of the American League in the Rule 5 draft and placed on their Major League Roster. In 1981, Patterson won 13 consecutive games as a starting pitcher between class A Durham and class AA Savannah to set a Braves record for most consecutive wins to start a season. He was selected Braves Minor League Pitcher of the month 2 times and New York Yankees Pitcher of the Month once and Pitcher of the Week three times. He was initially selected by the Atlanta Braves in the first round of the 1980 amateur entry draft. He played his first pro season with their Class A Anderson Braves in 1980 and his last one with the New York Yankees' Double-A Albany-Colonie Yankees and Triple-A Columbus Clippers in 1986. Patterson also pitched in the Puerto Rican Winter League as a member of the New York Yankees and the Dominican Republic Winter League as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Acting Career[]
In 1988, Patterson formed the Arclight Theatre Company in Soho, NYC with John Bishop. Patterson played Jedediah Kohler in Bishop's The Great, Great Grandson of Jedediah Kohler in the Company's debut production. One night, George Wolfe was in the audience and offered Patterson a role in the European Traveling Company's Tamara, but he turned it down to continue work with Arclight.
In 1993, Patterson was slated to play the lead in Castle Rock's Little Big League opposite Sela Ward. The producers recast the role at the last minute with Revenge of the Nerds star Timothy Busfield, opting to offer Patterson the role of Mike McGrevey.
Patterson completed filming the leading role in the feature film Her Best Move, directed by Norm Hunter and co-starring Lisa Darr. He also appeared on the big screen in Little Big League with Jason Robards and in Three Wishes with Patrick Swayze and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. He also starred in the independent films Highway 395 and Rhapsody in Bloom with Penelope Ann Miller and Ron Silver, Boys of Abu Ghraib with Sean Astin and Other People's Children with Diane Marshall-Grant.
On television, he has landed romantic roles, guest starring opposite some appealing leading women. His most notable role, which he played for seven years on the television show Gilmore Girls, is Luke Danes, the on-again, off-again love interest of the show's protagonist, Lorelai Gilmore, played by Lauren Graham. On Seinfeld, Patterson was deemed "spongeworthy" by Elaine, Julia Louis-Dreyfus' character. He had a profound effect on Grace, played by Debra Messing, in the Das Boob episode of Will & Grace and played the love interests of Jennifer Grey in It's Like, You Know... and Sharon Lawrence's character in Fired Up. He has also guest starred on Arli$$ and Get Real.
Among Patterson's following projects were a co-starring role on Aliens in America and voicing the character of King Faraday in the 2004 animated series Justice League Unlimited, from Warner Bros. Animation. He has also starred as Agent peter Strahm in two iterations of the Saw franchise, Saw IV and Saw V respectively, also appearing through flashback sequences in Saw VI. Patterson also appeared in some episodes of the second season of 90210 as Liam Court's ex-con father, who has recently been released from prison and wants to reconnect with his son.
In the NBC drama series The Event, which premiered on September 20, 2010, Patterson starred as Michael Buchanan until his character was killed off in episode 18. In 2016, Patterson reprised his role as Luke Danes for the revival miniseries Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, which streamed on Netflix on November 25, 2016.
Filmography[]
Films[]
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Intent to Kill | Al |
| 1994 | Little Big League | Mike McGrevey |
| 1995 | A Boy Called Hate | CHP Officer |
| Three Wishes | Scott's Father | |
| 2000 | Highway 395 | Mark Bradley |
| 2007 | Her Best Move | Gil |
| Saw IV | Special Agent Peter Strahm | |
| 2008 | Saw V | Special Agent Peter Strahm |
| 2012 | A Beer Tale | George Martin |
| 2013 | Meth Head | Hank |
| 2014 | Boys of Abu Ghraib | Captain Hayes |
| 2015 | Other People's Children | Frank Tassler |
| 2017 | Yellow Fever | John Smart |
| Ape | Bill | |
| 2018 | Batman: Gotham by Gaslight | James Gordon |
| Con Man | Older Mike |
Television Series[]
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Seinfeld | Billy |
| 1996 | Silk Stalkings | Chick Chandler |
| 1997 | Arli$$ | Dan Manville |
| 1997-1998 | Fired Up | Mickey |
| 1998 | Vengeance Unlimited | Detective Tom Swain |
| 1999 | It's Like, You Know... | Ted |
| Get Real | Jacob Perryhill | |
| Will & Grace | John Gregorio | |
| 2005 | Justice League Unlimited | Agent King Faraday / Franco Bertinelli |
| 2000-2007 | Gilmore Girls | Luke Danes |
| 2007-2008 | Aliens in America | Gary Tolchuck |
| 2010 | 90210 | Finnigan 'Finn' Court |
| 2010-2011 | The Event | Michael Buchanan |
| 2011 | CSI: Miami | Brendon Dwyer |
| 2016 | Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life | Luke Danes |
| 2023 | Sullivan's Crossing | Harry 'Sully' Sullivan |
Television Films[]
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 | The Return of Ironside | Gillette |
| 1994 | Alien Nation: Dark Horizon | Ahpossno |
| 1996 | Them | Simon Trent |
| 1998 | Rhapsody in Bloom | Phil |
| 2010 | Concrete Canyons | Ben Sloane |
| 2012 | Love at the Christmas Table | Tom Patton |
| 2015 | Kidnapped: The Hannah Anderson Story | James DiMaggio |
Gallery[]
