Alan Rosenberg
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Biography
This compact, dark-haired character actor gained attention playing divorce lawyer Eli Levinson, a role which he created on the courtroom series "Civil Wars" (ABC, 1991-93) and reprised on another legal show, "L.A. Law" (NBC, 1986-1994). New Jersey native Alan Rosenberg studied at the Yale School of Drama and got his first stage break in "A Prayer for My Daughter" (1978), which was workshopped at the Eugene O'Neill Playwright's Conference and then transferred to the New York Shakespeare Festival where he made his Off-Broadway debut. He subsequently went on to make his Broadway debut in Neil Simon's "Lost in Yonkers" in 1991. Rosenberg's first break in films was a featured role in the coming of age film "The Wanderers" (1979), as a member of a non-violent gang. Supporting roles in forgettable films followed before he scored memorably as the Apostle Thomas in Martin Scorsese's controversial "The Last Temptation of Christ" (1988).
Rosenberg moved to Los Angeles in 1983 and landed his first TV job in the miniseries "Robert Kennedy and His Times" (1985) playing newspaper columnist Jack Newfield. After this breakthrough, he began working steadily turning up in supporting roles in such TV-movies as "Kojak: The Belarus File" (1985), as gangster Frank Nitti in "The Revenge of Al Capone" (1989) and as homicide victim Jennifer Levin's father in "The Preppie Murder" (1989). The actor was featured alongside his real-life second wife Marg Helgenberger in the 1991 PBS presentation "Peacemaker." (They subsequently acted together in the 1994 Peter Weller-directed short "Partners" which aired on Showtime and the 1998 Lifetime TV-movie "Giving Up the Ghost."
Following an Emmy-nominated 1994 guest turn on NBC's "ER," he moved to sitcom land when he was cast as Cybill Shepherd's divorced second husband Ira Woodbine on "Cybill" (CBS, 1995-98), a mid-season series replacement about an underemployed soap actress, her kooky best friend, her daughters and her two ex-husbands. When that series ended, Rosenberg next joined the cast of "Chicago Hope" in the role of lawyer Stuart Brickman. Impressing the producers, the role was upped from recurring to regular status. Rosenberg then played the meticulous head of a child advocacy office in the CBS drama "The Guardian" (2001-04). After a string of guest-starring roles on television--including a 2005 stint opposite Helgenberger on her hit series "CSI" Crime Scene Investigation"--and a voice role as Jack Hammer in the CGI animated feature robots, Rosenberg was elected president of the Screen Actors Guild in September 2005 after campaigning to push the actors' union into more aggressive negotiations with studios over such issues as DVD sales residuals and end the in-fighting that has long plagued the group.
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Special Thanks (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1978
Made Off-Broadway debut in "Prayer for My Daughter" at the New York Shakespeare Festival
1979
Theatrical film debut in featured role, "The Wanderers"
1983
Moved to Los Angeles
1985
TV-movie debut, "Kojak: The Belarus File" (CBS)
1985
TV debut in a miniseries, "Robert Kennedy and His Times" (CBS)
1987
Made series TV debut as guest, "Days And Nights Of Molly Dodd" (NBC/Lifetime)
1991
Made Broadway acting debut in "Lost in Yonkers"
1991
Co-starred with wife Marg Helgenberger in the PBS presentation "Peacemaker"
1991
Debut as a regular in a TV drama series, "Civil Wars" (ABC)
1993
Joined the cast of the TV drama series, "L.A. Law" (NBC) as Eli Levinson
1994
Offered memorable guest appearance in an episode of "ER" (NBC), received Emmy nomination
1995
Cast as a regular in the sitcom, "Cybill" (CBS) as one of the title character's ex-husbands
1998
Appeared opposite wife Marg Helgenberger in the Lifetime movie "Giving Up the Ghost"
1999
Began recurring appearances as lawyer Stuart Brickman on the CBS drama "Chicago Hope"; promoted to regular in the final season
2001
Cast as Alvin Masterson on the CBS drama series "The Guardian"
2005
Elected the 24th president of Screen Actors Guild (SAG)
2005
Voiced the Jack Hammer in the animated feature "Robots"
2007
Began hosting a Public Television program, "Life: Part 2" in St. Paul, Minnesota
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