Greg Germann

Early life

Germann was born in Houston. The family moved to Lookout Mountain outside of Golden, Colorado. His mother, Marlene Marian (née Faulkner), was a homemaker, and his father, Edward A. Germann, was a playwright and professor. While living in Colorado, Germann expressed interest in acting. He starred in stage plays during his middle- and high-school years, before moving to New York in 1982.

Early work

He started in several Broadway plays while in New York, including a role in 1982 alongside Matthew Broderick in the play Fancy This, which Germann also co-wrote. He received praise for roles in the 1982 musical Chicago, and the 1983 musical The Wizard of Oz. He continued to have roles in plays before seeing a poster for wanted actors for a film in 1985. He moved to Hollywood to find film success, and got his first role in the teen comedy film, The Whoopee Boys in 1986. The supporting role in that film helped Greg's career, so he could star in bigger and mainstream films. His next film was 1990's Child's Play 2, in which he played the character Mattson, in the well-received sequel to one of the most popular horror films of all time. Child's Play 2, and the 1991 romantic comedy Once Around, helped the actor gain mainstream success. In 1990, Germann originated the role of John Hinckley, Jr. in Stephen Sondheim's Assassins.

1990s success

After Child's Play 2 and Once Around were released, he was able to reach pop culture success. He then gained fame as a character named Petey in the 1994 critical and commercial success Clear and Present Danger, and landed a supporting role as Rico on the sitcom Ned & Stacey, which gained him fame and lasted from 1995 - 1997.

Ally McBeal

In 1997, when Ned & Stacey stopped airing, Germann was offered the role as Richard Fish on the legal - comedy series Ally McBeal. He took the role, and for five seasons, from 1997 to 2002, he gained positive acclaim for playing Fish. During his time, he received an Emmy nomination, and three Screen Actors Guild awards, winning one. Germann directed a few Ally McBeal episodes, including "Fear of Flirting" (season 5, episode 4). He appeared on ABC's In Case of Emergency as Sherman Yablonsky until it was canceled after one season, and was also in the pilot episode of Eureka as the director of operations, Warren King. He did not reprise the role, and his character's disappearance was explained in the official comic book as having been reassigned to Alaska.

2000s work

After Ally McBeal ended Germann starring in several films, including Down to Earth, Sweet November, and Joe Somebody, all being released in 2001. He guest-appeared twice on The Bernie Mac Show.

He got lead roles in 2005 in the family comedies Family Plan and Down and Derby; these films helped the actor prove he was leading man status. In 2006, he played Santa Claus in the holiday film The Santa Incident, which Empire named, number 12 on the top 50 Christmas comedies; the film airs countless times during the holidays. Also in 2006, he guest-starred in the series, Desperate Housewives.

2010s work

Germann has appeared in NCIS since the season-10 episode, "Shiva", playing NCIS Assistant Director Jerome Craig. Later, in the episode, "Canary", he briefly took over the agency while the director at the time was on temporary leave following a family tragedy.

Germann has appeared infrequently in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit playing ADA Derek Strauss.

In 2016, Germann appeared in the ABC Fantasy series drama Once Upon A Time portraying Hades, the God of the Underworld, for ten episodes.