Ned Eisenberg

Early life and education

Eisenberg grew up in the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx. He graduated from Riverdale Junior High School in 1972 and from there went on to Performing Arts High School, a subsidiary of Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School.

Career

Eisenberg had a leading role in the film Key Exchange (1985), followed by a major tour of the Broadway play Brighton Beach Memoirs, and guest star roles on various 1980s television series such as The Equalizer and Miami Vice. This led to a starring role in the television comedy The Fanelli Boys, which also starred Christopher Meloni and Joe Pantoliano.

Eisenberg played supporting roles in films such as The Exterminator (1980), The Burning (1981), Slayground (1983), Moving Violations (1985), Air America (1990), Last Man Standing (1996), Primary Colors (1998), A Civil Action (1998), Woody Allen's Celebrity (1998) and Experimenter (2015).

Eisenberg appeared regularly, usually as a defense attorney, in episodes of the long-running NBC crime drama Law & Order, beginning in 1997, leading to producer Dick Wolf casting him as one of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit's most recognizable supporting characters. In 1999 he appeared in the first season episode Denial, Anger, Acceptance as Ariel in the HBO series The Sopranos. He has also continued his film career by appearing in Clint Eastwood's Academy Award-winning drama Million Dollar Baby (2004) and played role of photographer Joe Rosenthal in the 2006 film Flags of Our Fathers, also directed by Eastwood.

Eisenberg describes himself as a "street-style" actor, coming up through the ranks rather than academic programs, and his training included jazz-dance classes with Betsy Haug.

Eisenberg cofounded the Naked Angels Theatre Company in 1987 with longtime friend Fisher Stevens.