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Peter Gallagher
Gallagher at the Paley Center's 6th annual Celebrity Golf Classic, Westlake Village, CA - June 8, 2009
Born	Peter Killian Gallagher August 19, 1955 (1955-08-19) (age 54) New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, Musician, Writer
Years active	1979–present
Spouse(s)	Paula Harwood (1983-present)
Official website

Peter Killian Gallagher (born August 19, 1955) is an American actor, musician and writer. Since 1980, Gallagher has played many roles in numerous Hollywood films. He starred as Sandy Cohen in drama The O.C. from 2003 to 2007.

Biography

Early life

Gallagher was born in New York City, New York, the son of Mary, a bacteriologist, and Tom Gallagher, an advertising executive.¹ He is of Irish Catholic background² and was raised in Armonk, New York. Gallagher graduated from Tufts University, where he was very visible in the performance scene on campus, appearing in such shows as Stephen Sondheim's Company and singing with the all-male a cappella group the Beelzebubs.

Career

Gallagher appeared on Broadway with Glenn Close in Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing, but first achieved fame for his role in Steven Soderbergh's Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989). He also starred as Sky Masterson in the 1992 Broadway Revival of Guys and Dolls.

Gallagher played a potential career threat to Tim Robbins' studio executive in The Player (1992); the comatose "fiancé" of Sandra Bullock in While You Were Sleeping (1995); an egotistical real estate salesman having an affair with Annette Bening in American Beauty (1999); a villainous media executive in Mr. Deeds (2002); and a political reporter exposing media ethics during a presidential debate in The Last Debate.

From 2003 to 2007, Gallagher starred as Sandy Cohen, a Jewish public defender and corporate lawyer, on the Fox television show The O.C., a show which has introduced him to a whole new generation of TV viewers. He hosts an annual award ceremony named "The Sandy Cohen Awards" or The Sandys, which, in honor of his character on The O.C., gives a scholarship to a law school student at UC Berkeley who wants to become a public defender.

Gallagher released an album entitled 7 Days in Memphis in 2005, on the Sony BMG label. This includes a studio recording of his performance of "Don't Give Up On Me" (originally by Solomon Burke), which was featured in an episode of The O.C. He also has a video for his single "Still I Long For Your Kiss", in which he starred with his TV-wife Kelly Rowan. Gallagher is also a keen video gamer. He has completed the "Career Mode" in Top Spin for the Xbox and is known to anonymously enter online competitions.

On April 5, 2007, Gallagher received the Light on the Hill award at Tufts University. The award is given to notable alumni from Tufts who have demonstrated ambition, achievement, and active citizenship. Gallagher sang with the Beelzebubs and gave a speech to a full crowd in Cohen Auditorium.

Personal life

Gallagher is married to Paula Harwood since 1983. They have two children: a son James (born 1990) and a daughter, Kathryn, (born 1993).

Filmography

• 1980: The Idolmaker
• 1982: Summer Lovers
• 1985: Dreamchild
• 1986: My Little Girl
• 1987: Long Day's Journey Into Night
• 1988: High Spirits
• 1988: The Murder of Mary Phagan
• 1989: Sex, Lies, and Videotape
• 1990: Tune in Tomorrow...
• 1991: An Inconvenient Woman
• 1992: The Player
• 1993: Watch It
• 1993: Short Cuts
• 1993: Malice
• 1994: The Hudsucker Proxy
• 1994: Mr. Hula Hop
• 1994: Mother's Boys
• 1995: The Underneath
• 1995: While You Were Sleeping
• 1996: Titanic (TV)
• 1996: Last Dance
• 1996: To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday
• 1997: The Man Who Knew Too Little
• 1997: Path to Pardise
• 1998: Brave New World
• 1998: Johnny Skidmarks
• 1999: House on Haunted Hill
• 1999: American Beauty
• 1999: Brotherhood of murder
• 2000: The Last Debate
• 2000: Center Stage
• 2002: Contest Searchlight
• 2002: Mr. Deeds
• 2002-2003: Page to Screen (TV)
• 2003: A Tale Of Two Wives
• 2003: How to Deal
• 2003-2007: The O.C. (TV)
• 2008: "Center Stage: Turn It Up"
• 2009: Adam
• 2009: "The War Boys"
• 2009: Californication (TV)
• 2010: Rienzi
• 2010: Covert Affairs (TV, series regular)
• 2010: Burlesque

References

External links

• Peter Gallagher at the Internet Movie Database
• Peter Gallagher at the Internet Broadway Database
• Peter Gallagher at the Internet Off-Broadway Database