Eric Close (24 May 1967) is an American actor, best known for his roles in television series, particularly as FBI agent Martin Fitzgerald in the CBS mystery drama Without a Trace (2002–2009), Michael Wiseman in the CBS sci-fi drama Now and Again (1999-2000), Teddy Conrad in the ABC musical drama Nashville (2012–2017), and Travis Tanner in Suits (2011–2015).
Early life Close was born in Fort Wadsworth, Staten Island, New York. His father is an orthopedic surgeon. He is the eldest of three brothers. His family moved to Indiana and then to Michigan, and finally settled in San Diego when he was seven years old.
Close was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity and graduated with a B.A. in communications from the University of Southern California in 1989.
Career Close was interested in acting from an early age and had some stage experience in school, but did not decide to pursue an acting career until after college. His first role was in a theater production Rat Songs in L.A., after which he was offered parts in the crime drama American Me (1992) and the TV movie Safe House directed by Elena Mannus. He had a brief stint in daytime television when he played Sawyer Walker on the NBC daytime soap opera Santa Barbara from 1992 to 1993. He received a Soap Opera Digest Award nomination for Outstanding Male Newcomer for his role as Sawyer Walker on Santa Barbara. Close later starred on short-lived primetime shows such as McKenna (1994–1995), Dark Skies (1996–1997), The Magnificent Seven (1998–1999), Now and Again (1999–2000), and the Steven Spielberg miniseries production, Taken (2002). He starred on storyline online and read When Pigasso met Mootisse.
Close is best known for his role as Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Martin Fitzgerald on the CBS mystery drama Without a Trace. The show ran for seven seasons from September 26, 2002, to May 19, 2009. From 2011 to 2015, Close had a recurring role as Travis Tanner in the USA legal drama Suits, and starred as Michael Dorset in the short-lived CBS comedy-drama Chaos. In 2012, Close began co-starring with Connie Britton in the ABC musical drama Nashville as Teddy Conrad, initially the husband of country singer Rayna Jaymes (Britton) and later the mayor of Nashville.
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1991 Keeping Secrets Young Michael (uncredited) Television movie 1992 American Me Juvie Hall Attacker 1993 Taking Liberty Adam 1994 Hercules and the Lost Kingdom Telamon Television movie 1994 Without Consent David Mills Television movie 1995 Long Island Fever Scott Parks Television movie 1995 The Stranger Beside Me Chris Gallagher Television movie 2001 Follow the Stars Home Mark McCune Television movie 2001 Liberty, Maine Unknown 2001 Mike 2003 Alvarez & Cruz Charlie 2004 NTSB: The Crash of Flight 323 N'Tom Price Television movie 2007 Saving Angelo Dad Short film 2010 Unanswered Prayers Ben Beck Television movie 2014 American Sniper DIA Agent Snead2017Christmas Crime Story Randal Edwards 2017 Christmas in the Air Robert Trent Television movie 2018 Indivisible Ltc. Jacobsen 2018 Legal Action Casey McKay 2022 The Mulligan Paul McAllister 2024 Average Joe Joe Kennedy Post-Production
Television Year Title Role Notes 1991 MacGyver Guard Episode: "The Prometheus Syndrome" 1992 Major Dad Jim Episode: "The 'L' Word" 1992–93 Santa Barbara Sawyer Walker 25 episodes 1994–95 McKenna Brick McKenna 13 episodes (5 aired) 1995–96 Sisters William 'Billy' Griffin 12 episodes 1996–1997 Dark Skies John Loengard 19 episodesNominated—Saturn Award for Best Actor on Television 1998–2000 Vin Tanner 22 episodes 1999–2000 Now and Again Michael Wiseman 22 episodesNominated—Saturn Award for Best Actor on Television 2002 Taken John 4 episodes 2002–09 Without a Trace Martin Fitzgerald 160 episodesNominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series 2005 Kim Possible Crash Cranston (voice) Episode: "Team Impossible" 2010 Seven Deadly Sins Jack Powell 2 episodes 2010 Criminal Minds Det. Matt Spicer Episode: "Our Darkest Hour" 2011 Chaos Michael Dorset 13 episodes 2011–15 Suits Travis Tanner 6 episodes 2011 American Horror Story: Murder House Hugo Langdon 2 episodes 2012 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Colin Barnes Episode: "Father Dearest" 2012–18 Nashville Teddy Conrad 65 episodes; Main Role (Seasons 1–3), Guest (Seasons 4–6) 2019 A Christmas Love Story Shane Hallmark Movie; Also director 2019 Angel Falls: A Novel Holiday Anthony Hallmark Movie
References
External links
Eric Close's Official Twitter Eric Close - CBS Bio