Welcome to the Centre

 

Character	Played by	# of episodes
Jarod	Michael T. Weiss	86
Miss Parker	Andrea Parker	85
Sydney	Patrick Bauchau	86
Broots	Jon Gries	85
Dr. William Raines	Richard Marcus	45
Mr. Lyle	Jamie Denton	36
Mr. Parker	Harve Presnell	31
Sam the Sweeper	Sam Ayers	31
Angelo aka Timmy	Paul Dillon	23
Brigitte Parker	Pamela Gidley	17
Young Jarod/Gemini	Ryan Merriman	15
Willie the Sweeper	Willie Gault	14
Young Miss Parker	Ashley Peldon	12
Magaret, Jarod's mom	Kim Myers	10
Thomas Gates	Jason Brooks	8
Mr. Cox	Lenny von Dohlen	5
Young Angelo/Timmy	Jake Lloyd	5
Major Charles	George Lazenby	4
Ethan Clausen/Mirage	Tyler Christopher	2

 

Michael T Weiss

Michael Terry Weiss was born on 2 February 1962 in Chicago , Illinois , USA

His father worked in the steel industry and his mother is a homemaker. Michael has two sisters: one is the make-up artist Jamie Weiss, and the other one is in advertising.

Michael began acting as a child, appearing in local TV commercials. A friend of his mother, working in the acting industry, suggested young Michael try out for a local tv commercial. He got the part and Michael continued doing other local commercials while growing up.

Later, Michael attended Glenbrook North High School in Northbrook , Illinois . He also studied acting at Second City workshop during this time. As a Freshman he was on Glenbrook's swim team and later on the basketball team, as well as serving on the student council.
While still living in Chicago, Michael had a barrage of odd jobs e.g. in an electronics store and a zipper factory. Once he worked as a costumed singing telegram deliveryman, with costumes such as a pregnant nun and a leprechaun.
At 18, he got his first movie part as an extra in the movie Ordinary People by Robert Redford, for which he was paid $30.00.

In 1980 Michael moved to California , where he still lives, but he considers Chicago his home and tries to get back there as often as he can. He attended the University of Southern California 's prestigious School of Drama , where he obtained his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in the same class as Anthony Edwards, Ally Sheedy and Forrest Whitaker in 1984. During this time, Michael got a role in the musical Hair in Northern California . Along with his other cast members, he played his role completely naked. His parents always supported his acting ideals, coming "to every bad piece of theatre" he played in. He also studied Art History at Harvard University and is continuing his artistic studies at Otis College of Fine Art & Design.

Michael hosted the Playboy channel as a V-Jay, saying "Welcome to the Playboy channel". But this didn't last long, cause he started squinting "like a mole" to see the teleprompter, not realizing he needed glasses. The result: he was fired. Michael also worked as physical trainer at Beverly Hills ' 'in' fitness center Matrix One with clients such as Pierce Brosnan and James Brolin.

His television career started shortly after he graduated from USC. He landed a role in the Soap Opera Days of our Lives , playing Dr. Mike Horton.

In early 1990 Michael developed a strong interest in writing and wrote a play entitled Streams of Consciousness . He likes writing and wants to do more, but he has not enough time for it.

To stay in shape Michael works out regularly and keeps up his fitness level while traveling by visiting local gyms. He also avoids eating red meat.

Michael has a strong interest in environmental issues and is on the board of directors for the Earth Communications Office.. "I believe that everybody on the planet, should take responsibility for their own little planet-- their home. If everybody would change one or two things about their life, we could make a drastic change, so that we could have a sustainable future for our planet." Michael "can't stand people who have no regard for the environment" and to show his concern, he once drove an electric Toyota RAV4 in 1999, which was later replaced by a Toyota Prius, an electric-gas hybrid vehicle.

In his sparetime, Michael enjoys the outdoors, travelling, swimming, snorkelling and scuba diving (he is a certified diver). He also enjoys leisurely reading.

Andrea Parker

Andrea was born on 8 March 1970 in Monterey County , California , USA

Ever since Andrea Parker left home at age 15 to become a ballerina, Andrea Parker was certain she would achieve success. After recurring roles on "ER" and "JAG", she needed just a few paragraphs of the pilot script for "The Pretender" to know that she wanted the roll of Miss Parker.

"It was kind of strange, " says Parker. "As soon as I saw the role of Miss Parker, I said, 'Hey, my name's all over this script.' I knew I had to make it mine. There was just too much synchronicity for it not to happen. After I was cast, I had to tap into a lot of anger and pain in playing her. We're both alike in that we go after what we want, but I would never dream of treating people the way she does."

Parker got her first big break with a part on a "Sienfeld" episode, followed by guest-starring roles on "Dream On", "Coach", "Dave's World", "Ellen","Herman's Head", "Can't Hurray Love", "Mariied...with Children", and "Murder, She Wrote." She soon was cast in recurring roles in "The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.." TV movies include "Ed McBain's 87th Precinct", "XXX's&OOO's" and "Victim of Love: The Shannon Mohr Story."

Patrick Bauchau

Patrick was born in Brussels , Belgium , on 6 December 1938, and he was raised in Belgium , Switzerland and England, UK . He attended Oxford University on an academic scholarship and studied Modern Languages (he speaks French, English, Spanish, Italian, German and a bit of Russian and Flemish).

Bauchau began his career in the French New Wave cinema. His work spans the 1960s through the present, though he took a break from acting during the 1970s. Bauchau is best known these days for his role as Sydney in the series "The Pretender" (1996). He also appeared in "Kindred: The Embraced" (1996), and a spate of other films and television appearances both in the United States and Europe . Bauchau's interests include gardening, carpentry, collecting oriental art, and yoga.

Jon Gries

Jon Gries was born on 17 June 1957, Glendale , California , USA

Ryan Merriman

Ryan Earl Merriman was born on 10 April 1983, in Choctaw , Oklahoma , USA

Merriman began his career doing commercials, print work, vocal performances, and local theater in Oklahoma .

Ryan has starred in several television films including Lifetime's Dangerous Child, Rocket's Red Glare, Luck of the Irish, Smart House, Hallmark's Night Ride Home, Lansky, Everything That Rises, and Taken, on the Sci-Fi Channel produced by Steven Spielberg.Ryan played the recurring role of Young Jarod on the NBC hit series The Pretender, which ran for four successful seasons on NBC. He was also a series regular on the NBC television sitcom, The Mommies. His film credits include Final Destination 3, The Ring, and The Ring Two.Merriman has received seven nominations for a Young Artist Award of Hollywood, winning 6 times. In addition, he has been nominated five times for a Hollywood Reporter Young Star Award.

Ryan Merriman married on June 25, 2004, to Micol.

Ashley Peldon

Born on 2 April 1984 in New York , USA

At the age of six, she became the youngest person ever to be nominated for an Emmy award

In 1988 she joined the cast of Guiding Light and audiences responded to her so well that she became the youngest performer to be put under contract in daytime television. She was four years old. Ashley is the younger sister of Courtney Peldon.

Jamie Denton

James/Jamie was born in Nashville , Tennessee , USA on 20 January 1963

Denton grew up in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, attended Goodlettsville High School, played basketball at a junior college for a while, then went on to graduate with honors from the (national champion) University of Tennessee at Knoxville, snagging a degree in advertising as a television/journalism major on the way out the door.

In Chicago , his first role was as " Stanley " in "A Streetcar Named Desire" and his last was as the terrorist "Bebert" in the French farce "Lapin Lapin." In the years that came between the two, JD was a company member at The Griffin Theater and at Strawdog Theater Ensemble. He added a steady string of roles and accolades to his quickly growing list of achievements, including one of the leads in the world premiere of "Flesh and Blood", performing in and composing the music for "the Night Hank Williams Died", and his portrayal of Kentucky preacher "C.C. Showers" in "The Diviners" - which gained him a much coveted nomination for a Best Actor Joseph Jefferson Award (Chicago's only theater award).

A small part in "The Untouchables" (1993) (the series), JAG (1995), Sliders (1995), and "Dark Skies" (1996). A spot on "Moloney" (1996), a pilot for ABC called "L.A. Med" and a stint on the silver screen in That Old Feeling (1997), were preludes to his first appearance as "Mr. Lyle" on "The Pretender" (1996). Immediately afterward, JD made another pilot, this time for his own series, "The Hanleys". When ABC shelved the sitcom at the last minute, Denton continued producing chilling portrayals as "Mr. Lyle" on NBC's "The Pretender" (1996), as a series regular. Summer of 1999 found Jamie heading back to the theater, starring in the world premiere of the play, "In Walked Monk".

During the 4th season of "The Pretender" (1996), Jamie added three more guest starring roles to his credits - the first on "Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place" (1998), another on "Ally McBeal" (1997) and the last on the hugely popular "The West Wing" (1999). That summer, he co-starred in "Asylum", at The Court Theatre and at the end of the year, headed for Canada to film two MOWs for TNT - The Pretender 2001 (2001) and The Pretender: Island of the Haunted (2001).

Paul Dillon

Paul Dillon began his professional career on the Chicago stage, where he appeared in productions of "Killer Joe," "Hellcab," "The Conquest of the South Pole," which won the Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Ensemble, "Hauptmann," "Custer," "Jane Eyre," "Serious Money", "The Three Musketeers" and "Peer Gynt." He is also a founding member and artistic director of Chicago 's Bang Bang Spontaneous Theatre.

In addition to serving as producer, Dillon also reprised the role he originated on the Chicago stage for the Los Angeles run.

Harve Presnell

George Harvey Presnell was born in Modesto , California , USA , on 14 September 1933.

He graduated from Modesto High School and initially trained for an operatic career. He was performing nationally when the opportunity for Broadway first came his way. Legendary composer Meredith Willson happened to catch an earful of the gifted singer in concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles and, in the virile mold of an Alfred Drake or Howard Keel, wrote the role of Johnny "Leadville" Brown in "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" specifically for him as a showcase. The Broadway musical, with Tammy Grimes as the spunky title heroine, was a resounding hit while Harve wrapped his glorious tonsils around such sturdy, wide-stanced songs as " Colorado , My Home" and "I'll Never Say No." Unlike Grimes, Presnell managed to recreate his part when the celluloid version of The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964) came out with a certifiable film star, the indomitable Debbie Reynolds, inhabiting the backwoods role. The film version was also hugely popular with audiences.

It seemed like a star was about to be born but there were precious few movie musicals for Presnell to sink his teeth into and he quickly faded into the woodwork. He tried adjusting to straight dramatics with the rugged western The Glory Guys (1965) and sang again in the highly unworthy teen frolic When the Boys Meet the Girls (1965) with Connie Francis, but little else came his way. The disastrous film version of Paint Your Wagon (1969) starring the highly miscast Lee Marvin, Clint Eastwood and Jean Seberg, was redeemed only by the presence of Presnell and his superb rendition of "They Call the Wind Mariah."

By the 70s he was finished in films and was relegated to Keel-like stock and tour roles in such productions as "Annie Get Your Gun" (as Frank Butler) and "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever," among others. He even played Rhett Butler in a musical version of "Gone With the Wind" at London 's Drury Lane Theatre , but did not generate much of a stir. In 1979, Presnell served as a replacement in the Broadway musical "Annie" as Daddy Warbucks and stayed with the role for years on tour, also reprising the tycoon in the failed 90s sequel "Annie II: Miss Hannigan's Revenge," which was later retitled "Annie Warbucks."

More than 25 years had passed by the time Presnell returned to the movies as a brash and balding character actor. He struck pure gold as the righteous, dominating, ill-fated father-in-law of William H. Macy in the Coen Brothers' cult film hit Fargo (1996). This success, in turn, led to meaty roles in Larger Than Life (1996), The Whole Wide World (1996), The Chamber (1996), Face/Off (1997), Saving Private Ryan (1998) and The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000), to name a few. Over the course of his career, he has proven himself a strong presence on TV as well with recurring roles on prime-time ("Lois & Clark") and daytime ("Ryan's Hope"). Presnell may have been born 10-20 years too late to have become a singing film star, but he has come back in spades to launch a whole new career as a noted character performer. Recent roles at age 70+ include TV's "The Pretender," "The Monk" and "ER," and the films Mr. Deeds (2002) and Old School (2003), indicate there are no signs that the twice-married actor is interested in slowing down.

Richard Marcus

As the Centre's Mr. Raines, Richard Marcus plays one of The Pretender's most sinister and enigmatic characters. But Marcus did not begin his career as an actor. His first brush with big screen came as associate producer for Parasita, starring Demi Moore. His first film role followed in 1983 in The Begin, followed by Enemy Mine and parts in films such as Deadly Friend and Cannibal Campout. Prior to joining The Pretender cast, Marcus was best known for his role of Nestor in Tremors. Also look for him in the video game Dune 2000, as voice of Ordos Mentat.