Coleman's first major role was in Days of Our Lives, where he appeared from 1981 to 1982 as the character of Jake Kositchek. He also made an appearance on Celebrity Bullseye. In 1982, he joined the cast of Dynasty when he took over the role of Steven Carrington, one of the first gay characters on American television. Coleman played the role until the end of the show's eighth season in 1988. He was a regular on the short-lived series Nightmare Cafe, and appeared on the miniseries Kingdom Hospital. He made guest appearances in The Net, ', Nip/Tuck, Without a Trace, ', and Entourage. He co-starred as Alyson & Amanda Michalka's father in the Disney Channel Original MovieCow Belles. He was nominated for his performance in the play Stand-up Tragedy at the Mark Taper Forum, and won a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for his performance in Bouncers. He wrote the screenplays for Studio City, which he produced and acted in, and Can't Help Falling. Coleman was a main cast member of science-fiction series Heroes, where he played Noah Bennet. Coleman states about portraying the character, "It's a combination of the light and dark. I don't want to just be a moustache twirling villain." Coleman appeared in an episode of The Mentalist in October 2010. He played the role of a wealthy, arrogant murder suspect named Max Winter. He also played a patient named Joe Dugan in the House episode of "Office Politics" in 2010. In Hallmark Channel’s original movie Rock The House, Jack Coleman played a lawyer named Max who finds a way to reconnect with his daughter and his old sense of joy when he gets back together with his music-making friends from his teenaged years. Starting in November 2010, Coleman had a recurring role on The Office as Pennsylvania State Senator Robert Lipton, the love interest for both Angela Martin and Oscar Martinez. He has appeared in the episodes "WUPHF.com", "Classy Christmas", "Michael's Last Dundies","Goodbye, Michael", "Jury Duty", "Fundraiser", "Free Family Portrait Studio" "New Guys", "Here Comes Treble", "The Boat", "The Whale", "Customer Loyalty" and "Vandalism". From 2011 to 2012, he played Bill Forbes on the third season of the CW drama The Vampire Diaries in the episodes "The Hybrid", "The End of the Affair", "Disturbing Behavior", "The Ties That Bind" and "Bringing Out The Dead". In 2011, he appeared on the CBS drama Criminal Minds, playing Bill Rogers, a serial rapist, in the episode "Hope". On July 22, 2012, it was announced that Coleman is joining the fifth season of Castle as a new antagonist for Stana Katic’s character Kate Beckett. He has appeared in the episodes "After the Storm", "Recoil", "In the Belly of the Beast", "Veritas", "XY", and "XX" playing Senator William H Bracken. Jack Coleman joined USA’s Burn Notice as a recurring part of the USA Network drama’s truncated seventh and final season. He played Andrew Strong, a ranking CIA officer who has seen it all. Noble, but also obsessive at times, Strong is a relentless taskmaster who pushes Michael to do whatever it takes to complete the mission. In 2013, he played the closeted gay husband Daniel Douglas Langston of conservative Vice President Sally Langston on Scandal. In February 2014, he appeared in Season 14 Episode 15 – "Love for Sale". In 2015, he reprised his role as Noah Bennet in an "event miniseries" Heroes Reborn, which served as a continuation of the original Heroes storyline In 2019 he starred in the movie version of Graham Farrow's award winning, critically acclaimed stage play 'Rattlesnakes'.
Personal life
Coleman married actress Beth Toussaint in 1996. They have a daughter, Tess, born in 1999.