Linden Ashby


Clarence Linden Garnett Ashby III is an American actor and martial artist. He is known for his roles as Johnny Cage in the film adaptation of Mortal Kombat, and as Dr. Brett Cooper on Melrose Place. He is well known for his role as Sheriff Noah Stilinski in the MTV series Teen Wolf.

Early life

Ashby was born in Atlantic Beach, Florida, the son of Eleanor, a civic organizer, and Clarence Linden Garnett Ashby Jr., a pharmaceuticals manufacturer. Ashby graduated from The Bolles School, a private school located in Jacksonville, Florida. He attended Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, but dropped out his junior year to pursue an acting career. Ashby studied acting at Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City.

Career

Ashby's first role on television, in 1985, was on the ABC soap opera Loving, where he was the second actor to play the role of Curtis Alden. Soon after, he was cast as Lance Reventlow, the only son of Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton in the Golden Globe-winning miniseries .
In the spring of 1997, Ashby starred in the short-lived ABC drama Spy Game. Later that year, he joined the main cast of Melrose Place as Dr. Brett Cooper, a role he had until the start of the seventh season in late 1998. He first appeared on the show in the first season in 1993 as Jo Reynolds's estranged husband Charles, in the episodes "Peanut Butter and Jealousy" and "Single White Sister". He was in the movie Wyatt Earp where he played Morgan Earp, Wyatt Earp's younger brother. He played Cameron Kirsten on The Young and the Restless from 2003 to 2004. He also began playing the role of Paul Hollingsworth on Days of Our Lives in March 2008.
Ashby also portrayed Beacon Hills' Sheriff and father to Stiles Stilinski on MTV's Teen Wolf series.

Personal life

Ashby is married to actress Susan Walters. The couple met on the set of Loving in 1983, where she was a regular and he was filming a guest appearance. They have two daughters, Frances Grace and Savannah Elizabeth. Ashby has been a student of martial arts on and off since he was 21 and studied Karate, Tae Kwon Do and Kung Fu.
Linden has admitted to previously suffering panic attacks before auditions which threatened to shorten his career.

Filmography

Film

Television

Director

Awards and nominations