Scott Patterson


Scott Gordon Patterson is an American actor and musician. He is known for his role as Luke Danes in Gilmore Girls and as Special Agent Peter Strahm in the Saw films. He also starred as Michael Buchanan in the NBC drama series The Event and as a Tenctonese alien commander in the TV film .

Early life

Patterson was born September 11, 1958, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Hope Gordon, a homemaker, journalist, and actress in the Haddonfield Plays and Players Theatre Troupe, and Francis Ford Patterson IV, an advertising executive. His parents divorced in 1974. Patterson formed The Unknowns, his first band, in the third grade with longtime friend Tommy Poitras. They played just two songs – Back in the U.S.S.R. and Steppin' Stone. The Unknowns added to their set list and performed throughout grade school and high school but disbanded after high school graduation. Patterson was raised in Haddonfield, New Jersey and attended Haddonfield Memorial High School. He attended Rutgers University, pursuing a degree in Comparative Literature. He studied acting in New York with renowned coaches Robert Lewis and Sondra Lee. He was exposed to the teachings of such luminaries as Paul Newman, Arthur Penn, and Frank Corsaro at the Actors Studio, where he also participated in the Producer's Unit chaired by Penn. He appeared in numerous productions, including Rasputin and Miss Julie.

Baseball career

Patterson spent seven years, from to, as a professional pitcher in minor league baseball, topping out at the Triple-A level, the highest before the major leagues. He played in two major league farm systems for seven different minor league teams and was selected to four all-star teams. Patterson was initially selected by the Atlanta Braves in the first round of the 1980 Major League Baseball secondary draft. He played his first pro season with their Class A Anderson Braves in 1980. In 1981 Patterson won 13 consecutive games as a starting pitcher between Class A Durham and Double-A Savannah to set a Braves record for most consecutive wins to start a season. He was named the Braves Minor League Pitcher of the Month twice.
Patterson was traded from the Braves to the New York Yankees for Bob Watson on April 23, 1982, and was placed on the Yankees Major League roster in 1983. Patterson was named as an All-Star both with the Yankees' Double-A Albany-Colonie Yankees and Triple-A Columbus Clippers in 1986. In 1985 he was selected by the Texas Rangers in the Rule 5 draft but subsequently returned to the Yankees. While in the Yankees organization Patterson was named their minor league Pitcher of the Month once, and Pitcher of the Week three times. Patterson also pitched in the Puerto Rican Winter League with the Lobos de Arecibo in 1984-85, and the Dominican Professional Baseball League with Santo Domingo in 1985-86. Patterson signed a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers affiliate, the Albuquerque Dukes, in late 1986 but never played at the major league level.

Acting career

In 1988, Patterson formed the Arclight Theatre Company in Soho, NYC with John Bishop. Patterson played Jedediah Kohler in Bishop's The Great, Great Grandson of Jedediah Kohler in the Company's debut production. One night, George Wolfe was in the audience and offered Gordon-Patterson a role in the European Traveling Company's Tamara but he turned it down to continue work with Arclight.
In 1993, Patterson was slated to play the lead in Castle Rock's Little Big League opposite Sela Ward. The producers recast the role at the last minute with Revenge of the Nerds star Timothy Busfield, opting to offer Patterson the role of Mike McGrevey.
Patterson completed filming the leading role in the feature film Her Best Move, directed by Norm Hunter and co-starring Lisa Darr. He also appeared on the big screen in Little Big League, with Jason Robards, and in Three Wishes, with Patrick Swayze and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. He also starred in the independent films Highway 395 and Rhapsody in Bloom with Penelope Ann Miller and Ron Silver, Boys of Abu Ghraib with Sean Astin, and Other People's Children with Diane Marshall-Grant.
On television, he has landed romantic roles; his most notable role, which he played for seven years on the television show Gilmore Girls, is Luke Danes, the on-again, off-again love interest of the show's protagonist, Lorelai Gilmore, played by Lauren Graham.
On Seinfeld, Patterson was deemed "spongeworthy" by Elaine. He had a profound effect on Grace in the "Das Boob" episode of Will & Grace, and he played the love interests of Jennifer Grey in It's Like, You Know and Sharon Lawrence's character in Fired Up. He has also guest starred on Arli$$ and Get Real.
Among Patterson's recent projects are a co-starring role on Aliens in America and voicing the character of King Faraday in the 2004 animated series Justice League Unlimited, from Warner Bros. Animation. He has also starred as Agent Strahm in two iterations of the Saw franchise, Saw IV and Saw V, also appearing through flashback sequences in Saw VI.
Patterson appeared in some episodes of the second season of 90210 as Liam Court's ex-con father who has recently been released from prison and wants to reconnect with his son.
Patterson starred as Michael Buchanan in the NBC drama series The Event, which premiered on September 20, 2010. His character was killed off in episode 18.
In 2016, Patterson reprised his role as Luke Danes for the revival miniseries , which streamed on Netflix on November 25, 2016.

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1992Intent to KillAlDirect-to-video
1994Little Big LeagueMike McGrevey
1995'CHP Officer
1995Three WishesScott's Father
2000Highway 395Mark Bradley
2007Her Best MoveGil Davis
2007Saw IVAgent Peter Strahm
2008Saw VAgent Peter Strahm
2009Saw VIAgent Peter StrahmUncredited
2012'George Martinalso known as A Beer Tale
2013Meth HeadHank
2014Boys of Abu GhraibCaptain Hayes
2015Other People's ChildrenFrank Tassler
2017ApeBillShort film
2017Yellow FeverJohn Smart
2018James GordonVoice role
2018Con ManOlder Mikey
TBAThe RogueAgent WyattPre-production
TBALibertyIan JensenPre-production
TBAThe Sons of SummerCoachPre-production

Television