Jonathan LaPaglia
Jonathan LaPaglia is an Australian-American actor known for his roles as Frank B. Parker in the television series Seven Days, Kevin Debreno in The District and Det. Tommy McNamara in New York Undercover.
Since 2016, LaPaglia has hosted Network Ten's revival of Australian Survivor.
Personal life
LaPaglia was born in Adelaide, South Australia, the youngest of three sons of Maria Johannes, a secretary, originally from the Netherlands and Gedio "Eddie" LaPaglia, an auto mechanic and car dealer from Bovalino, Calabria, Italy. His elder brothers are actor Anthony LaPaglia, and Michael LaPaglia, a car wholesaler in Los Angeles. Jonathan LaPaglia lives in Santa Monica, California with his wife Ursula Brooks and daughter.Career
LaPaglia graduated from Rostrevor College, then the University of Adelaide with a degree in medicine. He worked three years as an emergency ward physician in Adelaide, Sydney and London. Feeling restricted, he decided to follow his brother into acting. In 1994, he moved to New York City where he joined the Circle in the Square Theatre School. He got his first break in 1996 when he joined the cast of the TV show New York Undercover.From 1998 until 2001 he played the role of Lt. Frank B. Parker on the science fiction series Seven Days. Afterwards, he played Detective Kevin Debreno, on The District from 2001–2004. LaPaglia has also guest starred in numerous series including The Sopranos, NCIS, Cold Case and Castle.
He appeared in the May 2008 issue of Car Craft magazine with his custom 6.1L Hemi '73 Dodge Challenger.
In 2011, he starred as the protagonist, Hector, in the TV adaptation of Christos Tsiolkas' novel The Slap produced for ABC TV. Although he is Australian, this was LaPaglia's first appearance in an Australian production. Having lived abroad for many years, LaPaglia found it necessary to hire a dialect coach to recover his Australian accent.
His second role in an Australian production is set to be the title character of real life crime boss Anthony "Rooster" Perish in Channel Nine's , which is the fifth series of the successful true crime drama franchise. He starred in the 2014 movie The Reckoning alongside Luke Hemsworth.
Since 2016, he has been the host of Australian Survivor.
LaPaglia is also a sports enthusiast and model.
Filmography
Director
| Year | Title | Notes |
| 2004 | The District | "The Black Widow Maker" TV episode |