Jason Priestley

Jason Bradford Priestley (born August 28, 1969) is a Canadian actor and director. He is best known as the virtuous Brandon Walsh on the television series Beverly Hills, 90210 and for his role starring as Richard "Fitz" Fitzpatrick in the show Call Me Fitz. Early life Jason Bradford Priestley was born on August 28, 1969 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. His mother is actress Sharon Kirk. He is a graduate of Argyle Secondary School in North Vancouver. He has a twin sister, Justine Priestley, and two step-siblings, Karin and Kristi. He became a naturalized American citizen in 2007. Career Priestley first started his television career doing commercials for companies such as Fletcher's Meats and then guest-starring as Bobby Conrad a.k.a. Roberto Coronado Jr., a mobster's grandson, in the early 1987 episode "A Piece of Cake" from the final 4th season of the television series Airwolf, and appeared in two episodes of 21 Jump Street in 1987–88, then moved on to the 1989 short-lived sitcom Sister Kate which starred Stephanie Beacham. He played Todd, one of the fosterchildren under the care of Sister Kate, an English nun. In 1990, Priestley was chosen as Brandon Walsh on the hit series Beverly Hills, 90210. The show garnered worldwide fame and made Priestley a teen idol, he was nominated for two Golden Globes for his work on the show. He also directed nineteen of the show's episodes. He remained on the show until 1998, when Brandon moved to Washington, DC. Brandon was the last Walsh to leave the show; however, Priestley would continue to serve as an executive producer until the show ended in 2000. Priestley joined the cast of Tru Calling as Jack Harper from 2004–05. He was also a regular on the 2006 program Love Monkey. His television work also includes the WB show What I Like About You and a February 2006 appearance on Without a Trace. Priestley has also made several films, his most notable role perhaps[citation needed] being in 1997's Love and Death on Long Island, in which he played a teen idol struggling to be taken seriously as an actor. He directed the nineteenth episode in the final season of 7th Heaven. He also directed two episodes of The Secret Life of the American Teenager: "Slice of Life" and "Just Say No". They appeared on August 26, 2008 and September 9, 2008 on ABC Family. On July 15, 2007 he returned to series television as one of the lead males in Lifetime Television's comedy-drama Side Order of Life. Priestley made a guest appearance on NBC's My Name Is Earl in 2008. He played Blake, Earl's better-looking and more successful cousin. That year, Priestley directed five episodes of Secret Life. Priestley directed the episode when Tori Spelling returned to 90210. In 2009, Priestley directed and co-produced all 12 episodes of the web-series The Lake on TheWB.com. In December 2009 along with Dougray Scott, Brian Cox, and Eddie Izzard, Priestley was featured in The Day of the Triffids, written by Patrick Harbinson, whose credits include ER and Law & Order. The drama is based on John Wyndham's best-selling post-apocalyptic novel, The Day of the Triffids. Priestley directed his former co-star Luke Perry in the Hallmark Channel movie Goodnight for Justice, which aired in January 2011. He guest starred as one half of a con artist couple alongside Jennifer Finnigan in a sixth season episode of USA's Psych and also appeared in the music video "Boys" by Britney Spears. Priestley has been the title role and main character of the HBO Canada TV show Call Me Fitz since 2010, which completed its second season in December 2011. In August 2011, Priestley joined the cast of sci-fi television show Haven, in a recurring role during its second season. He also directed one episode. Priestley's feature film directorial debut was the independent road trip comedy Cas & Dylan, starring Richard Dreyfuss and Tatiana Maslany. In April 2013 Priestley appeared in Canadian Stage's production of Race, a David Mamet play, in Toronto at the Bluma Appel Theater. In 2015, Priestley starred alongside Gael Garcia Bernal in Zoom, a comedy directed by Pedro Morelli that premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Personal life On May 14, 2005, Priestley married make-up artist Naomi Lowde. On July 2, 2007 the couple had a daughter, Ava Veronica. On April 13, 2009, Priestley announced that he and his wife were expecting their second child, a son, who was born on July 9, 2009 and is reportedly named Dashiell Orson. On July 9, 2007, he revealed on Late Night with Conan O'Brien that he had become an American citizen several weeks earlier. Priestley's sister, Justine, is also an actress, and appeared in a couple of episodes on the 90210 spin-off Melrose Place in 1996. In 2013, restaurant chain Tim Hortons created a new donut in Priestley's honor, entitled "The Priestley". It was not rolled out on a nationwide scale, however.[15] On May 6, 2014, HarperOne published his autobiography, Jason Priestley: A Memoir.[16]