Alex Carter

With a penchant for sharp-cut suits and law enforcement, Alex Carter cut an impressive silhouette whether he was fighting bad guys as Detective Vartann on "CSI" (CBS 2000- ) or playing one himself as slimy government agent Jason Bly on "Burn Notice" (USA 2007-2013).

Alex Carter was born on November 12, 1964 in Toronto, Ontario. Upon graduating from high school, the Greek-Canadian actor headed to Hollywood to pursue his dream of acting and trained with the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. While many of his contemporaries stuck around Hollywood to pound the pavement, Carter headed back to his native land and carved out a career for himself in Canadian television.

He did a number of TV movies and landed his first recurring role on the series "Side Effects" (CBC 1994-96). He made his American television debut in the Canadian-shot crime series "Martial Law" (CBS 1998-2000), which led to numerous guest spots on other influential American series such as "Felicity" (WB 1998-2002), "JAG" (NBC 1995-2005), and "Nip/Tuck" (FX 2003-2010).

After toiling in the television trenches, Carter made his big-screen debut in the crime thriller "Out of Time" (2003), alongside Denzel Washington and Eva Mendes. Later, he took a small part in Michael Bay's futuristic sci-fi blockbuster "The Island" (2005), starring Scarlett Johansson and Ewan McGregor. In 2003, he made his first appearance as Las Vegas Detective Lou Vartaan on the long-running crime-procedural series "CSI."

Though the show featured a revolving door of detectives over the course of its run, Vartaan was a fan favorite and continued to work on the show until 2013 while guest starring in other projects. He proved he could heat up the screen, during his character's love scenes with co-worker Catherine Willows, played by Marg Helgenberger.

While maintaining his "CSI" role, Carter donned a police badge once again with a recurring role on the supernatural drama "Point Pleasant" (FOX 2005), but the low-rated series didn't last long. He found work in another teen-targeted drama, "Wildfire" (ABC 2005-08), and played a cop on the gritty procedural "Lincoln Heights"(ABC 2007-2010) for a number of episodes.

While appearing in his fair share of family-friendly material, Carter sought out more action roles, making his way around the networks to do a number of guest spots on hit shows like "24" (FOX 2001-2010), the soapy drama "Revenge" (ABC 2011-) and "Burn Notice." After making a small appearance on the show in 2007, his character Jason Bly was brought back on and expanded in Season 2. As a foil to Jeffrey Donovan's character, Michael Westen, Bly was equally loved and loathed by fans until Carter left the series in 2012.

He followed up his spy stint in Miami with the disaster B-movie "40 Days and Nights" (2012) from the production company The Asylum, who are responsible for other campy sci-fi and creature features like "Sharknado" (2013). Although he remained best known for his television work, Carter was no stranger to the theatrical stage, having appeared in "A Streetcar Named Desire," "The Greeks," and "Strange Snow."

His performance in a production of "Sweet Bird of Youth" at Toronto's Royal Alexandra Theatre led to an invitation to perform at the prestigious Williamstown Theater in Massachusetts, and later in the off-Broadway production of "Frozen Dogs."