Grant Show

A perennial actor who had his start on daytime soaps, Grant Show graduated to primetime on the 1990s phenomenon, "Melrose Place" (Fox, 1992-99), where his portrayal of motorcycle-loving Jake Hanson turned the previously unrecognized actor into a sensation. Previously, Show had been a regular on "Ryan's Hope" (ABC, 1975-1989) while periodically showing up in episodes of popular series.

Shifting his fortunes, he landed a recurring role as Hanson on "Beverly Hills 90210" (1990-2000), a character who was transitioned over to the quasi-spinoff "Melrose Place." After leaving that series briefly to play Hanson on the short-lived "Models, Inc." (Fox, 1994-95), he returned to "Melrose" until finally leaving for good in 1997.

From there, he bounced back and forth between film and television, seemingly finding little luck as a regular, with several short-lived shows cancelled due to low ratings. He did have a minor cable hit with "Sex & the Single Mom" (Lifetime, 2003), and was notable with recurring turns on "Dirt" (FX, 2007-08) and "Burn Notice" (USA Network, 2007-13). Though he had a tough time finding another standout role, Show remained an accomplished actor and fan favorite with an ever-increasing number of stage, television and film credits under his belt.

Grant Alan Show was born on Feb. 27, 1962 in Detroit, MI, where his father worked as a local police officer. His parents packed up the family and headed to San Jose, CA, when he entered his teens. Show was used to being bullied in junior high, but by the time he attended Samuel Ayer High School, he was skilled in wrestling and basketball.

Despite his athleticism, he never felt part of the popular set and soon found his strongest kinship with the theater kids, alongside whom he took to the stage in productions of "Romeo and Juliet" and "Barefoot in the Park." He studied theater at the University of California, Los Angeles, and upon graduation was hired onto the popular daytime soap, "Ryan's Hope" (ABC, 1975-1989).

From 1984-87, he lived in New York City while he taped his role as Officer Rick Hyde and found the time to make his Broadway debut in "The Boys of Winter" (1985) while cruising on to a two-episode appearance on "The Love Boat" (ABC, 1977-1986).

Realizing that "Ryan's Hope" was not his ticket to stardom, Show left the soap to study acting for a year at the London Academy of Dramatic Arts. When he returned and settled in Los Angeles, he went through a frustrating year and a half without finding any work. By 1989, however, his career began to pick up.

After appearing in a series of made-for-television projects such as the sprawling miniseries "Lucky" (NBC, 1990), Show found something of a rarity - a character that would seep onto three different television series. In 1992, he was cast in a multi-episode arc on Fox's long-running teen drama "Beverly Hills 90210" (1990-2000), tantalizing audiences as Jake Hanson, the mysterious, somewhat older bad boy biker and love interest to Jennie Garth's Kelly Taylor.

It was a brief gig, but it landed him a leading role in "Coopersmith" (1992), CBS' backdoor pilot about a biker-claims investigator. The 90-minute movie did not develop into a series, but Show's "90210" alter-ego Jake rode off onto another of Fox's Aaron Spelling nighttime sizzlers, "Melrose Place," where he stayed from 1992-97.

In June 1994, Jake put made an appearance on a third series, the pilot for Fox's, "Models, Inc." (1994-95), but the show failed to take hold of an audience and was cancelled during its first season. While doing duty on "Melrose Place," Show began dating series co-star Laura Leighton (Sydney Andrews). Oddly enough, as the show became darker in tone, his character became less of a brooder.

Meanwhile, Show had the chance to flex his acting muscles a bit further as William Barret Travis in ABC's Western epic miniseries "Texas." As Dennis Pitt, Show next toplined Fox's television remake of the romantic thriller "Pretty Poison" (1996). Jake Hanson moved out of "Melrose Place" for good in 1997 and returned to Broadway where he appeared alongside Judith Light in the 1999 production of "Wit." After following as Jim, the Gentleman Caller, in a 2001 revival of "The Glass Menagerie," Show bounced back into television roles and landed episodes of "Ed" (NBC, 2000-04), "UC: Undercover" (NBC, 2001-02) and "Six Feet Under" (HBO, 2001-05).

In 2003, Show had a minor cable hit with Lifetime's "Sex & the Single Mom" (2003), in which he played opposite actress Gail O'Grady as Alex Lofton, the object of desire of a single mother trying to educate her daughter about promiscuity. He quickly switched gears and took a plum part in "Homeland Security" (NBC, 2004), a movie-of-the-week about the impact of the September 11th events on America's national security agencies.

Show's appeal with women was utilized once again in Lifetime's "Strong Medicine" (2000-06), in which he portrayed a hospital administrator from 2003-05. Off-screen, one particular lady who found him appealing, model Pollyanna McIntosh, his girlfriend of two years, became his wife in 2004 - though the couple wound up divorcing six years later.

A sure hit with Lifetime's core female audience, he was also back with O'Grady filming "More Sex & the Single Guy" (2005), and returned as a regular on yet another new Fox series, the supernatural chiller "Point Pleasant" (2005). Instead of charming audiences, he got to frighten them as a sinister stranger who drifts into a seaside New Jersey town. Unfortunately, the series lasted a scant two months before being canceled.

In 2006, Show softened in a guest spot on "Beautiful People" (ABC Family, 2005-06), acting opposite his old "Melrose Place" love interest, Daphne Zuniga. From there, he went against type to play a secretly gay actor in a relationship with the brother of editor-in-chief Lucy Spiller (Courteney Cox) on "Dirt" (FX, 2007-08) before landing a regular role on the short-lived "Swingtown" (CBS, 2008), a moody period series revolving around couple-swapping in the 1970s.

In the feature world, he had a small supporting turn in the horror thriller "The Girl Next Door" (2007), but the small screen remained his bread and butter with a recurring role as Dr. Archer Montgomery on both "Grey's Anatomy" (ABC, 2005-) and "Private Practice" (ABC, 2007-13). After surviving as a regular on yet another short-lived series, "Accidentally On Purpose" (CBS, 2009-10), Show scored five episodes from the last season of "Big Love" (HBO, 2006-11) and was a CIA operative who helps Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan), only to be killed by an unknown assassin on the popular spy series "Burn Notice" (USA Network, 2007-13).

Following a two-episode appearance on "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (CBS, 2000-15), Show ventured back into features with a supporting turn in the supernatural thriller "The Possession" (2012). That same year, Show married his second wife, actress and former ballet dancer Katherine LaNasa.

By Shawn Dwyer