Tim Guinee

Maybe you know Tim Guinee from his recurring roles as a well-intentioned renegade cop on "Wiseguy" (CBS, 1987-1990) and as a pesky private investigator on "The Good Wife" (CBS, 2009-16), or from his portrayal of a secretive scientist on J.J. Abrams' post-apocalyptic "Revolution" (NBC, 2012-14).

Maybe you saw Guinee, who studied bee-keeping and wire-walking while majoring in acting at the University of North Carolina, as a disintegrating zombie in "Blade" (1998); or as legendary record producer Sam Phillips in the made-for-TV miniseries "Elvis" (CBS, 2005); or even as Drea de Matteo's almost-perfect husband in "Broken English" (2012). But whether you know him as an unlucky TV reporter on "24" (Fox, 2001-2010) or as a stoic general in "Iron Man" (2008), what remains constant is Guinee's low-key charisma and subtle intensity.

Born in Los Angeles, CA in 1962, Guinee grew up in Illinois and Texas as the middle child of three brothers and two sisters. A lifelong interest in acting led him to the High School of Performing Arts in Houston, TX and the University of North Carolina School of Arts, where he eventually earned his drama degree.

After making his debut in the 1986 action-adventure film "Tai Pan," he quickly transitioned to TV with supporting roles on mini-series such as "Lincoln" (NBC, 1988) and shows like "Wiseguy," where he portrayed a vengeful cop who infiltrates an anti-Semitic group. By 1990 he had landed a recurring role as a worrisome defendant on the influential legal drama "L.A. Law" (NBC, 1986-1994), and spent the rest of the decade acting in feature films such as "Courage Under Fire" (1996) and "Beavis and Butthead Do America" (1996), in which he landed his first voice-over role as an ATF agent.

Just a year later Guinee married Daisy Foote, the daughter of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Horton Foote who had forged a successful theater career of her own.

After appearing in the adaptation of the vampire comic "Blade," in which he plays a truly creepy vampire-zombie hybrid, Guinee landed his first series regular role as a government scientist tasked with hunting mutants on "Strange World" (Fox, 1999-2002), an ambitious sci-fi thriller from "The X-Files" producer Howard Gordon.

His laidback yet intense demeanor, as well as his many years spent in North Carolina, proved a perfect match for his portrayal of Alabama-born Sun Records founder Sam Phillips in the 2005 CBS biopic "Elvis." And following a steady stream of supporting roles on otherworldly shows such as "Stargate SG-1" (Sci-Fi, 1997-2007) and "Ghost Whisperer" (CBS, 2005-2010), Guinee appeared as a seemingly perfect husband with a wandering eye in the indie film "Broken English."

In 2008, Guinee jumped to the big leagues when he was cast alongside Terrence Howard as a no-nonsense general in the blockbuster "Iron Man." Shortly after reprising his role (this time opposite Don Cheadle, who stepped in for Howard after pay negotiations fell through) in 2010's "Iron Man 2," Guinee was cast in a recurring role as pot-stirring private investigator Andrew Wiley on "The Good Wife."

A voiceover role in the family-friendly "The Odd Life of Timothy Green" (2012) came courtesy of director and fellow UNCSA alum Peter Hedges, who named Guinee's character after a mutual college friend. Later that year, the always adventurous Guinee tested his survival skills as scientist Ben Matheson on NBC's well-received post-apocalyptic drama "Revolution."