|

|
Rob
Morrow portrays Dr. Joel Fleischman,
the quintessential "fish-out-of water." Joel is an inveterate New
Yorker who has been transplanted to the remote Alaskan town of Cicely.
Immediately welcomed by the oddball locals of Cicely, the reluctant
Joel struggles to operate in the sparse, make-shift medical office
set up for him, and has trouble accepting what passes for "normal"
behavior in this eccentric little town. Morrow brings a disarming
warmth to Joel's griping as he copes with his perpetual relocation
angst, and was nominated for Outstanding
actor in a Drama Series for the 1991-1992 season.
Born Sept.
21, 1962, and raised in New Rochelle, New York, Morrow is the son
of Murray Morrow, an industrial lighting manufacturer, and Diane
Morrow. Rob's parents divorced when he was 9 years old. He began
pursuing a professional acting career fresh out of high school.
A number of theater odd jobs led to his first break. While working
as an assistant to Michael Bennet on Dream Girls, Bennett
cast him for a major role in the play Third Street at the Circle
Repertory Theater.
Among Morrow's
many stage performances are leading roles in Chaim Potok's musical
adaptation of The Chosen, Michael Bennett's Scandal,
Soulful Scream of the Chosen Son, The Boys of Winter,
and Slam. He also performed with The
Naked Angels in New York. Morrow made his film debut in 1986
in the comedy Private
Resort (1985) with Johnny Depp. In addition to his leading
role on the television series Tattingers
(1989), Morrow guest-starred in the series Fame
and Spencer for Hire.
|
In
1994, Rob opened the healthy, dairy-free Josie's Restaurant and
Juice Bar with his childhood friend and chef, Louis Lanza, in the
Upper West Side of New York City. Much like the hot spots of Cicely,
Alaska, Josie's accommodates a range of possibilities and personalities
(e.g., meat-lovers can enjoy a meal with a macrobiotic, dairy-free
friend -- or foe) in a colorful and harmonious atmosphere ('50s
retro with a slick '90s edge). Josie's lovingly caters to the health-nut,
but forget about bland granola and soymilk -- the menu features
a mouth-watering palette of treats from ginger-grilled calamari
to three-grain veggie burgers, dairy-free wild mushroom ravioli,
and organic wine. Cook along with the former doc, as Rob Morrow
shares his favorite selections from Josie's and some recipes soon
to be featured in Louis Lanza's new cook book, Totally Dairy-Free
Cooking. Don't worry, just because you're cooking fancy food, we
won't think you're a descendent of French aristocracy. [Josie's
Restaurant and Juice Bar is located at 300 Amsterdam Avenue
(74th Street), New York, NY 10023.]
After leaving
Northern Exposure, Morrow has appeared in films such as Quiz
Show (1994), Last
Dance (1996), Mother
(1996), and in the made-for-TV movies, The
Day Lincoln Was Shot (1998), starred opposite Marisa Tomei
in the CBS/Hallmark Entertainment mini-series, Only
Love (1998). Morrow has also appeared in The
Emperor's Club (2002), and The
Guru (2002).
He performed
in the theatrical adaptation of William Wharton's novel, Birdy,
in London's West End and three independent features: Into
My Heart (1998) with Claire Forlani, Labor
Pains (2000) with Kyra Sedgwick and Mary Tyler Moore, and
Other Voices
(2000) with Stockard Channing and Campbell Scott. He wrote and made
his directorial debut with the short film The
Silent Alarm (1993), which premiered at the 1993 Seattle
Film Festival and shown at festivals around the world and in rotation
on Bravo. He appeared in the TV movies, The
Thin Blue Lie (2000); Sam
the Man (2000); and Jenifer
(2001) about a woman with ALS. He directed his first full-length
feature from a script he co-wrote, Maze
(2000). He co-stared with Laura Linney and Craig Scheffer, as an
artist with Tourette's Syndrome.
Rob married
Debbon Ayer in
1998. On April 25, 2001, they welcomed their first child, daughter
Tu Simone Ayer Morrow.
In 2002, he
starred in a short drama Night's
Noontime, based on a true story of two 'remarkeble lunatics'
trying to find the meaning of the word 'art' while confined in a
mental asylum.In 2002, Morrow returned to TV in the Showtime series titled Street
Time, as Kevin Hunter, a parolee who battles falling back
into a life of crime while maintaining his family life. Morrow directed
several episodes of Street Time as well as an episode of
HBO's Oz
(1997) and CBS's Joan
of Arcadia (2003), which was created by NoEx
writer Barbara Hall.
In the Spring
2005, Morrow returned to CBS in the mid-season replacement series NUMB3RS. The show premiered on Jan 23, 2005 (and then settled in on Friday
nights 9/10pm slot), Morrow stars as FBI agent Don Eppes, who recruits
his mathematical genius brother, Charlie (David Krumholtz), to help
the Bureau solve a wide range of challenging crimes in Los Angeles.
From two very different perspectives, the brothers take on the most
confounding criminal cases, aided by Don's partner, Terry Lake (Sabrina
Lloyd), and new FBI recruit David Sinclair (Alimi Ballard). Although
their father, Alan (Judd Hirsch), is pleased to see his sons working
together, he fears their competitive nature will lead to trouble.
Charlie's colleague, physicist Dr. Larry Fleinhardt (Peter MacNicol),
urges Charlie to focus more on his university studies than on FBI
business. Inspired by actual events, NUMB3RS depicts how
the confluence of police work and mathematics provides unexpected
revelations and answers to the most perplexing criminal questions.
At the end of 2004 into 2005, Morrow was the voice of the Moving
You Forward ad campaign for Toyota.
In addition to acting and directing, Rob is on the Board of Directors
of Project ALS. Co-founded
by Jenifer Estess, who was diagnosed with ALS in 1997, Project ALS
is committed to funding the research necessary for finding effective
treatments and a cure for people living with ALS, a fatal neuromuscular
disease.
Morrow maintains
a residence in New York City, where he is a member of the Ensemble
Studio Theater , The New York Stage and Film Company and a founding
member of the Naked Angels
Theatre Company. In the late Spring 2007, Rob Morrow purchased a home in Santa Monica.
In his spare time, he enjoys his long-time
hobby of photography and has developed a new and unlikely obsession,
golf, a sport he grudgingly learned in order to realistically portray
the golf-obsessed Dr. Joel Fleischman. During the run of Northern
Exposure, Morrow shot many behind-the-scenes photographs and published
them in Northern
Exposures, Morrow shares some of his favorite photos perfectly
capture the surreal quality of this imaginative show and, along
with the introduction and warm and personal reminiscences Rob has
written, Northern Exposure offers a unique mix of real life and
make believe that fans will love.
In the Fall of 2005, Morrow appeared in the movie, Going
Shopping, about consumer addiction
also starring Victoria Foyt, and Lee Grant. In the September 2007, Morrow appeared in a Lifetime TV movie Custody, filmed in Ottawa, Canada. He played a widower who fights for custody of his 13-year-old stepdaughter when the father who abandoned her returns.
Can you imagine:
Denis Leary, Rob Morrow and Patrick Dempsey were all up for the role of Gregory House on the hit TV series House, but British actor Hugh Laurie eventually won the role with an audition tape he filmed inside a men's room in Namibia, where he was filming action movie remake Flight Of The Phoenix. |