Brett Cullen

Peter Brett Cullen born August 26 1956 is an American actor who has appeared in numerous motion pictures and television programs Early in 2007 he was cast as the role of an estranged father to one of the American football players Tim Riggins played by actor Taylor Kitsch in the NBC drama series Friday Night Lights Cullen was born in Houston Texas the son of Lucien Hugh Cullen an oil industry executive and Catherine Cullen He graduated from Madison High School in Houston in 1974 Cullen graduated from the University of Houston giving great credit to his highly acclaimed acting mentor and University of Houston professor Cecil Pickett who also mentored such Houston born actors as Dennis Quaid Randy Quaid Brent Spiner among others Cullen and Dennis Quaids close friendship to this day dates back to the 1970s and it is Cullen who introduced Dennis Quaid to his current wife Kimberly Buffington at a dinner in Austin Texas Cullen played Dan Fixx in the 1980s CBS drama Falcon Crest for two seasons 19861988 and Marshal Sam Cain in the ABC western series The Young Riders for one season 19891990 In 1980 he appeared as the second Gideon Chisholm in the last nine episodes of the CBS western miniseries The Chisholms In the four earlier episodes the Gideon Chisholm role was played by Brian Kerwin Cullen was the lead actor as Ned Logan in the shortlived Legacy which lasted for just one season 19981999 On the series The West Wing Cullen played Ray Sullivan a fictional governor of West Virginia and the Republican nominee for Vice President His guest appearances on TV include The Incredible Hulk Tales from the Crypt MASH V Matlock Star Trek Deep Space Nine Ally McBeal Walker Texas Ranger Once and Again Without a Trace Cold Case The Mountain Monk CSI Miami NCIS Desperate Housewives Pepper Dennis Lost Ghost Whisperer Private Practice Ugly Betty and Friday Night Lights In 2009 he had a recurring role in the ABC Family television series Make It or Break It He has played two reallife astronauts Jack Lousma in Apollo 13 Brett is the CapCom at the time of the explosion at that shift Lousma was the CapCom in real life and David Scott in the HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon His most recent appearance was in the role of Barton Blaze in the movie Ghost Rider Other movie credits include Wyatt Earp with Kevin Costner Gambler V Playing for Keeps with Kenny Rogers and Bruce Boxleitner Something to Talk About with Julia Roberts and Dennis Quaid The Replacements with Gene Hackman On Golden Pond with Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer Nancy Drew and Gridiron Gang He also played Bob Cleary in the 1983 miniseries The Thorn Birds Cullen was recently cast in the upcoming femme comedy Monte Carlo alongside Selena Gomez Andie MacDowell and Leighton Meester and is playing the role of Tom Eckert in the upcoming war film Red Dawn On February 8 2011 Brett was named the official spokesman for Houston Works which helps Houston residents with job training and placement scholarships consulting technical initiatives focusing on science technology engineering and mathematics and summer job programs along with Youth Summits From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia