Jon Tenney was born December 16,1961, the youngest of four children, and raised in Princeton, New Jersey. He was drawn to the stage at an early age after seeing his first childhood play. After graduating from high school, he studied at the Circle in the Square Theatre and acted in over 150 plays. While double-majoring at Vassar in drama and philosophy, he continued his training, performing with the Williamstown Theatre Festival during his summers off.
After graduation, Tenney studied at Julliard, but took a break to join the national touring company of Tom Stoppard's "The Real Thing", directed by Mike Nichols. While playing the title role in an off-Broadway production of Tartuffe, he was cast in Up in Saratoga, which subsequently led to his being cast as the lead in "Romeo and Juliet" at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. A newspaper review of the production came to the attention of the producers of the TV hit, "Murphy Brown," who cast Tenney as Miles' older brother, a guest-starring appearance that launched his career on television.
Jon appeared on many series throughout the first few years of his career including "Crime & Punishment," "Dirty Dozen: The TV Serie" and most notably ABCs Drama "Equal Justice" which ran in 1991 and co-starred Sarah Jessica Parker. Jon has had numerous starring roles on and off broadway shows. His biggest to date being "The Heiress" where he preformed the starring role opposite Joan Allen. Many of the off-broadway shows Jon starred in include, Brighton "Beach Memoirs" "Biloxi Blues," "The Substance of Fire," "Sweet Sue," "Beggers in The House Of Plenty" and "A Shayna Maidel."
In 1993 Jon was set up on a "blind date" with a young actress, who had herself vowed to never again date an actor. During the course of the evening, this young actress felt ignored and decided to finish her conversation with a ficus plant, it was at this moment that Jon fell in love with Teri Hatcher. They wed on May 27, 1994 in Jon's hometown and spent their honeymoon in New York city. Making spots in Greenwich Village and FaoSwartz where Teri bought Jon a model airplane and Jon purchased a teddy bear for his bride
Marriage can be hard when you are separated from your spouse. While Teri was in Los Angeles filming "Lois & Clark", Jon was in New York appearing on stage in The Heiress. Love has no bounds, as Teri would get on a plane on Friday night, fly to New York to spend two days with her husband, then get back on a plane on Sunday to go back to her job.In 1996 Jon started work on a new show for CBS titled "Good Company." It was an ensemble cast, but Jon was the star (his name was first), making it easier on the marriage because now both Jon and Teri were in LA and both were working.
"Good Company" was canceled by May, after only six excellent episodes aired. After this, Jon went back to the stage, but this time it was in Los Angeles.Just as Jon's film career was taking off in movies such as Fools Rush In and Showtimes "Twilight Of The Golds", Teri's seemed to be crashing. Despite strong scripts and even stronger acting, "Lois & Clark" was falling in the ratings, mainly due to ABC's lack of advertising, and after numerous rumored reports, "Lois & Clark" was canceled May 21, 1997. The cancellation may have just been a blessing in disguise for Teri, just as her tv life was ending, her real life was growing. On May 2, 1997 the whole country, and even the world knew what Teri and Jon had known for weeks prior, that Teri was pregnant with their first child.
In September of 1997, Jons new Steven Bochco cop drama "Brooklyn South" premiered to rave reviews, and on November 10, 1997 Jon and Teri welcomed their new daughter, Emerson Rose, into the world. Unfortunately someone has to lose in the ratings war, and "Brooklyn South" was falling far in that department; by the end of the season in April 1998, everyone knew the show would not be coming back for another year.It's been over a year since "Brooklyn South" ended and in that time Jon has appeared on variety shows and an off broadway play with Holly Hunter titled "The Impossible Marriage" which remained sold out throughout it's performances.
Jon's new show Get Real premiered on September 8th, 1999 on FOX to mixed reviews and only lasted one season before it was cancelled in May 2000.Unfazed as always, Jon went on to star in "Current Events," an off-broadway play about a young boy confused about his sexuality. Jon protrayed the boys ever busy uncle and was of course, excellent. I was able to see the play from the first row and can attest to Jon's greatness on stage.Jon also co-starred in the Sundance Film Fesitival Grand Prize Winner "You Can Count On Me" with Laura Linney and Matthew Broderick. This film is also a top contender for an Oscar Nomination. You can next catch Jon in the NBC sitcom "Kristin" which is to premiere on NBC sometime in March 2001.