John played hunky DJ Chris Stevens on CBS' Northern Exposure and was Carrie's nicer boyfriend on HBO's Sex and the City. Corbett also portrayed the male lead, Ian Miller, in the romantic comedy film My Big Fat Greek Wedding (the movie, not the TV show). He also starred in the critically-acclaimed FX series, Lucky. and in the films Volcano, Wedding Bell Blues, Tombstone, and Flight of the Intruder, and he's is the guy in all of those Ford commercials.
Apparently he didn't learn anything from DBNS because he just appeared in the new Bill Fishman film, My Dinner with Jimi, too.
John Joseph Corbett was born on May 9, 1961, in Wheeling, West Virginia, the only child of Sandra "Sandy" (née Pavilack) and John Marshall Corbett. His parents were married in 1963 when Corbett was two. He grew up in an apartment block near the Ohio River with his mother and stepfather, both of whom worked at his uncle Phillip's music club, sparking his lifelong love and career in music. He started playing the guitar at age seven, and at 16, he worked as a security guard at the Capitol Music Hall. Corbett was raised Catholic, and was an altar boy for seven years at St. Joseph.s Cathedral. He attended Wheeling Central Catholic High School, from which he graduated in 1979.
After high school, Corbett moved to Bellflower, California, to live with his father and stepmother, and worked for Kaiser Steel in Fontana for six years. During his time as a hydrotester in the factory, he spent a year training to become an L.A. County Deputy Sheriff, but injured his back in the factory and had to change his career plan. He subsequently enrolled in hairdressing classes at Cerritos College in Norwalk, and, "went to hair school by day and studied theatre at night." (He has been a licensed hair stylist since 1986.) He then landed a Samsung commercial, and after three years, had starred in 50 national commercials.
"Jack" Corbett (as he was then billed) had his major acting first role come in 1988, when he was cast as Louis, the hippie boyfriend of Karen Arnold (Olivia d'Abo) in the first season of ABC's series The Wonder Years. Then from 1990 to 1995, he starred as existential DJ Christopher "Chris" Stevens in the TV series Northern Exposure, for which he was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Series, and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. The role made him a sex symbol, and it's probably the part he's best-known for (although on the set of this film, John was best known for flirting with the female PA's).
Corbett played the leading role of Adam MacArthur, in 1997's short-lived Fox science fiction series The Visitor, for which he was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Actor on Television. From 2001 to 2002, he portrayed Aidan Shaw, the love interest of Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), in the HBO comedy series Sex and the City, for which he received his second Golden Globe nomination. In 2002, Corbett portrayed the male lead role of Ian Miller in the romantic comedy film My Big Fat Greek Wedding, alongside Nia Vardalos (who also wrote the screenplay), for which he was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award.
When he's not working he relaxes driving his FORD truck past a lot of quality FORD dealerships and offroading across rivers and mighty FjORDS. He hopes to get a new endorsement deal with FORD, if they can afFORD it.
Filmography
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