producer. He is the son of Gretchen and David Cryer. Cryer made his motion picture debut

in the 1984 romantic comedy No Small Affair, but found greater fame in the 1986 John Hughes-written

film Pretty in Pink. In 1998, he wrote and produced the independent film Went to Coney

Island on a Mission from God... Be Back by Five.

Although Cryer gained fame by starring in these films, it took several years to find

success on television. The shows in which Cryer starred, such as The Famous Teddy Z,

Partners, and The Trouble With Normal, did not last long. In 2003, Cryer was cast as

Dr. Alan Harper on the CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men, for which he won two Primetime

Emmy Awards in 2009 and 2012. Cryer received a star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame for Television

in 2011.

Early life Cryer was born in New York City, New York.

His mother, Gretchen, is a playwright, songwriter, actress, and singer; his father, Donald David

Cryer, is an actor and singer who originally studied to be a minister. Cryer's paternal

grandfather, Rev. Dr. Donald W. Cryer, was a well-known Methodist minister. He has two

sisters, Robin and Shelly. He also has a step-sister, Hannah Douglas-Cryer.

When Cryer was twelve years old, he decided that he wanted to become an actor. When his

mother heard this, she thought he should have a backup plan, and joked: "Plumbing is a pretty

good career." Cryer attended Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Training Center for several

summers as a teenager, and is a 1983 graduate of the Bronx High School of Science. He was

classmates with screenwriter and film director Boaz Yakin. To his mother's "great disappointment",

Cryer skipped college and went to study acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London,

United Kingdom. Career

Cryer's first professional acting effort was as David in the Broadway play Torch Song Trilogy,

replacing Matthew Broderick, whom he "closely resembled". Cryer was later an understudy

and replacement for Broderick in Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs in 1989. This resemblance

to Broderick became something of a running joke, even referenced numerous times on his

hit series Two and a Half Men, where his character posed as Broderick in order to get star treatment

on various occasions.

At age 19, Cryer appeared in the 1984 romantic comedy film No Small Affair, in the lead role

as Charles Cummings, after the original production with Matthew Broderick was shut down due to

a heart attack by director, Martin Ritt. He went on to have small roles in films and television

movies, and he made his breakthrough as Phil "Duckie" Dale in the John Hughes-scripted

film Pretty in Pink. In an interview with the Daily News, Cryer's mother said that after

Pretty in Pink, she started getting calls from teenage girls from all over the world,

who would leave hysterical, giggling messages on her answering machine. In 1989, he got

the lead role in the TV comedy series, The Famous Teddy Z. His performance gained poor

reviews and the show was canceled after the first season.

One year later, he starred with Charlie Sheen in the Jim Abrahams comedy Hot Shots!, which

was received very positively. Cryer is frequently linked to the Brat Pack. In a March 2009 interview

on Anytime with Bob Kushell, Cryer stated that he had auditioned for St. Elmo's Fire

but was not cast in a role. In 1993, he was asked to audition for the role of Chandler

Bing on Friends, while doing a play in London. His reading was videotaped by a British casting

agent but the tape failed to arrive in the U.S. before the network had made its final

decision. In 1995, he was cast as Bob in the sitcom

Partners, which, like his prior show The Famous Teddy Z, was canceled after its first season.

In an interview with Time Out New York he stated, "Hey, every show I'm in goes down.

Think about this: George Clooney was in 28 pilots, or something. It means nothing". After

guest starring on shows such as Dharma & Greg and The Outer Limits, he successfully wrote

and produced the film, Went to Coney Island on a Mission from God... Be Back by Five.

It debuted in 1998 at the Los Angeles Film Festival and gained positive reviews from

critics. Leonard Maltin from Playboy Magazine called it "A breath of fresh air". In 2000,

he was cast as the lead in a comedy series called The Trouble With Normal. For the third

time, Cryer starred in a show which was canceled after its first season.

Cryer's long run of unsuccessful TV projects finally ended three years later. Against the

wishes of CBS executives, he was cast in 2003 to portray Alan Harper on the hit comedy series

Two and a Half Men. To date, he has earned seven Primetime Emmy Award nominations and

two wins for his acting work on the show. In a comment on the show's high ratings, he

said: "When you’re on a show that's fighting for survival every week, you stop trusting

your instincts, because you think, ‘My instincts haven't worked so far.’ But when people

clearly like the show and are watching it in great numbers, it takes a huge amount of

pressure off you. It allows you to trust your instincts and go with what has worked for

you before." After former co-star Charlie Sheen's departure from the series, Cryer's

character has since become the show's central character, mainly due to the show's retooled

plot. Before being cast for Two and a Half Men, Cryer auditioned for the role of Gaius

Baltar on the Sci-Fi Channel's reimagined Battlestar Galactica, but the role went to

James Callis. In 2008, Cryer appeared with Laurence Fishburne and James Cromwell in the

film Tortured, and in 2009 co-starred with James Spader in the film Shorts.

Cryer made a guest appearance on the sitcom series Husbands in its second season. He was

initially cast to voice the lead character in the DisneyToon Studios animated film Planes,

a spin-off of Pixar's Cars franchise, but later dropped out and was replaced by Dane

Cook. Cryer did however receive a credit on the film for "additional story material."

Personal life

Cryer married British actress Sarah Trigger in 1999, with whom he has a son, Charlie Austin.

The pair divorced in 2004. In February 2007, on an episode of The Tonight Show with Jay

Leno, he announced that he would marry entertainment reporter Lisa Joyner; the couple married in

Mexico in June 2007. On September 29, 2009, Jon and Lisa announced that they adopted a

baby girl, whom they named Daisy. During the 2008 presidential election campaign,

Cryer attended a fundraiser hosted by the McCain campaign and, according to most news

reports, endorsed Senator John McCain. Cryer's spokeswoman, Karen Sanfilippohis, stated:

"Jon is not a Republican. The mistake was made because in 2008 he attended events for

both parties. It seems the Republican Party was very quick to align him with their group

of supporters. He did attend events for both parties, because he wanted to hear what both

sides had to say. He's not really political." Film

Television References

External links Jon Cryer Bio at CBS - Two and a Half Men

Jon Cryer at the Internet Movie Database Jon Cryer at the Internet Broadway Database

Jon Cryer at the Internet Off-Broadway Database Jon Cryer at AllMovie

Jon Cryer at Emmys.com