Doctor of Letters
(honoris causa) DLitt
Born and raised in New York City, Jerry O’Connell began his acting career at age 11 when he co-starred as Vern Tessio in the classic Rob Reiner film “Stand by Me”.
After graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from New York University, he returned to feature film work, notably receiving critical acclaim for his role as quarterback Frank Cushman in “Jerry Maguire” with Tom Cruise. Additional screen credits include: “Scream 2”; “Can’t Hardly Wait”; “Mission to Mars”; “Tomcats”; the Jerry Bruckheimer–produced comedy “Kangaroo Jack”; “Yours, Mine and Ours”; “Man About Town” (with Ben Affleck); “Obsessed” (with Beyonce Knowles); Dimension Films’ remake of the cult classic “Piranha 3-D”; and most recently the big screen follow up to the cult hit television series “Veronica Mars”.
In 2004, O’Connell sold his screenplay for “First Daughter” to New Regency Films. He served as an Executive Producer on the film, which starred Katie Holmes and was directed by Forrest Whitaker. In 2011, he made his Broadway debut in Theresa Rebeck’s “Seminar” opposite Alan Rickman.
Equally prolific on television, he starred on NBC’s hit drama “Crossing Jordan” for six seasons as Detective Woody Hoyt, a character that also crossed-over to NBC’s “Las Vegas.” O’Connell has recently been featured on hit series like “Scream Queens”, “Mistresses”, “Billions”, and “The Mysteries of Laura”, and has been a recurring co-host on “Live! With Kelly”. He has also been working behind the camera as well, directing multiple episodes of “Mistresses” and most recently, “Andi Mack”. Recently, O’Connell played Harley Carter in Season 2 of “Carter” for Sony AXN and Bell Media which is filmed in the City of North Bay.