Name	Jason Priestley
Height	5' 6"
Naionality	Canadian
Date of Birth	28 August 1969
Place of Birth	Vancouver British Columbia Canada
Famous for

“I didn’t want to think about my looks all the time. It’s not healthy for a young kid to go and worry about a scratch who could ruin your whole career. So I quit.” Jason Presley on leaving acting

Vancouver-born and raised Jason Priestley launched his career in his native Vancouver as a child actor in TV commercials until he quit acting in favor of high-school spots when he was 13. After high school graduation, he began to take drama classes and made his return to the business in 1986 with an uncredited part in the television movie Nobody’s Child. The same year, he also landed his first film role as Gary in the family movie The Boy Who Could Fly, which starred Lucy Deakins and Jay Underwood, and did not make another film until two years later when he got a bit part as a boy on a bike in Watchers (1988). A year later he landed a bigger part as Howard in Nowhere to Run (1989). In the meantime, the teen Priestley was also seen doing one-shot appearances in several Canada-based TV series like “Danger Bay,” “Airwolf,” “21 Jump Street,” “MacGyver” and “Quantum Leap.”

In 1989, Priestley starred in his own short-lived series, “Teen Angel,” before receiving a regular role as teenage waif Todd Mahaffey in the sitcom “Sister Kate” (1989), a role that put him on the radar of Tori Spelling, the daughter of the renowned producer Aaron Spelling, who advised her father to cast the young actor for a role in the Fox new series “Beverly Hills 90210.” Priestley soon made it big as he won the starring role of Brandon Walsh, the twin brother of the laudable Brenda (Shannen Doherty) on the Spelling-produced show. During 1990-98 portraying the honorable Brandon, Priestley was nominated for a Golden Globe two times, once in 1993 for Best Performance by an Actor in a TV-Series - Drama and in 1995 for the same category. When he eventually left 90210 in 1998, Priestley, who also directed 15 episodes of 90210 (1993-97), continued his work as an executive producer for the series.

While working on the popular show, Priestley continued to pursue film work. In 1993, he got his first major film role as Roy Darpinian in Penny Marshall’s Calendar Girl (1993), was cast as Deputy Billy Breckinridge in Tombstone (1993), and appeared as Cosmo Reif in Coldblooded (1995). He did not find success until in 1997 when director Richard Kwietniowski cast Priestley as B-movie Ronnie Bostock in the drama film Love and Death on Long Island. It was followed by roles in The Big Twist (1997), The Thin Pink Line (1998) and Conversations in Limbo (1998). A year after his departure from 90210, Priestley was even busier. Within a year, he made four different movies, including Choose Life (1999), Dill Scallion (1999), Standing on Fishes (1999) and Eye of the Beholder (1999).

Entering the new millennium, Priestley maintained his hectic schedule by voicing the animated movies Lion of Oz (2000) and Herschel Hopper: New York Rabbit (2000), appeared in the film The Highwayman (2000), as well as made three television films: Common Ground, Homicide: The Movie, and Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (all in 2000). After having a guest role in the hit series “Spin City (2001), Priestley was seen in many films such as Zigs (2001), The Fourth Angel (2001), Darkness Falling (2002), Cherish (2002), Cover Story (2002), Time of the Wolf (2002), Fancy Dancing (2002), Die, Mommie, Die (2003), Chicks with Sticks (2004) and Going the Distance (2004). On the small screen, he acted in a series of TV movies like Warning: Parental Advisory (2002), The True Meaning of Christmas Special (2002), I Want to Marry Ryan Banks (2004) and Sleep Murder (2004). He returned to a TV series in 2004 as a regular in “Tru Calling,” playing Jack Harper until 2005. In 2005, he focused his work on television movies by playing roles in Colditz (2005), Murder at the Presidio (2005) and Snow Wonder (2005).

Recently, Priestley costarred with Randy Spelling, Diora Baird and Carmen Electra in the Michael Damian-directed Hot Tamale (2006). He also stars opposite Thomas Cavanagh in the comedy series “Love Monkey” (2006-?). The actor is set to play Jeff Riley in the forthcoming telefilm Shades of Black: The Conrad Black Story (2006) and Sir Frederick Banting in the upcoming TV miniseries “Above and Beyond” (2006).